Terry Foster: How To Feel Soccer's Passion
By Terry Foster
@TerryFoster971
Do you really want to feel soccer's passion?
Then you need to show up 7:30 p.m. tonight at Oakland University when Team Michigan plays the Detroit City Football Club in the opening round of the U.S Cup.
The Northern Guard, Le Rouge, The Club of the People, the Blood and Bones will all be there screaming and hollering and spewing smoke bombs into the air in support of DCFC. There will be more excitement on this campus since Kay Felder dribbled a basketball at the nearby O'rena.
I love going to their games. I love talking to their people, especially Serge, who is the leader of this outfit and sets the agenda. They are real people with real jobs that want to keep sports in their proper prospective.
They are not interested in paying high ticket prices and they are not interested in luxury suites and fancy finger food at games. They will probably meet somewhere before or after the game for a burger and a brew and bring the heat to Team Michigan, a team that will probably win. But that won't silence the voice of the people.
This group outgrew Detroit Cass Tech with crowds that approached 4,000. Now they are moving into 6,000-seat Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck for more leg room and more fun.
They remind us what sports is supposed to be about. It is supposed to be grass roots and fun. However, it has turned into big business. That is why major players like Dan Gilbert and Tom Gores have teamed to bring Major League Soccer to Detroit.
We are talking about $100 franchise fees, a $1 billion complex and high ticket prices. We will see players with big salaries and big names that will fight for the same attention that Miguel Cabrera, Matthew Stafford and Andre Drummond get in this town.
Quite frankly I cannot tell you the name of one player on DCFC and really do not care. This is not as much about the players as it is about the people and their loyalty of this club. Many of you know the story of DCFC.
I encourage you to attend tonight's game. You don't even need a rooting interested.
You won't be disappointed.
(Foster can be reached at Terry.Foster@cbsradio.com)
