This weekend not only signals the beginning of the March Madness, but it also marks the final playoff games of the World Baseball Classic and the beginning of the MLS season. The sad reality is that I do not care about either one. I do not care about the WBC because I have 162 games of MLB baseball in front of me and that is a lot of baseball to care about. I simply do not know why I cannot get myself to care about the MLS though.

I used to play soccer as a kid, but just because my parents did not want me getting hurt playing football. I have watched the last three World Cups and appreciated the competition, but was rather bored with the actual competition. I am one of those Americans that cannot get into the world’s sport.

I have a few theories as to why. The first begins with the fact that I am already bombarded with sports. There is the NFL from August to January, there is the NBA from October to June, there is MLB from April to October, and then there are the college sports.

Where do I have the time to fit in soccer if I want to remain a productive member of society with a job and a girlfriend? There simply is not time. I am not even as knowledgeable as I would like to be about the sports I follow. There is super sports saturation here with three sports that are already established.

As the leagues expanded their franchise model and their seasons to soak up every dollar possible the time I could use to pay attention to even a fourth sport has dwindled. The NHL used to be the fourth major sport, but now it is a sport on the outskirts, still number four but hardly major.

The second problem with me and soccer is that I already have baseball. Soccer enthusiasts will point out that in baseball players are simply standing around while in soccer players are always running.

Well the truth is that the baseball is a rather stationary sport, but soccer (even good soccer) is not as active as fans would like to think. I have watched premier leagues and constantly note that many of the players are walking or lightly jogging. This is not because the players are lazy, but rather this is because position and strategy deems it necessary. The game then becomes less active and low scoring.

Fans get excited when a player gets a whiff of an opening. The actual runs on the goal are few and far between. Scoring baseball is a little more prolific and the game is definitely set at a meandering pace. However, this works in a similar fashion, building anticipation as soon as a runner gets on second. The skills, accurately kicking and accurately hitting, are equally as impressive in my book, but baseball was in life first.

Any complaints from either side comparing football or soccer (the world’s football) are ridiculous. They are different sports that focus on different athletic aspects. Football is a rough game with body shattering hits. The pads are not soft, but plastic. There is strategy, but more of a trench warfare style than the coyness of soccer. Comparing those sports is like comparing golf and tennis. They are apples and oranges. They simply share the same name.