Around the Pitch

In case you didn’t know, soccer is my favorite sport to play. I’ve consistently played since I was seven years old and I still play from time-to-time. I won’t go into my soccer exploits, know more than to say that my Classic League team won two Georgia state titles, I was on the all-conference team, and I led my college club team in scoring, I guess you could say, soccer’s been good to me and it gave me amazing opportunities to see the southeastern United States.

As much as I love playing soccer, I never got into following professional soccer because up until several years ago, it wasn’t consistently shown on American television. When it did come on TV, it was either shown in the middle of the day or really late at night. Inconvenient times for a student, but now with the infusion of immigrants, soccer has become more assessable to the American public and if the U.S. National team ever finds international success, I predict it cause more Americans to take notice. Although, I don’t follow professional soccer like I do NFL and NCAA football, I do take notice when major stories hit the airwaves. Here’s a look around the Pitch:

David Beckham, international soccer megastar, is leaving world soccer power, Real Madrid, to play in the MLS for the Los Angeles Galaxy. Beckhame signed a $250 million contract. This will be a big step in giving the MLS creditability and world recognition.

Christian Laettner, Ex-Duke basketball player, joins D.C. United Holdings, a group that purchased the D.C. United soccer club for $33 million. The holding group is led by San Francisco businessmen Victor MacFarlane and Will Chang. MacFarlane is the first Black MLS owner and Chang is the first Chinese-American owner.

Bob Bradley is named head of the U.S. National Team.