I became a fan of Premier League Soccer after an epic battle with YOShInOn, my smart RSS reader. (I tried to convince it I liked American football and not the other kind of football but in the process of trying to understand why it couldn't learn the difference I changed my mind.)

There's a free Premier League game on NBC OTA TV around 12:30 PM EST and once I got hooked a Peacock subscription seemed like a good idea so I can catch games (somewhat) early on Saturday and Sunday. The university I work at has men's and women's soccer games that I go to (it was fun to go to one where youth players showed up and I felt like we were part of a huge soccer universe) and sooner or later I am going to check out the games of the college on the other hill.

I know there's Major League Soccer here in the US and I understand it's gotten better than it used to be, and I understand you can get an add-on subscription to Apple TV which has all the games. Is there anyone out there who follows MLS?

I try to post a few articles a week about the Premier League and European Soccer and I think it would be great if somebody did the same for MLS, as something interesting has to happen every gameday.

Time zone challenges aside, I’m really appreciating the growth in the competition and the extent that the tournament has grown in popularity, viewership and more importantly recognition.

When I (for the first time) watched the Euro’s last year there was a perceived slower pace of Football and it took some getting used to compared to the pace of, for instance, the Premier League. But after watching a few games I’ve come to realize their game is developing at a high rate - and this World Cup’s excitement, quality of play, and upsets are evident that these players are catching up fast. They really are really putting on a show to be appreciated.

But, like I said in the title, I’m watching Footie from the US.
And, I wish I could say different, but the Fox commentary, in the simplest terms, sucks big time. Their breathless uneducated excitable play by play commentary (especially John Strong’s) detracts to the point that this is not an enjoyable experience at all.

My resolution is to watch the game on Telemundo (in Spanish) so I can appreciate the talent on display, and not suffer the distraction of terrible commentary, but still pick up on the vibe.

If American Soccer wants to evolve, then the TV commentary needs to toned down from overly excitable (and partial) to more informative and educational.

I’m so grateful that the Wall wasn’t built tall enough to not now allow Spanish commentary.