Next They'll Call It Soccer!

When Major League Soccer kicked off, it featured a host of different rules that were seen as trying to "Americanize" the world's game - playoffs, a count-down clock, college draft, etc. One of the more loathed changes was the shootout: if the game was tied after 90 minutes, the two teams engaged in something like penalty shots in hockey until a winner was determined. The goal (so to speak) was to eliminate draws, an anathema to American sports fans, and hopeful that it would encourage attacking soccer. Purists weren't happy with the shootout, even though it was an improvement over the traditional penalty kick situation. MLS ditched the shootouts in 2000 and finally consented to draws in 2004 under pressure from FIFA.

Apparently the failure of MLS's experiment hasn't made it across the pond, as the English Football League (the divisions below the top-flight Premier League) are apparently considering using penalty kicks to decide games that are tied at the end of regulation. If these comments are any indication, the fans will revolt at such a change. What's a little unfair, however, is the excessive "the Americans are coming" screeds, which ignore the fact that MLS has done away with its experiments and plays the world's game now. However, those fans are upset with good reason - there's really no need to avoid draws in league play. Knock-out tournament games are another matter, of course, and so far there has been no good solution in those competitions for avoiding the dreaded PK shootout.

Personally, I don't have a problem with tie games, assuming they are the product of two relatively equal teams playing hard to win. What drives me nuts is the idea of one team playing for a draw because it lacks the talent/skill/strategery to win the game. There's no same in two teams battling to a draw. There's not a whole lot of honor in playing not to lose (and it produces some boring soccer, to boot). The only way to avoid those kind of situations, however, is to eliminate draws altogether and let 'em play until one side wins, ala basketball or baseball. Both teams would play harder and more offensively, I think, if one of them had to win it.