In the midst of the baseball spring training, March Madness, and NBA teams jockeying for playoff position, there was a news story that definetely didn't get any front-page love.
Major League Soccer and the players' union have reached a deal that will cover them for the next five years. That's huge. A league that young couldn't handle a labor strike. Especially since all of the league's best players would just find work in other leagues anyway.
The MLS season kicks off in four days. So they just barely made the deadline. But there are other leagues, the NFL and NBA in particular, that are looking at new collective bargaining problems in the not so distant future. It's always interesting to see how things shake out when all is said and done.
Personally, I'm thrilled the MLS is back. Portland's MLS team is debuting next year. And that will be insane. I may have to make another site just for all the soccer pandemonium that will be overtaking the house.
It's been a great soccer year in this house. The US qualified for the World Cup, Everton in the EPL has had a great second half of the season - that included Landon Donovan, and now the MLS is going to be assured in our town for at least four years. Not bad. Not bad at all.
There actually are MLS cards out there. I believe UD was making them. It remains to be seen if UD will continue to produce MLS cards after all of these problems have beset them. I'm actually hoping that Panini takes over the license and makes a decent product with autos and game-used. Panini has been doing soccer for a lot longer than they've done basketball. It'd be a natural fit. Let's hope.
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