The MLS Game Is Not So Beautiful

By CHRIS RASMUSSEN

To many Americans, soccer is boring, foreign and, according to the National Review, a manifestation of the “Marxist concept of the labor theory of value.”

I like watching international soccer, even when I don’t have a rooting interest and often while curled up on the couch reading a well-worn copy of Das Kapital. Nowhere else in sport does a famous manager use astrology to select his lineup, although Trey Hillman soon might feel a temptation to consult biorhythms when selecting bullpen pitchers.

I’m not alone. Millions of Americans wake up early on Saturdays and Sundays to watch the English Premier League or Serie A from Italy aired on stations positioned between obscure religious broadcasts and pornography on their digital cable channel guides.