Well, soccer is the most played youth sport in the nation. That is the one hope for us. But unfortunately, propaganda and media idiots like Jim Rome push kids away from the sport, labeling it childish adjectives and not giving it much of a spotlight. The media here loves to highlight how we aren't very good at the game and how we might "never go far because soccer just isn't our sport." Horse shit, we have kids all over the country playing it.
The problem is a combination of things. Mediocre coaching, poor investment, peer pressure and idiotic stereotypes are certainly part of it. But perhaps the most detrimental fact of all is that NBA, NFL and MLB players get outrageous salaries, far more than an MLS player ever will. If that could be reversed overnight, I bet that in the next decade or two we'd have better athletes on the pitch. After all, folks go where the money is. If there wasn't so much hardcore marketing of these other sports, we'd be in great shape.
Which is why I hate the likes of Jim Rome and hope he is removed from the airwaves. He is a cunt, pure and simple.