Go Northwest, Young Man!

It is officially victory week for those of us who love both Major League Soccer and that glorious region of our nation(s) known as the Pacific Northwest. I spent two of the happiest years of my life among the Oregon evergreens, and from experience can say that Portland is one of the most beautiful cities in the nation, with the most wonderful people you will meet anywhere.

And this special region will now boast three professional teams to battle each other for years to come in Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, BC. Even the NBA couldn't manage to hold onto that awesome triumvirate, as only Portland could hang onto their team.

So why is the Pac Northwest suddenly the soccer capital of the nation? Not St. Louis, or Montreal, or Miami? Because the laid-back, festive, open-minded, liberal, passionate Northwest is the region most tempermentally suited to soccer. It's no coincidence. A stroll across the Hawthorne bridge past Pioneer Courthouse Square towards PGE park is all it should take to convince a visitor that Portland was the natural choice for expansion. Downtown Seattle has positively screamed for a soccer team since before any of the sports fanatics living there even considered the possibility. The Vancouver waterfront (another sight you simply must see) is the most natural space possible for the roar of an outdoor crowd in a pure celebration of sport.

I want the best and the most for this league, but as long as the game doesn't have the popularity of football, baseball or basketball, the upside for its fans is that we don't have to deal with the massive egos, fans who go to get drunk and start fights, eight-million-dollar salaries who sit on the bench rather than play out of position, clubhouse wars being waged through the media, unlicensed weapon charges or homophobic amateur rap lyrics.

This is why using the Northwest to springboard this league is exactly the right move. Everything I just listed is anathema to the ethic of the evergreens. The Blazers' popularity cratered when the criminal convictions piled up. The fans ran the team's best player (Rasheed Wallace) out of town when his ego and temper proved an embarrassment to the city. The athletes of the Northwest are expected to engage with the fans and to recognize that the fans' passion is the only reason they get to play sports for a living.

I applaud the Don and the league for going Northwest. 2011 can't come soon enough for me.