Poke the Bear Reprise

I know, I know. This is getting to be something of a habit. Perhaps I'll decide to turn it into a regular column for next season, or maybe kick off the year with a little MLS Pokefest 2009. Whatever the case, I just wanted to have a little bit of a dig at something that ticked me off about "the" MLS ;-).

So, the Commish, Ivan the Terrible, has a sorta blog-like thing over on MLSNet.com entitled "The Commissioner Speaks." Ruh-roh! Right off the bat, you've got to have a bad feeling about this, as in "I speak, you listen . . . you pathetic sniveling hordes so desperate for a quality professional domestic soccer product that you'll crawl through midden heaps and brave the Fire Swamp with its attendant R.O.U.S.'s."

I beg your pardon.

An overreaction? Perhaps. But then why are there no comments on this vaguely blog-ish pile of words? The mysterious hooded and robbed monks that haunt the halls of MLS HQ don't really seem intent on having a conversation with their fans, at least in my estimation. Oh, they're perfectly willing to put out their point of view (sometimes), but it's a rather one-sided conversation at best.

Add to that the secrecy involving transfers, the clandestine rules changes that allow previously-illegal roster adjustments to somehow become legit, the failure to embrace the fans that are the lifeblood of the league (and ignoring said fans' plights), the failure to pony up and pay the journeyman and young players that will improve the quality and depth of the league, and the general "we've got them by the sack" attitude, and MLS becomes a much harder dame to love. Kinda cold and distant, you never know what she's thinking . . . you start wondering if she's running around behind your back or has a dagger hidden in her purse.

Is this just part of the process? Love the club but hate (or at least be mightily suspicious of) the league? Am I just spouting nonsense, or do you feel it too? Or am I just a bitter old curmudgeon lashing out because my team is plumbing new depths of suckitude?