I've seen lots of internet traffic from people lamenting the end of football season, wishing for August/September to come quickly so they can get their fix. I used to be that guy...used to follow football season all during the off-season when nothing is happening. The Offseason is one of the 4 seasons, right? There's Pre-Season, Regular Season, Post-Season and Off-Season.
The usual options are there. The NBA season is happening (blah). Baseball starts in April (better, but still some blah). March Madness is fun, but it's only a few weeks. Hockey is in full swing and its season will wind down in May and have playoffs in the Summer.
Why not consider soccer? This is a great time to check things out. Any sports fan has some form of ESPN, and every Saturday morning (and many Sundays) they'll show an English Premier League game in High Def. If you're a bigger sports fan you have a more advanced TV package and may have the Fox Soccer Channel. On Comcast in Nashville it's channel 707. They show games ALL THE TIME - just ask my wife;). While it's not in HD (BOO COMCAST) they show lots of games from the EPL and Serie A, the top league in Italy.
So why is now a good time to check soccer out?
1. The Premier League season is just past its halfway point and the race at the top is tight. There are no playoffs in the league, so the winner is the team with the most points at the end. The rest of the teams are fighting to make sure they're in the top 4 spots so they qualify for next year's Champion's League tournament. At the bottom of the table (standings) the bottom 3 teams will be relegated, so you'll see them fighting for their league lives to avoid being pushed to the next league down, and losing TONS of revenue.
2. Several tournaments are happening during the league season and they're getting to the end stages. The FA Cup pits all levels of professional clubs in England against each other. Many EPL giants still remain, but so do many smaller clubs - and right now those smaller clubs have the chance to be giant killers since there are 8 teams left and we're in knockout rounds. The other BIG tournament happening is Champions League, which includes the top 4 teams from each top league in Europe. We're getting down to the end of CL and this is when you truly see some of the best teams and players in the world testing each other.
3. It's a free flowing game in a more compact package. While you're used to watching a football game that generally lasts 3 hours and has frequent breaks in play, commercials and timeouts a soccer game lasts a tidy 2 hours and the only break in play is halftime. Get your snacks and beer at the start because if you leave you might miss something.
The common complaint about soccer is that it's boring. I'd really urge you to give it a shot - and watching EPL is a perfect place to start as the pace is generally very fast. Currently several Americans are having success in England. Tim Howard is a fixture in goal for Everton. Clint Dempsey has become America's best soccer player and is one of the league's top scorers at Fulham. Landon Donovan is on another short term loan at Everton, but he's making a difference and they're winning more games with him in the midfield. Bolton is a struggling club that is waiting for Stu Holden to heal from injury, and also just signed American defender Tim Ream. My Spurs signed the aging but still top flight Brad Friedel at keeper and he's having a stellar season.
Those of us in Nashville have a VERY cool opportunity coming up in March with Olympic qualifiers. We'll have the U.S. team here along with 3 other countries and will have three days of doubleheaders. The games are at LP field and all seating is in the lower bowl with tickets starting at $20. My family went to the U.S. Mens Team friendly against Paraguay recently and it was an awesome experience. These games will count toward something so expect goals and for the teams to be "going for it".
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