No, I'm pretty sure that's not the worst thing...

Primitive man feared nature, and thus needed to make up stories about it in order to make sense of the scary world.

I feel that Jamie Trecker has much the same reaction to "hype"-- unable to trust his own senses, and let down repeatedly by over-hyped players, he somehow believes hype is the biggest problem facing American soccer.

More "logic" from Jamie Trecker

He goes so far as to write the following: "We all want American soccer stars. But we have to be patient. The worst thing that can happen is for fans and the media to try and create them."

No, Jamie. That's not the worst thing. The worst thing that could happen is if a plane full of young American players went down like Busby's babes. The dim media glare fixed on Jozy Altidore doesn't really rank up there with true tragedy.

Like any Trecker piece, he's occasionally got a point: it would be nice if we could let kids be kids and not jump to conclusions too soon.

Hey, fair enough.

But at the same time, like any Trecker piece, it also doesn't make sense. He writes: "Our homegrown soccer players still do not face the rigid public scrutiny as they develop that our other athletes do, to their detriment. It's no shock that these men then have difficulties handling sudden attention."

Ok. So they have difficulties handling sudden attention, but you're advocating the Altidore receive less attention now? Because receiving no attention as a member of an MLS side will help prepare him for receiving a ton of attention in a foreign league?

Dumb, dumb, dumb.