Here's a 2009 soccer wish list
Is it too early in the year to get greedy?
No, this is not a Wall Street joke. We're all about soccer here, and with the first World Cup qualifier of the Hexagonal in the books, the Chicago Fire in preseason training, and the Chicago Red Stars making plans for their first season, there's too much going on to focus on just one team.
So today we'll spread around the love. Here are a few things I hope to see in 2009:
• I want to see Fire players Brian McBride, Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Chris Rolfe combine seamlessly.
• I want to see Wilman Conde spend the entire season in Chicago - with a smile on his face.
• I want to see the Fire defense play throughout 2009 like it did the first few months of 2008.
• I want to see modest gains in MLS attendance despite the recession. Same for ESPN's ratings when MLS is shown.
• I want to see the U.S. men qualify for the 2010 World Cup with ease.
• I want to see the U.S. national team win in Azteca Stadium, just because that's the final step toward outright domination of this region.
• I want to see the U.S. men show they can play well against teams outside CONCACAF when they play in the Confederations Cup this summer.
That's reasonable. It's not like asking Illinois politicians to act as if they have ethics.
Back to Becks: Forget about Super Bowl squares and NCAA Tournament pools, who do you have in the Beckham pool?
Ignore what MLS commissioner Don Garber said last week about last Friday's negotiations deadline. David Beckham should remain in Italy.
After spending the bulk of his career winning at Manchester United, Beckham didn't enjoy losing in Los Angeles to players barely making more than he pays to get his shoes shined. The man wants out, and he's got an out clause in his contract that he can use at the end of the 2009 MLS season.
MLS will get nothing if it makes Beckham come back to L.A.; it can only hope Beckham will be motivated by his desire to earn a spot on the England's World Cup squad and play more like Cuauhtémoc Blanco and less like Lothar Mattheus.
Forget it. In this economy, Garber can't let go for nothing. AC Milan will raise its offer enough for MLS to save face.
But how will Bruce Arena be able to turn the Galaxy around after losing both Beckham and (probably) Landon Donovan?
That's to be determined, but MLS has never had a rule it couldn't adjust to meet its needs, and in this case it needs a credible team in L.A.
Profit or growth: Last fall U.S. Soccer attracted 11,452 fans to Toyota Park to see the U.S. men play a World Cup qualifier.
Last week U.S. Soccer announced the U.S. will host Honduras on June 6 at 60,000-seat Soldier Field.
This raises one question: If it couldn't fill 20,000-seat Toyota Park, how is it going to fill Soldier Field? And don't forget, the Mexican national team isn't going to be anywhere near Chicago.
The answer: Soldier Field probably won't be half-full, but it would help if U.S. Soccer would lower ticket prices and promote the game a little better.
It's important to the long-term growth of the sport to get good crowds to qualifiers. If area soccer fans don't know there's a game until after it's been played, as happened last September, or can't afford to attend, that's a bad thing.
oschwarz@dailyherald.com