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378: US Pro Soccer's "League 1 America" - With Jim Paglia

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Release Date: 01/13/2025

386: The NHL's Unlikely First Season - With Bob Duff show art 386: The NHL's Unlikely First Season - With Bob Duff

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info_outline 385: Batavia's Baseball 385: Batavia's Baseball "Homestand" - With Will Bardenwerper

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info_outline 384: Basketball's Nomadic Nets - With Rick Laughland show art 384: Basketball's Nomadic Nets - With Rick Laughland

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info_outline 383: The Original San Jose Earthquakes - With Eric Gouldsberry show art 383: The Original San Jose Earthquakes - With Eric Gouldsberry

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We're positively kvelling over the brand new anthology from this week's guest Eric Gouldsberry - "" - which vividly (and lovingly) portrays the thrilling early days of the original San Jose Earthquakes franchise (1974-84) of the old North American Soccer League, and the transformative impact it brought to the Bay Area's fast-growing Santa Clara Valley. Through his personal journey as a devoted fan and with never-before-seen images captured by his father - "official unofficial" team photographer Ray Gouldsberry - Eric brings to life the magic of a team that ignited an untapped soccer fan base...

info_outline 382: The ABA Players' 382: The ABA Players' "Waiting Game" - With Michael Husain

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info_outline 381: 381: "Selling Baseball" - With Jeff Orens

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We hearken back to baseball's humble beginnings this week, as author/historian Jeff Orens ("") takes us on a journey through the late 19th century, when the game was rapidly evolving from a casual pastime to America's national sport - with two larger-than-life figures at the center of its transformation. In Orens' telling, players-turned-sports-businessmen George Wright (Cincinnati Red Stockings, Boston Red Stockings, Boston Red Caps, Providence Grays, and later, Wright & Ditson Co.), and Albert Spalding (Rockford Forest Citys, Boston Red Stockings, Chicago White Stockings, and his...

info_outline 380: The MISL's St. Louis Steamers (+ More!) - With Carl Rose show art 380: The MISL's St. Louis Steamers (+ More!) - With Carl Rose

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Ain't no stoppin' us now this week as we lay down the indoor soccer turf and roll out the red carpet for one of the Major Indoor Soccer League's steeliest defenders and long-time St. Louis Steamers fan favorite Carl Rose. Known best for his seven stellar seasons (1979-86) with the MISL's most commercially successful franchise, Rose actually began his pro indoor career along with the debut of the league itself (1978-79) as a member of the inaugural title-winning New York Arrows.   A two-time indoor All-Star, Rose earlier plied his soccer trade outdoors with the Canadian National...

info_outline 379: Baseball's 379: Baseball's "Big Cat" - With Jerry Grillo

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info_outline 378.5: 378.5: "Present At the Creation" - With Upton Bell [ARCHIVE RE-RELEASE]

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[While Tim gets off the mat after a bout with a vaccine-resistant strain of the flu this week, we go back to April 2018 for this classic ARCHIVE RE-RELEASE with the pied piper of classic football history!] Upton Bell grew up at the knee of the National Football League’s second-ever commissioner – his father, the legendary Bert Bell – who not only saved professional football from financial ruin in the aftermath of World War II, but also became one of its greatest innovators.  Originator of the iconic phrase “on any given Sunday,” the senior Bell created lasting contributions...

info_outline 378: US Pro Soccer's 378: US Pro Soccer's "League 1 America" - With Jim Paglia

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Spurred on by a penned last November by (as well as another by Guardian soccer writer Jack Williams ), we delve into the fascinating story of the visionary, yet controversial 1990s American pro soccer league that never was - League 1 America - with its mastermind Jim Paglia.  Born in the wake of the 1989 awarding of the 1994 FIFA World Cup to the United States, League 1 America was an ambitious attempt to reimagine a post-Cup pro soccer league for an American audience that gravitated toward fast-paced, high-scoring sports like football and basketball. Paglia’s vision centered on...

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Spurred on by a hugely intriguing article in The Athletic penned last November by Episode 274 guest Pablo Maurer (as well as another by Guardian soccer writer Jack Williams back in 2016), we delve into the fascinating story of the visionary, yet controversial 1990s American pro soccer league that never was - League 1 America - with its mastermind Jim Paglia. 

Born in the wake of the 1989 awarding of the 1994 FIFA World Cup to the United States, League 1 America was an ambitious attempt to reimagine a post-Cup pro soccer league for an American audience that gravitated toward fast-paced, high-scoring sports like football and basketball. Paglia’s vision centered on blending traditional soccer elements with entertainment-focused innovations and dedicated mall-like facilities, aiming to build a league that prioritized marketability and fan engagement above all else.

The league’s format featured radical rule changes, including shootouts to resolve ties, shortened match durations, and scoring modifications to encourage more goals and continuous action. Paglia also planned to lean heavily on corporate sponsorships, creating a business model that integrated entertainment and commercial viability, with aspirations of competing against America’s major sports leagues for both fans and television audiences.

Despite its innovative ideas, League 1 America never materialized. The league faced a skeptical sporting landscape, with the demise of the North American Soccer League in the mid-1980s still fresh in the public’s memory and doubts about soccer’s viability as a mainstream American sport. Financial hurdles, coupled with resistance from soccer traditionalists and a lack of institutional support, doomed the project before it could get off the ground. Critics dismissed Paglia’s vision as an overly commercialized distortion of soccer’s essence, while fans of the global game balked at the Americanized rule changes.

Yet, the story of League 1 America remains a fascinating “what if” in the history of U.S. soccer. A number of its ideas - especially the building of experience-driven soccer-specific stadiums - can be seen in today's Major League Soccer.  Paglia’s efforts highlighted both the challenges and opportunities of growing soccer in the U.S., underscoring the tension between preserving the sport’s global traditions and adapting it to local tastes. Today, as soccer continues its steady rise in America, League 1 America serves as a reminder of the bold experimentation and resilience that helped lay the groundwork for the sport’s future.

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