Major League Soccer has never really captured America's attention, but it does have a steady stream of adherents and supporters to draw from. In a time of recession and MLS's desire to keep on growing, the last thing the league needs is a labor dispute. 

But that's exactly what might happen, just two weeks before the start of the 2010 season. The players union apparently voted 350-2 to support a strike if a new collective bargaining agreement can't be reached within the next two weeks. A veteran player told the Washington Post that the situation doesn't look good at all, a fact that seems pretty obvious considering the vote.

It's not in either the players' or the owners' best interests to bring the whole thing to a grinding halt, so chances are they'll work something out, perhaps playing temporarily under last year's collective bargaining agreement, something the MLS has offered.  

The big question is whether soccer fans in the United States will notice. The United States will be playing in the World Cup in South Africa this summer and top MLS stars, as well as Americans who play for highly competitive clubs in Europe, will be busy for weeks. Not only will your typical American fan be distracted by that, but with many immigrants from other countries, you can bet the a lot of attention on soccer in America this year will be focused on watching the televised matches between the world's best national teams overseas rather than on MLS pitches.

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