MLS Goes American Idol: Seattle Fans Pick Player
It’s just the latest proof that the world of sports is nearing total apocalypse, but it’s a good one: the MLS’s newest team, the Seattle Sounders, are officially opening the team’s final roster spot to the whimsy of largely uneducated, online fans.
(This guy was a reality TV hit, but can Seattle copy Chivas’ thunder?)
According to the soccer blog THE OFFSIDE, the Sounders will post a list of contenders for the team’s final spot on the web site KING5.COM, the local TV station that will be hosting the tryout. Note that the contest is being hosted by local media, not the team’s official web site. The trialists will have bios, “comments from evaluators” and videos on the web site. And of course they’ll have their photos, which greatly increases the possibility that, for the first time, an athlete could make a professional roster just because pre-teen web savvy girls think he’s cute.
It’s worth noting that the winner of the online vote isn’t guaranteed the roster spot, but rather is given one of four spots in the competition’s final tryout show, which will air after the Super Bowl. Still, with a professional contract on the line, getting even a one-in-four shot is huge, particularly given just how unreliable a one-time exhibition can be. After all, how else can we explain Frederic Weis?
