New Year's soccer resolutions
If 2007 was the year of Beckham, Blanco and Bye-Bye Bruce (Arena), then what will 2008 hold in store for fans of North American soccer?
Of course, most supporters would love to see more goals, more exciting matches and an uninterrupted string of victories for their team of choice, but apart from cheering themselves hoarse, there is little they can actually do to influence matters.
Here is my list of resolutions that I am promising myself as I follow Major League Soccer and the world game during the forthcoming 12 months.
• I will stop writing about David Beckham more than any other player in MLS. Unless he continues to be the most-talked about player (and the most interesting character) in the league. Then I won't stop.
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• I will make sure I appreciate it when I watch Cuauhtemoc Blanco on the ball. His legs are going and he probably has only a couple of years left, but he still has a superb touch and an incredible soccer brain.
• I will not laugh out loud the next time Bruce Arena links his name with a job for which he has zero chance of even being short-listed.
• I will never reveal the identity of the player who carried around a life-size cardboard cut-out of Eddie Johnson for more than an hour at the Commissioner's Party two nights before MLS Cup.
• I will take it easy on Frank Yallop if the San Jose Earthquakes have a horrible start to the season. It is getting progressively harder to put together a competitive squad as an expansion franchise in MLS.
• I will stop privately counting the number of times Ruud Gullit says the word "huge" in his press conferences. I should be looking at his suits instead and wondering how many more years I will have to save up to be able to afford one like his.
• I will continue to hope Toronto FC's phenomenal fans get the kind of team they deserve.
• I will persuade Yahoo! Sports' boxing and MMA writer Kevin Iole to take in a Premiership game at St James's Park when he travels to Newcastle for a UFC event in January.
• I will keep my fingers crossed that Guillermo Barros Schelotto returns to the Columbus Crew. I don't think he will, though.
• I will try to keep my eye on the game when Chivas USA fans unfurl their incredible banner that covers one entire end of the Home Depot Center.
• I will try very hard to stop laughing and shaking my head at the refereeing of Jair Marrufo.
• I will not use the word "dynasty" to describe the Houston Dynamo until they have won at least one more MLS championship.
• I will not sulk about the fact that England is not in Euro 2008.
• I will keep an open mind about the Colorado Rapids' chances this season until at least May, even though my gut feeling tells me they will struggle again.
• I will try not to use the phrase "four finals in six years" when I next interview New England Revolution coach Steve Nicol.
• I will not let anyone convince me that D.C. United would have been better off if it had signed Juan Sebastian Veron.
• I will make sure I take in a game at Real Salt Lake this season. But it will probably be in the middle of summer.
• I will make sure that the next time I cover a New York Red Bulls home game, I negotiate another dinner invite to the house of Yahoo! Sports NBA columnist Adrian Wojnarowski. His lovely wife Amy is the finest cook in the United States, bar none.
• I will stop writing about how unsuitable Arrowhead Stadium is for an MLS team. It doesn't matter now that the Kansas City Wizards' new facility is going to be built.
• I will not be surprised when Jessica Simpson dumps Tony Romo for a member of FC Dallas because she gets a better welcome at Pizza Hut Park than at Texas Stadium.
• I will stop picking on the bone-headed NFL fans who think that helmets, steroids and Lycra make theirs the most manly of all sports.
Best wishes to all Yahoo! Sports readers in 2008.
