A lot of you may not care about this, but as a big soccer fan I am thrilled about this particular player. Jaqua is a native Oregonian, growing up in Eugene and playing for the University of Portland Pilots. And he is now having a breakout year for the Chicago Fire. He is also getting looks from European scouts.
Soccer is very popular up here in the northwest, but we seem to get ignored by the major soccer powers that be in the USA. The closest major league team is San Jose. This despite the fact that Portland was, twice, the location for Women's World Cup games.
When European teams come to America to show off during the summer they rarely, if ever, come over to the west. They typically show up in New York or Chicago, or Boston, and then go home.
ESPN and Fox are increasing soccer coverage at a painfully slow rate (and yet I can catch golf or infomercials on Saturday afternoons without fail).
What I'd like to say is that it would be cool if Oregonians made a big deal out of people like Jaqua, but I could probably ask 100 people on the street who he is and maybe one would know. Yet everyone knows who Joey Harrington is.
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