Fair enough, Reed. But I think it's more important in general that the U.S. gets better at football to aid the 11-a-side team, and a good futsal league would help that more than the rink version has, in my view.

I'm partial because personally I love playing futsal compared to regular indoor football, I should perhaps add.

I was under the impression that coaches thought that playing futsal was counterproductive in developing players for anything other than futsal.

I had never heard of futsal until a few years ago. All indoor soccer leagues near me are the "hockey rink version." How come we're different with that as well?

Perhaps because that's what we have. I know that in Minnesota, they leave the hockey boards up in the parks all summer and kids play five-a-side soccer in them.

I've never heard that about futsal either and it is counter-intuitive to me (and to the Brazilians and Portuguese who grew up playing futsal and now play outside for their national teams).

The rink thing is a red herring. You can play futsal in a rink with boards. They are just out of play.

Perhaps we as a people are resistant to anything with a name like "futsal."

I think kids probably just preferred being able to play the ball off the wall and the original promoters of the pro indoor game thought American fans would like that too because it keeps the game moving.

We used to play indoor soccer in gym class. I liked that because I was more familiar with the tactics of hockey than soccer which came in handy since I, nor my classmates, had any soccer skill so I used to promote a dump-and-chase cycle-in-the corner style.

more goals - more goals - MORE GOALS!!!

That was what MISL powers wanted the new American soccer to know -- screw nil-nil ties, hell, screw the NASL 35 yard line and shootouts -- GOALS are what the new American fan wants!

It was wild to watch Zungul bang em in, but I was/am a purist who always wanted to see U.S. players compete w/ the rest of the world.

Serbs, Brits, Finns and a scattering of Amercans playing for the Cleveland Crunch and the Baltimore Blast entertained the locals but did zilch to improve yankee play.

It is a nice year-round soccer avenue, but i know i ended up more bruised and battered than playing outside.

Now Futsal is pretty damned crazy -- i'll take landing on sand over artificial turf and concrete.

I think kids probably just preferred being able to play the ball off the wall and the original promoters of the pro indoor game thought American fans would like that too because it keeps the game moving.

We used to play indoor soccer in gym class. I liked that because I was more familiar with the tactics of hockey than soccer which came in handy since I, nor my classmates, had any soccer skill so I used to promote a dump-and-chase cycle-in-the corner style.

ESPN on the TFC-Fire thing on McBride

Conde for McBride's rights? Kiss my ass. We have four good central defenders already. This dude clearly missed James' performance on Saturday and the fact that we signed Tebily.

Find us a striker and we'll talk.

Oh for fuck's sake!

How did throwing streamers get equated with racism? Fucking bastard Columbus.

There is absolutely no way TFC will be able to enforce a streamer ban in the southeast corner without a massive ruck with the RPB. This could get very, very interesting.

Is the initial description sensationalist Gramsci? Dunno about you, but I would have a problem with rolled up streamers being thrown at a player during play from a few metres away. That said, the whole tone of the piece fits nicely with the uptight Torontonian low Protestantism that Richard Withall describes in his excellent piece on Goldstone's blog.

On the other topic, I don't recall there being any "amateur" indoor soccer or it being played in schools before the MISL that Cal evokes so accurately. The adoption of "futsal" as the international appellation in English for the "other" version is also a relatively new development of the last ten years or so.

Sorry, which initial description? The one about whipping balled-up streamers? I've no idea. I've not seen it, but then I don't sit close enough to the field to really tell.

I just find it odd how the actions of one racist nutbar in Ohio have suddenly made TFC's fan culture suspect.

It's the Star, Gramsci.

Not exactly the most intellectually rigorous newspaper in North America, eh?

Yeah, but it's not just the Star. A number of US outlets have also been linking the racist incident to the "streamer issue" (at some point I will find them and post them), and there has been a weird drumbeat to get fans to stop with the streamers (including, as I noted earlier, from your boy Bob in Vancouver). Frankly, it's embarassing how much energy is going into this debate and how little comment there has been about the flare- and coin-throwing, which is infinitely more dangerous.