Now Playing with Scott Sowers: Among the Cules, drinking it all in

It really is a shame that MLS has largely ignored the South in its recent wave of expansion.

Atlanta would be a wonderful contender for a new team, thus giving us in the area a chance to watch (fairly) big-time soccer on a weekly basis. The Silverbacks are fun, but we need more.

To experience soccer in a big-time atmosphere in one of the grand stadiums of Europe (or South America) is something that any sports fan must take-in at some point in their life. To wit, there is just nothing close to match the intensity during even the most mundane of matchups. Only college football can come close to the pageantry and passion.

I've long been a supporter of FC Barcelona, one of the two most successful clubs in Spain's La Liga, considered by many to be one of the best leagues in the world alongside the English Premier League and Italy's Serie A.

But despite the time I've spent in Spain and back here in the states watching virtually every game on TV or my computer, I'd yet to really experience a Barca game. To sit among the Cules (the nickname for the fans, which literally means "rear end" in Catalan, the dialect of Spanish spoken in the city) had been a dream of mine for years, and thankfully I had to chance to act it out a few weeks ago during Barca's final home match of the season against Mallorca, a rather decent Spanish side.

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