As much as I agree with you, Tim, I have to say that switching to futsal would
probably do to the
league what low attendance and folding franchises have not yet done; kill it.

The consenus I have gotten from BB posters (mind you, they are probably they
"trekkies" of the soccer
world ("Yeah, I've seen those before. I think they're called girls or
something."), but they do have
strong opinions) is that they feel futsal is too boring, especially on the team
handball court, and
wouldn't pay to see it. The view is that it's a great training tool, and
nothing more. Never mind that
people by the thousands show up in Europe and Latin America to see futsal
matches, I have come to
believe that the 30-year head start that the "turf-n-boards" version has may,
unfortunately, be
insurmountable. I myself have turned from futsal to the traditional
five-a-side game (and getting
nowhere in the process), and even though I've never played it, it looks like it
would be more feasible
to become to soccer what softball is to baseball (due mainly to the fact that
it's mostly an outdoor
game, played with a regular ball). I pray that I'm wrong, but here are a lot
of prayers that are
answered with "No."

Although I've more or less sworn off the tiny, pre-FIFA court, after seeing some
old clips, I still think
they could shrink the court (um, sorry, I mean pitch) down some and still make
it entertaining, but still
allow for ball skills. But as it stands now, I think futsal would get the big
yawn here inthe States, and
would be panned by most soccer "fans," particualrly those who have grown up with
American indoor.

But you are right.