>and actually, it was your anti-college ball arguments (I
>think it was you) that made me realize i was being an elitist
>prick...because I thought you (or whoever it was) was being an
>elitist prick about basketball.

sounds like my M.O. lol

>so i wasn't watching the union because "fuck that, they
>couldn't complete two passes in a row. I want that tiki-taka!"
>but once i recognized my fandom of barca and spain (by
>extension) could be due to how that style and that fan base
>inspired my interest in a sport i hadn't really cared about
>before, that didn't mean I had to tie myself only to that one
>reason to root for a team. the union's on TV here, they've got
>some decent young players, a stout backline, and now a coach
>who might have a halfway decent strategy to maximize their
>talent. I'm kinda intrigued to become at least a casual fan.

yeah, it's fun to just follow along, same way I'll go to Single A baseball games from time to time -- a good sporting event is a good sporting event.

>but i don't want to be a "son of ben" because it's so forced.
>like, goddamit, you're a philly team...how the fuck do you not
>use Philly anthems for your music?

the league is only 17-years-old so it's still very much finding its identity. even the Timbers Army (the pinnacle of "authenticity" at this point it would seem) is pretty forced no matter how much history they try and paint on it. I was going to the minor league games. I can recognize the faces of the hardcore soccer fans in Portland who made this crazy thing work because I saw them on a weekly basis in 2010. those aren't the faces you see in the TA any more, so yeah ... it's a growing league. it's why it's SO FUCKING OBNOXIOUS when the ugly, elitist American soccer fan tries to be a dick to people just curious about the league. we're kind of ALL just curious about the league right now, it's too young for many to be able to claim a real history, the more the merrier!