Columnist Nick Green has written 100 Percent Soccer
since 2005. A
native of England, he began writing about soccer in
the mid-1980s and in 2000 permanently exchanged a seat
in the stands for one in
the press box. He lives six miles from Carson's Home
Depot Center, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas
USA and the training headquarters for U.S. Soccer.
Married to a long-suffering soccer widow, he has a cat
named Pele.Mapping MLS
Good morning class.
Today's topic: geography.
Being married to map geek (known professionally as a geographic information systems analyst) means acquiring an appreciation for the world of cartography.
MLS recently issued an interesting map showing the cosmopolitan origins of its players, which makes even more interesting reading when compared to last year's version.
The most striking difference: the number of Argentines in MLS (10 as of March 26) has now exceeded the number of Brazilians (9); last year there were only five Argentines compared to eight Brazilians in the league.
The importation of foreign talent means more competition for Americans to make MLS rosters. This year 229 Americans found places on MLS rosters, compared to 218 last year. And that's with an additional team in the league.
That's raised the quality of play, most observers agree, but it also has repercussions for the development of young American talent.
Still, attendance is up.
Finally, with the 39th anniversary of Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon approaching, here's a fun map that puts his lunar journey into perspective for soccer fans.
Class dismissed.
Comments
Wow! Dyachenko really gives MLS a lot of bang for their buck as far as earth coverage goes.
Useless, yet actually very interesting stuff, Nick. Thanks.
Posted by: FlapJack | April 17, 2008 9:38 AM
Great article with a lot of interesting info. Will there be a test on this? Thank you, Nick.
Posted by: Frank | April 17, 2008 5:27 PM
Cool Map! It doesn't seem to list all the players though. For example, the Galaxy's own Alvaro Pires is missing.
Nick replies: Yeah, he was signed too late for inclusion.
Posted by: Gabe | April 17, 2008 5:35 PM