Sunday, December 8, 2013

Who knew defense can also be beautiful?

By Will Brown

Major League Soccer crowned its 18th champion Saturday afternoon in frigid Kansas City. The league has steadily grown over the years, but not to the point where it can challenge college football from a ratings, and spectator standpoint.


At the risk of being deemed “un-American” by one prominent athletic, I chose to watch the soccer game over the SEC championship because the former appealed to me more. In a league with more parity than any other North American sports league, one play can change everything.

For all the talk about football being the sport of tough guys, it was fascinating to watch two teams fight for a championship when the wind chill was 11 degrees at kickoff. It may not have been the best weather to crown a champion, but it certainly showed off yet another quirk in American soccer.

Robbie Findley
Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City have plenty of talent, and have been some of the most consistent teams in MLS over the last four years. Both teams sought a championship to validate their ethos — Salt Lake their patient passing and Kansas City their high-pressure, quick transition game.

My wife was asleep on the couch. My aunt dozed for large parts of the first half. Then my aunt took a look at Real Salt Lake forward Robbie Findley and was an instant supporter.

Every time Sporting threatened to tie the game, my aunt perked up in her seat and bemoaned Findley’s foes for having the gall to try and win.

Eventually, the match was decided in penalty kicks by a goalpost, which was fitting. Real Salt Lake had two shots bounce off the post earlier in the match the second of which would have effectively sealed the game with 17 minutes remaining. Once Sporting scored in the 76th minute, the intensity rose dramatically. One play, whether a moment of brilliance or a mistake, could have changed everything. With all the offensive explosions that were taking place in American football, it was a welcomed change from to see cohesive defending interchange with offensive variations.

As the soccer game approached penalty kicks, and overlapping ESPN’s three-hour window for the match and other ancillary television, the drama escalated by the second. The updates of the football games at the bottom of the screen sufficed as Sporting completed one of the biggest brand make overs in professional sports with a dramatic championship in front of its home crowd.


When it was all over, I caught the final quarter of a college football game that was the allergic to defense.
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