Another MLS Blunder

I've read enough about David Beckham's injury. I've read enough about who should take on the blame for the disaster his arrival has turned out to be. And I've definately read enough about the Champions League group draw - which by the way is not even technically set since Sevilla and AEK Athens still have to play the return leg of their qualifier. Serious, I totally understand that everyone needs to get their predictions out their as early as possible. But at this stage in the competition unless you can make a convincing and awesome argument that Rosenborg are going to top Group B, I'd ask that we just let them play the matches before discussion heats up.

What I do want to read about - and you can thank MLS for another fine PR blunder on this - are the Chicago Fire and Cuauhtemoc Blanco taking on New York Red Bull and Juan Pablo Angel this weekend. The Fire were easily one of the most boring teams in MLS until Blanco showed up. Suddenly they sign Paulo Wanchope, Chris Rolfe and Justin Mapp come back to health, and Calen Carr looks like a decent player. Going into the match against NYRB we have two clubs with the most exciting players in the league right now.

Note: I didn't say the best clubs in the league but the players I would pay money at this point to watch.

NYRB's Juan Pablo Angel - while not matching his early form - is still the best striker in the league. Jozy Altidore should have his face plastered on any and all MLS advertisements for the next 6 weeks or until Becks is back. Even then, this is an American league and we all know how much the average American sports fan loves their homegrown talent and fear anything from overseas. So Altidore ought to be the face of the league...Until he signs a massive contract with a real club in Europe.

Serious, I am going to be in front of my TV watching Blanco, Angel, Altidore and Wanchope all on the pitch at the same time. The Los Angeles Galaxy? Please. They're one of the most awful sides ever to play in MLS. Not just this season - ever. And I'm not limiting this to play on the pitch. I am referring to the club as a whole. This season's LA Galaxy - on a whole - are without question one of the worst performing and run clubs of all time.

Why did MLS not have a back up plan in place should something as terrible as Beckham getting injured happen? Talk about needing to review the people you have in place in the Marketing and PR departments. Is because Blanco is a bit chubby, speaks no English and isn't as stylish as Beckham the reason he hasn't been getting dedicated banner advertisements on ESPN? Why isn't there a "Juan Pablo Angel in the USA" icon above every column on Soccernet? Didn't they think diversifying the marketing a bit and spreading some of the budget around to the other big name signings would help promote the league? Or do they want people to think it is just Beckham and a bunch of part-timers?

It is just mind blowing that MLS allowed this to take place. Meaning, they essentially are admitting the league has no talent or marketable players worth investing in other than Beckham. They can't do much for Landan Donovan because he doesn't want to leave LA unless there is a road match and once word gets out to the non-hardcore soccer fan that he high tailed it out of Europe when he hit a rough patch no one is going to buy into Donovon serving as a role model.

Instead of promoting the hell out of this NYRB vs. Fire match for weeks MLS has missed a serious opportunity. College football starts this weekend so good luck getting any promo opportunities other than the final 2 minutes on SportsCenter. I would bet that if this type of poor judgement happened in the NFL or MLB people would be looking for new employment right now. At MLS HQ it is just another day on the job.

So, I would encourage you to watch the match this weekend. There are playoff implications and some damn fine players participating. MLS obviously doesn't want you to know that.