Q&A with Big D Soccer, an FC Dallas fansite.

If American soccer ever continues to grow it only makes sense to build a strong hold in Texas. It’s one of the largest American states, it’s economy is stable (which is amazing considering how other parts of the country are doing) and the sports teams coming out of Texas rumble outward into the rest of the country. The Dallas Mavericks just won the NBA Championship. The Dallas Cowboys just built the most expensive NFL stadium ever created and the Texas Rangers just went to the World Series just last year.

So how’s their MLS team doing? I wrote Daniel Robertson, from Bigdsoccer.com, asking a few questions to guage where his teams at.

SB: 1. I haven’t been following soccer as much because the NFL started and I can’t imagine a Dallas soccer fan during an ‘American Football’ season. Do you feel any pull from the Dallas Cowboys for your attention?

Daniel: Well not so much from the Cowboys because FCD doesn’t play very many games on Sundays, but I’m sure there’s an effect from college football on Saturdays. I know as a University of Oklahoma alum and huge fan, it pains me to have to Tivo this weekend’s big game at Florida State to go to FC Dallas vs New York. Dallas is a hugely competitive sports market in general with the Rangers, Mavericks, Stars, Cowboys, high school football, college football and to a smaller extent Frisco Roughriders(AA baseball team). The city loves its winners though so as long as FC Dallas keeps winning, I think they’ll rise in attendance.

SB: 2. After reading up on FC Dallas history I noticed that they were part of the league’s inaugural season. Could you describe those early MLS years if you followed the team back then?

Daniel: I didn’t really follow MLS much until 2004 when I attended my first game. There was definitely a very different vibe even back then as the league was a bit less stable and things were a little more wheels off. Nowadays you don’t really have anyone on an MLS roster that doesn’t belong there, but back in ’04 there were definitely players that had no business being on a professional sports field. There was more jock jams music and gimmicks surrounding the game. While the MLS product is obviously way better now, sometimes I still miss the fact that there was a big black horse that would come out onto the pitch before Dallas Burn games and prance around.

SB: 3. Does the stadium do anything to help the fans in 100 degree weather? Anything?! I would think it’d be a great time for management to give back to the people that sit in such extreme heat.

Daniel: No, there is nothing. A major flaw in the stadium was the fact that there is no roof on top of Pizza Hut Park. The east(sunny) side of the stadium is pretty much empty during any game that happens before the sun goes down in the summer and with the bowl design of the stadium it can be an absolute sauna in there. There really needs to be a roof built on the stadium that would have the whole thing shaded by the afternoon hours.

SB: 4. What made you decide to become a part of Big D soccer? Have you been a soccer fan your entire life?

Daniel: I started Big D Soccer last year because I wanted my own site to showcase my skills and just have a place to talk about FC Dallas without any editors. I had always wanted to start my own site to shape it how I felt a soccer blog should be run and just to see if I could be successful at it. It’s one of the things I’ve done in life that I’m most proud of and the growth of it is humbling and exciting. I actually didn’t really get into soccer until I was 18 and attended my first Burn game. My parents wouldn’t really take me to games so I had to wait until I got my driver’s license to go. Once I saw the first game I was hooked and spent the next couple years taking in all the knowledge I could about the game in America and abroad.

SB: 5. In my office whenever I talk about soccer I have to talk about Spain or Mexico because I don’t want to get blank stares from people who don’t follow MLS. Do you think following soccer in the south is turning a corner and people are starting to ask about the club more?

Daniel: Ehh, not really. The run to MLS Cup last year certainly helped, but things aren’t really where they need to be. I think most people in DFW still view FC Dallas as a minor league sport that is not on par with the big 4 teams so you get minor league type crowds. As I said, however, winning cures everything and the more FC Dallas wins in MLS and Champions League the more things will improve. Mexico and the Mexican league teams will always be king around here though.