MLS parity leads to league blandness

From its inception, Major League Soccer, built on the single-entity model, has worked to create parity.

And after nine years it appears to exist, but is it quality or mediocrity? Most MLS players would argue the former.

“When I came into this league I was playing outside-back and I was getting up and down the line,” said United defender Mike Petke. “That’s not what I do. I can’t do that now because the level of play has gotten so much better.”

If Petke is right, shouldn’t quality translate into consistency? Only two teams this season have put together a three-game winning streak (the Columbus Crew won four in a row and the Colorado Rapids three) and only three teams — all in the Western Conference — boast a winning record.

One week the Los Angeles Galaxy look impressive, then fizzle the next. Same goes for the San Jose Earthquakes, the Columbus Crew and the MetroStars. The days of seeing a team like D.C. United dominate the league seem to be over.

Surprisingly, United leads the Eastern Conference with a 5-5-5 record. Twenty of a possible 45 points at the halfway mark is not too exciting. The Chicago Fire won the Conference last season with a 15-7-8 record and 53 points.

Still, United’s 6-2 pounding of the MetroStars last week was long overdue. But can the team, or any team for that matter, continue its winning ways? Consistency is the sign a team runs deep with talent.

MLS’s single-entity structure, a sort of semi-socialist idea designed to avoid a salary war, may have fulfilled is purpose. The four-year dynasty of D.C. United was slowly and systematically leveled by the tyranny of the salary cap. Now it is a guess which team rises or falls each week.

“It gives an element of surprise from week in and week out,” said United defender Ezra Hendrickson, who joined MLS in 1997. “There’s no runaway favorite.”

Some critics argue that it is good to have a dominant team in the league for fans to love and hate. The English have Manchester United, Spain has Real Madrid and Germany has Bayern Munich. MLS once had D.C. United.

A blandness has crept into this league.

In the early days, MLS accommodated colorful characters and names jumped off the rosters. United’s 1998 team featured John Harkes, Roy Wegerle, Ben Olsen, Marco Etcheverry, Jaime Moreno, Tony Sanneh, Eddie Pope, Richie Williams, Carey Talley, Carlos Llamosa and Brain Kamler. Quite a lineup. The three goalies — Scott Garlick, Tom Presthus and Mark Simpson — were an amazing vein of talent.

I’m probably guilty of seeing the past through the thick lenses of nostalgia, but I’m not the only one.

“Teams are even, and I suppose it’s good and bad,” said United captain Ryan Nelsen. “The experts are confused when it comes to predictions.”

When the league began in 1996, teams were built around a core of experienced veterans such as Eric Wynalda, Tab Ramos, Harkes and a slew of foreign stars. Those guys had years of soccer experience.

Now teams are propped up by a small group of talented — but young — stars like Bobby Convey, Kyle Martino, DaMarcus Beasley, Eddie Gaven, Ricardo Clark, Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan.

The league’s future is riding on the 15-year-old back of Freddy Adu. These youngsters are exciting to watch, but many will be playing in Europe soon. Convey could be gone by next month and Beasley may soon follow.

Some say there is parity in the NBA, the NFL and NASCAR, but those sports have plenty of well-paid star power. MLS’s strict salary cap of $1.7million a team keeps away the stars and potential investors. Still, it is a necessary evil and the league is doing the best it can. MLS is a solid, 9-year-old league, stadiums are being built and the league has learned from past mistakes.

“We pay much more attention to the draft now and no more has-been players from overseas are coming here just to get money,” Petke said.

It remains to be seen if one team will break from the pack this season.

“You’ve got to ride your waves for as long as you can in a league where there’s parity,” Nelsen said.

Most of us are waiting for that wave.