What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? What happens to a dream neglected? Does it stink like rotten meat? What happens when dreams are left to die?

Langston Hughes is one of the best known poets in American History. He was a leader of the Harlem Renaissance, best known for the Poem Harlem. What does poetry have to do with The U.S. Open Cup? It’s all about understand what happens to dreams when they are actively abused and put down by those who can foster them.

The U.S. Open Cup

The U.S. Open Cup is what the American Soccer Dream is built on. With no Promotion/Relegation to dream upon, the only chance an amateur side will ever get to compete against the “mighty” MLS is through the U.S. Open Cup.

On December 15th, 2023, on a 5pm News Dump, MLS announced that they would be removing MLS First Teams from the storied competition. This is something that left the entire U.S. Soccer World in shock. Jeff Rueter of The Athletic quotes USL President Paul McDonough,

“The MLS announcement today about the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was a surprise to us and contrary to recent public statements,” USL president Paul McDonough said in a statement Friday. “We will speak with U.S. Soccer, and with our owners, before making any further public comment about MLS’s position.”

The Athletic – MLS teams won’t compete in 2024 U.S. Open Cup, developmental clubs to participate instead

The reasoning? Match congestion and lack of “quality facilities.” According to the MLSPA executive director, Bob Foose

“the U.S. Open Cup is certainly not something that our players look forward to.”

The Athletic – How MLS salaries, conditions and player power has changed over 20 years: MLS Weekly

The Fans Revolt, and Why it Does Not Matter

The backlash online in our tiny, dying pond of US Soccer on Twitter/X was violent. So violent that it united enemies. The Steel Army, the Supporters Group of Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, even posted a link to The Northern Guard’s store with merch that said, “FCK MLS.” This is the same Steel Army who posted about how poor of an area Keyworth Stadium was in with a borderline classist tweet that was later taken down referring to the neighborhood of Hamtramck, Michigan. These are two fan bases that have zero respect for each other, nor should they.

And it does not matter.

We saw supporters group The St.Louligans tell people to buy tickets to The US Open Cup and ignore The League Cup.

And it does not matter.

The Leagues Cup is a somewhat new competition that was created between MLS and Liga MX to help “Grow the Sport” (make money). The concept has been around for a longtime, with North American SuperLiga and Campeones Cups, but this was the first all out tournament between the two leagues. The fact of the matter is that The Leagues Cup is simply more profitable than The US Open Cup for the US Soccer Federation.

It does not matter because majority of fans do not live in the weeds of US Soccer. Majority of fans will just buy the ticket. Majority of fans are not even fans of an MLS team, but support their once local Liga MX team. It. Does. Not. Matter.

We saw in Nashville SC vs Club America where Club America brought more fans than Nashville SC. It’s not a slight against Nashville, rather showing how much of a behemoth Liga MX truly is in the world. MLS and the USSF wants that massive piece of the financial pie, so it makes sense that MLS would focus on it. It’s the same way clubs in Europe will outright focus on winning the Europa League or the Champions League.

See Bayern Munich, who focused too heavily on the Champions League, which resulted in firing coach Julien Nagelsmann after being 10 points behind rival Dortmund in the Bundesliga standings. Clubs must choose what is important and what is not. See LAFC last year, who put out what was essentially their LAFC2 team against El Traffico rivals: LA Galaxy. Why would they do that? So they could focus on the CONCACAF Champions League and Leagues Cup. That was LAFC’s choice.

What MLS is proposing is telling the world what everybody knew: MLS is a business, and they are focusing on their investment.

What About Lower League Soccer?

Here in Birmingham, we benefited from The US Open Cup. We saw 12,722 people show up to see Birmingham Legion FC take on Charlotte FC. Those near 13,000 fans were in attendance for one of the greatest moments in Birmingham Legion FC history, Juan Agudelo to Prosper Kasim, and the Star Boy comes up massive once again.

Up next? We saw 18,418 people show up to Protective Stadium. We heard the sounds of a crowd who was desperate to win. A crowd who was desperate to see soccer blow up in the Magic City.

But that’s not the only place magic happens. It happens on fields in Tuscaloosa where Prosper Kasim scores a wonder goal to take down a frustratingly good opponent in Chattanooga FC. It happens when Trevor Spangenberg is nails again in penalties. Magic happens everywhere, not just against the big MLS sides.

What Happens to a Lower League Dream?

In Wagner’s Götterdämmerung, which was the final opera of four of Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle, we see a somber scene of Siegfried’s Funeral March. Siegfried, the hero of the story, was later killed by his half-brother Hagen. Hagen kills his half-brother to protect and save Valhalla, and his own selfish glory.

MLS is in the process of killing leagues and teams that threaten their Valhalla and stranglehold on the USSF. Just like the Valkyries and the Rhinemaidens, the USSF will help and lend a hand in murdering their brothers and sisters of soccer. This murder is not one that will receive triumphant glory through orchestra or beautiful aria. This murder will almost certainly not act as a martyr, but just another casualty in the conquest of greed.

To answer Mr. Langston Hughes, what happens to a dream deferred?

For lower league soccer, it will explode and will never be repaired.