This is a big deal for me. It might not be a big deal for you, but if I’m being honest, that only helps. I can watch from home or at an establishment and I’m not going to have a big crowd clouding my experience. And no one’s changing the channel because, hey, it’s my house. Or because there are knives at that establishment.

Anyhow, it’s a little bit like vacationing on an island. I get away from the crowded sports I cover and go somewhere I won’t find a ton of people. Its beautiful. And the World Cup is obviously important for WVU men’s soccer coach and woebegone Arsenal fan Marlon LeBlanc, though not for the reason we might think.

Experienced and successful with international recruiting, you’d figure the World Cup and the development of the USMNT would help WVU woo players to Morgantown. That’s not inaccurate, but that’s not LeBlanc’s focus. He’s an invested watcher for his own enjoyment more than for his own benefit. For LeBlanc, the hallmark of this World Cup is that it’s unlike others and that the immediate fate and future of recruiting isn’t at the mercy of the success of the event or the Americans.

“I don’t know if we need our international team to have a great World Cup in order for us to draw people to the fact we have so much invested in the student-athlete financially, academically, athletically, just across the board,” LeBlanc said. “We have (international) kids who have never seen anything like it before, apart from some really big clubs in Europe that cover every expense.

“When you’re able to present them an alternative like that, it certainly resonates with them. They all want to go pro. Every kid dreams of that, especially when they’re in an academy, but it’s humbling when you’re let go from that organization you thought for your entire life you were going to sign with. All of a sudden, you’ve got to worry about where to go next and when they see what some of the bigger institutions are able to offer, that changes the dynamic.”