Beckham aside, MLS may be in midst of best season

	Houston and New England played to an exquisite 3-3 draw Sunday worthy of MLS' best teams and last year's league finalists. AP
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Eva Longoria did not show up at Gillette Stadium on Sunday afternoon for the New England Revolution-Houston Dynamo match.

No surprise there. She might be a Beckhamaniac-come-lately and Posh's newest BFF, but Mrs. Tony Parker wouldn't know a good soccer match if it kissed her 248-diamond-covered engagement ring.

And New England-Houston wasn't just a good soccer match -- it was the best soccer match MLS has to offer. Featuring the two best sides in MLS, leaders of their respective conferences, it's the kind of game the league should be promoting the hell out of, the kind that should be nationally televised.

Here was the Revs' Pat Noonan lofting one over the keeper from 25 yards out. Houston's Dwayne De Rosario lashing a surefire goal of the week, if not of the year, into the upper 90 (I highly recommend YouTubing it). New England marksman Taylor Twellman side-volleying home from close range. Brian Ching scoring two quickies to give the visitors the lead.

And finally, a penalty taken by New England's shamanic deadlocked midfielder Shalrie Joseph -- saved by keeper Pat Onstad, then retaken after the referee accused the Houston players of encroachment. Joseph nailed his second go.

Goals, brilliant saves, tough tackles, some controversial refereeing and DeRo's stunning strike -- what more could a soccer fan, or even a generic sports fan, want?

But other than the 14,606 fans in Foxborough and the small regional TV audiences, who cared about this game? Certainly not Eva Longoria. And not any of the pundits in England who have naively and stupidly suggested that MLS is filled with "pub teams."

What a shame. They all would've enjoyed it. In fact, they'd probably enjoy a lot of what's going on around MLS this year.

Beyond Beckham, 2007 has become the most fascinating and entertaining season to date for MLS. And there are a ton of storylines that have been lost in the shadows surrounding Beckham's spotlight.

First of all, there is the return of the prolific goal scorer, the kind who does very little but score. Kansas City's Eddie Johnson tops the list. He may not score internationally, but he's like an American Gigolo in MLS. He slammed home another two goals Sunday against Colorado, bringing his season total to 12 in just 11 games. He's already more than halfway to the 20 he promised his coach at the beginning of the season.

Other goal scorers exemplify the success of the league's non-Beckham foreign imports this year. Colombian Juan Pablo Ángel came to New York on the backside of a mediocre stint in England and has nine goals in just 11 games. Brazilian newcomer Luciano Emilio has 10 goals for D.C. United.

There's also been an Argentine invasion in MLS midfields. Guillermo Barros Schelotto has brought the kind of flair to Columbus that hasn't been seen since Jesse Owens was sprinting at OSU. FC Dallas' Colombian sensation Juan Toja -- he of the glorious soccer mullet, who made his name in the Argentine league -- is a frontrunner for MVP, and scored a nice goal in last week's MLS All-star game. And Carlos Marinelli is running K.C.'s midfield, which has opened plenty of space for Johnson up top. These guys are fun to watch, and I imagine even more fun to play alongside.

And what about Cuauhtémoc Blanco? The Mexican legend debuted for Chicago on Sunday and scored in the Fire's 1-1 draw with Scottish giant Celtic. He's 34, but his mouth thinks he's 23, and it probably would have told you scoring was his destiny or something equally goofy like that.

All of it has led to some fine soccer being played around the league. Even lowly Real Salt Lake, with just one win on the season, came up huge this past weekend, upsetting English Premier League team Everton in a friendly in Utah. I'll bet you didn't even know that game was taking place.

This is the Catch-22 for MLS: Some truly great players and games are going to be lost in the shadows now that there is a massive spotlight on Becks.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for this Beckhampalooza we're in the midst of. It's good for the game, for the league, even for lowly soccer journalists who have long existed on the fringe of the U.S. sports landscape. We've spent years whining that idiots like Jim Rome who "just don't get it" and shaking our heads at how anyone can enjoy watching cars go in circles for three hours.

Now we feel like it's our time. No, Rome won't suddenly get it, but Beckham and the globalization of the U.S. soccer scene means we don't care -- which is hell for a creative, intelligent instigator like Rome.

Unfortunately, though, the world will judge MLS based solely on the Los Angeles Galaxy. Too bad. The world won't know what it's missing while it's busy watching Becks and checking to see if Eva shows up.