Letters to the Editor
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@utdajx
Thanks for the reply, I was basing my opinion mainly on that wonderful series "Real Football Factories", the host consistently credits higher ticket prices with a decrease in violence at the stadia...I suspect it's probably a combination of many factors that led to the decrease.
Nice to see someone who likes MLS here! I'm a neophyte to the league (didn't pay it any attention until Toronto FC started) but I find it to be a surprisingly high level of soccer, and have had nothing short of an amazing time every time I've been to a match.
A few improvements would go a long way to making a better product
1) soccer specific stadia. Salt Lake still plays on the college football field? It looks SO low rent.
2) Field Turf at the very least in every stadium. Again Salt Lake plays on the old school astro turf...controlling the ball is damn near impossible on that stuff.
3) Fix the stupid names. Half are awesome (Houston Dynamo, TFC, Chivas) the other half sound bush league (Galaxy? Columbus Crew?) and Real Salt Lake at least has its heart in the right place.
4) More latino players! Forget Europe, the imports should come from south of us...I suspect the latino population in the US would make up the bulk of the support for the league...and they'd probably be more enamoured with a top flight Mexican player (I can't think of one right now to save my life...sorry!) than Beckham.
well that was one huge tangent there...sorry 'bout that.
cheers,
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Understand the Anger
But it would be great to see meaningful EPL games here. One of the problems would be driving the interest up. Currently Fox Soccer Channel has some games, but if you are a fan of a club it's a huge hassle to see them on a regular basis; I'd love to see some cable (other than Setanta) outlet start to air Championship games; I'd be in heaven.
And if Crystal Palace can get themselves promoted, it would be fantastic to see them play in the US!
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King, you may be interested in....
....checking out this site:
http://www.fsf.org.uk/index.html
That's the The Football Supporters Federation of the UK, there are similar organizations all over Europe and South America. That front page has info on all the action against this 39th game proposal.
This article is about the group of fan federations from various European countries who recently met with UEFA head Michel Platini:
http://www.fsf.org.uk/news/news0080platini.html
As you can see from my ID name, I'm a gooner (Arsenal supporter), live in NYC and am totally against this utterly ludicrous idea.
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debaser
I lived in Columbus when MLS started up. Back then they played on the Ohio Buckeyes football field and had to block out large portions of the stadium seating (covered them with tarps) to make it look like the stands had a good crowd. Now that they have their own stadium, I hope that's changed. We'd gone to a game in that inaugural season and it was fun, but the in-stadium announcing was a bit lacking. It'd be nice for Americans to get a little more explanation. This has hopefully all changed for the better by now.
Part of the problem with the names (Kansas City Wiz? Seriously?) is that they tried to hard to sound "cool". They'd had a contest in Columbus to name the team and there were some good names bandied about. In the end, they went with "Crew", making the logo look like construction workers which led my friends and I to come up with a motto for the team of "One man plays, ten stand around and watch." We figured it was good enough for the road crews out there at the time, it was good enough for the team.
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Michael Platini?
You don't become Konig Kaufman when you are back in the old country, do you?
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Some background
Soccer is a real competition, not a cartel like many sports leagues in the US.
Traditionally English soccer clubs have been owned by weathy millionaires who have put their own money into clubs for the glory of the game and as a form of philanthropy, and no doubt for the opportunity to rub shoulders with sports stars.
Chelsea, a perennially runner-up London club was lucky to find a fairy godfather in billionaire Russian oilman Abram Abramovitch a former governor of Chukotka and estimated to be worth $18.7 billion dollars. He has poured vast sums into the club, though has a tendency to micromanage.
To keep in the hunt, other clubs like Manchester United and Liverpool sought wealthy godparents, but fell into the hands of the Glazers, who also own the Tampa Bay Bucs, and Hicks and Gillette, also owners of major league sports teams in the US.
Manchester United are now paying their top star Cristiano Ronaldo $1 million per month to prevent him being lured away by Real Madrid who are prepared to pay Manchester United over $100 milion for his player registration. But he is priceless so Man. U. will not sell. If they did the Glazers would have Man. U. millions of worldwide fans in total uproar.
[According to the Daily Mail, which has studied Ronaldo's leisure habits, this salary will allow him to purchase the services of several hundred female escorts each week.]
However even the services of the brilliant Ronaldo could not prevent Man. U. being beaten by crosstown rivals Manchester City on Saturday.
Liverpool, owned by Hicks and Gillette (Texas Rangers, Dallas Stars, Montreal Canadiens)are struggling to stay in the arms race for top stars, much to the chagrin of their star coach Rafeal "Rafa" Benitez. Meanwhile fans are paying higher prices to fund the purchase by Hicks and Gillette.
In this arms race, for the top clubs, the extra game and the extension of marketing globally is a key component in staying alive as a competitive force. As this is not a cartel, the supporters of each club are perfectly happy to see their rivals driven into bankrupcy.
Where will it all end? Soccer as a working class sport is coming to an end now that it is big business.