![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Gold-Cup-Soldier-Field.jpg?resize=615%2C350\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
MLS fans, coaches, and players may have conspired (or not) to shut the Revolution out of this year’s All-Star Game, but that doesn’t necessarily render it meaningless to the New England soccer fan.<\/p>\n
With the league’s midsummer classic on tap, we give you plenty of reasons to watch the league’s best against Real Madrid on Wednesday. <\/p>\n
1. Former Revolution defender and native New Englander Michael Parkhurst (Cranston, R.I.) will suit up for the All-Stars. The current Atlanta United captain was named to his fifth All-Star game, and hey, it’s always neat to a see the spotlight shine on a local guy.<\/p>\n
2. It may be a glorified preseason friendly for Madrid, but make no mistake: the Spanish giants are sure to put on a show, even without Cristiano Ronaldo. <\/p>\n
3. MLS All-Star games, regardless of the opponent, are typically both action-packed and competitive, something few pro leagues can boast about their iterations. Don’t even get me started on the NFL’s Pro Bowl. <\/p>\n
4. It’s the perfect opportunity to debate whether MLS should return to the East-West format. Remember: it’s not real unless you take it to Twitter (and @ Alexi Lalas, too). And if you want to kick it up a notch, @ Ted Westervelt while you’re at it.<\/p>\n
5. Those All-Star jerseys, though. The return of the ’94 USA denim kit motif has been long overdue. On the flip side, if you’re not a fan of the design, you won’t be tempted to fork over the money for the Lee Nguyen (or even Diego Fagundez) model.<\/p>\n
6. Watching four of Chicago’s best players putting themselves at risk for injury and\/or loss of fitness for a friendly only days before they face the Revolution can only aid the locals. Am I right?<\/p>\n
7. To the above point, not having to worry about a Revolution star pick up a knock or even diminish his ability to contribute for a huge road match against a conference foe on Saturday is also another win for local fans. You can’t get hurt if you’re not playing. <\/p>\n
8. Two words: hate watch. Hate watch Revolution killers Diego Valeri, Sebastian Giovinco, and Ignacio Piatti. Hate watch them all potentially set themselves up to get embarrassed by Madrid’s B-teamers. Watch, and then laugh. Then laugh some more. <\/p>\n
9. Historical symmetry: 23 years ago, the opening ceremony for USA ’94 was held at Soldier Field. This came at a time in which we had no true division 1 league and National Team matches drew four-figure crowds. On Wednesday, Soldier Field will host the league’s 21st All-Star game at a time when the sport is healthier than ever in the U.S.<\/p>\n
10. Commissioner Don Garber usually drops big news during his halftime interview, usually related to expansion or rules or some big-name signing. It’ll be interesting to see what the Commish has up his sleeve this time around.<\/p>\n
11. If the All-Stars win, then the aforementioned Lalas – the original Revolution All-Star (along with Welton!) – is apt to say something controversial\/dumb\/prescient. This alone is worth tuning in. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
No Revs? No problem, even if you’re a local fan. Here’s why. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[897],"tags":[891,550,1661,892],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Gold-Cup-Soldier-Field.jpg?fit=754%2C429&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46251"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46251"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46262,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46251\/revisions\/46262"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/46093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}