Is Soccer the New Hockey?

Not enough goals; not enough scoring chances; too many teams playing not-to-lose instead of playing to win; a sport choked by timid coaches and their stifling defensive systems.

Hockey fans will cringe at the memory of those complaints, which plagued the NHL for the last decade or so and fueled a tiresome debate over the quality of the game. Last season, the issue was addressed (if not resolved) by a series of sweeping rule changes that won the approval of fans, players and media types. Who knew it would be so easy?

In 2006, the mantle has been passed on. Soccer is the new game of not enough goals:

FIFA President Sepp Blatter is worried that the 2006 World Cup finals could be the lowest-scoring tournament ever...

Blatter wants to “make football more attractive.”

"The football isn't that bad, but there aren't enough goals - and when there are too few goals, the public isn't very enthusiastic," Blatter told the German news agency DPA.

"The essence of the game is goals."

Blatter plans to organize a committee which will ponder the riddle of how to bring more goals back into the game.

Rest assured, the coming debate over the rules and entertainment value of soccer will look very similar to what the NHL went through. The reformers are already on the case, claiming to represent the true spirit of the game, demanding changes to restore a declining sport to its former glory. The conservatives are stewing for now. But they will undoubtedly argue that a great game is not measured in numbers, and that the push for change is a thinly-veiled attempt to hijack the sport and turn it into a cheap spectacle for the ignorant masses of America.

We've already been there. Enjoy, soccer fans.