All-Purpose, Never-Ending Soccer Thread

I was going to respond with something similar, but really, this just took the cake.

I follow a European team. I am in a supporters club for them. I will travel to San Fran this summer to hang out with other supporters and meet several players.

HOWEVER, MLS comes first. I have my season tickets. I watch the games on the tele. I purchased my kit (and then another one for my wife). I bring friends out to games. I travel to DC with other supporters to watch games.

You can't expect things to get better without support. How does the league develop better players without the money to do it?

Right now we are starting to see a new generation of players that grew up as fans of the league (ie Rolfe).


SIDE NOTE: Zizzer, it is more than just "whiney Jersey boys". Zoffinger is a dick and has always hated MLS. As a Jersey guy that lives in this metropolitan area Zoffinger can piss off. As to the issue, Jets and Giants are not involved and having seen this question asked and answered nearly 100 times over the years, I just don't have the patience right now. Maybe later, just not right now.

 

No worries, Crass, I was more thinking about why Zoffinger can't give a reason....

Anyway, bumping this back up to the top.... the USMNT has set its three domestic tune-ups for the Cup....

May 23 vs. Morocco in Nashville, Tenn.
May 26 vs. Venezuela in Cleveland, Ohio
May 28 vs. Latvia in Hartford, Conn.

Official announcement is slated to come today. Right now, the Venezuela game is slated for ESPN2, though I'm kind of hoping to be there in person. Of those three games, maybe Morocco and Venezuela might be decent. Should be three wins for the home side.

 

Sorry, Ziz, didn't mean to snipe about it. The deal is that the Jets and Giants don't apply because of several reasons:
1) They began as NY teams. They were well established as NY teams before moving to NJ.
2) The corporate offices of both the Jets and Giants are in NY.
3) When they moved from NY to NJ the agreement stated that they would be able to keep their NY association.
4) They were the first teams to cross the Hudson and demonstrate the Northern NJ location is a viable location for a professional franchise.

Other teams:
Devils: They moved from far away and did not land in NY before going to NJ. Thus, they stay NJ.
Nets: They began in NJ. They moved to NY while the stadium was getting built and moved back to NJ upon completion.
Knights: They were of the now defunct World League. I believe they had NJ as an association or just NJ.
Hitmen: They were of the now defunct XFL. They had the NY/NJ as an association.

MetroStars: They began in '96 with NY/NJ but dropped that after about a year or two because the "Metro" portion, they felt and I agree, successfully described the area in which they played.

Additionally, with the new Red Bull New York, all of the offices are located in NJ. The team began their existence in New Jersey. They are building a new stadium specifically for the team in Harrison, NJ. Thus, why the necessity to associate the team with a city/state that it doesn't play in?

Now, this is marketing and by that, the team needs to be associated with a major location. Harrison is not that location. Red Bull would have two choices: Newark or New York.

The main problem in all of this is that NYC is located in the state of NY. Had NYC been in NJ, this wouldn't be an issue. The new Harrison stadium is closer to NYC (a mere subway/train ride of less than 9miles) than the Pistons to Detroit, the Angels to LA, etc.

I've seen the US play in Columbus and Hartford. I would imagie that Cleveland would have a similar crowd to Columbus.

Those were real good times.

 

Should've tried to bring in an Eastern European team for Cleveland. Venezuela is not going to inspire massive ticket sales.

 

Not playing that game in Browns Stadium....

Now, if Cleveland had a 25,000-seat soccer specific stadium, that'd be a different story....

 

If Cleveland had a 25,000-seat soccer-specific stadium, it'd also have a Major League Soccer franchise by now.  But, alas...

 

Rumor from Not Doug Logan is that Cleveland will be the next to get an MLS team.

With Toronto coming in, Garber needs a second team. And Garber opened his mouth about Cleveland being that city.

 

Only because Philadelphia doesn't have a soccer-specific stadium.  The league's been after Philly for years, but hasn't been able to convince Penn to convert Franklin Field back to natural grass.

 

Philly would be a great location. They have held some great matches there over the years.

 

Not sure if putting two clubs in Ohio is a great idea. I mean, I'm all for it, but at the same time wondering if the fan base is big enough.

 

The US has released the roster for the March 22 game versus Germany.

Goalkeepers (2) – Marcus Hahnemann (Reading FC), Kasey Keller (Borussia Moenchengladbach)

Defenders (7) – Gregg Berhalter (Energie Cottbus), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Cory Gibbs (ADO Den Haag), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Heath Pearce (FC Nordsjælland), Eddie Pope (Real Salt Lake)

Midfielders (6) – Bobby Convey (Reading FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Chris Klein (Real Salt Lake), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), Ben Olsen (D.C. United), Kerry Zavagnin (Kansas City Wizards)

Forwards (4) – Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution), Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards)

I'm thinking a 4-4-2 is in order.


EDIT TO ADD: I'm wondering if Dempsey's recent skirmish didn't have something to do with him being left off the team.

 

You're right, Crass... AP is reporting that to be the reason for his omission.

I'm wondering if this would strike a major blow to his chances come May....