So maybe it doesn't get the media play of pitchers and catchers. Big deal. Boot Roomers know that MLS teams opened training camps this week. Some, like the MetroStars, indoors. Others, like the Chicago Fire, in Florida.

The schedules have finally been released. Sure, the Fire aren't even sure at this point where they'll play their home games while Soldier Field is torn down.

Who cares? The balls have been inflated. The studs have been tightened. The nets have been hung. Little boys and girls across the country gaze at their computer screens before they go to bed, reading little tidbits about their favorite players ... grimacing over every groin strain, rejoicing over every successful knee scope.

Hey, if they can write this way about baseball, why not soccer?

Back in a place known as the real world, MLS fans just have to be glad the off-season is officially over. It was not a pretty winter for MLS, with the elimination of two teams and the way that story lingered in the air for over a month. And with the stadium fiasco in Chicago, where fans went from thinking they'd be playing in a soccer-specific stadium in Arlington Heights, to thinking they'd be playing across the infield at Comiskey Park, to now hoping -- praying? -- that residents of Naperville, Ill., will allow the Fire to play in their tiny football stadium that just so happens to have a surface that is not grass.

Thankfully, we can now see the games at the end of the tunnel. Maybe a good goal or two, or a good Ray Hudson quote or 10, will lead us out of the doldrums and into the seventh season of MLS.

In the spirit of baseball writers everywhere -- myself included -- who will soon be writing about the smell of new leather and fresh lumber and the cry of hot dog vendors, and the eternal feeling that this will be the Red Sox/Cubs/Devil Rays' year... let's dream up five good stories for MLS 2002, shall we?

1. A shovel hits the ground in Harrison, N.J.
Okay, I'm a biased North Jersey guy, but a small stadium in Harrison will show the U.S. what soccer can look like when it's packaged the right way. The MetroStars are whispering that the stadium is a done-deal, but most like myself won't believe anything until they cut a ribbon down there on the Passaic River.

2. Anschutz and his people announce that there will be no expansion team in Queens.
If and when that stadium gets done in Harrison, the MetroStars will have a chance to stamp the NY metro area with some authority. The last thing the club will need at that point is for an expansion team to go up 15 miles away that will divide the Metros' already-meager press coverage in two. If the MetroStars remain the team of NY and NJ, they have a chance to be a big deal. Put another MLS team in Queens and the MetroStars suddenly have the same cache as the New Jersey Nets.

3. A team is sold.
Let's just use Dallas as an example. They're apparently close to announcing a deal that a soccer stadium and practice field complex will be going up in the town of McKinney, Texas, that will become the new home of the Burn. Great news in itself, of course. But what would take this announcement over the top would be the add-on that someone like Tom Hicks was going to become the investor operator. I've praised Anschutz to the hilt, but it's time MLS brought on a few new big-timers.

4. The U.S. men play good soccer in the World Cup and it's recognized.
I know I'm in the minority here, but I think I'd rather see the U.S. team play three exciting games, score some nice goals, and not advance in Japan and South Korea than simply grind out a few results and move on. In my dream, the U.S. men's quality play would be recognized by those who cover the team.

Yeah, now I'm pushing it over the top, I know. Like the U.S. Olympic team, which advanced to the semifinals, then got summarily ripped for "still not having what it takes" ... the senior national team will have to pull off something ridiculous to get positive recognition. They're pretty much in a no-win situation.

5. The MLS players finally form a union and go on strike.
Yeah, you heard me right. The investors in MLS (now down to a precious few) send the word down time and time again about how much they've put into this league. Well, you know what? No one's put as much into it as the players. Since Day One they've been told to be thankful they have a league to play in. Fair enough, I suppose. But it's time the players got some new leadership (not the NFLPA) in place and stood up for themselves.

A few things like a pension and some limited free agency would sure make a lot of these guys feel better about putting their lives on hold these past few years to help launch a new league. The reason the players didn't form a union a while back is they were afraid how bad it would look to strike before the league had even gotten underway. Now, I think it's apparent, the players in MLS may have to take that step.

Jeff Bradley is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at jeff.bradley@espnmag.com.