Act As If...

Didn't your teacher ever tell you that? Act as if?

When You go up to do a speech in front of the class with a trickle of sweat rolling down your face. Whole class waits for you to utter something. Nothing comes our at first, until you remember what your teacher told you: "Act as if". That, alone, is enough for you to believe that maybe, just maybe, you really can. Maybe you really are ready.

Sound familiar? Throughout the 2010 World Cup that recently ended on July 11th, and in the days following the early exit of the United States, the talk continued to jostle around. You don't need me to tell you that what came from that was unexpected. Quite frankly, the rest of the world had them leaving right after they got there in day 2 against England. The head-turning started there. After a heart-wrenching run, the U.S. was finally eliminated by Ghana (again). While this tournament was essential in letting the world know about where we stand now, the action among the MLS has made us all look.

We had heard the talk, but didn't want to hold our breath. Suddenly, it doesn't look like we needed to. World renowned Thierry Henry has made the jump, and is now playing for the New York Red Bulls. And as I'm sure it's no secret to any of you by now, the talk has also stirred up again in the possibilty of Mr. "Joga Bonita" himself, Ronaldinho is likely to be moved to the L.A. Galaxy. Now before you start rolling your eyes (which I know you are), just know that in our case, the athleticism of these players is irrelevent right now. While it may sound like I just dug myself deeper, don't call me an idiot just yet. When I said "our case", I meant in the case of Soccer in the United States. Believe it or not, MLS is actually playing this one right. We all know that Henry, Ronaldinho, and probably even Becham are pretty much all past their prime now. But at this stage of growth in MLS, we need figures like these more than the rest of the world does. These guys are not done with soccer, their just disposable to the rest of the world right now. Other countries can afford to lose players like these (probably better), and still stay on top. What I'm basically getting at,is that not only do we need to act as if, but we need to look as if as well. Taking this league seriously, starts with landing serious players. Prime or not, if you recognize players like Henry and Ronaldinho, then you recognize U.S. soccer. Simple as that.

However, as ground-breaking as that was, that wasn't even the biggest news in the MLS this week. For the first time in a very long time, the world is reaching out to the MLS. Manchester City has made it publicly known that they want Landon Donovan, and they want him bad. Now while this isn't the first time Donovan has played internationally, having a good run with

club Everton, this is the most impressive invitation. How do we respond? Don Garber nips that in the bud without any hesitation. But why is that relevant? Because it means we're now forcing the other countries to find value in our product. The easiest thing would be to tell Man. City yes. Get MLS some exposure, make Landon look good, and the list could go on and on. But at the end of the day, we need to look like we value our product as well. We need to have something that they want.

So what do we do next then? Continue to act is if. Act as if we have that much talent. Act as if we are that great. Act as if we're ready to play with the best countries.

Even when it feels like they're not looking, act as if they are.


...because they are.