For sports fans, getting the chance to see a favorite team or player live is something special. It’s a different feeling being in on the action instead of being a spectator in front of a television screen. And if you’ll ask Brennan and Parker Davies, they will tell you the same.

Brennan, an upcoming fourth-grader at Sunflower Elementary, with his older brother Parker a sixth-grader, went to go see the Major League Soccer All-Star game in Denver, Colo. They are also involved in the Kaw Valley Soccer Association, back home in Lawrence.

“It was really cool to see all of my favorite players all in one game,” Brennan said. “It’s a lot more fun in person.”

For the most part, fans enjoy the game at home in front of the TV, or catching it on the Internet, but for those who get to see it live, they’ll say it’s a different experience.

The crowd and the intensity on the field are just some of the things fans behind the TV miss out on from the live experience.

“It is a lot louder in person,” Parker said. “I like it better in the stands than back at home.”

The Davies brothers and fans abroad agreed that the difference between the All-Star game and regular season games was night and day.

The popularity and the different players that come together at once is like a meeting of the greatest names in the sport and was something special to see.

“I like seeing all the great players at once, instead of just one team with one or two well known players,” Parker said. “I’ve been to a Kansas City Wizards game, and it seems so different compared to the way the All-Star game was.”

When asked about the introduction of David Beckham into the MLS with his trade to the Los Angeles Galaxy, the Davies brothers were quick to tell how great it was going to be for the sport. With Beckham being a soccer megastar, most Americans anticipate great contributions to the sport here in America.

“It’s cool,” Parker said. “I think it’ll make the soccer in the U.S. more popular, which is good.”

“I like watching him play,” Brennan said. “He’s really good, and it was even more fun to see him live at the All-Star game.”

For athletes who love the game and are driven to do better, watching professional athletes is a way to get motivated.

Young athletes who have a superstar athlete to look up to use that icon as a base for what they want to become.

“I liked seeing my favorite players,” Parker said. “It was cool to see them use moves I use, and to see some tricks and skills I can learn later.”