An optimistic soccer fan

My life as a fan started in the Riverside stand at Ewood Park, when Blackburn Rovers were playing well enough to get promoted from the English Third Division to the Second. That's farther back than I care to remember.  Now I live in California, where I enjoy games in the temperate San Francisco bay area.  I especially appreciate that I no longer have to wear two pairs of gloves and three pairs of socks to survive the match without frostbite.

The highlight of my week is lacing up my boots, picking up my seat cushion and locking the door behind me as I head out to a live football game. Okay, as a fan I actually wear shoes, but at this point, my hope springs eternal and the possibilities for the game are endless. 

My optimism is tempered during the drive to the game - passing newly vacated office buildings in Silicon Valley I am reminded that life is not as comfortable here as it once was. Times are tough for any sports franchise, but particularly so for the modestly funded Major League Soccer teams whose slim profit margin is dependent on others' disposable income.

At the start of last season, the San Jose Earthquakes team was on the bottom rungs of the shaky ladder that is MLS, and still playing on a field leased from a local university. While soccer is a sport enjoyed by almost all of the rest of the world it remains enigmatic to the average American sports fan.

The number of fans attending the soccer games is modest compared to those attending baseball, basketball and football games. When the Quakes win my optimism about American soccer prevails and the stadium feels half full; if they lose it feels half empty.

The 2011 season will begin on March 19th with the memory of the Quakes’ valiant comeback win over the Red Bulls still in everyone's minds. I hope last year’s success will soon translate to a new stadium and new fans. In the meantime my seat cushion will soften the austerity of the aluminum bleacher seats, and the possibilities for this season are endless.