Josiah and I attended our first soccer game today in its entirety. We occasionally watch some games at Peavey Park, but not usually for very long. So it's not every day we can watch the NSC Stars play and defeat the Montreal Impact 1-0.
In order to get to Minnesota's only current professional soccer stadium, I had to rent an HourCar. Blaine is a decent sized city, but lacks transit. Of all the sporting events Josiah and I will be attending this summer, soccer is the only one in Minnesota requiring a car. That is unfortunate because attendance could have been much higher.
Another thing I found odd was the lopsided demographics. Of the less than 900 who attended the game, very few were people of color. Isn't soccer (football) supposed to be an international sport? I think the local team should be advertising in more urban media, because some of my East African and Hispanic co-workers have no clue we have a team. Some still thought the Minnesota Thunder existed, which they do not. If attendance and interest does not improve, I doubt we will get an MLS team as previously speculated. Perhaps in twenty years.
With so few in attendance, there was little need for more than one concession stand. As typical, they had little to nothing for vegans or vegetarians. They had nachos and cheese in addition to giant pretzels with cheese. These were both overly salty. For carnivores they had typical hamburgers, hotdogs, and chili-dogs. What is nice is they had an actual grill there, so these aren't your McDonald's style sitting under a heat-lamp burgers! Siah naturally wanted a hamburger (no cheese).
Soccer and basketball are Josiah's two favorite sports. Unlike the Twins game I went to a couple years prior where we left early, he was very much involved in watching this game. I had to ask him to keep his comments positive and not make derogatory remarks about the other team, to include their speaking French. I have nothing against the French, but for Josiah his feelings go beyond anything I had realized.
Another thing that annoyed Josiah was that no one had scored. Perhaps his goalies at school aren't quite to adept, but soccer is naturally a low-scoring game. So when #18 Mevlin Tarley scored the sole goal of the game for the Stars with about twelve minutes left, Siah was ecstatic. When we left the stadium for going home, all Siah could talk about was the game and how we had won.
My big issue with the sport is how awful it can be to the brain. Do you really need to hit the ball going at such high speeds with your head? I know helmets would change the "look" of the game, but it is foolish to assume players are not injured.
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