Unlike manufactured goods under NAFTA and drugs under a freer, if merely implicit, trade agreement, Americans seem to have the darnedest time extracting soccer “points” out of Mexico. As this story breathlessly explains, such points are “precious” and “rare,” and some wily north-of-the-boarderers finally managed to smuggle one out of the Valley of Mexico:

MEXICO CITY — The Americans were clinging to a scoreless tie, seconds away from earning a rare point in Mexico …

… and that’s all I can handle. I do think it would be cool to go to Mexico City and Estadio Azteca, but if I went all the way there for a game that ended in a 0-0 tie, I’d be trying to put some great spin on that too just to legitimate the expense and effort to myself, and when even NPR is repeatedly reporting on the abuse the home fans dish out on their American counterparts, I think I’ll wait until I can watch some local teams play the Aztec ball game as an impartial observer.