Armchair Analyst: Twenty years and counting for MLS

Welcome to the Wednesday Q&A series, where we focus on one particular topic – today's being the growth of MLS over 20 years – and ask you to react, share, and discuss in the comments section. However, feel free to ask about anything game-related (MLS, USL, NASL, USMNT, CanMNT, etc.) over the next several hours.

To the surprise of almost everyone, we are here, 20 years later, to celebrate the continued existence and growth of MLS. Several seasons ago the league broke the old NASL's record for longest-running top flight in the United States, and obviously that streak is going to continue on for decades (centuries?) to come.

As someone who's been part of the league on some level or another since Day 1, it still does not bring me joy to say that -- but simply, relief. I spent the first 10 years of the league's existence as a fan and sometimes journalist, expecting to hear any day that the plug had been pulled. There were some especially bad times in the early 2000s, and even as things shored up in the middle of the last decade it never seemed a mortal cinch that everything would last, let alone grow.

Mistakes have, of course, been made along the way, and there will be more to come. But here we are.

If you want to know more about the league's wild opener, which was played 20 years ago today:

• Here is Tim Froh's excellent oral history, complete with highlights & audio clips
• Here is a replay of the first match, which starts at 7:50 pm ET
• Here is a story of how two of the original teams got their names

One of the things that's been hard for folks from other sports to wrap their heads around is just how to jump on board with a league that had no history, especially in a sport as tribal as soccer. It took a leap of faith for those early players, coaches and executives, but also for the early fans. They (we) had to want to build something new, to help create history in real time as it was experienced rather than merely add yet another chapter to someone else's book.

And slowly, over the years, that history's been written and (this is the part where I change from relief to true happiness) that culture's been built. This is our own book, and our own history. Take the time to enjoy it.

Now let's party...