U.S. Open Cup final cometh; you probably don't care

Got your U.S. Open Cup final party all set? Chips, dip and dollar-store party hats all arranged just so? Remember to keep it clean, eh? Drinkin’ and druggin’ ain’t cool. Not much, anyway.

At any rate, you’re all set and wet for the big night, right?

Probably not.

The U.S. Open Cup championship is tonight, providing the good, sweet, clean domestic soccer supporters across our mountains majesty and fruited plains with the annual opportunity to say, "Uh, yeah … uh, now remind us what that is again?"

The Seattle Sounders face D.C. United for the 96^th crown in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the oldest tournament in domestic team sports.

But unless you live in the Emerald City or in our nation’s capital, you probably weren’t aware. You were probably set for a night of watching the cheftestants cook up something yummy on Top Chef. Or, as we’re into September and the weather is turning brilliant, maybe a little outdoor café society time?

Either way, you probably weren’t all atwitter over the prospects of watching the goings-on inside RFK Stadium. Heck, they’re going to be happy with anything north of 15,000 in terms of attendance in the venue city itself.

There is a growing sentiment that U.S. Soccer should spend more to promote the Open Cup, and should substantially increase the prize money. Currently, the winner cashes a $100,000 check. Assuming most of it goes to the players (which it may not, as the club will take its cut) and assuming the locker room deciders aren’t jackasses and that they provide half shares and such to support staff, winning players probably will walk with $2,500 apiece. Or something like that.

Now, $2,500 is nothing to sneeze at, especially in a dumpster-diving economy that has us all swapping recipes for road kill stew.

But we’re not exactly talking Sarah Palin book tour money here, now are we? It’s hardly enough to have players lolling away the nights wondering how they’ll spend their new riches.

I take a pretty reasonable view on these things. Generally, when fans start admonishing owners and organizations for spendthrift ways, I try to make them understand that these choices can’t be made in a vacuum.

For instance: Yes, it would be nice if U.S. Soccer spent more on the Open Cup. It would also be nice to see the suits from Chicago spend more to promote the U.S. matches, as many of you noted earlier (regarding the lack of a sellout for this weekend’s qualifier at Rio Tinto.) And it would be nice to see more U.S. women’s team promotions … and more money layered into the youth programs, etc.  So you see, it’s not just a matter "spend more." Prudence dictates that priorities are established.  

All that said, I agree that it’s time to pay a little more attention to the Open Cup. As I’ve written before, it’s a dandy tournament, where little clubs can and do eliminate the "big boys." (I understand the irony there, referring to MLS clubs such as Kansas City, Colorado, etc., as "big boys." It’s all relative, eh?)

But as D.C. United president Kevin Payne told me the other day, "It’s hard to sell tickets to a tournament when the first thing you have to do is explain what it is."

Indeed. And that’s for a club that already has two U.S. Open Cup trophies.

Oh, well. It starts at 7:30 ET. It’s on Fox Soccer Channel. If you care.