Twenty games. A total of eight different cities in four different states, and an island that may one day become a state, or its own country. This is not even including going to watch the US National team, Open Cup matches and watching/reporting on the new Pittsburgh Women's team, the Steel City Sparks.
I will be watching and reporting on games from the lowest to the highest level possible. All the time trying to define "soccer culture."
In a way the Pittsburgh area is a wonderful microcosm of American soccer, a mixed bag of dedicated and casual fans from all strides of life. It is not uncommon to find a minivan full of kids next to an expensive BMW parked across from a 1978 rusted, old Impala. The game generally receives good press coverage and then is sometimes backhanded by the same media outlets.
The ethnic communities around the city have embraced and ignored the Hounds. For example, an Italian language radio program gives the scores and highlights of a game while a Spanish language program does not, all the while supporting local leagues for both kids and adults.
Soccer has had some great success over the years but the various teams were unable to turn that success into gold at the box office. Or when the team did pack their stadium, the season was not what many of the fans hoped for. Soccer in many cities and at various times has suffered the same fate.
Following the Hounds would also allow me to experience how teams as diverse as a first year team playing in a high school stadium (Cleveland on June 12, 2004) compare to a first year team playing in their own stadium (Harrisburg on May 8, 2004). What different challenges would each face? How did they overcome these challenges? What can be learned from this? How will the challenges faced by the amateur Sparks, a first year women's team, differ from those of a professional men's team? How will they be similar? Will a crowded media market be able to survive two teams?
Of course I will not just be following the Hounds, a trip to Virginia Beach on June 18, 2004 will allow me to see a team much like the Hounds. The Mariners have had their successes and their failures, and many times seemed to be on the edge of extinction. The Sportsplex was one of the first soccer specific stadiums in the country and has been a curse and a savior for the team, and from what I understand is undergoing some upgrades. Hopefully when I'm in the area Mr. Field will take a few minutes out of his busy day and talk to me about the running of what just may become one of the stronger franchises in the USL.
The trip that I am looking forward to occurs in mid-July when I fly to Puerto Rico and watch the Islanders and the Silverbacks battle each other twice over a long weekend. The Islanders have invested a lot of money into Juan Ramón Loubriel Municipal Stadium in Bayamón and are rumored to have in place a sponsorship deal with a major airline. Will the Islanders tap into the collective conscious of the Puerto Rican people and become successful? Or will the travel costs and other expenditures prove to be too much for the young team? In either case the trip to the island will allow me to experience football in a truly Hispanic culture.
In Columbus, I hope to sit with the diehard supporters of the Crew and soak up the atmosphere as I attend the season opener and a game in early September.
