In its first three years, All-Star Game Weekend provided a fairly predictable advertisement for MLS. But things got weird in San Diego. ABC bumped the All-Star Game to espn2 because of JFK Jr. plane-crash coverage. Then Qualcomm Stadium security guards tried to silence the only festive fans among the sparse crowd. As a group with drums and tambourines provided a cure for the uncomfortable silence, the guards descended. “We’re getting them to tone it down,” one guard said. “The order came from management.” Fans behind the drummers chanted, “Let them play,” and Roman Kosecki scored a timely goal, setting off the drummers in a jubilant thumping that convinced the trio of guards to retreat. A day earlier, the All-Star Skills Challenge had turned Torero Stadium into a TV studio. A man with a soccer ball shaved into his head danced around, baiting the small crowd with T-shirts. After driving them into a frenzy for the TV cameras, he would toss out the freebies. Why the need for T-shirt cheers? Because only one player scored in the Shootout and the Bull’s Eye game was miss after miss. The Golazo competition featured players shooting on an empty net. How’s that for exciting? The energy and TV time that goes into the Skills Challenge should be redirected. But real goals — 10 of them — came in the main event, to which barely 16,000 fans showed up. The MLS All-Star mission statement had read, “To sell out Qualcomm Stadium …,” but promotions in this non-league city failed miserably. Next year’s All-Star Game in Columbus’ small stadium is an easy sellout. That gives MLS two years to plan an event that can again fill a large venue and recapture the magic of the 1996 game, which drew 78,416 to Giants Stadium. FANS, LET’S HEAR YOUR VIEW Click here to log onto (Soccer) American Graffiti. Then click on the topic titled “YOUR VIEW: Things turn weird at All-Star Game” and respond to Mike Woitalla in 200 words or less. Best responses may be reprinted in Soccer America Magazine. If YOUR View is selected, we’ll send you a cool T-shirt and pin… Because You’re FANATIC.