It’s frustrating.

Maybe it’s the fact that, for three years and 11 months, nobody cares.

Or, even worse, maybe it’s because, for one month, everybody thinks they know what they are talking about.

This summer’s World Cup brought back those frustrations: No, Meathead Mike, don’t act like you’ve paid attention to soccer for years. Listen, Football Frank, it’s pronounced “Didy-Ay”, not “Didier.” And, for goodness sake, Sportscenter Scotty, stop complaining about the “acting.”

Yes, players try to milk penalties. Yes, there is only one ref. Yes, games end in ties. It’s soccer.

And for those of you who were diehard fans of the sport for a month over the summer – don’t you think this thing should be more popular in America? Because, trust me, those of us who follow the game for the other four years… we’re laughing at you.

But believe it or not – despite the acting – there are ways to make this happen, to make the world’s sport, to some extent, more than just an obscure sport in America.

It’s a realistic approach that will require a little bit of money, a little bit of drive and a strict adherence to this three step process.

Step one: Win the World Cup.

Oh, yeah, I said it was realistic. Strike that one. Start over.

Step one (for real this time): Get rid of the tie.

American sports don’t tie.  There’s a winner and there’s a loser, and you do whatever it takes to determine them.

After the 2005 lockout, hockey figured this out. It only required a slight change in how the game is handled, adding a shootout to the end of an overtime period.

Perfect. Works for soccer, too. Twenty minute overtime, then a shootout. Learn from hockey’s improvements.

Two: Create a team that can compete with European leagues.

Throwing money and great players into the MLS has proven to go nowhere. In coming to Los Angeles, David Beckham did more for American fashion than for American soccer.

Building up the entire league to the competitive level of the English Premier League is simply impossible at this point.

So the solution is to build a team or two. Create one or two American franchises that can compete in the high-level European leagues, a team ?Chicago that can compete, on a weekly basis (both at home and abroad), with Chelsea, Milan, Manchester and Barcelona.

Those teams would love it – constant exposure in America.

And our boys would be able to compete beyond a field day of an exhibition as the “MLS All-Stars.” A competitive team or two playing good games every week will draw a crowd.

Three: A major TV deal.

The reason people don’t watch the Chicago Fire play the Seattle Sounders is because those are bad teams playing a boring game. (That, and they could watch for two hours and the game could end in a 0-0 tie.)

Ever seen an EPL game on TV? Anything but boring.

That’s high-level soccer, a highly strategic sport with highly involved fans.

By putting together a competitive team and putting them on TV, we give Americans the chance to see some real soccer.

That’s the issue. We don’t get to see real soccer. We get the MLS.

So the easy way out is the first point: Win the World Cup. That would solve all of our problems.

But until that happens, if we ever want to make soccer worth your time in America, we’ve got to get to work. This is our game plan.