About the Four Professional Soccer Leagues I Follow

I don't know whether you are interested in watching soccer...most likely you associate it with national teams and the World Cup.  I, on the other hand, prefer to follow the various professional leagues, of which just about every country on the planet has one...usually more, arranged in hierarchies from the premier league at the top on downward to the lower leagues.  England has some 24 levels in their entrenched professional soccer system, and teams are annually moving up (promotion) to the next higher league while others are moving down (relegation) to the next lower one.  I follow England's Premier League, as well as the top-tier leagues in Germany (Bundesliga) and Mexico (Liga MX).  All practice promotion and relegation, which to me prevents the last-place clubs from giving up on the season the way we here in America see teams doing, especially in the National Basketball Association (especially the Philadelphia 76ers) and Major League Baseball (lower teams trading off their star players for future prospects midway through the season).  Unfortunately, our Major League Soccer premier league here in the United States and Canada does not practice relegation, even though there already exists two lower-level leagues that could unite with them to form a viable promotion/relegation system...

In MLS this year, the season has finally wound down to the final championship playoff match, to take place next Saturday between Toronto and Seattle. I'll be pulling for Seattle in this one, although I was disappointed that neither of my favorites...Orlando City and Portland (last year's champion)...made the playoffs.  Mexico's Liga MX is also holding its playoffs, and the last of the two-match semifinal series between Club America (based in Mexico City) and upstart Necaxa takes place tonight...you can watch it on Univision (Gainesville's Cox Cable channel 40). Whoever wins tonight will play against "my" UANL Tigres in the finale. Necaxa, by the way, is in its very first year back in the top league after winning promotion from the second-tier Ascenso league last year, performing way beyond expectations by making the playoffs and then advancing this far in them.  In England, Chelsea has returned to lead the league...it won the title two years ago.  Last year's champion, Leicester City, has so far fallen on hard times and is only two points away from being one of the relegation teams...they'd better get their act together, and soon!  And in the Bundesliga, another team just promoted this year, Leipzig, is stunning everyone by sitting at the top of the standings, still undefeated, while perennial champ Bayern Munich is right behind them in second place.  In England and Germany...as well as most of the pro leagues, the regular season is the entire season...no playoffs...and the regular season leader is automatically the champion.  I like it that way, but try telling that to anyone on this side of the Atlantic who can't imagine going through any sports season without playoffs to get excited about...

In case you're wondering why I follow MLS, Liga MX, the English Premier League, and Bundesliga while not following other soccer leagues, the answer is simple: these are the leagues whose matches I can pick up on TV.  And I'm not about to shell out a lot of extra dough just to see the leagues from Spain, France, Italy, Brazil, or any other country.  Besides, four leagues are quite enough for me...