I am sure many of you have read the ridiculous and embarrassing article in the NY Times on MLS fans and their supposed appropriation of European soccer culture. If you haven't read it, you've probably heard the ruckus.
The article is called "The Dark Side of American Soccer Culture" and is by Jay Caspian Kang. It is completely ridiculous and a disgrace to a paper that should know better.
The theme - to the extent one can be identified - is that American soccer fans - the white ones anyway - derive their traditions and inspiration from Europe. This means they building on an inherently racist and xenophobic model; indeed, that is the quiet undercurrent of MLS fans in general. The author thinks we would all be much better off deriving our soccer traditions from Latin American fans - especially Mexican fans. His support for this seems to be attendance at one Sounders game, the content of a 25-year-old Bill Buford book on soccer hooligans and a whole lot of rampant speculation.
There are too many things wrong with this article to even name them all. The crazy leap from isolated incidents far removed from the U.S. to modern U.S. fan culture. The rampant factual inaccuracy. The ignoring of counterpoints. The claiming of xenophobia by means of following foreign culture (a clear oxymoron). The general fact that the experience described is completely at odds with any rational experience of an MLS match. The fact that this is the NY Times and the article reads like a blog post from a 13-year-old.
The article can be found here. Please have at it in the comments section.
Here is a terrific takedown by Hudson River Blue. Maybe the best thing ever written on that blog.
Here is Don Garber's reaction.
Is there anyone here who even remotely identifies with this article? I sure don't.
The article is called "The Dark Side of American Soccer Culture" and is by Jay Caspian Kang. It is completely ridiculous and a disgrace to a paper that should know better.
The theme - to the extent one can be identified - is that American soccer fans - the white ones anyway - derive their traditions and inspiration from Europe. This means they building on an inherently racist and xenophobic model; indeed, that is the quiet undercurrent of MLS fans in general. The author thinks we would all be much better off deriving our soccer traditions from Latin American fans - especially Mexican fans. His support for this seems to be attendance at one Sounders game, the content of a 25-year-old Bill Buford book on soccer hooligans and a whole lot of rampant speculation.
There are too many things wrong with this article to even name them all. The crazy leap from isolated incidents far removed from the U.S. to modern U.S. fan culture. The rampant factual inaccuracy. The ignoring of counterpoints. The claiming of xenophobia by means of following foreign culture (a clear oxymoron). The general fact that the experience described is completely at odds with any rational experience of an MLS match. The fact that this is the NY Times and the article reads like a blog post from a 13-year-old.
The article can be found here. Please have at it in the comments section.
Here is a terrific takedown by Hudson River Blue. Maybe the best thing ever written on that blog.
Here is Don Garber's reaction.
Is there anyone here who even remotely identifies with this article? I sure don't.