DISQUS

Gouged Montreal? Wasn't the fee preannounced and the same for all?

He does make a fair point about the TV ratings. They're clearly not where we want them to be.

It's not. Adu, Altidore, Bradley, Rogers, Gaven, Bornstein, Klesjian, Boswell, King, Stammler, Franklin, Ashe, Parkhurst, and so on.

There hasn't been a drop. Some games have been tighter because the tactics have gotten more sophisticated. Recently, Comcast SportsNet had all the DC United MLS Cup games on back to back. It was striking how much more time players had to make decisions with the ball back in the early games vs. the 2004 game. Considering that, the team shapes are far simpler in the 2004 game than what we saw this year between the Crew and Red Bulls.

I grew up playing the game. I wished that there was a pro league to watch. I only had Serie A repeats on Sunday mornings on the local Italian language station.

As soon as MLS started, I remember watching every game I could on TV. I was a teenager and had only seen mid-major Division I college soccer and the occasional National Team game. MLS in 1996 was far better than anything I had ever seen in person at that time. (except the extremely rare Nats game). It was more fun than the '94 World Cup game I went too. (granted it was the worst game of the tournament, Ireland-Norway 0-0 in Giants Stadium) I never went in person because I couldn't drive yet lived hours between DC and NY.

I went to college in the Washington DC area and then stayed. A buddy of mine took me to a DC United game. By this time, I had forgotten about MLS. I had been watching my college's soccer team (a major, major NCAA powerhouse). I was hooked all over again. Even though DC United was weak that year and didn't make the playoffs, I could see in person that they were far, far, better than anything I ever did as a player. It was a fun time, too. Everyone on this site has heard about the RFK atmosphere.

I can hop on the Metro and go watch my team. I can't do that for any of these Euro teams. And seriously, why would I want to? What you see in England is not a soccer league. It's a game of Monopoly right before everyone goes broke. Where's the fun in that?

MLS is absolutely essential to our nation's progress in the sport. It provides young players something to dream about. It provides them a view of what the game looks like on a professional level. It lets them go to games and then fantasize about playing in front of the boisterous crowd they see at RFK and the other MLS stadiums. For a youth player, there is no substitute for a pro game in front their eyes.

As for the Eurosnob... It's a free country. We can all decide where to spend our money and time. Just remember that your dollars go towards stagnating our game and giving money to clubs that will use it to bid up the price of players so that no one else can afford anyone. If the G18 had their way, all other professional soccer outside of their little circle would go out of business so that they could get all viewership revenues and television rights. They might be slightly better than MLS. But they aren't so much better as to make our own league unwatchable. That's just drivel you spew so you can justify your choice to give money to something that you know won't help your own national team just so you can go on MLS related blogs and talk about how much MLS sucks.

I love MLS. When I used to have a subscription for Fox Soccer Channel and Goal TV, I'd watch those other leagues too. I'm a soccer fan. However, I have no delusions about the differences in quality. An EPL game that doesn't feature one of the big 4 wannabe monopolists is usually far more brutal than any MLS game, even one between this year's Galaxy and TFC. If you love long ball and high crosses galore with lots and lots of balls skidding over the endline, Bolton vs. Blackburn is the place for you.

Eddie Gaven is a soccer player. He plays soccer. I doubt he's going to be thinking about his past experience in New York when he's playing in the MLS Cup. He'll probably be focusing on how to win the soccer game he's playing in. Maybe he'll reflect on his growth as a player some day after he retires.

MLS matters. It's our league. It's not like you can just magically create another division 1 pro league if it goes under. It takes many years of planning and financing. After that, it takes decades and a generation to establish a hardcore fanbase that hooks in the casuals. This is very evident at DC United. More recently, the Eastern Conference Championship at Crew Stadium is futher evidence of the positive influence of hardcore supporters. There is nothing like it anywhere else in American professional sports.

You need the league for player development. Even if many of your national team players end up playing in the Budesliga, you still need non-national team pros to provide the infrastructure. You need pros in order to have a competitive environment for those national team players to develop. You need pros to teach the next crop. Without a league, there is no professionalism. Without a league, you have something like in New Zealand. You're just hating on it to hate on it. I've never been to Gillette so I can't comment on what a Revs home game is like, but I go to every DC United game I can. It's fun. It's not Manchester United but it's definitely as good as Bolton or Charlton or any of those other have-nots in the EPL.

The media coverage has varied quite a bit from market to market. We've always had good coverage here in Washington DC. Houston is coming along well. Even Columbus, which had always received luke-warm coverage at best in their local media, is now getting love since they're now a winner. Dallas is having issues. So is Denver. Salt Lake City seems to be going in the right direction. It is at various stages in different markets. While it's not the two ton gorilla of the NFL, I wouldn't call it minor league. I would call it "developing" or "emerging".

Ian's point three gets comment of the year. Their leagues have been around for A HUNDRED YEARS. Their teams are also up to their ears in debt. Their leagues won't be haunted for decades by the ghost of a boom and bust failed league.

I get liking the EPL if you're English. That makes sense if you grew up supporting a team. Otherwise, I just think you're trying to look down on someone rather than just enjoying soccer. Now, if you watch the EPL and MLS, more power to you. Everyone I've taken to a DC United game has always had fun and come back again. That includes both non-MLS soccer fans and non soccer fans. It's fun. Isn't that why we like soccer?

What are you talking about? Sure. Great. Miami gets another shot. San Jose got a second chance so why not Miami?

However, they will be an expansion team. Expansion teams don't leave everyone in the dust. They will also be subjected to the same salary cap rules that all the other teams will be. They won't be able to buy the trophy like Barcelona and Real Madrid do in La Liga.

Finally, I really hope the team does not have "barca" anything in its name. We already have a Chivas. One co-branding/red headed stepchild is enough for one league and that spot is already taken. Chivas USA's problem has been that it's had to get over the impression that it's only for Mexican-American fans rather than for everybody. In the first year, the brand turned off Chivas fans since they were a weak expansion team. A team with Barca in its name will have the same issues. The team should be identified with Miami, not Barcelona.

Stanley, I follow MLS for two reasons:

1) I can hop on the Metro and go watch DC United. I can't do that for any European team.

2) Why would I want to watch a league that is made up of haves and have-nots? Hmm... Manchester United vs. Sunderland (or other debt-ridden bottom feeder) gee, I wonder how that's going to play out? 200 million dollar payroll vs. a 2 million dollar payroll. Yeah, that's real fair. That's legitimate competition. Why bother paying to watch when you know that only four teams have any chance of winning anyway? European club soccer is like the end of a game of Monopoly. You have a couple of big winners and everyone else is going broke. How is that entertaining? In MLS, any team can win on any given day. The better ones sort themselves out over an entire season. Any team can build over 2-3 years and become a good team. In order to become a good team, you have build a core of players and a system. This year, the Columbus Crew is an excellent example of taking a couple of years to build a core of players and a system. No one can just buy the MLS Cup. That's entertaining. Watching European club soccer is like great if you love to see the strong brutalize the weak every week.

Please tell me this series of posts was a bad joke.

The reason for having to play a man down after a red card is meant to be a deterrent to getting a red card. If you are allowed to remain eleven on eleven after a red card, couldn't you just start a weaker hack whose job it is to injure the other team's star player? Then, after the star is taken to the hospital with a broken leg or whatever, and the thug player goes off, just replace him(her) with your real star player. Now you have your star in the game, fresher than everyone else, and the other team's star is in the hospital.

Yes, there are times when a referee makes a mistake and the TV entertainment value of a game suffers. However, 99% of the time, the referee gets it right (at least within an acceptable shade of grey). Fans crow about the "bad calls" but first off, they are usually in an awful position to see what happened, plus they usually don't know all the rules of the game. Combine that with partisanship (that's what makes fans fans, right?) and fans are the last people who should be making any decision/judgement about rules infractions. If you want to see a mockery of an athletic competition based on skill and teamwork and athleticism and you want to see thuggery, go ahead and remove that rule. All it takes is one unethical coach and one hatchetman player (out of the vast majority who prefer to respect the game) and you'll see why the rule is the way it is.

Bending the rules of the game is not going to magically make soccer hating old men like the game. The key for the MLS is to long term attract the many soccer fans who just haven't gotten into their product yet. Changing the rules will make the Eurosnobs that much more snobby.

As a DC United fan, I just think it was a shame that the front office decided to blow up a two time SS team. They were a good team that needed to be put over the top, not a weak team that was overachieving. Sadly, it will take a little while for the club to get back to where it was before the team was blown up.

As for DC United's play in the SuperLiga and now the CCL, I think they're frustrated and demoralized more than anything. Fixture congestion is a contributing factor but not an excuse. All the injuries and inconsistency of performances are taking a mental toll late in the season.

Those other leagues have had the same rules for the century of their existence. They have only changed the rules within the context of maintaining fairness during play. The only rule I can think of that was changed for viewership was the adopting of the 3point line from the ABA. Those other leagues have had a century to build a fanbase. It's not fair to directly compare them. It will take a while for the older generations who didn't grow up with the game to be supplanted by generations who, if they didn't play, at least had friends who did and are familiar with it.