New MLS Blog Launches: A Letter from the Editor
By Aaron Rench
(Jim Urquhart, USA TODAY Sports)
Welcome to the MLS Multiplex, a brand new blog from the FanSided Network, devoted to the entirety of Major League Soccer, including bonus coverage of American and Canadian soccer.
First off, let’s talk about the sport itself. Soccer is the World’s sport. At any given moment of any given day, soccer is being played everywhere. It’s growing in the Unites States like never before, so much so, that FanSided decide to allow an MLS blog for the first time ever.
Ready for a stat that will change your perspective? In the last year, the average MLS attendance per game was 18,594, which is more than the average numbers for the NBA and NHL.
The MLS Multiplex will bring all sorts of analysis, commentary, and opinion to a league that doesn’t get its due diligence. We’ll try to cover every one of the 19 teams, plus the two coming in 2015, and any more that come in the years ahead. This also includes all the games, goals, saves, players acquisitions, and coaching moves. As I type this, reports are coming out about Real Salt Lake’s coach Jason Kries (well, former coach) stepping down so he can take the future job in the new NYCFC.
The blog has been running for a little more than a week, with each new day bringing more and more visits. We’re young, we’re relatively new at this (I have only been blogging for about two months), and we’re going to try our best to bring you MLS coverage with new information and personality.
It sometimes feels like American soccer has an inferiority complex. Fan’s and media are always comparing the MLS to other American sports, and to other soccer leagues around the world — I did it in the second paragraph of this letter. The MLS is its own league, it doesn’t have to be “better” than the English Premier League; its entertaining to watch and follow all by itself. Let’s just enjoy it for what it is. It’s our own brand of soccer.
This blog is not here to persuade you or anyone else to become a fan of soccer. It’s here to talk about the league, the teams, the players, the coaches, the moments, the U.S. national team, the stories, and the fans. And if you end up becoming a fan, I’m glad to hear it.
My name is Aaron Rench, co-editor of the MLS Multiplex, and I just want to say that I’m extremely excited to start writing about soccer. I’ve been a fan for a little over a year. I started the year by magically choosing Sporting Kansas City as my favorite team. In that one year, I’ve witnessed some incredible moments that I would have missed without the intent of following American soccer. From the U.S. qualifying for the World Cup to Sporting dueling it out for the MLS Cup, it’s been an amazing year, and I think 2014 will be even better.
So come back every day and check out what we’ve got. Feel free to leave comments, ask questions, or interact with us in general.
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