Mitch Howard

News about the Arena Football League (AFL) not playing its 2009 season is unsettling and a surprise to many (at this time, statements from the league website are still evolving). The league appeared to be in good shape. Evidence suggested that the league was stabilizing. For 8 home games, each of the 17 teams in […]

In early August of 2006, it was announced that ESPN had paid for the rights to broadcast MLS. At the announcement, officials from both sides agreed that ESPN would brand MLS with all the glory that its broadcasting style conveys to U.S. sports fans. But, another MLS season has come and gone and except for the soccer purists, it has passed […]

The United Soccer Leagues has been a doormat to the MLS for too long. They have allowed MLS to walk all over them. MLS has taken multiple cities from the USL to put into their league and have not suffered any kind of legal troubles or image issues. This has been a coup for MLS. […]

The recent match between the U.S. and Cuba battling for a spot to the 2010 World Cup was a prime example of why soccer must revise its rule involving red-cards. Expulsion from the game for a heinous foul is not the problem. If the foul warrants expulsion, the referee should make the call. What happens after […]

In order for Soccer to make it to the U.S. sports fan's main menu, it must play a schedule that has both sense and purpose. An American professional soccer league must begin play every year 1-2 weeks before the Major League baseball season begins and it must end its regular season 3 weeks before the start of the NFL […]

In order for Soccer to find the success it seeks in the U.S., it must make changes to the traditional rules without changing the integrity of the sport. Soccer can be that viable alternative for sports fans in the U.S. if it plays with American rules and also promotes the game to fit U.S. sports fans expectations, […]