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Post World Cup Blues

I was talking to a friend on IM tonight, and we were both really missing the World Cup. He's decided to play in an amateur league, and I'm watching D.C. United beat Celtic from the Scottish Football Association. D.C. is winning, 4-0, and I'm able to watch it on television while I do write some correspondence. So what if it's Celtic's second team?

I watched at least part of almost every one of the sixty-four matches in the World Cup. I've been sad that the tournament is over, but here I am, making potential plans to go to D.C. this Saturday to watch a Major League Soccer game. Sure, it's not nearly as interesting as the World Cup, but I think I'm hooked as a spectator.

I've always assumed that U.S. soccer would bore me, because of the overemphasis on the MLS, which doesn't feature enough teams to be interesting. I'm entranced by this match with Celtic, because it is an international match, even though it is a friendly.

And, I've just discovered the existence of the U.S. Open Cup Championship, which sounds pretty neat.

The reason baseball bores me to tears is because it is the same thing year after year after year. There is nothing in the dynamic of the sport to encourage lower-tier teams to do anything but just sit there. Though there is a lot more parity in American football, you still have the same teams over and over again. Wouldn't it be great if American sports leagues took up the idea of relegation?

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