I'm headed up to Philly tomorrow to take in the last domestic warm up match before the US National Team boards a plane with our hopes and dreams shoved firmly in their pockets. I'll be going as a fan, which means my insight will be that of a fan; the experience of cheering on your team in person will never really allow for in-depth breakdowns of individual performances and tactics, but it might provide a grander sense of how the team plays as a whole.


Which is why I'm glad that this is the game I'm able to make, that Bradley has announced his intention to put a team that will be as close to his first choice lineup as is possible, and that I'll be in the stadium to see them play together. Of course I'll be closely watching Onyewu, looking for any lingering vision issues with DeMerit, anxiously assessing the play of whichever forward Bradley sends out, etc., etc.; all of that behavior is the price I pay for writing a blog, the kind of thing I can't avoid even if I wanted to.


But I know that I'll also be distracted. It will be nearly impossible to properly track the game in a way that would result in any meaningful conclusions beyond the most general. Maybe I'll record it at home and review it later. Maybe not.


Either way, I'm going to enjoy being a fan tomorrow. I can't make it to South Africa, so this is as close as I'm going to get to seeing World Cup soccer.


Although I'm sure they won't agree it's warranted, the excitement I'm feeling today and the experience I hope to have tomorrow makes me pity those in the blogging world that choose to set themselves apart as unbiased analysts of the sport (not the pros though; they get paid, which trumps missing out on the fan experience). It's their chosen path, sure, but by removing themselves from the passionate aspects of soccer they've forsaking a major component of appreciating the sport. It can make people callous and cynical, because they lose (or never had) the ability to see things from a fan's perspective. Even the most irrational among us gets to enjoy the game in a way those analysts never can, and though it's difficult to place a value on experience because it is so personal from individual to individual, I can't help but think they're missing out on something big.


Still, they're a needed part of the ever-evolving fabric of American soccer, and so I should probably just shut up now.


I digress. Philly here I come.


If you'll be in Philly as well, drop me a line somehow, maybe we can meet up for a beer or just to shake hands.