Chasing the GOOAALLLLLLLLL !

I don't think it is going to matter. The Los Angeles Galaxy of the MLS is bringing in one of the most famous athletes in the history of their sport and paying him a potential 250 million dollars and I don't think it is really going to change anything. Not long term. We are going to see more people wearing MLS gear. We are going to see a short term boost that probably quadruples the previous audience for soccer on TV in America. But long term I still don't believe soccer is going to become a major sports draw.

I love sports. I read anything I can get my hands on about sports and during a month where there is almost nothing else to divert my attention I can name exactly one MLS team, the Los Angeles Galaxy. And I will give you a wild guess where I have heard of them. My guess is I am not alone among sports fans.

I can not tell you why the U.S. largely ignores a sport that seems to ignite such passion in most of the rest of the world. I do think it doesn't translate as well on television which is where a great number of American sports fans enjoy their games. Much like ice hockey my guess is it is a lot more fun in person, but I will never be able to tell you for sure because I will never attend a live soccer game. I am just not interested.

The conventional wisdom for the last decade has been as more American kids join soccer leagues the sport would gain ground in exposure and popularity. But while it is true more and more kids are trying it on the field that has not translated into success in the stands. It doesn't always work that way. I used to love to go bowling. I would go once a week and have a great time but I still wasn't going to watch it on TV.

Every once in awhile there is something that sparks America's interest that the soccer followers hope is going to ignite into a passion for the game. Of course the Women's World Cup was one of those events but my guess is the hype that followed that would have died down a lot quicker had Brandi Chastain kept her shirt on. So Becks ( is that what we are calling him) begins his American career by taking his shirt off in a magazine with his wife. My guess is in ten years he will be a lot more famous for that than for anything he does on the soccer field, at least in America.

BO KNOWS Pete Sampras is well deserving of his spot in the Tennis Hall of Fame. What I didn't know until this week was that there was a tennis Hall of Fame. Seriously, tennis and soccer. I hate July.

BO KNOWS Budweiser is not going with Dale Earnhardt Jr. to his new team next year. All the little NASCAR shops in the world are ecstatic as now all the freaks will have to replace all their jackets, license plates, car flags and scale race car models. NASCAR? Aren't their any real sports in summer? I should have written about politics this week.

BO KNOWS baseball attendance is up more than three percent this year but they lost me a few years ago. As a kid I collected every Topps baseball card from 1980-1989 and now I don't even follow the sport. I could care less. The most revered record in what was once America's most revered game is getting ready to be broken and I won't even be watching. Just a few years ago I would even attend a few games in Cincy a year but I haven't been since they opened their new park. The bad thing I don't even know why I quit paying attention. I just lost interest.

BO KNOWS by the next time I post the most anticipated book release in years will be over and many will finally know the fate of Harry Potter.What I can't believe is that people are so anxious to know they would buy a book to tell them what might happen in the book they want to read.

Until next week . Take care of yourselves and may the force be with you.