2009 MLS All-Stars (Getty Images)
A lot of folks this morning are calling for the end of the MLS All-Star game, or at least the current format of it. While I am more in the ladder part of the calling I do not see this current game going away at any point in the near future after what we saw last night. In a way I honestly believe last night’s loss on PKs to EPL side Everton may have actually saved the All-Star game more than gave fuel to the fire to get rid of it.
Why do I think that? Honestly this game unlike a few of the past was the most watchable of any of the All-Star games in recent years. I know the Chelsea game was a good one and that one is definitely a close second to this one in my mind in terms of level of play and excitement from end to end. For once it actually looked like a meaningful game, rather than just a friendly.
While a loss is never a good thing to talk about, the league did showcase their talent on a national scale and losing in PKs is not the worst thing that could have happened here. Plus let’s face it, getting by Tim Howard is never easy and since he is in mid-season form rather than pre-season form it made it even tougher.
I still may not like the format of playing a club from another league for the All-Stars but last night did give me a reason to get behind the whole show a bit more than usual.
I will say that if the league continues to do a showcase game like this for their All-Stars, they need to move it up in the calendar a bit. Putting the game on at the same time as three of it’s clubs participate in CONCACAF Champions League matches is unacceptable. I guess going against some of the summer friendlies this past month was too tough to have this game a little earlier in the summer. Not to mention it would have been stupid to place it during the Gold Cup tournament too.
I still think going forward the league does need to do a better job at placing this game in the schedule. Next year will be a real challenge with the World Cup going on. My bet it will be late July once again, after the World Cup.
Thing is will it make a difference moving it to a different time of the summer? Or would we be better off without it? Some have made their claim to get rid of it due to busy summer months, while others continue to enjoy it.
9 Comments
Plus let’s face it, getting by Tim Howard is never easy and since he is in mid-season form rather than pre-season form it made it even tougher. ???? do you americans still not look past ur own boarders? i know u call the baseball comp the world series when its only american teams involved. its pathetic and the rest of the world laugh. as 4 the above quote, this is preseason 4english clubs and midseason 4yanks. now get bk 2 ur hand ball games an stop playin agame u cant even call its real name. american football doesnt even use the feet that often. get a grip u stupid yanks
The all-star game is a total waste of time and desperate ploy to try to generate some cash-flow (what MLS desperately needs). Personally, I’d rather RSL play Everton rather than a hastily assembled group.
@ Dumb Yank…
…that’s funny, because we laugh at how insignificant other countries are, and how their governments have to call the White House and ask for permission to do anything.
Given the two choices, I’ll take the money and power – you take “futbol.”
dumb yank, please ignore WTF’s comment, he represents about the 13% of the country who fail to see any importance in global fellowship and togetherness. But why are you even on this site? Get some friends, man. If all you have to do with your time is Google MLS blogs just to poke fun at our inferior league, then you need a lifestyle change. Desperately.
And let me tell you- Tim Howard was VERY much in mid-season form last night. His team was not, but he was very sharp. I attribute his form to the fact that he was in the Confederations Cup (where was England? Oh, that’s right. They couldn’t even qualify for the tournament that would give them a chance to qualify for the Confed Cup!).
There were some surprises but I enjoyed the game. I of course rooted for the All-Stars but Tim Howard really deserved MVP because the man delivered all night. We’re too critical sometimes of our team(s) when they lose. It’s a game people and losses are a reality. Overall the sellout crowd and exposure were great for MLS.
@dumbyank
Everton finished their regular season about the beginning of June. 2 weeks later the first match of the confederations cup was played. Lets assume that they gave Timmy a week off before starting training with the USMNT. In the confed cup the USMNT made the finals which was played 2 weeks after the first match, or about the end of June. Everton has been in preseason training since about a week into July. We can assume that they wanted to give Tim a bit of time to recover after the confederations cup, lets call it 2 weeks.
So, Tim Howard has had maybe about 3 weeks off since the end of the EPL and FA Cup. That is not 3 consecutive weeks either. So, can we say now that he’s pretty close to midseason form after moving from the FA Cup final against Chelsea to a Confed cup semi’s against Spain and a Confed cup Final against Brazil straight into preseason? Ya I think so.
Maybe you’re the one that needs to pay more attention to what’s going on beyond your borders. Ignorance is not solely an American export.
I’d like to see a return match at Goodison Park at the end of the MLS season, I really enjoyed the game it was played in a good spirit with passion showed by both sides and a rematch would be a good way to bring in much needed revenue for Evertons continued assault on the EPL.
Dumb Yank
You should exchange numbers with Kevin. He’s one of the 13% of self-loathing Pinkos, who worships at the church of Bill Maher, and desperately wants to be friends with the murders in Hezbollah and the Taliban.
How about the UK
Inferior in every way
You’ll never be the USA
Did I mention your accent makes you sound gay
Who the hell is Bill Maher? I am Catholic, just for the record.
Just because they are different from us does not mean they are inferior in any manner. The fact that we are all human beings should be more important than the fact that we were born in separate parts of the world.
I don’t loathe myself, this country, or anything, really. I just think we need to be more open to the rest of the world. Just because we are American does not give us any sort of entitlement or any more importance than the citizens of even 3rd-world countries. We shouldn’t be bragging that we have a better economy, a better government, better technological advancements, better education, or whatever you want to brag about. We should be sharing it with them, and helping humanity as a whole advance. All that bragging and showing off does is alienate the other countries and spark feuds, which leads to wars (this was a problem during the Cold War, though thankfully that never escalated to a violent level- though we are damn lucky it didn’t; we came very close on several occasions).
I apologize for the irrelevance, Drew, but I feel the need to set some things straight with people who don’t recognize the importance of humanity as a whole. Without working together to move forward and progress, there is no way to cure the world of many of its problems, such as diseases like cancer and AIDS, which no current known causes; decrease pollution levels; and generally quell conflicts in all parts of the world.