Soc-cer?

Will I care about one of these people? Or will it be some other group of people?

As I mentioned yesterday (and if you have ever watched ESPN, you're probably already aware) the World Cup is ongoing. My personal interest is ebbing for the moment; even though I have pretty much every match on the television, at this point I'm just waiting for the next U.S game (which is Friday morning). I will say that I was particularly disappointed in the Spanish for losing, though I'll blame it on my personal hero Cesc Fabregas being injured.

Just like the last World Cup, though, this one is having a strange and drastic effect on my life as a soccer fan. In 2006, I became one. I hadn't really watched soccer at all before that World Cup, and I ended up watching practically every game that was played, if not actually every game. From there I fell into club soccer via the next summer's Champions League (I'll admit that I almost became a Chelsea fan), and then I became a full-fledged Arsenal fan soon after, after some convincing by a friend.

Now, though, I fear that I may have gone too far. I am considering taking on an MLS team.

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Now, I know what you're saying. "Thomas, the level of play in MLS isn't high enough to warrant that commitment." "Thomas, you're already dangerously overloaded with sports, with all four major sports and the EPL." "Thomas, soccer sucks." And you're right, except for whoever said the last one. No, you suck, whoever you are.

But I don't think I care. No matter how worthless it seems to be, I think it may be time. I am a soccer fan, and I am an American, so it should stand to reason that I am an American soccer fan. It would be nice if someday, the MLS wasn't considered to be essentially a minor league, not even really on par with the lesser European leagues. So I'm going to jump on the MLS bandwagon now, I think, and get ahead of the game.

Here's the problem, though: I have no idea what team to root for. There's no team in Indianapolis. There is one in Chicago, but I am not really a Chicago sports fan, so I'm not sure whether I want to get into that. Typically I'm a New York/Boston sports fan, but I refuse to root for a Red Bull team, and for some reason the Revolution don't really do anything for me.

I'm thinking I may go old-school with my pick. I've always had an odd affinity for the Pacific Northwest for some reason; I think it may be due to my political leanings as well as the fact that much of my mother's family is from that part of the country. Also, I used to be a huge Mariners fan, back when Ken Griffey, Jr. was the best baseball player in the world.

There are a few teams in that area. Currently only one is actually in MLS; that would be Seattle Sounders FC. Also though, in the next couple of years two more teams will join MLS in the region: the Portland Timbers and the Vancouver Whitecaps. So I guess if I'm willing to wait until 2011, I can go with one of those two.

I'm really bad at making decisions, and since all of these teams are rivals I can't just root for all of them. So I am opening the decision to you, my loyal readers. If anyone has suggestions or input, I welcome it. I won't necessarily just count up votes, but I'll take all input into consideration.

Arsenal is non-negotiable, though.