Tom Veit, president of the newly minted Philadelphia Union, likes to dream big. No piddly ambitions for Tom, he's obviously a "If you're gonna do it, do it big" kind of guy.

Goal.com's John Mantia has an interesting interview with Philly's top guy today, an interview in which Mantia states that Veit and the Union have ambitions to be the preeminent soccer brand in not only the United States, but in the entire Western Hemisphere.

Pretty ballsy stuff.

Good for Veit, and good for the Union. While such lofty goals are clearly out of reach for the immediate future, the club should be applauded for aiming high. Simply "getting by" isn't enough for MLS clubs anymore, and there's no reason that an American team shouldn't be looking to punch above it's perceived weight straight out of the shoot (apologies for the mixed metaphors). As we've seen with Seattle, immediate success is attainable if the club is properly marketed.

While we'll have to wait and see on Philly, it's good to know that someone else in this league is aiming for the stars. Perhaps Seattle's success (and to a lesser extent, TFC's) has emboldened the new expansion clubs to be more than a break-even proposition. It's take money to make money, or so the old saying goes, and it sounds like Phiadelphia's ownership is ready to make in investment in the club's long term future.

All of this leads me to believe that perhaps the Union coaching (manager?) hirer might just make a significant splash. No hard reasons, just speculation. I won't dismiss something out of hand just because MLS is still "minor league"; enough money and a hard enough sell can get almost anyone without a job to bite.

Veit is going to be great for the modern league from what I can tell, and he certainly appears to know how to put on a show in the media. This can only be good for MLS as far as I'm concerned, unreasonable aims or not.

Besides, the league news a new resident hype man with no more Alexi Lalas.