Battle for the Soul of North American Soccer

No tall tale this…

The sport known as soccer in the United States, known as futbol in more lands than not, identical to the version played in more lands than not, resides deeply inside the wickedly honest hearts, the wide open eyes and minds, and the passionate souls of each and every one of the millions of two legged mammals, male and female, young and old, who have devoured the bittersweet exhilaration of simple ball, grass, concrete, sand and like-minded companion.

But there is a plague upon our indigent joy. Dark and powerful forces, flush with soulless mammon, are dizzyingly busy convincing all who listen without reason, and all who would butcher their very essence in order to sell bloody pieces to the rancid plague, that the millions should set aside their honest hearts and passionate souls for a version of our love twisted to enrich the malicious misguided few.

We must set our bare feet firmly in the fields of our dreams and bring the misguided souls back to the creative conscious which spatters the green canvasses of Sunday afternoons with near perfect touch, motion and emotion.

These whispering few, safe behind thick walls, counting future riches, deserve honest praise for honest work. Yet their counting is the result of our soul’s passion.

We must insist they see each and every one of the millions of like-minded companions as different but equal.

For too long, too many, far too many, of those who have danced along the beach or green field, have seen the folly of the few lost and lonely souls. But slowly the many are seduced by the few.

The climax of the seduction is empty. Like the snake oil salesman on the corner, screaming for attention, selling promises which will never come true, the climax is manipulated, hyped, a mass marketed haze of nothing, our soul passing through without touching.

Soccer, futbol, is our sport. Give the few their due and then insist, without compromise, that the millions creating the dream have the opportunity to be part of any and all of the dream.