Three Anglicans walk into a bar…

The first one says… well you know how these jokes go.  It all ends up with a polar bear saying “But I didn’t eat her.”.  However what isn’t a joke is how the MLS championship game played out( cheap and gratuitous intro I know, but we are in a recession so cheap is a good deal here).  One of the key pharses I picked up on during the broadcast was the description of Columbus’ play as “workmanlike”.  Yes quite possibly the most common back handed compliment on the planet.  Why would any sport team want to walk away from a match with the tag of “workmanlike”?  Yet maybe this is the identity the MLS is slowly but surely craving out for itself.  The Bojan Krikics, and Patos of this world are not ringing up their agents demanding a move to Columbus or Salt Lake City.  And the youth development system in this country are I believe a generation away from producing a steady stream of world class players.  So until then what realistic identity but workmanlike can this league have.  A sure imperative for football’s success not just in this country but within the world landscape is for the MLS to have a style of play that is easily identifiable.  Now workmanlike may not sound as sexy as the plethora of cliched adjectives that are heaped upon European and South American leagues ad nauseum, but workmanlike is something MLS can build upon.  Soon the league will expand into two more cities, growth for the leaue is steady.  The next step will be to focus on the international club competitions.  The Concacaf Champions tournement is definitely where coaches, league officals, and players must look to excel.  Joining the ranks of La Liga, the EPL, and Serie A is a long and slow process, but one which looks promising.