Shovels In The Ground
I'm a sucker for pointing at the big, seemingly symbolic moments re: American soccer's growth. Intellectually I understand that big moments come and go and whatever the initial rise a big moment might cause, it's never quite as massive as we imagine it will be. American soccer's modern history can't be told as a story of big leaps, but as one of incremental, smaller steps forward.
It's with that in mind that I regret to inform you I am buzzing about the officially underway project to build the Chicago Fire a proper soccer stadium just south of the Loop and downtown Chicago.
Shovels went in the ground yesterday. Yeah, they were ceremonial. Still.
Chicago Fire FC Communications
I have a handful of American soccer hobby horses that I go on and on about. One of them is that Chicago as a soccer market is criminally underdeveloped for MLS. The Chicago Fire has a strong MLS history, but never has the club been at the vanguard of the league's push for mainstream recognition. For a team based in the country's third-largest city, a hub of an entire region of sports-obsessed people, that's a high key tragedy.
I won't ever blame Fire ownership at the time (AEG, back in the bad days of multi-club ownership within MLS) for building a soccer-specific stadium out in Bridgeview. In those days, getting any kind of purpose-built American soccer venue constructed was practically a labor of Hercules. A stadium? For soccer? Surely you can't be serious.
But Bridgeview proved to be an albatross around the neck of MLS in the Chicagoland area. We don't need to relitigate the good and mostly bad of the Andrew Hauptman era, but trust me when I say it's A LOT.
When guy with a lot of money, Chicago roots, and a desire to win bought the club, the venue was practically the first thing to go. Soldier Field might not be a soccer stadium and it might be too big to foster a good matchday atmosphere, but at least it wasn't in the boonies (relatively speaking).
If you look too closely at any stadium project you're bound to find issues with the ways it's sold to the public and to civic leaders, so I'm not going to do that. At least right now. There are devils in the details of any "privately funded" stadium build and I'm sure that's the case in The 78. It would be silly to think Joe Mansueto is a saint.
But man, if that things gets built and ends up looking the way they've drawn it up, it might be the best soccer stadium this country has every seen. An architecturally interesting, aesthetically pleasing, properly sized stadium in the heart of a city as vibrant, diverse, and connected as Chicago? That's the dream.
As a bonus thought, I'm still trying to work out what it means for the Fire and soccer in Chicago that MLS is switching its calendar just ahead of the new Fire stadium opening and that the Bears are decamping the city proper for Indiana.
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MLS WEEK 3 THINGS I'M THINKING
- I'm not a big fan of the DC United-Inter Miami game happening in Baltimore, but not for the same reason I was annoyed by the Crew playing Miami in Cleveland last year. DC United hasn't been nearly as relevant as Columbus in modern MLS history and this move doesn't feel so much like "spreading the brand" (as the Crew could have claimed) as it does "cash in." Cleveland is much farther from Columbus than Baltimore is from Washington and maybe I'm biased because I'm a DC-area guy, but the way Baltimore very much doesn't want to be DC and vice-versa make this game extra oogy.
FWIW, I think Miami is going to rock United and there's going to be a lot of pink in the purple place. - Philadelphia isn't going to have nearly the season they did last year (this shouldn't be a controversial) but I'm less interested in the end of a back-t0-back Shield dream than I am about the reckoning happening over Ernst Tanner's behavior (process pending) and what that means for the direction of the club. Saturday's opponent San Jose looks strong to start the season (and likely to look stronger as Timo Werner gets his MLS legs) and could send Philly into a tailspin. The timeline could get really dark in Union Land.
- It looks like Josh Sargent could make the squad for Toronto FC on Saturday in Cincinnati. The $22 million man might not make his full debut this weekend after his rapturous welcome to Canada and MLS, but he's got people talking about the rebuild in Toronto and the question of his living up to his price tag. It's a lot of money for a very good player and while there are reasons for doubt, and I agree with Matt Doyle that they might have been able to find goals without the massive outlay.
But I think there's value in doing the flash, especially when you're a club trying to shine a tarnished image. Sargent's not Son Heung Min, but he's the kind of player TFC can build around for the next handful of season.
There's a new episode of The Best Soccer Show now available. We hit YouTube live last night with The Blazing Musket's Thomas Pinzone serving as my first half co-host and the inimitable Jonathan Tannenwald stepping in for the second half.
There's plenty of MLS, USMNT, and World Cup event talk in there. Listen, subscribe, and rate!
If you're just catching up, my longtime partner in soccer Jared DuBois had to step away from the regular show for life reasons. The plan is for him to pop up in some bonus content behind the paywall, which he did last night. To get access to fresh Davis & DuBois, join the show Patreon.
Watch Morning Kickaround! We're covering the USL build out of expansion as it bumps up against the contentious CBA negotiations.
As I write this it appears as though the USL Championship season will start on time (Louisville v. Lexington in a Kentucky Derby if you're curious) but the process is far from done. Yesterday delivered a doozy of an update as Jeff Rueter got his hands on an email the league sent to players that feels a little union-busting-y.
Finally, I'm knocking around some new ideas for Soccer Eagle that might be showing up here soon. I had some fun teasing out some of the MLS lore that those of us old enough to remember a world before David Beckham have lived through and I think it would be fun to bring some of it back to life in this space.
A small and very incomplete list of things that deserve a remembering/retelling/explaining:
- The end of Chivas USA and Paco Palencia going on Real Sports
- Alecko Eskandarian spitting out Red Bull after scoring against New York for DC United
- Mike Magee's Day Off
- MLS Derelict (a weird MLS jersey-inspired fashion show)
- The time the scoreboard caught on fire at Crew Stadium
- Dom Oduro's pizza hair
- Red Card Wedding
- Mike Petke's "Trey, hand 'em out" rant
- The Red Bulls town hall after Petke got fire
- Beckham in Kansas City
- A dozen Brek Shea things
The dream would be to talk to (for podcast or a written piece) people who were there and witnessed said lore.
My tentative plan is to make the MLS Lore series part of a paid tier of posts, though I'm still working out the schedule and details. Stay tuned.
