Soccer sucks but it can be fixed

Soccer could learn from baseball. 1968 was the Year of the Pitcher. Denny McLain won 31 games, the last pitcher to do so. Bob Gibson’s 1.12 era was the lowest in the last century. A few baseball purists loved the pitchers’ duals; most fans wanted more scoring. Baseball is a venerable old sport proud of its antique traditions, but baseball officials were not slow to adjust the game. Next year the strike zone was tightened. The alpine pitchers’ mounds from which ’68 pitchers presided were lowered. Offense improved and so did fan interest.

Why doesn’t soccer do the same? A few simple changes could turn this dreary snooze-fest into an interesting game. First, dump the goalie. Make goaltending a penalty as it is in basketball. When your team has the ball and is driving downfield, wouldn’t it be nice to see a score once in a while? Would that be so bad? Next, get rid of “off sides” rules. Imagine soccer with awesome alley-oop passes that result in – gasp! – goals. Wouldn’t that be better?

Like every sport, soccer is fun to play. So is bowling, but I'm not spending an afternoon watching it. If soccer wants to be a fun game to watch, major changes are needed!