Bring big ticket soccer to Nashville?

I had to pat myself on the back when I read the next morning the size of the turnout for what was billed as the "first and only international soccer match ever held in Nashville," or something in those words.

While some in the media jumped on the early bandwagon and predicted a large crowd (in the 30,000 range), I felt if as many as 14,000 showed in the 68,000-plus seating capacity of the home of the National Football League's Tennessee Titans, it would amount to a shock.

The total was just over 11,000. I may have been essentially correct in my estimate, but apparently not for the right reasons. I am not a soccer fan. Figuring most like me, who did not grow up with the game, constituted a majority and that the small percentage of those living in the area that did grow up with soccer... well, 14,000 might be a stretch.

Not, though, according to Freddie Prado, a native of Guatemala who now lives in Nashville and who witnessed the April 20 "Super Clasico" contest at The Coliseum between the L.A. Galaxy and Club de Futbol Tecos.

Of the game that ended in a 1-1 tie, Prado said, "For the game it was, it was a good crowd. An especially good crowd when you consider it was a first for Nashville."

According to Prado, a mediocre matchup translates to a mediocre crowd and a great one will bring a corresponding audience.

"Who is the L.A. Galaxy," he asked, rhetorically. "I mean I know who they are, but outside of the States they are not known. They have no tradition elsewhere. In addition, the Tecos team has been good, but they are now probably the worst team in an eighteen-team league. Soccer fans know that."

Prado, who played and coached in adult and youth soccer leagues in the Los Angeles area for a dozen years before moving to Nashville, added, "I would say seventy-five percent of the crowd at The Coliseum was white."

A contest between better and more identifiable opponents would have greatly changed the look and size of the crowd, Prado feels.

"If it had been a contest between the Mexican national team and any major national team from Central America, sixty to seventy thousand people would have been there," he said. "They would have come from the neighboring states and all the way up from Florida."

Whether Prado is right or not is still open for some debate, but I did re-learn from him an important lesson I had forgotten over time: judge each event on its own and refrain from personal biases.

Prado said the soccer confrontation held his attention but a surprise was the lure of The Coliseum itself. He never expected to be there since he is not a fan of "American football," from watching snippets of it on television.

"It is a beautiful stadium. I've been to some nice ones, Dodger Stadium for one. This is the nicest. I will go back, if I have to see a Titans game to do it."