The previous post shows the unbridled joy which people experienced after the U.S. scored to beat Algeria yesterday. People don’t often get that excited about soccer in the U.S., but the nature of the World Cup means that new fans will watch the action because of what’s at stake.

With the U.S. headed to the knockout rounds and television ratings breaking records, let’s try and come to some sort of agreement about what will happen when this run ends for Bob Bradley’s team.

I don’t know what I, one behalf of hardcore soccer fans, can offer other than promises that we can try and tone down the more obnoxious members of my side. I can’t guarantee results, but we can try to make those guys get out of your face if you don’t make soccer more important than everything.

In exchange, I ask just one thing. It’s not that hard. It will actually require you to do less than you’re doing during the World Cup. Just promise me you will try to do this one thing for me after we’re eliminated.

Give a shit about pro soccer in America.

You don’t have to buy season tickets to a Major League Soccer team or plan your life around men’s national team friendlies or get a tattoo or anything. Just care about the pro leagues across the country.

Some will make you think otherwise, but we have pretty good professional soccer in the U.S. with some pretty passionate fans. MLS has teams in just 16 markets with three expansion teams planned for the next few years. The lower divisions have another 15 or so team. Then there are amateur and semi-pro leagues which you can take a look at.

Just do something. As much fun as those scenes in the bars look, the real fun of watching soccer is going to an event and making a difference in person. Imagine seeing a goal like Landon’s scored in an MLS stadium. The stakes won’t be the same, but it’s still fun as hell. If you can’t do that, though, pick an MLS team and watch when they show up on ESPN2. Watch every game they show or just once in a while. Just do something.

The guys on the team which won yesterday got there for a number of reasons. A small part of that is the support they received from fans who have made high-level soccer a success in America. And don’t listen to any moron who tells you soccer isn’t successful. It is and has been. Those people just set such an artificially high bar that nothing will ever qualify as success if they could determine things.

Tim Howard, the goalie who started the fast break which led to the goal yesterday, currently plays for Everton in the Premier League in England. Before he went overseas, he played for the MetroStars in MLS. Before that, he played on a minor league team in New Jersey, suiting up for the first time before he graduated high school. That’s the kind of system we need to keep supporting.

Soccer isn’t going to disappear in the U.S. The roots have grown too deep. But just think how much better we can be if the support of the pro game – and the levels which feed it – grows as a result of these new fans. Every little bit can make a difference if you would just do something instead of waiting for the next World Cup.