Star Tribune: June midseason break stories

San Diego FC sporting director Tyler Heaps has made it, truly made it.

And we’re not talking about anything to do with his work putting expansion SDFC, which visits Minnesota United on Saturday evening, into second place in the standings.

Heaps, who grew up in East St. Paul, is living the dream that every Minnesotan has had at least once during the dark days of January: First, he moved to Monaco and its perfect Mediterranean weather, and then moved on to the year-round summer in San Diego.

“You could have never [told] me, when I was in East St. Paul playing at Conway Rec Center, that I’d end up here,” Heaps said. “But here we are.”

Even semi-seasoned soccer fans might look at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which kicks off Saturday night, and think, “OK, which international tournament is this, again?”

The true purgatory of the MLS follower is this: For every person who wants to tell you that soccer is boring or not a real sport, there is a purist on the other side of the aisle who’s desperate to remind you MLS is not one of the top leagues on the planet.

They aren’t wrong, of course — but over the past decade or so, there’s been a change that the most committed haters might not want to admit: MLS is starting to catch up.