They say the meek shall inherit the earth. But it's really the young who will inherit it.
As observer Brian Sciaretta pointed out on Twitter, this past weekend was a boon for the next generation of goalscorers.
Of the 14 goalscorers in Saturday's MLS's action, 8 were young enough to be eligible for MLSsoccer.com's 24 Under 24 ranking (incidentally, coming again in September).
Philadelphia's Jack McInerney and Antoine Hoppenot, New England's Diego Fagundez and Juan Agudelo, Portland's Darlington Nagbe, Montreal's Andrew Wenger and Black Smith, and Dallas's Fabian Castillo all found the net on Saturday night.
The "old guys" to strike on Saturday were Montreal's Marco Di Vaio, Philadelphia's Sebastien Le Toux, Colorado's Atiba Harris and Nathan Sturgis, Chicago Quincy Amarikwa, and Real Salt Lake's Alvaro Saborio.
Does it mean anything? Is there some sort of generational shift going on? No, but it is another mile marker along the long pipeline that MLS and others hope will begin producing regular talent.
And, as if fate wanted to remind us all not to get too ahead of ourselves, the generation gap reversed itself on Sunday, with four of the eight goalscorers clocking in over 30, including New York's Thierry Henry and Jamison Olave, Houston's Brad Davis, and LA's Robbie Keane.
