I'll confess, I think soccer is incredibly boring. When I was a teenager, I went to a few games with my friends, but we didn't find the game interesting at all. We kept going, though, because there were guys in shorts.
Now, of course, I can appreciate athletic men in tight pants (baseball and football) just as easily. 
Two jokes I've heard immediately came to mind last night when I saw this story. 1. Why do X million of American kids play soccer? Answer: So they don't have to watch it. 2. Soccer is something like hockey--without all that annoying scoring.
Despite Major League Soccer's attempt to round up some interest in their sport, I have a hard time imagining it's going to work. I have this feeling that Americans are going to be much more interested in Beckham's off-field life than they will be in the game. I was thinking about that yesterday and wondering how they'd deal with the paparazzi when I realized that the press he faced in England will probably be six billion times worse than anything he'll see in the US. He'll be a novelty here, a fad, but very few people care about the game.
That's what kind of blows me away, that so many people get so rabid about a sport where no one scores that they riot. Huh? Maybe if the score wasn't nil to nil, the fans might be more interested in the game than fighting each other or setting the stadium on fire.
Okay, sorry, I'm trying to be funny at soccer's expense and humor isn't my forte. Let's just say I don't get it and leave it at that.
I keep thinking, though, of how much good all that money could do if it were given to charity or invested in improving Los Angeles schools or a lot of other worthwhile endeavors. I know, American athletes in sports people do care about are overpaid too. The Chicago Cubs just went out and spent a fortune on players, and while the money makes me cringe, I'm excited about the upcoming season because they should be a vastly better team in 2007.
And it's time for me to logoff and get ready for the EDJ. Sigh. At least it's Friday.
