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Ed's Comments 03/09/98

Yet Another Case Against the Shoot-Out

Last Thursday evening, 3,500+ people saw the New Orleans Storm play D.C. United, the current (and only) holders of the MLS Cup, to a 2-2 draw. It was an exciting match--two goals by new Storm forward Tony Kuhn, one from United forward Jaimie Moreno, with the tying goal being scored by US National Team captain John Harkes.

The score indicated that nobody left Zephyr Field a winner. That's what advocates of the shoot-out in the MLS and A-League will tell you. They continue to believe that Americans still can't cope with the notion of walking away with from a sporting event without seeing the scoreboard light up with one team having a higher total than their opposition.

Last Thursday's match is a classic example of how faulty this reasoning is. When Harkes evened the score late in the second half, the fans had already been treated to an exciting show. Etcheverry had been sent off at the end of the first half, which meant that United had to play a man down. The champs dug in and continued to attack the Tom Dutra's goal, while fending off the pressure placed on them by our midfielders. When the referee blew the final whistle, the match was over and both sides had lots of which they could be proud.

Extending the match for a shoot-out would have cheapened the moment, to be sure. New Orleans earned both goals scored on United. While United's first goal was the result of a major mental lapse on part of the Storm defense, Harkes' goal was something nice to watch, even when the team being scored upon is your home side. A shoot-out win for United would be no victory; they still didn't get the job done against an A-League team in 90 minutes. Same goes for the Storm. The win wouldn't even be a statistical "W," but rather a "SOW" (Shoot Out Win) in everyone's table. Better to leave the memory of two goals scored against the best team in MLS, as well as the hard comeback by the champs.

The attitude of the crowd at the ballpark is another indication of how much the shoot-out insults the intelligence of the A-League (or MLS) fan. Most folks walked away satisfied that they got their money's worth.