18,500 soccer fans braved the heat and Chester's State of Emergency to be at the Union's home opener in PPL Park. The Union came from behind to win 3 to 1.

The little stadium is beautiful thing, an emerald jewel sitting under the Commadore Barry Bridge. But can pro soccer make it in the city of Chester? Doubtful.

The MLS trumpets the fact that this year it has surpassed the NBA in per game attendance. But for all its flaws and expensive payrolls, the NBA has a history of moderate success. Enough fans turn out to see the greatest athletes in the world compete and the best basketball players in the world come to the NBA to do it. Not so with the MSL. The best soccer players in the world live and play elsewhere.

At best, pro soccer is a niche sport, in a country that already is sports saturated. Low ticket prices and novelty will help the Union and the league to survive for a few yearr. But will pro soccer ever generate the enthusiam of the Eagles or Phillies in this area? Let's get real.

And the idea that pro soccer with a new stadium will lead to some sort of renaissance in Chester is loony on its face.

And it's almost a crime that so much taxpayer money went to building a stadium, even a stadium as cute as this one, that will quite likely be a white elephant in less than a decade.

In the meantime, the novelty of pro soccer in Chester will bring in a nice number of fans for this and maybe next season. Then attendence will fall off, as it has elsewhere, and the franchise will limp along.

In Roman times, the politicians gave the masses "bread and circuses" to distract them from the misery and desperation of their lives. Today, the pols take from middleclass to give money to a few rich guys to build mini-collesiums for circuses of a different kind. The deal is no better today than it was back then.

UPDATE: As for the city, despite the curfew and extended State of Emergency, another man died of a gunshot wound Saturday night. Maybe he was just cleaning his weapon and it was an accident but I doubt it.