All Star Hoopla.
(Did you all see the Tim Howard penalty shoot-out heroics on Wednesday night? Our friend Brant Brown from Thunder Matt’s Saloon – disclaimer: I contribute there periodically — was in attendance, and penned this from the stands)
Every football fan knew the record of the MLS All-Stars heading into Wednesday night’s match: five straight victories in the current format, which has pitted them against prestigious clubs such as Chivas, Chelsea, and West Ham United. Last night David Moyes brought his men into Salt Lake City to show these Latter-day fans how proper British football is played (and to hopefully overturn that trend).
The format itself is intriguing. One would expect a rashly-assembled group of All-Star caliber players (albeit from an inferior league) to consistently triumph over a selected club opponent. Right? All-Stars over a regular squad? That may be a logical conclusion at first glance. But consider that, with a couple rare exceptions, none of these All-Stars have played together on any consistent basis. There is an inherent fluidity that comes from years of playing alongside the same men on a club team, the kind of familiarity that would serve as an advantage for a visiting EPL club.
It would thus seem that the odds are leveled in this regard.Yet time and time again, the group of All-Stars have prevailed. Is this simply a random coin flip scenario, with a little bit of luck and a lot of “it’s just an exhibition” factoring into the outcome? Or is this All-Star format of the same caliber as Major League Baseball, where one league beats the other in such a consistent manner that observers can only conclude that the AL is superior to the NL?
The Everton match lends a bit to the coin flip theory. A fine, hard-fought match ended in regulation with a 1-1 tie. In a stroke of remarkable forethought (unlike Major League Baseball), the powers that be decided in advance that the game would end in neither a tie, nor be bogged down with two extra 15 minute periods. The match would immediately move to a penalty kick shootout, much to the joy of the fans in attendance.
James Vaughan and Jo missed and were stopped respectively in their first two PK attempts, giving the MLS All-Stars a quick 1-0 advantage. Fortunately for Everton, the much adored Tim Howard ably denied three subsequent shots, giving the Toffees a thrilling 4-3 PK victory. One could make the case that the All-Stars performed better over the course of the full 90 minutes, and that Everton skated by with an undeserved win. Perhaps, but the metaphorical coin flipped in Everton’s favor this night, which could just as easily parlay itself into a run of five straight All-Star defeats. The fates sided with the Toffees last night, but it also didn’t hurt to have Howard in goal.
The bottom line is this: the format works very well, and any time a match can bring this level of excitement and quality play, particularly as it is only an exhibition contest, then the format is serving the MLS and soccer in America well.
LFC fans enjoy themselves
So how did Salt Lake City fair as a host to the event? Rio Tinto Stadium is certainly a fine modern soccer complex, benefiting of course from the fact that it does not share the facilities with any other major sport. The area around the stadium is still under a bit of development, so one would hope that the grass and gravel around the exterior will eventually give way to a more pleasing pedestrian concourse.
I would also commend the city on the relatively new lite rail that connects downtown Salt Lake with Rio Tinto, which is technically located in the suburb of Sandy. Ease of use of the public transportation, and the fact that they ran extra passenger cars after the match, facilitated a smooth transition to the bars for the fair smattering of Everton fans in attendance.
Speaking of bars, it was also a welcome note that Utah had just recently loosened the strictures on alcohol sales. In fact, the first pub we stopped at on Wednesday afternoon had only been open to the public for a week. Though the laws may have constrained sales in the past, the fine people running these establishments are more than making up for it in the variety of ales they serve, and their genuine pleasantness and appreciation of your business. Though Salt Lake City is not your typical major bustling metropolis, the downtown area seems to be benefiting from a bit of a resurgence.
In all, it seems to be the perfect size, and the people seem to be of the perfect temperament, to keep Major League Soccer a critical part of Salt Lake’s recreational character for years to come.
