Thanks for the memories.
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This Space Closing (or, Rather, Moving)
After today, I will no longer be posting any items on It’s a Simple Game.
I’m going to move all these operations to another, previously abandoned blog titled My Very Brain. The reason for the move is pretty straightforward: I want to pull all the stuff I write, contributions to other outlets aside, to one site and under one name. In other words, My Very Brain will serve as a one-stop venue for all things Manly and Ferry (and Jeff Bull as well).
Though that will serve as more of a general content site, this won’t mean an end to, or even a decrease in, soccer-related posting. Courtesy of another site, I’ve set up “categories” for My Very Brain and will tag all soccer-related content through del.icio.us. Hopefully, that will allow those who want only the soccer stuff to link to that and ignore the rest (though I hope some will enjoy the other crap, too).
So, anyone interested in finding me, or updating their sidebar links, bloglines browsers, and the like, should switch over to My Very Brain beginning Monday, October 2, 2006.
One final note on this: in the two years I’ve been blogging, I’ve started and stopped more blogs, changed formats, and, generally, freaked out more often than any one person has either cause or right to do. For those who have endured all the convolutions and sudden spazzing, thanks...and sorry for the headaches. It's been fun typing in this space, but it's time to move it all under one lean-to.
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I’m going to move all these operations to another, previously abandoned blog titled My Very Brain. The reason for the move is pretty straightforward: I want to pull all the stuff I write, contributions to other outlets aside, to one site and under one name. In other words, My Very Brain will serve as a one-stop venue for all things Manly and Ferry (and Jeff Bull as well).
Though that will serve as more of a general content site, this won’t mean an end to, or even a decrease in, soccer-related posting. Courtesy of another site, I’ve set up “categories” for My Very Brain and will tag all soccer-related content through del.icio.us. Hopefully, that will allow those who want only the soccer stuff to link to that and ignore the rest (though I hope some will enjoy the other crap, too).
So, anyone interested in finding me, or updating their sidebar links, bloglines browsers, and the like, should switch over to My Very Brain beginning Monday, October 2, 2006.
One final note on this: in the two years I’ve been blogging, I’ve started and stopped more blogs, changed formats, and, generally, freaked out more often than any one person has either cause or right to do. For those who have endured all the convolutions and sudden spazzing, thanks...and sorry for the headaches. It's been fun typing in this space, but it's time to move it all under one lean-to.
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MLS: Shirts with Logos ('Bout Time)
I'll start by crediting Mike H from My Soccer Blogs for flagging a report about Major League Soccer (MLS) allowing teams to sell advertising space on the fronts of team jerseys. I'll end by quibbling with a single detail of the plan - and from a well of personal hang-up as well.
The substance of the shift can also be found here, where there is far less fronting on MLS than you'll find in the article to which Mike H linked (no discredit to him on that...but on the author, shame, SHAME!!! Do we really need reminding that "Major League Soccer doesn't have the talent, tradition or TV ratings of more storied American sports leagues"? And in the lead, no less?). If you can't tell from the title, I'm fer this particular arrangement and think the details of how the league is handling this hold together well enough...
...until this:
And this:
Get bent, you prudes. With advertisers, I say the more the merrier and the quirkier the better. "Crazy Uncle Bob's Used Tires" would be a fanstastic logo and help out a local business to boot. Why not have a giganimous "FOXWOODS CASINO" blazoned across the front of the Revs uniforms? A tasteful "MD 20/20" on Houston's uniform? After all, what turns a human being into "dynamo" faster than fortified wine? Do kids - and I'm assuming that's the segment of the market the league fears "corrupting" - look at a jersey with a casino on it and turn to their dad and say, "When I grow up, I want to shoot craps just like Amado Guevara!!" Will they hold their breath till mommy buys them a fifth of Smirnoff just because they see their logo on Taylor Twellman's back? (They may need a stiff drink, though, after he pings the post for the third time in one evening.)
It's just money and the only time we should care about the source is if the local branch of the Ku Klux Klan asks to plop a little hooded man on DC United's uniform. Take the local bondsman and the team helps the bits of the local economy that need the bigger boost. Yeah, McDonalds can pay more, but do they really need it?
The substance of the shift can also be found here, where there is far less fronting on MLS than you'll find in the article to which Mike H linked (no discredit to him on that...but on the author, shame, SHAME!!! Do we really need reminding that "Major League Soccer doesn't have the talent, tradition or TV ratings of more storied American sports leagues"? And in the lead, no less?). If you can't tell from the title, I'm fer this particular arrangement and think the details of how the league is handling this hold together well enough...
...until this:
[FC Dallas President Michael] Hitchcock said Dallas will sign on only with a national or international company. Fans won't be embarrassed by something like Crazy Uncle Bob's Used Tires."
And this:
"In addition, the commissioner's office has authority to reject deals, and the league won't allow hard liquor or Internet casinos to buy space on uniforms. 'We don't want the local bail-bonds company on the front of the Columbus Crew jersey,' says MLS commissioner Don Garber."
Get bent, you prudes. With advertisers, I say the more the merrier and the quirkier the better. "Crazy Uncle Bob's Used Tires" would be a fanstastic logo and help out a local business to boot. Why not have a giganimous "FOXWOODS CASINO" blazoned across the front of the Revs uniforms? A tasteful "MD 20/20" on Houston's uniform? After all, what turns a human being into "dynamo" faster than fortified wine? Do kids - and I'm assuming that's the segment of the market the league fears "corrupting" - look at a jersey with a casino on it and turn to their dad and say, "When I grow up, I want to shoot craps just like Amado Guevara!!" Will they hold their breath till mommy buys them a fifth of Smirnoff just because they see their logo on Taylor Twellman's back? (They may need a stiff drink, though, after he pings the post for the third time in one evening.)
It's just money and the only time we should care about the source is if the local branch of the Ku Klux Klan asks to plop a little hooded man on DC United's uniform. Take the local bondsman and the team helps the bits of the local economy that need the bigger boost. Yeah, McDonalds can pay more, but do they really need it?
The Revs at Valley Forge
Don Cuddy, writing in Soccer365.com summed up the decidedly wobbly ego-fest thing that was and is theNew England Revolution's 2006 season. Cuddy did better, anyway, than 4/5 the soccer commentariat (the subject, I think, of a project to come), who are still assuming the Revs will wake up any day now absent evidence to the contrary.
Naturally, the subject turned to the reasons for the season-long bout with despondency and his answer, while not rock-solid, works well enough for me:
Sad, but true I think. Now the question is who was the mad scientist who did the brain swap between New England and Red Bull New York?
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Naturally, the subject turned to the reasons for the season-long bout with despondency and his answer, while not rock-solid, works well enough for me:
"The fact is that the thrill is gone for this group of players. While Steve Nicol has been able to keep the lid on there are a lot of people wearing blue shirts who are seething with frustration, each for their own reasons."
Sad, but true I think. Now the question is who was the mad scientist who did the brain swap between New England and Red Bull New York?
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Woitalla: Theories on Youth Development
Soccer America's Mike Woitalla turned in a solid think-piece addressing the question of whether they way we coach our kids stifles their development. Woitalla gets it right for the most part, though he neglects to acknowledge the "dark side" of ditching the "win-at-all-costs" mentality: namely, games played in which they don't keep track of the score and the weird crap one reads from time-to-time about giving everyone "winners" ribbons, even when they don't win. Keep the goddamn score and tell the kids it's OK to screw up and lose so long as you try and that should take care of most the ego damage one can pick up from organized sports. Maybe it isn't that simple, but it sure seems like it ought to be. As they get older, raise the stakes and the kids will decide if those higher stakes are for them.
In any case, that's a quibble that grows out my own biases. Woitalla wrote a good column.
For what it's worth, they weren't for me. I gravitate toward co-ed leagues because I don't see the point in breaking my legs for a loose ball or getting in fights with amped-up jocks while playing rec soccer. It's not like there are scouts in the friggin' crowd. But that's my niche. I also know that any player who hopes to be good, never mind great, can't approach the game like I do. Hence, we need places where, yes, amped-up jocks can strive to be the best they can be. But, as Woitalla points out, let that be after they learn to figure it out on their own....and after they reach the age when their egos won't be warped into self-abusive mania.
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In any case, that's a quibble that grows out my own biases. Woitalla wrote a good column.
For what it's worth, they weren't for me. I gravitate toward co-ed leagues because I don't see the point in breaking my legs for a loose ball or getting in fights with amped-up jocks while playing rec soccer. It's not like there are scouts in the friggin' crowd. But that's my niche. I also know that any player who hopes to be good, never mind great, can't approach the game like I do. Hence, we need places where, yes, amped-up jocks can strive to be the best they can be. But, as Woitalla points out, let that be after they learn to figure it out on their own....and after they reach the age when their egos won't be warped into self-abusive mania.
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Week 27 Previews
My previews for Major League Soccer's Week 27 are already up on ArmchairGM. Looking back on what I wrote, one mystery remains: namely, my hostility to this weekend's game line-up, especially the televised game. I can't explain it...I only wish someone thought to air the "SuperClassico" instead of the Houston Dynamo hosting DC United.
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Attendance: The Colorado Echo?
Which, come to think of it, wouldn't be such a lousy name for the franchise. And based on a report in today's Denver Post, it would fit as well. From the sly lead to the content, that write-up on the Colorado Rapids’ attendance woes is worth the read. In some ways, it’s a snapshot follow-up on the San Diego Union-Tribune report (linked to and discussed yesterday) on Major League Soccer monkeying with its attendance numbers.
Numbers like Colorado's - which for this season include an embarrassing draw of 3,805, which the USL Division 1 Portland Timbers reliably top even without discounting the beer - complicate the use of the phrase “major league” in MLS. Making matters worse, the downward trend came after Kroenke Sports Enterprises (KSE) bought the team from MLS’s patron saint, Phil Anschutz. Still, the article closes with happy talk from spokespeople for the former, who assure fans they’ll turn it all around next season when Colorado gets their shiny new stadium. They also promise better TV coverage.
Could it be they were just waiting for a better backdrop for it all? I suppose. Invesco’s just too damn big for anything but their Fourth of July blowouts. Let’s hope, for the team’s sake and the league’s reputation, that KSE’s people are not just talking.
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Numbers like Colorado's - which for this season include an embarrassing draw of 3,805, which the USL Division 1 Portland Timbers reliably top even without discounting the beer - complicate the use of the phrase “major league” in MLS. Making matters worse, the downward trend came after Kroenke Sports Enterprises (KSE) bought the team from MLS’s patron saint, Phil Anschutz. Still, the article closes with happy talk from spokespeople for the former, who assure fans they’ll turn it all around next season when Colorado gets their shiny new stadium. They also promise better TV coverage.
Could it be they were just waiting for a better backdrop for it all? I suppose. Invesco’s just too damn big for anything but their Fourth of July blowouts. Let’s hope, for the team’s sake and the league’s reputation, that KSE’s people are not just talking.
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Chicago Takes the Cup: What People Are Saying
It’s hard to hit a domestic soccer site today without bumping into some mention of last night’s U.S. Open Cup final, which the Chicago Fire won by topping the Los Angeles Galaxy by a score of 3-1. I have to confess, as I did in my post-game wrap, that I caught only the second half. All in all, I liked what I saw: a good, hard-fought game and not a bad one either. Another positive, albeit a curious one, came with the size of the crowd: only 8,851 showed up. Small as it was it looked bigger and sounded bigger still - another good thing.
With my wrap-up linked to above, I thought I’d pull together a tour of other Open Cup commentary because there’s plenty of it out there, starting with the 17 sources available through Topix.net’s aggregator. But the best stuff comes from some of the more prominent pundits.
Marc Connolly, writing for USSoccerplayers.com, credits Chicago for taking the Open Cup in general as seriously as any Major League Soccer team ever has; implicit in that notion is the idea they deserved to win, though he gives LA their propers too. And there’s something to that as well: either Los Angeles of Chicago, and now both, have been in every Open Cup final since 2000. One can also include Connolly among those mightily impressed with Tony Sanneh’s assist on the third, “nail-in-coffin” goal, which was scored by Thiago; count me among them too - the precision on that pass was what fans pay to see.
The pick of the bunch, though, comes from Jeff Carlisle on ESPN’s site. While the larger service of his column grows from the way he uses the Open Cup win to explain why Chicago are legitimate contenders for MLS Cup, I like that he singles out the play of Justin Mapp, both in this game and in the season in general, for admiration. Mapp is growing into a better player, which is good news not only for Chicago, but for the U.S. men’s team; even if Mapp never makes the squad, he forces the left-sided players that do make the squad to raise their game or keep checking their shoulder.
Finally, another article raised a neat point of curiosity:
“Thiago sealed the win for the Fire in the 88th minute on a Tony Sanneh pass, ensuring Chicago became only the fifth team to win the title four times.”
That kicked off a search for the identity of the other four teams. That in turn led to a Wikipedia entry and the possibility that the phrasing on this historical morsel isn’t the most helpful or accurate. Wiki's entry shows three teams that have one the Open Cup title five times in the tournament's 83-year history: Bethlehem Steel FC, Maccabee SC, and Fall River FC. Along with Chicago, another two teams have lifted the trophy four times: Greek-America AA of New York and Ukranian Nationals of Philadelphia. Apart from counting six teams with four titles, three of those teams have more than four titles. Am I being nit-picky? Yeah....
Still, good game and good win for Chicago. A number of people ought to be checking their shoulders on their way into the playoffs.
With my wrap-up linked to above, I thought I’d pull together a tour of other Open Cup commentary because there’s plenty of it out there, starting with the 17 sources available through Topix.net’s aggregator. But the best stuff comes from some of the more prominent pundits.
Marc Connolly, writing for USSoccerplayers.com, credits Chicago for taking the Open Cup in general as seriously as any Major League Soccer team ever has; implicit in that notion is the idea they deserved to win, though he gives LA their propers too. And there’s something to that as well: either Los Angeles of Chicago, and now both, have been in every Open Cup final since 2000. One can also include Connolly among those mightily impressed with Tony Sanneh’s assist on the third, “nail-in-coffin” goal, which was scored by Thiago; count me among them too - the precision on that pass was what fans pay to see.
The pick of the bunch, though, comes from Jeff Carlisle on ESPN’s site. While the larger service of his column grows from the way he uses the Open Cup win to explain why Chicago are legitimate contenders for MLS Cup, I like that he singles out the play of Justin Mapp, both in this game and in the season in general, for admiration. Mapp is growing into a better player, which is good news not only for Chicago, but for the U.S. men’s team; even if Mapp never makes the squad, he forces the left-sided players that do make the squad to raise their game or keep checking their shoulder.
Finally, another article raised a neat point of curiosity:
“Thiago sealed the win for the Fire in the 88th minute on a Tony Sanneh pass, ensuring Chicago became only the fifth team to win the title four times.”
That kicked off a search for the identity of the other four teams. That in turn led to a Wikipedia entry and the possibility that the phrasing on this historical morsel isn’t the most helpful or accurate. Wiki's entry shows three teams that have one the Open Cup title five times in the tournament's 83-year history: Bethlehem Steel FC, Maccabee SC, and Fall River FC. Along with Chicago, another two teams have lifted the trophy four times: Greek-America AA of New York and Ukranian Nationals of Philadelphia. Apart from counting six teams with four titles, three of those teams have more than four titles. Am I being nit-picky? Yeah....
Still, good game and good win for Chicago. A number of people ought to be checking their shoulders on their way into the playoffs.
MLS & This Blog: Monkeying Around with Two Systems
I'm about to seriously complicate the way I'm blogging. In an effort to do everything I want to do through one site, I've been monkeying around with adding categories to an old political site I used to run. Blogger being completely boned for the past couple of days hasn't aided with the process, but, when all's said and done, I'm going to attempt to shift the content I'm posting here to another site titled My Very Brain. Assuming everything works, I'll return to posting politics over on that site while still sending soccer only items through to Soccer Blogs as I have been doing since July (?).
The question that remains to be answered is whether working through del.icio.us will make this work on Soccer Blogs' end. If it doesn't, I understand that, when Blogger gets its shit together, I'll be able to label posts and call it good from there.
In any case, I just posted a soccer post on My Very Brain, mainly to test out how, or whether I've figured the tabs correctly. I'm not holding my breath.
Anyway, it's just a comment on an article by Frank Dell'Appa on the wisdom, and arguable inevitability, of making the U.S. soccer calendar sync with the rest of the world's. On paper, this idea is unstoppable. Off paper, it's a tricky calculus of planning the season around the several butt-ass cold venues in these United States. For what it's worth, I'm with Rapids head coach Fernando Clavijo: we'll never know till we try it.
The question that remains to be answered is whether working through del.icio.us will make this work on Soccer Blogs' end. If it doesn't, I understand that, when Blogger gets its shit together, I'll be able to label posts and call it good from there.
In any case, I just posted a soccer post on My Very Brain, mainly to test out how, or whether I've figured the tabs correctly. I'm not holding my breath.
Anyway, it's just a comment on an article by Frank Dell'Appa on the wisdom, and arguable inevitability, of making the U.S. soccer calendar sync with the rest of the world's. On paper, this idea is unstoppable. Off paper, it's a tricky calculus of planning the season around the several butt-ass cold venues in these United States. For what it's worth, I'm with Rapids head coach Fernando Clavijo: we'll never know till we try it.
The Attendance Memo: MLS's Worst Kept Secret
Today's San Diego Union-Tribune runs a story about Major League Soccer, um, goosing attendance figures, mainly by ignoring any distinction between paid and free tickets. There are a number of interesting details in this one:
Given what I saw the last time I caught an FC Dallas home game, this last one certainly shouldn't surprise anyone. Still, those numbers just sucks.
For all that, though, this is neither surprising nor is it all that distressing. While the league undoubtedly forgoes some revenue by handing out free tickets, it's not just cash shovelled out the door. To begin, asses in seats are asses in seats; it makes the game look and sound better if nothing else. Second, what fans aren't spending on tickets, they can spend on concessions, funny hats, ugly shirts, etc. In other words, it's not implausble to argue these free tickets don't generate some revenue. And, obviously, those tickets puff up the attendance numbers and, which is useful for waving in the face of advertisers and the like. Is it dishonest? Yeah, but it's not unique to MLS either.
The more concrete business seems to come with the question of tickets distributed - e.g. the number of heads that should actually be avaiable for counting on game day. It turns out there's a bit of hanky-panky there as well:
The second of those two does better in painting the big picture - and, applying some of the above speculation about the behavior of fans who received free tickets, a gap of 250,000 (between the 2.9 and 2.65 million) makes for less worrisome reading than a gap of 900,000 (between 2.9 and 2 million).
The most galling thing in all this arises from MLS's half-foolish penchant for secrecy. Getting caught in a lie, by simply implying there's something horrible to hide, raises the odds of getting bit on the ass by a PR loss - and, as suggested both above and in the article, MLS isn't behaving much differently than any sports league. So long as the league gives away tickets to the right people - here, I'm thinking youth groups, disadvantaged kids, families; hell, I've been a reasonable candidate for such treatment in the past (and would have made it worth their while at the "liquid" concession stand to boot) - it's certainly not a bad thing.
So...are they giving it away to the "right people," those who fit the above description? The smart money is on no - and probably for the same reasons I pointed out about concessions, etc.
"The average paid attendance for the 2005 season was 10,746 per match, or 29 percent less than the 15,108 'official attendance' reported by the league."
[SNIP]
"Only one team, the Los Angeles Galaxy, had an average paid attendance above 13,000 last season, and six of the 12 teams were below 10,000."
[SNIP]
"The L.A. Galaxy easily outdistanced its MLS brethren in ticket sales last year, with an average paid attendance of 19,940. The next best team was Real Salt Lake at 12,689. FC Dallas was last at 6,634."
Given what I saw the last time I caught an FC Dallas home game, this last one certainly shouldn't surprise anyone. Still, those numbers just sucks.
For all that, though, this is neither surprising nor is it all that distressing. While the league undoubtedly forgoes some revenue by handing out free tickets, it's not just cash shovelled out the door. To begin, asses in seats are asses in seats; it makes the game look and sound better if nothing else. Second, what fans aren't spending on tickets, they can spend on concessions, funny hats, ugly shirts, etc. In other words, it's not implausble to argue these free tickets don't generate some revenue. And, obviously, those tickets puff up the attendance numbers and, which is useful for waving in the face of advertisers and the like. Is it dishonest? Yeah, but it's not unique to MLS either.
The more concrete business seems to come with the question of tickets distributed - e.g. the number of heads that should actually be avaiable for counting on game day. It turns out there's a bit of hanky-panky there as well:
"On average, announced attendance was 9 percent higher than the total number of tickets distributed and at some games close to 50 percent higher despite MLS' stated policy of using tickets distributed to determine its announced attendance figures."
[SNIP]
"[Major League Soccer's] 2006 media guide says 'a record 2.9 million fans attended MLS regular season games' in 2005. But the Game Attendance Summary reports only 2.65 million total tickets were distributed, and of those just over 2 million were paid tickets."
The second of those two does better in painting the big picture - and, applying some of the above speculation about the behavior of fans who received free tickets, a gap of 250,000 (between the 2.9 and 2.65 million) makes for less worrisome reading than a gap of 900,000 (between 2.9 and 2 million).
The most galling thing in all this arises from MLS's half-foolish penchant for secrecy. Getting caught in a lie, by simply implying there's something horrible to hide, raises the odds of getting bit on the ass by a PR loss - and, as suggested both above and in the article, MLS isn't behaving much differently than any sports league. So long as the league gives away tickets to the right people - here, I'm thinking youth groups, disadvantaged kids, families; hell, I've been a reasonable candidate for such treatment in the past (and would have made it worth their while at the "liquid" concession stand to boot) - it's certainly not a bad thing.
So...are they giving it away to the "right people," those who fit the above description? The smart money is on no - and probably for the same reasons I pointed out about concessions, etc.
Timbers' Agnello Resigns, Sgt. Wilko Steps In
Hey, hey. Color me impressed. Upon reaching ESPN's site late last night, I caught word of Portland Timbers' head coach Chris Agnello's resignation. I would have posted on it then, but a pretty move scooped me, so I left it for today. On the other hand, they caught more than four games this season, so it seems fitting to cede the honors to them.
While the resignation itself didn't suprise me, this sure as hell did:
Maybe that last place finish shouldn't have surprised me. The Timbers stunk up the joint in all four games I saw; why assume it's any different when I'm not there. I don't recall them scoring more than one goal in 2006, so I suppose the goals-for figure makes some sense as well. But, damn...that's an ugly thing to read about your team.
In any case, Timbers' defensive stalwart Gavin Wilkinson has already taken over and he's already getting advice from fans and pundits. (Ugh. Oregonlive's famously crappy website is making it hard to link to Bob Kellet's specific post on the subject. Here's a link to the overall Timbersblog; the post you're looking for is Wednesday, Sept. 27th's titled "Gavin's To-Do List." For the record, I'm guessing he won't get half these things done.)
What to make of it all. I'm not a fan of instant, gut-check analysis. Let's just say, given Agnello's track record, the move probably can't hurt and call it a day. We'll know more around June 2007.
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While the resignation itself didn't suprise me, this sure as hell did:
"Agnello coached the team to a last-place finish in his one season with the club. The Timbers scored 25 goals in 28 games, the fewest in the United Soccer League First Division."
Maybe that last place finish shouldn't have surprised me. The Timbers stunk up the joint in all four games I saw; why assume it's any different when I'm not there. I don't recall them scoring more than one goal in 2006, so I suppose the goals-for figure makes some sense as well. But, damn...that's an ugly thing to read about your team.
In any case, Timbers' defensive stalwart Gavin Wilkinson has already taken over and he's already getting advice from fans and pundits. (Ugh. Oregonlive's famously crappy website is making it hard to link to Bob Kellet's specific post on the subject. Here's a link to the overall Timbersblog; the post you're looking for is Wednesday, Sept. 27th's titled "Gavin's To-Do List." For the record, I'm guessing he won't get half these things done.)
What to make of it all. I'm not a fan of instant, gut-check analysis. Let's just say, given Agnello's track record, the move probably can't hurt and call it a day. We'll know more around June 2007.
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U.S. Open Cup Preview
Filed this one away, as usual, over on ArmChairGM. For the curious, here's a highly gut-based prediction on tonight's U.S. Open Cup final between the Chicago Fire and the Los Angeles Galaxy. It's got nothing to do with form, injuries, suspensions, weather, a coach's mood, El Nino, what the players will have for lunch, etc.: no it's pure speculation.
Enjoy.
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Enjoy.
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Righteously Kissing Jaime Moreno's Ass
I finally got to the International Herald-Tribune's Jaime Moreno gush-piece that so many people (or at least one person) has cited today. And all I really want to say here is, Goddamn Right (it's a beautiful day - how good is Ween?). Seriously, no matter which team you support, Moreno deserves all the ass-kiss he can get: no one performs in every aspect of the offense like Moreno does - and has since, literally (well, almost) the founding of Major League Soccer; no one has adapted their game to [ahem!] age like Moreno has to escape the "one-trick pony" limitations; and no other player has scored as many flat-out kick-ass goals as Jaime Moreno has in this league. To top it all off, I've never seen so much as a hint of the asshole in him, just a class act that one.
Honestly, I can't say it much better than Bruce Arena, who once said (and it's quoted in the article):
Again, Goddamn right.
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Honestly, I can't say it much better than Bruce Arena, who once said (and it's quoted in the article):
"'Jaime Moreno?' Arena once said (again). 'The best player in the history of this league, no question.'"
Again, Goddamn right.
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Best Team in MLS?
An unexpected passage appeared in USSoccerplayer.com's "Tell Me About..." column on Major League Soccer "Best XIs." (Crap. How do I punctuate that?) For those not familiar with the concept, someone, somewhere builds a roster from all the teams in MLS selecting the eleven best players for the season past.
But, as for that unexpected passage, here's that:
I count that kind of a cool thing to flag. Yes, DC United has won the most championships by a trophy or two (or three), but they had their wilderness years from (was it?) 2000 to 2003 as well. By at least one measure - that'd be consistency - Chicago can stake a long-shot claim to the Best Team title.
No, I wouldn't count it either...but I probably would if I was a Chicago fan.
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But, as for that unexpected passage, here's that:
"Despite entering the league in 1998 - two years after MLS was formed - the Chicago Fire lead all franchises with 16 Best XI selections (1998-2003). The Los Angeles Galaxy and D.C. United have each been represented on the Best XI 15 times."
I count that kind of a cool thing to flag. Yes, DC United has won the most championships by a trophy or two (or three), but they had their wilderness years from (was it?) 2000 to 2003 as well. By at least one measure - that'd be consistency - Chicago can stake a long-shot claim to the Best Team title.
No, I wouldn't count it either...but I probably would if I was a Chicago fan.
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Yes to "Interliga"...
...or whatever the they will one day call "the Champions-League-style tournament" between Mexico's top league and Major League Soccer. So long as they don't call it the "Champions-League-style tournament," they can call it whatever the hell they want. However they make it work, I love the idea - and hat-tip to Andrea Canales for fleshing out where things are over on ESPN's site.
One particularly encouraging piece of information comes here:
Yes, bring it on. The sooner the better. And I'm not all that bothered about whether we win or lose those early encounters - frankly, I'm expecting losses. A secondary - and MAJOR - question surrounds the scheduling. Will MLS try to wrap the tournament around the off-season to sync up with Mexico's schedule? Put another way, with the schedules not overlapping neatly, who gets left holding the short stick on this thing?
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One particularly encouraging piece of information comes here:
"'We're trying to do a tournament next year,' [Chivas USA co-owner Antonio] Cue said. 'We should be announcing it in the months to come. If it's not 2007, then 2008, but I'm looking very optimistically at 2007.'"
Yes, bring it on. The sooner the better. And I'm not all that bothered about whether we win or lose those early encounters - frankly, I'm expecting losses. A secondary - and MAJOR - question surrounds the scheduling. Will MLS try to wrap the tournament around the off-season to sync up with Mexico's schedule? Put another way, with the schedules not overlapping neatly, who gets left holding the short stick on this thing?
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What Grew from the Carnival
Right around last Tuesday, when I was waiting for submissions to Carnival of Soccer 5, it occurred to me that it was a story in itself. My working assumption became that if I picked up enough contributions, and assuming the general sense of contributions lined up well enough, the data could be fleshed out into a snapshot of the Major League Soccer. That snapshot could serve as a means to communicate the league either to people who don't know quite how to approach American soccer, or to Euro fans, who see Major League Soccer as some lesser league (it is arguably that) with no traditions and rivalries (which it certainly is not).
And that's what happened. So here's the cultural primer to Major League Soccer that grew from Carnival of Soccer 5. Enjoy.
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And that's what happened. So here's the cultural primer to Major League Soccer that grew from Carnival of Soccer 5. Enjoy.
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Week 26 Wrap-Up
I posted the wrap-up for Week 26 in the usual place.
Not much to add to what I have over there, but I will add a couple thoughts for fodder. For instance, could the New England Revolution play any more like a disinterested lover? Is the Los Angeles Galaxy finally hosed or am I writing them off too early? DC United still doesn't look good, but, given the opposition - after the Chicago Fire, that is - does it matter? The same applies, in a rough sense, to the Western Conference: I can't see anyone besides Chivas USA and FC Dallas making the final, but which of the teams is the more impressive? Are either of them all that impressive?
Anyway, there's the stuff I'm chewing on. Lay down your thoughts if you've got time. But if I had to call the final today, it would be the Chicago versus Chivas USA. And that's just weird.
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Not much to add to what I have over there, but I will add a couple thoughts for fodder. For instance, could the New England Revolution play any more like a disinterested lover? Is the Los Angeles Galaxy finally hosed or am I writing them off too early? DC United still doesn't look good, but, given the opposition - after the Chicago Fire, that is - does it matter? The same applies, in a rough sense, to the Western Conference: I can't see anyone besides Chivas USA and FC Dallas making the final, but which of the teams is the more impressive? Are either of them all that impressive?
Anyway, there's the stuff I'm chewing on. Lay down your thoughts if you've got time. But if I had to call the final today, it would be the Chicago versus Chivas USA. And that's just weird.
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A Pair on (Loosening) Parity
While the subject bears A LOT more thinking (and writing) a pair of articles about breaking free of Major League Soccer's centrally-planned parity structure have appeared in the last couple of days. One, written by Frank Dell'Appa for ESPN channels Red Bull New York coach Bruce Arena, who makes a blunt statement against parity without much in the way of elaboration:
I agree.
The other, from a guy named Kevin McGeehan, certainly fleshed out the idea further, but he's talking about an unsettling direction:
This is what McGeehan takes away from the trade conundrum afflicting Clint Dempsey - and I think he's nailed the fallout of that one perfectly; everyone loses and his reasons add up at least logically - Shalrie Joseph, and Josh Wolff. As much as I believe in the inevitability of the end of central-planning, I'd hate to see the league and players' union to go down the path McGeehan describes, even if unintentionally. If the league won't yield, then, yeah, blow it up; they'll have themselves to blame. But, surely, there's something the parties can figure this out.
Once teams have separate owners, or, failing total separation, a place where only a couple of teams have the same owner (are we there yet? It's close, right?), I'd propose something like this: a continuation of the current draft allocations to help out teams that bombed in the previous season combined with a hard-and-fast salary and roster cap for the first team. This cap would have no wiggle room. And it ought to be higher than today's ranges, but not so high as to swamp small-market teams (like Columbus). Using the Washington Post's, by now, old-ish salary numbers - and assuming I did the math right when I did it quick - I added up Chivas USA's payroll and came up with a figure of $3,632,403. So, going forward, why not establish a cap of $5 million, or thereabouts and bump it as needed. No, that won't get us competing with Europe - not even close - but that's not realistic just now.
Anyway, all that's off the top of my head. But I think the league only needs to stand in the way of teams going bat-shit crazy, but that everything else ought to be fair game. A rigid salary cap would get closer - and they should make the teams rise and fall, both as teams and businesses, on the merit of the decisions they make.
"'I don't think parity is good in a professional league,' Arena said. 'You need elite teams. The parity issue has to be closely scrutinized because it doesn't make sense, unless you have 12 or 13 good teams. Elite teams have rivalries in other sports -- the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is good, some of the NBA rivalries are good.'"
I agree.
The other, from a guy named Kevin McGeehan, certainly fleshed out the idea further, but he's talking about an unsettling direction:
"Be warned, however. The day is coming when an American star player will refuse to play for his MLS team after an offer from a European team is rejected. He will hold out. He may even sue the League. It's not far off. This will be the end of the single entity contract system. It won't come after a decision by the MLS owners; it will be forced by the players themselves."
This is what McGeehan takes away from the trade conundrum afflicting Clint Dempsey - and I think he's nailed the fallout of that one perfectly; everyone loses and his reasons add up at least logically - Shalrie Joseph, and Josh Wolff. As much as I believe in the inevitability of the end of central-planning, I'd hate to see the league and players' union to go down the path McGeehan describes, even if unintentionally. If the league won't yield, then, yeah, blow it up; they'll have themselves to blame. But, surely, there's something the parties can figure this out.
Once teams have separate owners, or, failing total separation, a place where only a couple of teams have the same owner (are we there yet? It's close, right?), I'd propose something like this: a continuation of the current draft allocations to help out teams that bombed in the previous season combined with a hard-and-fast salary and roster cap for the first team. This cap would have no wiggle room. And it ought to be higher than today's ranges, but not so high as to swamp small-market teams (like Columbus). Using the Washington Post's, by now, old-ish salary numbers - and assuming I did the math right when I did it quick - I added up Chivas USA's payroll and came up with a figure of $3,632,403. So, going forward, why not establish a cap of $5 million, or thereabouts and bump it as needed. No, that won't get us competing with Europe - not even close - but that's not realistic just now.
Anyway, all that's off the top of my head. But I think the league only needs to stand in the way of teams going bat-shit crazy, but that everything else ought to be fair game. A rigid salary cap would get closer - and they should make the teams rise and fall, both as teams and businesses, on the merit of the decisions they make.
G. Wahl & I. Galarcep on U.S. Coach
Without knowing what set them both to jabbering - in truth, nothing seems to have - both Grant Wahl and Ives Galarcep pulled together interesting articles on candidates for the still-vacant U.S. coaching position. (YESSSSS...I am getting impatient; what the hell am I going to watch when MLS wraps up in November? Well?)
Wahl takes the more ecumencial approach by far, listing just about every conceivable candidate for the post - including long-shots (and may they never become short-shots) like Sven-Goran Eriksson. The only A-List new name in here for me was current Lyon manager Gerard Houllier, whom I, as a Liverpool fan, remember fondly from the annus mirabilis that was 2001. The memories cool considerably courtesy of the (too many) years that followed, when Liverpool played oppressively dull soccer - then again, they played the same style in 2001 as well (and it should be noted here that I haven't been following the Premier League like I did before my pre-family peak). What he's doing at Lyon, and what he did at Liverpool in 2001, aside I don't think Houllier's the man for the U.S. job. We need help with attacking and those Liverpool teams, which I watched damn closely, suffered from the same ailment.
Galarcep's offering is more direct: he scratches his head at USSF President Sunil Gulati's travelling interview bit and holds up three solid candidates who make their homes, and more often than not (as in 2 out of 3) work, in the U. S. of A: Peter Nowak, Bob Bradley, and, yes, the inevitable Jurgen Klinsmann. All these candidates have been picked apart all over the 'sphere, but Galarcep compiles a defense of the first two that's worth the gander.
As I said at the top, I'm not sure what's driving the appearance of either of these. They're intersting enough, but the only thing I really got out of them was 1) Houllier being in play, and 2) the fact that ANY MLS coach will literally jump - and jump off a building - to land the U.S. job. The same can't be said for Klinsmann, though both pundits are convinced he's got the job so long as he wants it.
I figure we could do worse. And, in any case, if our first concern is simply making South Africa 2010, I'm confident any of these guys could get us there...though I'd hate like hell to be proved wrong.
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Wahl takes the more ecumencial approach by far, listing just about every conceivable candidate for the post - including long-shots (and may they never become short-shots) like Sven-Goran Eriksson. The only A-List new name in here for me was current Lyon manager Gerard Houllier, whom I, as a Liverpool fan, remember fondly from the annus mirabilis that was 2001. The memories cool considerably courtesy of the (too many) years that followed, when Liverpool played oppressively dull soccer - then again, they played the same style in 2001 as well (and it should be noted here that I haven't been following the Premier League like I did before my pre-family peak). What he's doing at Lyon, and what he did at Liverpool in 2001, aside I don't think Houllier's the man for the U.S. job. We need help with attacking and those Liverpool teams, which I watched damn closely, suffered from the same ailment.
Galarcep's offering is more direct: he scratches his head at USSF President Sunil Gulati's travelling interview bit and holds up three solid candidates who make their homes, and more often than not (as in 2 out of 3) work, in the U. S. of A: Peter Nowak, Bob Bradley, and, yes, the inevitable Jurgen Klinsmann. All these candidates have been picked apart all over the 'sphere, but Galarcep compiles a defense of the first two that's worth the gander.
As I said at the top, I'm not sure what's driving the appearance of either of these. They're intersting enough, but the only thing I really got out of them was 1) Houllier being in play, and 2) the fact that ANY MLS coach will literally jump - and jump off a building - to land the U.S. job. The same can't be said for Klinsmann, though both pundits are convinced he's got the job so long as he wants it.
I figure we could do worse. And, in any case, if our first concern is simply making South Africa 2010, I'm confident any of these guys could get us there...though I'd hate like hell to be proved wrong.
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Previews (Finally) Posted
Interested parties will find my Week 26 previews posted over on ArmchairGM, which is part of the reason why this space has been so quiet today. This ought to be a hell of a weekend with several answers about the post-season (finally) coming.
I've got something else I'll link to later. It's something I wrote for WriteOnSports that grew out of the Carnival of Soccer. By the way, thanks again to all the Carnival participants. I do believe I gave everyone due credit for the big mash-together I produced for WriteOn, but will no doubt endure corrections if I didn't. I think that, when you read the thing, you'll see my intentions were good anyway.
And, after that, there's one more thing to tend to.
Talk at you later.
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I've got something else I'll link to later. It's something I wrote for WriteOnSports that grew out of the Carnival of Soccer. By the way, thanks again to all the Carnival participants. I do believe I gave everyone due credit for the big mash-together I produced for WriteOn, but will no doubt endure corrections if I didn't. I think that, when you read the thing, you'll see my intentions were good anyway.
And, after that, there's one more thing to tend to.
Talk at you later.
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Revs WIN!?! (Plus a Test)
Contrary to my shameful prediction, the New England Revolution pulled out an away win over Red Bull New York last night, leaving them one win, maybe some losses and so on, away from clinching a post-season slot.
If you go to Quick Kicks, you can see a rare sight for this 2006 season: Taylor Twellman putting the ball in the goal, as opposed to, say, into the 'keeper's arms, or off the woodwork. Anyway, just yanking your chain, Taylor (can I call you Taylor?). Keep doing this and I'll stop being an asshole.
(NOTE: A big purpose of this post was to remind myself how to create links that open new browser pages. Hope it works. If it doesn't, though, you'll be seeing this page coming and going all day.)
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If you go to Quick Kicks, you can see a rare sight for this 2006 season: Taylor Twellman putting the ball in the goal, as opposed to, say, into the 'keeper's arms, or off the woodwork. Anyway, just yanking your chain, Taylor (can I call you Taylor?). Keep doing this and I'll stop being an asshole.
(NOTE: A big purpose of this post was to remind myself how to create links that open new browser pages. Hope it works. If it doesn't, though, you'll be seeing this page coming and going all day.)
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Come One, Come All: Carnival of Soccer 5
Welcome to Carnival of Soccer 5!
It seems that my incessant whining paid off: in the end, I pulled in five posts, which brings the total to six once I chuck my post onto the pile. If I may say so, we’ve got a fine bunch of rambles on the topic. To refresh everyone’s memory, here that is again:
If someone asked you to describe the character of each of the 12 teams in Major League Soccer, what would you say? What’s the story of each Major League Soccer club from where you sit?
I’m going to begin here with a unique contribution. It came from Bonji, the creator of the College to Pros blog. Rather than talk about all the teams, Ben wrote an ode to his Colorado Rapids that covered everything from their history to their ready-made rivalry with Real Salt Lake. All in all, it's very thorough and very educational.
It’s a good thing someone stood up for the Rapids – Lord knows I didn’t. Neither, for that matter did DCenters’ Kinney, who explains all Major League Soccer’s teams by equating them to teams from America’s “other sports.” I’ll admit right now that I can’t hold a candle to his knowledge of the entire sporting scene (damn….). Mr. Fish, of The Kin of Fish fame, takes a similar, and equally sharp, approach to the subject. In both cases, the analogies are impressively tight – more so than I could manage trying to communicate between leagues. And Mr. Fish post has a hell of a clever title as well.
Mike H of My Soccer Blog examined MLS's teams through an entirely unexpected, yet very effective, lens: a cast of very recognizable human characters. This one takes the prize for creativity.
The award for tidiest post goes to Joe from We Call It Soccer (great blog title, by the way), who brilliantly and simply equates all the league’s teams to a brand of beer...not sure I believe the choice for Columbus is an actual beer, but I particularly admire his choices for Red Bull New York – I respect anyone, really, powerful enough to be familiar with the selected brand - and Real Salt Lake.
Rounding out the contributions is my own, which appears below. Since I can only be brief when being suffocated with a pillow – and because no pillows were handy – it is, of course, too damned long. It’s also a trifle indisciplined, but I like it well enough. I held up a player from the past or present to stand as a symbol for the history and tradition of each team; and because I became so fixated on using the word “hapless” to describe the Crew, I eventually added a word or phrase for each team as well. If I could give everyone a prize for reaching the end I would, but things are tight in my world.
Thanks to everyone for contributing. For the record, hosting is not as hard as I made it out to be. I’ll be trying to pass the torch shortly. Volunteers are, of course, welcome. Interested parties should feel totally free to contact me through email.
It seems that my incessant whining paid off: in the end, I pulled in five posts, which brings the total to six once I chuck my post onto the pile. If I may say so, we’ve got a fine bunch of rambles on the topic. To refresh everyone’s memory, here that is again:
If someone asked you to describe the character of each of the 12 teams in Major League Soccer, what would you say? What’s the story of each Major League Soccer club from where you sit?
I’m going to begin here with a unique contribution. It came from Bonji, the creator of the College to Pros blog. Rather than talk about all the teams, Ben wrote an ode to his Colorado Rapids that covered everything from their history to their ready-made rivalry with Real Salt Lake. All in all, it's very thorough and very educational.
It’s a good thing someone stood up for the Rapids – Lord knows I didn’t. Neither, for that matter did DCenters’ Kinney, who explains all Major League Soccer’s teams by equating them to teams from America’s “other sports.” I’ll admit right now that I can’t hold a candle to his knowledge of the entire sporting scene (damn….). Mr. Fish, of The Kin of Fish fame, takes a similar, and equally sharp, approach to the subject. In both cases, the analogies are impressively tight – more so than I could manage trying to communicate between leagues. And Mr. Fish post has a hell of a clever title as well.
Mike H of My Soccer Blog examined MLS's teams through an entirely unexpected, yet very effective, lens: a cast of very recognizable human characters. This one takes the prize for creativity.
The award for tidiest post goes to Joe from We Call It Soccer (great blog title, by the way), who brilliantly and simply equates all the league’s teams to a brand of beer...not sure I believe the choice for Columbus is an actual beer, but I particularly admire his choices for Red Bull New York – I respect anyone, really, powerful enough to be familiar with the selected brand - and Real Salt Lake.
Rounding out the contributions is my own, which appears below. Since I can only be brief when being suffocated with a pillow – and because no pillows were handy – it is, of course, too damned long. It’s also a trifle indisciplined, but I like it well enough. I held up a player from the past or present to stand as a symbol for the history and tradition of each team; and because I became so fixated on using the word “hapless” to describe the Crew, I eventually added a word or phrase for each team as well. If I could give everyone a prize for reaching the end I would, but things are tight in my world.
Thanks to everyone for contributing. For the record, hosting is not as hard as I made it out to be. I’ll be trying to pass the torch shortly. Volunteers are, of course, welcome. Interested parties should feel totally free to contact me through email.
Carnival of Soccer 5: MLS Thru Its "Barkers"
The topic for Carnival of Soccer 5 is a discussion of the personality of MLS teams, either the one you support or all the others. Potentially, this is a massive topic, which raises the issue of how to size it up for skinning. Just for yucks, I’m opting explain each of Major League Soccer’s 12 active teams (my apologies to the now-defunct Miami Fusion and Tampa Bay Mutiny) using a player, past or present, from that team - these would be the "barkers," as in carnival barkers, of the title; on top of that, I’ll also tag or tar each team with one word or phrase. And, where I can’t resist the urge, I’ll throw in more random crap where it applies.
Chicago Fire
Player: C. J. Brown
Word: Devious
Sure, it’s Peter Nowak’s shirt that hangs in state in Toyota Park, but Brown better fits Chicago’s character because he speaks to the team’s grit and guile. As Chicago evolved out of the 1998-2000 era, they became less about star players and more about smart, “good enough” players like Brown. I don’t know that he’s the dirtiest player in MLS, but he’s among the league’s most effective dirty players, an absolute master of making opposition players go bat-shit crazy and self-destruct. It’s that kind of mind-set that keeps Chicago in the thick of it season after season.
Chivas USA
Player: Luis Hernandez
Word: Chastened
Yeah, he never played for Chivas USA, but Luis Hernandez is emblematic of the first year “Chivas mentality” – e.g. the idea that even Mexican B-Teamers could own MLS. We all know how that went. Chivas have since figured out that this will not work – not today, not tomorrow, or ever. For their sake, let’s hope they move into the future as they have so far, by signing quality veterans, like Ante Razov, and bright youngsters like John Bornstein. There’s still time for this identity to take root and the trends are good: since an ugly year one, they’ve blossomed into one of the most enjoyable teams in MLS to watch.
Colorado Rapids
Player: Pablo Mastroeni
Word: Spoiler
I passed on players like Chris Henderson, Paul Bravo (whom I barely remember), Marcelo Balboa, and Jean-Phillipe Peguero (who would have been a fine choice, but for completely different reasons), and settled on Mastroeni for one simple reason: when I think of the Rapids at all, it’s as a team that can’t score for shit and is boring as paint drying, grass growing, and old people running, to watch. Put another way, they’re kind of classically American in that they’ve got defending down pretty well (this season, with its series of 4-1 and 5-2 blow-outs excepted), but they only seem to score goals by accident. In the end, Mastroeni is a great stand-in for the team because he can destroy brilliantly, but he’s not so hot going forward.
Columbus Crew
Player: Brian Maissoneuve
Word: Hapless
Yeah, Brian McBride would be the easy call, but he’s something the Crew has never been: successful. As well as Maisonneuve played on any given day, he seemed to spend more days nursing busted joints. And so it goes with all of the Crew’s Great White Hopes: Kyle Martino – nope; Ross Paule – nope; Sebastian Rozenthal – nope. NOTE: At the risk of offending more sensitive readers, I’m about to embark on what could be misinterpreted as “gay bashing.” Rest assured that what follows bears no more hostility toward homosexuals than a Gay Pride parade. Columbus, “America’s Hardest Working Team,” has always struck me as one of the league’s “gayest” teams. It’s not so much the yellow jerseys as it’s the three guys in hard hats on the crest who seem to be ogling passers-by. And there’s just something about the way they’re standing that gives the impression they’re ogling men. And, to be totally honest, that’s completely endearing. It’s just so unintentionally Village People.
DC United
Player: Raul Diaz Arce
Word: Fortunate Son
Yes, there’s Jaime Moreno, yes, there’s Marco Etcheverry – hell, there’s even “Rocket” Roy Lassiter, Ryan Nelsen, John Harkes, Tony Sanneh, Christian Gomez, Eddie Pope, and, if you want to get really funny about it, there’s even Shawn Medved, Mario Gori, Dema Kovalenko (my wife would kill me if I left him out) and some other weird people I could throw in here. Yes, yes, yes. But there’s a simple reason I chose Raul Diaz Arce: for no particular reason, he lit up the league during DC’s “wonder years.” And, for no particular reason, DC United has been the best team in Major League Soccer’s history. If I asked to explain it, though – I mean to really make sense of it – the best answer I can come up with is Diaz Arce. It’s like someone asking you, “Why him and not me?” Hell, I don’t know… Raul Diaz Arce? NOTE: To confess one serious bias: I hate winners. Always have, probably always will. When the league was first founded, DC United was my team and it was only because their name wasn’t ridiculous and their uniforms didn’t look like someone vomited girl-drink all over a soccer player. I turned like a bastard on these guys for two reasons: one, having lived in DC for nine months - basically the span of the 1997 season - I discovered that I love the Smithsonian and Adams-Morgan, and the Post Pub, but that I don’t much like DC; two, watching a winning team is like life on anti-depressants in that you don’t experience the full range of emotions….very unsatisfying.
FC Dallas/Dallas Burn
Player: Oscar Pareja
Word: Bone-Tired
Pareja fits the bill because, like Dallas, he starts strong and he was basically talented, but tires down the stretch. It’s like the team was born old and tired. They seem to start every season going on some ungodly tear, opening a massive lead over all comers thereby convincing nearly everyone – or at least me – that THIS will be the year they win it all. Come every August, though, something goes monstrously wrong and they wind up losing in the first round of playoffs – inevitably, to Los Angeles. NOTE: Wherever one finds the phrase “flatters to deceive” they’ll find either “Dallas Burn” or FC Dallas somewhere in the definition.
Houston Dynamo/San Jose Earthquakes
Player: Dwayne DeRosario
Word: Magic Man
There was a time – and a blessed time it was – when San Jose battled my New England Revolution for the unwanted title of worst team in the league. Then came Landon Donovan. After him came Dwayne DeRosario. Two championships and one monumental choke later (last season’s playoffs) and that’s the San Jose/Houston formula: an entire team, as collectively strong as the Red Army rolling out of Stalingrad, and add one “Great Man” at the helm to make the difference. The essential trick is that Houston is never bad.
Kansas City Wizards
Player: Peter Vermes
Word: Dour
There’s no getting around it: Kansas City is boring, possibly the most boring team in the league. If watching Colorado is like watching old people run, watching Kansas City is like watching them sleep. I’ll forever associate these guys with the torture of MLS Cup 2000 and, thus, 1-0 wins; call that the equivalent of that old person waking up just long enough to hit the snooze button before going back to sleep. The living legend Preki excepted, Kansas City seems to throttle the life out of offensive players - think Josh Wolff and Eddie Johnson - thereby rendering them as dull and stingy as the team as a whole. As such, it seemed appropriate to pick a defender to stand for this team, but one as colorful as, say, Jimmy Conrad didn’t feel right. No, a hard, competent player, one who embodies the negative power of the game seemed better. NOTE: Kansas City’s original “Ride the Rainbow” kits have no peer. These made every home game look like a gay pride parade.
Los Angeles Galaxy
Player: Kevin Hartman
Word: Bridesmaid
I’ve never been able to reconcile myself to the idea that LA has won MLS Cup, never mind twice. My impression of this team remains fixed somewhere in injury time of the 1999 MLS Cup, when goalkeeper Kevin Hartman’s completely whiffed a clearance, thereby putting DC United up by two goals. Even when they did win the Cup, it always felt somehow dubious; that, however, hardly stands as a claim that New England, who really stunk up the joint on both occasions, deserved to beat them on either occasion. For all that, LA certainly counts as one of MLS’s elite teams; not only have they never missed the playoffs (yet – tee hee hee), but they’ve participated in as many MLS Cups as DC United. It’s just sickening, really. NOTE: I’ve always hated these guys. They’re kind of my American Manchester United, a team I could somehow pull against even if they played the Ku Klux Klan All-Stars.
New England Revolution
Player: Paul Keegan
Word: Spaz!!
Yeah, New England has some of the league’s best players these days – Clint Dempsey, Steve Ralston, Taylor Twellman, Pat Noonan, Shalrie Joseph – but this is an aberration. Take away the stars and this team reverts to what it always has been: eleven guys running like hell in all directions, all of them inhumanly eager and blessed with the technical skills of ten-year-olds with club feet. And, as most pundits believe, the stars will be taken away shortly, returning the team to a place where a guy like Darren Sawatzky can be a star. NOTE: The Revs were always my team, even before I knew it. Though I was always going to fall for them, the incomparable fanzine, Pictures of Chairman Mao, accelerated the process considerably. If and when they finally win MLS Cup, I will cry like a girl holding Simon Le Bon’s hand as he sings “Save a Prayer” ‘round about 1983.
Real Salt Lake
Player: Jason Kreis
Word: Bad Math
Real Salt Lake approached the league with an odd, but entirely understandable, philosophy: build a starting eleven around the league’s “elder statesmen,” players who know the league as well as anyone and, arguably, know how to win it. Something gave it out between here and there…well, several somethings, mainly knees and some hips. Missing in this formula were the requisite youngsters, the guys who can run, fetch, and tackle for the “wily veterans,” who no longer have the legs. NOTE: I’ve totally bought into the Real Salt Lake narrative this year; I’d love to see them make the playoffs.
MetroStars/Red Bull New York
Player: Lothar Mattheus
Word: Petulant
If this team could play half as well as they bitch, they’d be DC United, if not better. In spite of frequent overhauls, this team somehow carries at least one prima donna on every season’s roster. Then comes the drama, then comes the losing streaks – put it all together and you’ve got a team that consistently entertains in precisely the wrong place.
Ta da.
Chicago Fire
Player: C. J. Brown
Word: Devious
Sure, it’s Peter Nowak’s shirt that hangs in state in Toyota Park, but Brown better fits Chicago’s character because he speaks to the team’s grit and guile. As Chicago evolved out of the 1998-2000 era, they became less about star players and more about smart, “good enough” players like Brown. I don’t know that he’s the dirtiest player in MLS, but he’s among the league’s most effective dirty players, an absolute master of making opposition players go bat-shit crazy and self-destruct. It’s that kind of mind-set that keeps Chicago in the thick of it season after season.
Chivas USA
Player: Luis Hernandez
Word: Chastened
Yeah, he never played for Chivas USA, but Luis Hernandez is emblematic of the first year “Chivas mentality” – e.g. the idea that even Mexican B-Teamers could own MLS. We all know how that went. Chivas have since figured out that this will not work – not today, not tomorrow, or ever. For their sake, let’s hope they move into the future as they have so far, by signing quality veterans, like Ante Razov, and bright youngsters like John Bornstein. There’s still time for this identity to take root and the trends are good: since an ugly year one, they’ve blossomed into one of the most enjoyable teams in MLS to watch.
Colorado Rapids
Player: Pablo Mastroeni
Word: Spoiler
I passed on players like Chris Henderson, Paul Bravo (whom I barely remember), Marcelo Balboa, and Jean-Phillipe Peguero (who would have been a fine choice, but for completely different reasons), and settled on Mastroeni for one simple reason: when I think of the Rapids at all, it’s as a team that can’t score for shit and is boring as paint drying, grass growing, and old people running, to watch. Put another way, they’re kind of classically American in that they’ve got defending down pretty well (this season, with its series of 4-1 and 5-2 blow-outs excepted), but they only seem to score goals by accident. In the end, Mastroeni is a great stand-in for the team because he can destroy brilliantly, but he’s not so hot going forward.
Columbus Crew
Player: Brian Maissoneuve
Word: Hapless
Yeah, Brian McBride would be the easy call, but he’s something the Crew has never been: successful. As well as Maisonneuve played on any given day, he seemed to spend more days nursing busted joints. And so it goes with all of the Crew’s Great White Hopes: Kyle Martino – nope; Ross Paule – nope; Sebastian Rozenthal – nope. NOTE: At the risk of offending more sensitive readers, I’m about to embark on what could be misinterpreted as “gay bashing.” Rest assured that what follows bears no more hostility toward homosexuals than a Gay Pride parade. Columbus, “America’s Hardest Working Team,” has always struck me as one of the league’s “gayest” teams. It’s not so much the yellow jerseys as it’s the three guys in hard hats on the crest who seem to be ogling passers-by. And there’s just something about the way they’re standing that gives the impression they’re ogling men. And, to be totally honest, that’s completely endearing. It’s just so unintentionally Village People.
DC United
Player: Raul Diaz Arce
Word: Fortunate Son
Yes, there’s Jaime Moreno, yes, there’s Marco Etcheverry – hell, there’s even “Rocket” Roy Lassiter, Ryan Nelsen, John Harkes, Tony Sanneh, Christian Gomez, Eddie Pope, and, if you want to get really funny about it, there’s even Shawn Medved, Mario Gori, Dema Kovalenko (my wife would kill me if I left him out) and some other weird people I could throw in here. Yes, yes, yes. But there’s a simple reason I chose Raul Diaz Arce: for no particular reason, he lit up the league during DC’s “wonder years.” And, for no particular reason, DC United has been the best team in Major League Soccer’s history. If I asked to explain it, though – I mean to really make sense of it – the best answer I can come up with is Diaz Arce. It’s like someone asking you, “Why him and not me?” Hell, I don’t know… Raul Diaz Arce? NOTE: To confess one serious bias: I hate winners. Always have, probably always will. When the league was first founded, DC United was my team and it was only because their name wasn’t ridiculous and their uniforms didn’t look like someone vomited girl-drink all over a soccer player. I turned like a bastard on these guys for two reasons: one, having lived in DC for nine months - basically the span of the 1997 season - I discovered that I love the Smithsonian and Adams-Morgan, and the Post Pub, but that I don’t much like DC; two, watching a winning team is like life on anti-depressants in that you don’t experience the full range of emotions….very unsatisfying.
FC Dallas/Dallas Burn
Player: Oscar Pareja
Word: Bone-Tired
Pareja fits the bill because, like Dallas, he starts strong and he was basically talented, but tires down the stretch. It’s like the team was born old and tired. They seem to start every season going on some ungodly tear, opening a massive lead over all comers thereby convincing nearly everyone – or at least me – that THIS will be the year they win it all. Come every August, though, something goes monstrously wrong and they wind up losing in the first round of playoffs – inevitably, to Los Angeles. NOTE: Wherever one finds the phrase “flatters to deceive” they’ll find either “Dallas Burn” or FC Dallas somewhere in the definition.
Houston Dynamo/San Jose Earthquakes
Player: Dwayne DeRosario
Word: Magic Man
There was a time – and a blessed time it was – when San Jose battled my New England Revolution for the unwanted title of worst team in the league. Then came Landon Donovan. After him came Dwayne DeRosario. Two championships and one monumental choke later (last season’s playoffs) and that’s the San Jose/Houston formula: an entire team, as collectively strong as the Red Army rolling out of Stalingrad, and add one “Great Man” at the helm to make the difference. The essential trick is that Houston is never bad.
Kansas City Wizards
Player: Peter Vermes
Word: Dour
There’s no getting around it: Kansas City is boring, possibly the most boring team in the league. If watching Colorado is like watching old people run, watching Kansas City is like watching them sleep. I’ll forever associate these guys with the torture of MLS Cup 2000 and, thus, 1-0 wins; call that the equivalent of that old person waking up just long enough to hit the snooze button before going back to sleep. The living legend Preki excepted, Kansas City seems to throttle the life out of offensive players - think Josh Wolff and Eddie Johnson - thereby rendering them as dull and stingy as the team as a whole. As such, it seemed appropriate to pick a defender to stand for this team, but one as colorful as, say, Jimmy Conrad didn’t feel right. No, a hard, competent player, one who embodies the negative power of the game seemed better. NOTE: Kansas City’s original “Ride the Rainbow” kits have no peer. These made every home game look like a gay pride parade.
Los Angeles Galaxy
Player: Kevin Hartman
Word: Bridesmaid
I’ve never been able to reconcile myself to the idea that LA has won MLS Cup, never mind twice. My impression of this team remains fixed somewhere in injury time of the 1999 MLS Cup, when goalkeeper Kevin Hartman’s completely whiffed a clearance, thereby putting DC United up by two goals. Even when they did win the Cup, it always felt somehow dubious; that, however, hardly stands as a claim that New England, who really stunk up the joint on both occasions, deserved to beat them on either occasion. For all that, LA certainly counts as one of MLS’s elite teams; not only have they never missed the playoffs (yet – tee hee hee), but they’ve participated in as many MLS Cups as DC United. It’s just sickening, really. NOTE: I’ve always hated these guys. They’re kind of my American Manchester United, a team I could somehow pull against even if they played the Ku Klux Klan All-Stars.
New England Revolution
Player: Paul Keegan
Word: Spaz!!
Yeah, New England has some of the league’s best players these days – Clint Dempsey, Steve Ralston, Taylor Twellman, Pat Noonan, Shalrie Joseph – but this is an aberration. Take away the stars and this team reverts to what it always has been: eleven guys running like hell in all directions, all of them inhumanly eager and blessed with the technical skills of ten-year-olds with club feet. And, as most pundits believe, the stars will be taken away shortly, returning the team to a place where a guy like Darren Sawatzky can be a star. NOTE: The Revs were always my team, even before I knew it. Though I was always going to fall for them, the incomparable fanzine, Pictures of Chairman Mao, accelerated the process considerably. If and when they finally win MLS Cup, I will cry like a girl holding Simon Le Bon’s hand as he sings “Save a Prayer” ‘round about 1983.
Real Salt Lake
Player: Jason Kreis
Word: Bad Math
Real Salt Lake approached the league with an odd, but entirely understandable, philosophy: build a starting eleven around the league’s “elder statesmen,” players who know the league as well as anyone and, arguably, know how to win it. Something gave it out between here and there…well, several somethings, mainly knees and some hips. Missing in this formula were the requisite youngsters, the guys who can run, fetch, and tackle for the “wily veterans,” who no longer have the legs. NOTE: I’ve totally bought into the Real Salt Lake narrative this year; I’d love to see them make the playoffs.
MetroStars/Red Bull New York
Player: Lothar Mattheus
Word: Petulant
If this team could play half as well as they bitch, they’d be DC United, if not better. In spite of frequent overhauls, this team somehow carries at least one prima donna on every season’s roster. Then comes the drama, then comes the losing streaks – put it all together and you’ve got a team that consistently entertains in precisely the wrong place.
Ta da.
Stadium Porn Request
On a day when it's possible to drown in articles about the ground-breaking for Red Bull New York's shiny new stadium in Harrison, New Jersey (LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK), I'm not seeing a lot in the way of solid, computer-generated stadium porn. The - let's see...one, two, three, four - fifth and sixth links in the above chain promises something, but both images in #5 show me a pudgy executive kicking a ball into a goal while #6 takes me here, and I didn't see anything much there either.
A google search yielded two pretty stale images (LINK and LINK) and even the official site of Red Bull New York, for all their articles on the story, doesn't put any kind of slideshow where one can easily find it.
Anyway, it's possible I'm the problem, so I'm hoping someone out there knows where to find purty pictures/artists' renderings of the new stadium. If you've got 'em, please pass them on. I'm curious to see this thing.
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A google search yielded two pretty stale images (LINK and LINK) and even the official site of Red Bull New York, for all their articles on the story, doesn't put any kind of slideshow where one can easily find it.
Anyway, it's possible I'm the problem, so I'm hoping someone out there knows where to find purty pictures/artists' renderings of the new stadium. If you've got 'em, please pass them on. I'm curious to see this thing.
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DeRosario Trade Rumors (WARNING: Lame)
In what must be the least substantial report I've ever read, Sports Illustrated's "Truth & Rumours" devotes just one paragraph to the possibility of the Houston Dynamo's Dwayne DeRosario heading overseas. So, "Europe is clearly calling," but who's on the other end of the line and what are they offering? I can't see Major League Soccer letting DeRosario go for cheap either.
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Red Bull v. Revs TONIGHT
Just posted the preview for the first game of Major League Soccer's Week 26 in the usual place. Speaking as a Revolution fan, I've got a bad feeling about this one; if you check the preview, you'll see I committed sins against both fandom and aesthetics in predicting a Red Bull win; you'll also see I'm still borrowing kevbrunton's brain cells.
One last question: does anyone know what Shalrie Joseph did to his hand?
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One last question: does anyone know what Shalrie Joseph did to his hand?
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Carnival of Soccer 5: Homework Due Today
Thankfully, it doesn't look like my attempt to drum up traffic through BigSoccer.com paid any dividends. Some things only make sense around 11 p.m. and after your third can of Hamm's.
Anyway, quickly as I can: Submissions for Carnival of Soccer 5 are due by the end of the day today - let's say, oh, no later than 8 p.m. PST - and should come to me through the email address attached in my profile. You can read the topic through this post.
Only one submission so far - which doesn't make for much of a carnival. Still, the show will go on even with only the ringmaster and one clown climb out of the funny car.
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Anyway, quickly as I can: Submissions for Carnival of Soccer 5 are due by the end of the day today - let's say, oh, no later than 8 p.m. PST - and should come to me through the email address attached in my profile. You can read the topic through this post.
Only one submission so far - which doesn't make for much of a carnival. Still, the show will go on even with only the ringmaster and one clown climb out of the funny car.
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Maybe This?
So....when Major League Soccer finally wraps up in mid-November, maybe I'll look into getting serious about men's college soccer. Looks the SoccerTimes covers it well enough - and I know Fox Soccer Channel airs a game (or just shy of that) a week.
I figure if I can make it through November and December, there will be pre-season crap to discuss come January. Then again, assuming available coverage, that's about when the Gold Cup and the CONCACAF Champions League ought to be rattling around.
Hmmm...it seems the wife is right. It really does never end.
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I figure if I can make it through November and December, there will be pre-season crap to discuss come January. Then again, assuming available coverage, that's about when the Gold Cup and the CONCACAF Champions League ought to be rattling around.
Hmmm...it seems the wife is right. It really does never end.
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DC v. Fire: An Ad Hoc Cup Needed
A pair of articles (LINK and LINK) appeared on MLS's Newsstand today about rising tensions between DC United and the Chicago Fire as the season goes into the (fer reals) stretch. Both articles pull the same quotes and cover the same ground, but I thought I'd still pass both of them on to give the illusion of intense media interest in the rivalry. Whether they phoned it in or not, I'm pleased to see coverage in more than one paper.
Anyhoo, yeah, the league or the fans - whomever makes such decisions - ought to establish some kind of informal trophy between the Fire and DC United. If they wanted to be snarky about it and name it under the auspices of the 2006 season, they could call it "Relevance Cup," which would hint at just how lousy the rest of the Eastern Conference looks after DC and Chicago.
Oh, and those suspensions - assuming there are a few (there should be, but the league hasn't updated their page that tracks this) - can't help DC for this weekend's game against Red Bull New York. Though that's not to say DC still shouldn't win that one...
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Anyhoo, yeah, the league or the fans - whomever makes such decisions - ought to establish some kind of informal trophy between the Fire and DC United. If they wanted to be snarky about it and name it under the auspices of the 2006 season, they could call it "Relevance Cup," which would hint at just how lousy the rest of the Eastern Conference looks after DC and Chicago.
Oh, and those suspensions - assuming there are a few (there should be, but the league hasn't updated their page that tracks this) - can't help DC for this weekend's game against Red Bull New York. Though that's not to say DC still shouldn't win that one...
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Think for Me, kevbrunton
In spite of what the aptitude tests tell me, I have no talent for math. It hardly helps that it interests me even less. As such, I'm glad there are people out there like kevbrunton, who broke down the many, many scenarios that will decide who clinches playoff positions and when. He did this useful thing on BigSoccer.com.
Just so you know, this edition is pretty Eastern-centric, a function of the fact that the West will remain (mostly) wide-open no matter what happens.
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Just so you know, this edition is pretty Eastern-centric, a function of the fact that the West will remain (mostly) wide-open no matter what happens.
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Defense, Mediocrity, the Future (Vague...)
Hey.
Here's a little glimpse of the future for this blog going forward....well, almost anyway. This and another site will serve as more of a depository for links to items I'm posting elsewhere. The items will be closer to "original" content as opposed to the old blogging habit of linking and discussing. That also means they'll be fewer of them - as in one a day if I'm lucky.
Yes, I expect the already modest traffic to nose-dive. I'm looking to implement this business shortly after Carnival of Soccer 5, so will do business as usual till, oh, let's say Friday. After all, I've got to polish my contribution to the Carnival yet (as well as pass the torch).
Anyway, I don't doubt a few of you were contacted by a guy drumming up content for a site called WriteOnSports. It's a sharp-looking space and easy enough to access; I hope it does well for the people running it. They certainly seem nice enough. Anyway, here are my first two contributions over there:
1) A defense of Major League Soccer against the supposition that it either will, or even needs to, "take off" and become truly major league.
2) The other one started out as a punter's piece - e.g. I started it intending to write about who looks like the favorite to lift MLS Cup. The impossibility of the task got me ruminating on how unsatisfying the broadly mediocre 2006 season has been.
Right. That's it. Some time by the end of the month, I'm hoping to fold this site into another - and that, in doing so, that Soccer Blogs will still be able to pull from this site. We'll see, I guess. I'm not too tech savvy...
Here's a little glimpse of the future for this blog going forward....well, almost anyway. This and another site will serve as more of a depository for links to items I'm posting elsewhere. The items will be closer to "original" content as opposed to the old blogging habit of linking and discussing. That also means they'll be fewer of them - as in one a day if I'm lucky.
Yes, I expect the already modest traffic to nose-dive. I'm looking to implement this business shortly after Carnival of Soccer 5, so will do business as usual till, oh, let's say Friday. After all, I've got to polish my contribution to the Carnival yet (as well as pass the torch).
Anyway, I don't doubt a few of you were contacted by a guy drumming up content for a site called WriteOnSports. It's a sharp-looking space and easy enough to access; I hope it does well for the people running it. They certainly seem nice enough. Anyway, here are my first two contributions over there:
1) A defense of Major League Soccer against the supposition that it either will, or even needs to, "take off" and become truly major league.
2) The other one started out as a punter's piece - e.g. I started it intending to write about who looks like the favorite to lift MLS Cup. The impossibility of the task got me ruminating on how unsatisfying the broadly mediocre 2006 season has been.
Right. That's it. Some time by the end of the month, I'm hoping to fold this site into another - and that, in doing so, that Soccer Blogs will still be able to pull from this site. We'll see, I guess. I'm not too tech savvy...
Carnival of Soccer 5: Two Days to Go....
...for submissions - i.e. submissions are due by the end of the day tomorrow, September 20.
Details on the topic here. And submissions should go to the email address embedded in my profile.
That is all.
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Details on the topic here. And submissions should go to the email address embedded in my profile.
That is all.
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MLS: West or East?
This one's just out of curiosity: Which of the two conferences is the stronger as we head into the final days of Major League's soccer's eleventh regular season? Let's do some math:
Eastern teams enjoying good form: Chicago and....
Western teams enjoying good form: Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake.
Are those weird calls? To some extent, absolutely. When I say "enjoying good form," I suppose I'm saying these are the teams I'd be wary of playing due to their visible enthusiasm. Everyone else just seems going-through-the-motions flat.
Are these better teams? In Chicago's case, possibly. The other two, I think they're just playing for something bigger than the post-season; call it credibility, and you're probably not far off.
Anyway, I've said it before: it's been a weird 2006.
Any thoughts on this out there?
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Eastern teams enjoying good form: Chicago and....
Western teams enjoying good form: Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake.
Are those weird calls? To some extent, absolutely. When I say "enjoying good form," I suppose I'm saying these are the teams I'd be wary of playing due to their visible enthusiasm. Everyone else just seems going-through-the-motions flat.
Are these better teams? In Chicago's case, possibly. The other two, I think they're just playing for something bigger than the post-season; call it credibility, and you're probably not far off.
Anyway, I've said it before: it's been a weird 2006.
Any thoughts on this out there?
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Week 25: Status Quo Ugly
I just posted my breakdown of Major League Soccer's Week 25 in the usual format and in the usual place. Hop on over and enjoy if you're so inclined.
There is one note on a note I left on that one, specifically, the one about shifting allegiances as we head into the post-season. At the end of my take on Chicago Fire's relative position, I noted that I've officially "adopted" that team for the remainder of this season. Now, that's not as turn-coat as it sounds: the New England Revolution remains the team to which I'm committed. By that I mean, any time the Revs play the Fire, I'll be pulling for the former - and desperately so (is there any other kind of support in New England this year?). But given where I think the Revs are this year, I'm not all that confident I'm going to see them in the post-season at all, never mind for long. Yeah, I know their odds aren't bad as, say, the Columbus Crew's, but I wouldn't be the least surprised if they miss the playoffs.
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There is one note on a note I left on that one, specifically, the one about shifting allegiances as we head into the post-season. At the end of my take on Chicago Fire's relative position, I noted that I've officially "adopted" that team for the remainder of this season. Now, that's not as turn-coat as it sounds: the New England Revolution remains the team to which I'm committed. By that I mean, any time the Revs play the Fire, I'll be pulling for the former - and desperately so (is there any other kind of support in New England this year?). But given where I think the Revs are this year, I'm not all that confident I'm going to see them in the post-season at all, never mind for long. Yeah, I know their odds aren't bad as, say, the Columbus Crew's, but I wouldn't be the least surprised if they miss the playoffs.
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Carnival of Soccer 5: Heading to the Wire
OK, there are just a few days to go till submissions for Carnival of Soccer 5 are due. Interested parties should email their thoughts on the following topic...
by the end of the day (5 p.m., PST), Wednesday, September 20th, to the email address available through my profile. An expansion on the topic appears here.
No, I'm not afraid to host a one-man carnival (but who will man the midway?), but would rather have to pull together a bunch of ideas than air my own. I mean, I do that everyday, right?
I'm looking forward to hearing some chatter.
If someone asked you to describe the character of each of the 12 teams in Major League Soccer, what would you say? What’s the story of each Major League Soccer club from where you sit?
by the end of the day (5 p.m., PST), Wednesday, September 20th, to the email address available through my profile. An expansion on the topic appears here.
No, I'm not afraid to host a one-man carnival (but who will man the midway?), but would rather have to pull together a bunch of ideas than air my own. I mean, I do that everyday, right?
I'm looking forward to hearing some chatter.
Luke "Krispy" Kreamalmeyer Makes A-List
Dubbed a "bright spot in a difficult Timbers season" (whew. they don't know the half of it), the Portland Timbers' Luke Kreamalmeyer made the USL First Division All-League team.
Given what he put up with this season, it seems fair that Luke K. (I'm not typing that name again) gets something for his troubles. Congratulations, lad.
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Given what he put up with this season, it seems fair that Luke K. (I'm not typing that name again) gets something for his troubles. Congratulations, lad.
(#######)jabber.
Connolly's Argument and Why I Still Like Cunningham for MVP
Big-league soccer scribe Marc Connolly, writing this time for USSoccerplayers.com forwarded a useful proposal yesterday: he argues a distinction should be made between the typical Most Valuable Player (MVP) award while another is handed out for Player of the Year (P-o-t-Y? which actually takes longer to type than "Player of the Year," even allowing for proper capitalizing...where was I?).
Using Real Salt Lake's (RSL) Jeff Cunningham as his example, he expands on the point:
As much as I appreciate the distinction Connolly's seeks to make - and he even makes fine arguments for another pair of candidates, DC United's Christian Gomez and Chivas USA's Ante Razov - I'm not sold on his methods for measuring. For one, I don't think overall team success needs consideration in determining most valuable player status. As I see it, the word means what it does: which player was most valuable to his team for the duration of the season in question? Sure, Gomez is a hell of a player (and a stronger candidate to boot), but he's also working with a better supporting cast than Cunningham. As for Razov, Connolly argues for intangibles such as his leadership qualities in the Chivas locker room.
But, as much as both players are major contributors to their clubs, I bumped into an absolutely crazy statistic (here) that gets fairly directly as what Cunningham means for RSL:
69.4 percent. That's one hell of a number for a typically stats-shy sport like soccer. On a more direct level, Cunningham's scored 15 of RSL's 36 goals this season. Even if Cunningham hasn't yet led his team to the post-season promised land, could RSL even entertain the concept without Cunningham's contribution? My answer is: no. That's why he's a good candidate for MVP.
For all that, Connolly's fundamental proposal, that's a pretty sound idea. The player who enjoys the best season and the player who means most to their team aren't always going to be the same.
Using Real Salt Lake's (RSL) Jeff Cunningham as his example, he expands on the point:
"Regardless, Cunningham's worth to his side has obviously been valuable. But is he the most valuable player in the league, considering his team would not make the playoffs if the season ended today? Or, in other words, if you lined all the players up in the league and could pick one to go into the playoffs with based on this season's performances alone, would you take Cunningham?"
"My answers are: No and No."
As much as I appreciate the distinction Connolly's seeks to make - and he even makes fine arguments for another pair of candidates, DC United's Christian Gomez and Chivas USA's Ante Razov - I'm not sold on his methods for measuring. For one, I don't think overall team success needs consideration in determining most valuable player status. As I see it, the word means what it does: which player was most valuable to his team for the duration of the season in question? Sure, Gomez is a hell of a player (and a stronger candidate to boot), but he's also working with a better supporting cast than Cunningham. As for Razov, Connolly argues for intangibles such as his leadership qualities in the Chivas locker room.
But, as much as both players are major contributors to their clubs, I bumped into an absolutely crazy statistic (here) that gets fairly directly as what Cunningham means for RSL:
"[Cunningham's] involvement in 69.4 percent of RSL's goals is on pace to set a league record."
69.4 percent. That's one hell of a number for a typically stats-shy sport like soccer. On a more direct level, Cunningham's scored 15 of RSL's 36 goals this season. Even if Cunningham hasn't yet led his team to the post-season promised land, could RSL even entertain the concept without Cunningham's contribution? My answer is: no. That's why he's a good candidate for MVP.
For all that, Connolly's fundamental proposal, that's a pretty sound idea. The player who enjoys the best season and the player who means most to their team aren't always going to be the same.
Last of the Week 25 Previews...
...are avaiable on ArmchairGM (LINK). They also contain one of the better analogies I've made between the animal kingdom and Major League Soccer.
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Carnival of Soccer 5: Submissions Needed
All righty. We're headed to the weekend, which seems an ideal time to remind people about sending in submissions for Carnival of Soccer 5. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, September 20th. Send what you'd like to say to the email address found through my profile (it's on the sidebar too).
So, with your weekend in front of you and with all that time to burn (HA!), here's the topic you should marinate on:
A longer explanation appears here.
With things so quiet in my inbox (what? do you all have lives or something?! how dare you!!!), I may have to do something drastic. Yes, I may have to resort to comment spam...
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So, with your weekend in front of you and with all that time to burn (HA!), here's the topic you should marinate on:
If someone asked you to describe the character of each of the 12 teams in Major League Soccer, what would you say? What’s the story of each Major League Soccer club from where you sit?
A longer explanation appears here.
With things so quiet in my inbox (what? do you all have lives or something?! how dare you!!!), I may have to do something drastic. Yes, I may have to resort to comment spam...
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Awkward Glimpse of Arena's Soul
"My comments sound like sour grapes, and it's wrong. As I look at the text of some of the things I've said, I think they're absolutely inappropriate and distasteful."
- Bruce Arena, "chat" with Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl, 09.14.06
For my money, Grant Wahl's late-night conversation with Red Bull New York's Bruce Arena makes for some of the most completely painful reading I've come across in some time. As Wahl points out, Arena is, essentially, apologizing for coming off like an asshole in the pages of the New York Times. As one who has been ever-so-slightly put off by Arena's media-sniping, it's refreshing on one level to see him own up to the tantrums...but, God, couldn't he do this behind closed doors? I dunno. It's not so much that it's horrible or unusual as it's something best not dragged into the public square.
Still, it - that is Wahl's short article - is fascinating from the human angle. I suppose that's why I'm commenting on it. As much as I wish I would rather it wasn't out there, it is. It's not a healthy thing, toying with this kind of thing; it's not unlike watching a drunk uncle come apart at Thanksgiving dinner.
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Week 25 Status Report
Though I touched on last night's games in the post, I mainly cranked out previews for Saturday's coming match-ups and posted them on ArmchairGM.
Still, crazy results last night, huh? I didn't see Chivas USA's win over FC Dallas, especially. All I know is, I wouldn't want to be the Los Angeles Galaxy or Real Salt Lake just now. As to the other game - New England Revolution versus DC United - let's just say the less said the better. I mean, what's there to say about the status quo ante?
Anyway, check out the previews if you're so inclined. I'm finally inching toward a format I like.
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Still, crazy results last night, huh? I didn't see Chivas USA's win over FC Dallas, especially. All I know is, I wouldn't want to be the Los Angeles Galaxy or Real Salt Lake just now. As to the other game - New England Revolution versus DC United - let's just say the less said the better. I mean, what's there to say about the status quo ante?
Anyway, check out the previews if you're so inclined. I'm finally inching toward a format I like.
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(Again) Carnival of Soccer 5 Reminder
If you've got thoughts on this topic, please send your submission via the email link in my profile (whoops. never mentioned that before, did I?). September 20 is the due date and I'm posting whatever I've got on the following day, even if it's just my take on the topic.
Whatever happens, time is ticking down to Carnival of Soccer 5.
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Whatever happens, time is ticking down to Carnival of Soccer 5.
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A Pair on Transferring OUT of MLS
Boston Globe and ESPN pundit Frank Dell'Appa turned in articles to each outlet on the same subject - New England Revolution players sniffing around the exit door; a quick read of his effort for the Globe gets one wondering why he bothered with that one. Naturally, the pieces refer heavily to Clint Dempsey's situation. And the curious thing here is how bitter Clint has become:
All in all, the Globe piece amounts to handing Dempsey some rope with which to hang himself. Let's just say he better hope Europe pans out because he's looking at the A-League if it doesn't. But that also underlines, to some extent, the risks the league runs in standing in a good player's way. The risk, as Dell'Appa notes, is that they may wake up one morning in 2010 to discover that the better players would rather go to Europe directly than risk getting stuck stewing while MLS holds out for more dough. The point is less that MLS should always cave, than they need to work to find the balance.
The ESPN piece expands on that question a bit more, but it's main thrust deals in the big questions: to export or import? Can MLS import? And so on. In the end, Dell'Appa clearly leans toward export:
Sure this would make us something more like Brazil or Argentina than England or Spain. But is that so bad? Seven World Cups between the former says we could do worse. But the real rub comes in the first sentence: MLS simply can't afford to import top talent. If you can't win, you may as well adapt, right?
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"'It's a matter of time,' Dempsey said while preparing for tonight's game against D.C. United. 'If the right situation comes along, I'll go, or I'll wait it out. This is the biggest thing in my life, the thing I have always dreamed of doing. There is no way in the world I am staying in the MLS, or coming back later in my career.'"
All in all, the Globe piece amounts to handing Dempsey some rope with which to hang himself. Let's just say he better hope Europe pans out because he's looking at the A-League if it doesn't. But that also underlines, to some extent, the risks the league runs in standing in a good player's way. The risk, as Dell'Appa notes, is that they may wake up one morning in 2010 to discover that the better players would rather go to Europe directly than risk getting stuck stewing while MLS holds out for more dough. The point is less that MLS should always cave, than they need to work to find the balance.
The ESPN piece expands on that question a bit more, but it's main thrust deals in the big questions: to export or import? Can MLS import? And so on. In the end, Dell'Appa clearly leans toward export:
"The MLS is not in a position to import talent. But it could start exporting it more often. These exports could produce revenue, but the loss of players would have to be offset with a more productive developmental and scouting system. There are likely to be more Noonans and Twellmans somewhere in the St. Louis area. But is there another Dempsey in East Texas or a Joseph in Brooklyn? I would wager the $3 million-plus in transfer fees those players could bring in, that there is."
Sure this would make us something more like Brazil or Argentina than England or Spain. But is that so bad? Seven World Cups between the former says we could do worse. But the real rub comes in the first sentence: MLS simply can't afford to import top talent. If you can't win, you may as well adapt, right?
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First of Week 25 Previews up....
...and they'll be the death of me. Why, oh why, did I board that stupid friggin' train?
You'll find the previews here.
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You'll find the previews here.
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Reminder: Carnival of Soccer 5 (or V)
I'm still trying to find the "sweet spot" for Soccer Blogs, the time when most people check it out. In any case, this is only today's daily request for submissions to Carnival of Soccer 5. September 20 is the deadline for submission and details on the topic, etc., can be found here.
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The Upside of Missing the Playoffs
Iver Galarcep, working what I assume to be his day job, passed on something educational (to me anyway): what the league does to help the few teams who fail to make the playoffs. He views it through the lens of Red Bull New York, but the rules are clearly universal:
I assume this was common knowledge to the Right People, but, as I said, it was news to me. I'm passing it on in case it was news to all y'all.
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"What consolation prizes await the four teams that miss the postseason? Try a player allocation valued at $250,000 that can go toward the signing of new players. The allocation serves as the mechanism which allows teams to sign high-profile players from outside the league."
I assume this was common knowledge to the Right People, but, as I said, it was news to me. I'm passing it on in case it was news to all y'all.
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Answer on O. Zambrano
Iver Galarcep, pulling duty for ESPN this time, checks in on former LA Galaxy, former MetroStars head coach, Octavio Zambrano, posing the question of why, with that guy's resume, no Major League Soccer team will so much as interview him.
Here's an answer: Zambrano's MLS's answer to Newcastle/Fulham/England's Kevin Keegan. If you're trying to build a winning team, you get past the "attractive" stuff pretty quickly.
For all that - and, in truth, it's a bit of a cheap shot - Galarcep does make a good case, particularly with the 2000 MetroStars. Still, Zambrano never got one of his teams over the hump...and one does have to consider the MetroStars far less impressive 2002 for the full measure of the the man. Galarcep does, of course, and that's to his credit. But doesn't that answer some questions as well?
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Here's an answer: Zambrano's MLS's answer to Newcastle/Fulham/England's Kevin Keegan. If you're trying to build a winning team, you get past the "attractive" stuff pretty quickly.
For all that - and, in truth, it's a bit of a cheap shot - Galarcep does make a good case, particularly with the 2000 MetroStars. Still, Zambrano never got one of his teams over the hump...and one does have to consider the MetroStars far less impressive 2002 for the full measure of the the man. Galarcep does, of course, and that's to his credit. But doesn't that answer some questions as well?
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Again with the Playoffs...Simplify, Man
I saw another proposal for improving the playoffs running hot over on BigSoccer.com. No offense intended to the guy who started the thread by pasting the comment of still another person, but I think he is, or they are, trying too hard. Here's the proposal:
One part of this, I like: the higher seed should always host the game in question. Having the final at a neutral venue, in spite of giving the top seed one hell of a leg-up, sucks too much enthusiasm out of the occasion; you need not only warm bodies, but engaged ones. After that, as I said, he is (or, again, they are) trying too hard.
Here's my solution: fewer teams. I'm not too bothered about the number, so long as it's six teams or fewer; I'd also be fine with four teams, but accept that six at least offers hope of keeping more people interested in the regular season longer. After that, single elimination, home-and-home, first-to-five - do whatever the hell you like (within reason). Just limit the teams and go forward from there.
One last point: a few people in the thread argue that there's no point in tinkering with the playoffs because it "won't help the league," a phrase I take to mean that it won't generate more interest or enthusiasm in people heretofore not enraptured with it all. I don't doubt those folks are correct. But that's not the reason for a change. It's about improving the competition during the summer and giving not just the fans, but the players more to get excited about with each game.
UPDATE: In the course of some research for a related project, I bumped into a very good defense of MLS's playoff system. Written by scaryice over on Climbing the Ladder he takes a solid shot at my central argument: e.g. lowering the number of teams who make the playoffs. Here's his passage on that:
So long as you accept the argument that "you'll just have to change it back," scaryice is 100% correct. That would be stupid. He also dispatches fairly quickly with arguments against the home-and-home series rewarding the lower-seeded team, as well as the fairly popular idea that tweaking the playoff format will somehow boost attendance. Tempting as that last argument is, in particular, the people claiming it has more to do with the short window for marketing (ticket give-aways, corporate promotions) and advertising make the more compelling case for that unfortunate situation.
For all that, I stand by my upper limit of six teams. A lot of that grows from a personal resistance to rewarding mediocrity; there's just something wrong with sub-.500 teams making any kind of post-season. And though I can't remotely back it up - hell, I'm not even sure how one would quantify this - I also believe that fewer spots in the post-season would generally raise the intensity of regular season play. Higher intensity could result in more defensive games, but I'm guessing that someone, somewhere would have to figure out how to win under those circumstances, just to guarantee their own post-season prospects if nothing else.
Still, hats off to mr. scaryice for making a good case for the status quo.
"1. Retain separate conferences, but award postseason berths to the top eight point-getters in the league.
2. Go to a single-game knockout format throughout the playoffs, with matches hosted by the higher seeds.
3. The higher seed needs only a tie to advance."
One part of this, I like: the higher seed should always host the game in question. Having the final at a neutral venue, in spite of giving the top seed one hell of a leg-up, sucks too much enthusiasm out of the occasion; you need not only warm bodies, but engaged ones. After that, as I said, he is (or, again, they are) trying too hard.
Here's my solution: fewer teams. I'm not too bothered about the number, so long as it's six teams or fewer; I'd also be fine with four teams, but accept that six at least offers hope of keeping more people interested in the regular season longer. After that, single elimination, home-and-home, first-to-five - do whatever the hell you like (within reason). Just limit the teams and go forward from there.
One last point: a few people in the thread argue that there's no point in tinkering with the playoffs because it "won't help the league," a phrase I take to mean that it won't generate more interest or enthusiasm in people heretofore not enraptured with it all. I don't doubt those folks are correct. But that's not the reason for a change. It's about improving the competition during the summer and giving not just the fans, but the players more to get excited about with each game.
UPDATE: In the course of some research for a related project, I bumped into a very good defense of MLS's playoff system. Written by scaryice over on Climbing the Ladder he takes a solid shot at my central argument: e.g. lowering the number of teams who make the playoffs. Here's his passage on that:
"There's another big reason to stay with 8 teams in the playoffs: Tradition. MLS has had 8 teams in the playoffs every single season. Yes, it's too many with only 12 teams. But we already suffered through having only 2 teams miss out previously, and it will only get better as the years go on. In 2007, we'll have 8 of 14, which is pretty decent. If you change it now, then you'll just have to change it back in 5 or 10 years, and that's stupid."
So long as you accept the argument that "you'll just have to change it back," scaryice is 100% correct. That would be stupid. He also dispatches fairly quickly with arguments against the home-and-home series rewarding the lower-seeded team, as well as the fairly popular idea that tweaking the playoff format will somehow boost attendance. Tempting as that last argument is, in particular, the people claiming it has more to do with the short window for marketing (ticket give-aways, corporate promotions) and advertising make the more compelling case for that unfortunate situation.
For all that, I stand by my upper limit of six teams. A lot of that grows from a personal resistance to rewarding mediocrity; there's just something wrong with sub-.500 teams making any kind of post-season. And though I can't remotely back it up - hell, I'm not even sure how one would quantify this - I also believe that fewer spots in the post-season would generally raise the intensity of regular season play. Higher intensity could result in more defensive games, but I'm guessing that someone, somewhere would have to figure out how to win under those circumstances, just to guarantee their own post-season prospects if nothing else.
Still, hats off to mr. scaryice for making a good case for the status quo.
Because I Hate Steve Sampson (Sort of)
In spite of a recent post promising to maintain a sense of proportion about athletes - and, by translation, coaches ought to be included in that - I have yet to shed my personal distaste for former LA Galaxy coach, Steve Sampson, I'd argue this apparent backsliding deserves an exemption for one reason: it's not so much that Sampson offends me as a human being as I can't believe people still hire him to coach. Based on my observations, the man can't coach.
As such, I read with more than a little pleasures some passages against Sampson that appeared in a Daily Breeze article (topped, as usual, with those wonderful ads for The Wild Goose) on the Galaxy's (near-) return to contention under Frank Yallop. The article's reporter, Nick Green, can't get any current Galaxy players to dish dirt, so he takes the liberty of "reading between the lines":
Ah. I could read that kind of stuff all day. Just do us all a favor and don't let that man coach again...unless, that is, someone sends him to Columbus with their current team, thereby totally discrediting him.
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As such, I read with more than a little pleasures some passages against Sampson that appeared in a Daily Breeze article (topped, as usual, with those wonderful ads for The Wild Goose) on the Galaxy's (near-) return to contention under Frank Yallop. The article's reporter, Nick Green, can't get any current Galaxy players to dish dirt, so he takes the liberty of "reading between the lines":
"...[When] players talk about what Yallop has brought to the team it's obvious what the Galaxy lacked under his predecessor."
[SNIP]
"Sampson was given to micro-management in adversity, with players second-guessing themselves and their roles on the field. Do something wrong and an irate Sampson was likely to haul a player off the field quicker than you can say 'take a seat on the bench.' And Sampson was a political animal, given to playing personnel off each other in an effort to motivate them."
"The straight-shooting Yallop is none of these things."
Ah. I could read that kind of stuff all day. Just do us all a favor and don't let that man coach again...unless, that is, someone sends him to Columbus with their current team, thereby totally discrediting him.
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Why the Rapids Won't Make the Playoffs
An article in today's Denver Post looks at the road ahead for the Colorado Rapids. In doing so, it points to the reason why a bet against the Rapids making the playoffs isn't the worst one could make. Here's how it works...
Take this paragraph:
Then stop by the standings on Major League Soccer's website where you'll find the Rapids road record: listed by wins, losses and draws, it's 2-8-2.
That's not to say there's no silver lining or no wiggle room for Colorado. One of those two road wins came against the LA Galaxy, the same team they'll face on the road this Saturday (the other came against Real Salt Lake). They've also got a game in hand over the two teams behind them in the standings - again, the LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake. Still, the Rapids have a lot of road ahead of them and they don't like the road much. And they can't look to goal differential for a boost, either; their -11 tally comes second only to the Columbus Crew. Yikes.
So, call this one my marker. It says here the Rapids will miss the playoffs this season. One of the two teams behind them - and I'm pulling for Real Salt Lake - pips them for it.
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Take this paragraph:
"The Rapids, who have won just twice in their past eight games, have six games remaining - two at home. Colorado is on the road again Saturday against the Los Angeles Galaxy in what could be a huge game in terms of playoff implications."
Then stop by the standings on Major League Soccer's website where you'll find the Rapids road record: listed by wins, losses and draws, it's 2-8-2.
That's not to say there's no silver lining or no wiggle room for Colorado. One of those two road wins came against the LA Galaxy, the same team they'll face on the road this Saturday (the other came against Real Salt Lake). They've also got a game in hand over the two teams behind them in the standings - again, the LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake. Still, the Rapids have a lot of road ahead of them and they don't like the road much. And they can't look to goal differential for a boost, either; their -11 tally comes second only to the Columbus Crew. Yikes.
So, call this one my marker. It says here the Rapids will miss the playoffs this season. One of the two teams behind them - and I'm pulling for Real Salt Lake - pips them for it.
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Reminder: Carnival of Soccer 5
This is the first of my daily reminders for submissions to Carnival of Soccer 5. September 20th is the deadline for submissions.
Details on the Carnival topic are here.
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Details on the Carnival topic are here.
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What Ails the Galaxy?
As it turns out, I wasn't the only one caught off-guard by the Los Angeles Galaxy's loss this weekend to the Houston Dynamo. Not only do I join an impressive listing of Southern California newspapers (LINK and LINK and LINK), but the players can't explain it either.
Yet another article contains the best copy on the subject - not to mention a plausible answer the question posed in the subject field. First, Landon Donovan's kicked in a good quote:
Yes. That is soccer. And that's why we watch. Good stuff.
But here's the most telling part of any article I've read so far:
Has this guy never heard of self-fulfilling prophecies? You play uptight and worry about mistakes, they'll come sure as night follows day.
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Yet another article contains the best copy on the subject - not to mention a plausible answer the question posed in the subject field. First, Landon Donovan's kicked in a good quote:
"I'm still trying to figure out how we lost that game. That's the best we've played in a couple of months. They didn't sniff the goal and somehow got two. (Houston coach) Dominick (Kinnear) told me that's the worst they've played in a month, and that's the best we played. That's soccer, a funny game."
Yes. That is soccer. And that's why we watch. Good stuff.
But here's the most telling part of any article I've read so far:
"Galaxy defender Tyrone Marshall said he had a bad feeling as the game progressed."
"'I could tell the way the game was going that it was only a matter of time before something was going to go wrong,' he said. 'It did on our part. That's how the game goes sometimes.'"
Has this guy never heard of self-fulfilling prophecies? You play uptight and worry about mistakes, they'll come sure as night follows day.
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Power Rankings Talking Points (like the MVP)
As usual, the latest edition of ESPN's power rankings chucked out some opinions worth quibbling over. In no particular order...
From #5 & 8: Who pulls down the MVP? ESPN's pundit stable names Dwayne DeRosario and, my pick (see the section on Salt Lake), Jeff Cunningham....in spite of him picking up "Crybaby of the Week" honors from a Salt Lake paper (crap...haven't the Salt Lake Trib's reporters ever had bad days?). I'd be happy to see either man named; along with DC United Christian Gomez, they're the most deserving players who come to me. Even so, I'd give it to Cunningham. Whatever I think, is there anyone else out there?
Oh, I'm not done...
From #2: The main question here is why DC United continues as #2.
From #12: The most puzzling comment in the entire article:
Why? If the sixth-place team beats the fifth-place team, they're both still out of the playoffs; other results elsewhere would only make this game even more irrelevant. That's "looming small" in anyone's book.
From #6: Talk of a "hot streak" for the New England Revolution points to nothing more or less than pundits waiting for reality to catch up to their expectations. Based on everything I've seen (read: endured) this season, New England's about as likely to hit a hot streak as the state of Massachusetts is to go broadly Republican. Speaking as a fan, I'll be content if they make the playoffs.
From #3: The most pointed and salient comment in the entire article:
The answer, I suppose, is catch me after their home-and-home series versus the Los Angeles Galaxy. Anything north of four points of the six on offer and the answer to this question becomes yes. That goes double if this series means LA misses the playoffs.
Anyway, good stuff as always. I admire these guys for stirring the pot.
From #5 & 8: Who pulls down the MVP? ESPN's pundit stable names Dwayne DeRosario and, my pick (see the section on Salt Lake), Jeff Cunningham....in spite of him picking up "Crybaby of the Week" honors from a Salt Lake paper (crap...haven't the Salt Lake Trib's reporters ever had bad days?). I'd be happy to see either man named; along with DC United Christian Gomez, they're the most deserving players who come to me. Even so, I'd give it to Cunningham. Whatever I think, is there anyone else out there?
Oh, I'm not done...
From #2: The main question here is why DC United continues as #2.
From #12: The most puzzling comment in the entire article:
"With the [Columbus] Crew losing another tough one, next week's battle against [Red Bull New York] looms large."
Why? If the sixth-place team beats the fifth-place team, they're both still out of the playoffs; other results elsewhere would only make this game even more irrelevant. That's "looming small" in anyone's book.
From #6: Talk of a "hot streak" for the New England Revolution points to nothing more or less than pundits waiting for reality to catch up to their expectations. Based on everything I've seen (read: endured) this season, New England's about as likely to hit a hot streak as the state of Massachusetts is to go broadly Republican. Speaking as a fan, I'll be content if they make the playoffs.
From #3: The most pointed and salient comment in the entire article:
"FC Dallas is in first place, but does this team scare anybody?"
The answer, I suppose, is catch me after their home-and-home series versus the Los Angeles Galaxy. Anything north of four points of the six on offer and the answer to this question becomes yes. That goes double if this series means LA misses the playoffs.
Anyway, good stuff as always. I admire these guys for stirring the pot.
Week 24: I Like My Title on This One...
...but you'll have to go to the post on ArmchairGM to see it.
In spite of multiple hurdles and anal-retentive genes passed down from my mother, I've posted my ramble on Week 24.
Though I discuss plenty of things over there, there are some things I either didn't mention or didn't sufficiently emphasize. For instance, the result of the week came with the Houston Dynamo's shock (for me anyway) win over the Los Angeles Galaxy. Though nothing like fatal to LA's chances at the post-season, it raised new questions about the Galaxy qualifying; it'd be something - and the word "justified" springs to mind here - for LA to go from champs to chumps in the span of a season. Their recent run alone had pushed the possibility so far from my thinking that I haven't yet re-adjusted.
LA's woes pale next to those of the Columbus Crew and Red Bull New York. Both teams picked up losses at the worst possible time. I can't see Columbus, especially, recovering. After witnessing Amado Guevara's antics (e.g. the sending off), I can't say Red Bull's chances look all that great either - even with those two games in hand over KC.
After that, I'm mainly holding on to my happy thoughts following a New England win and the weird joy I felt when Real Salt Lake tied the game against DC. Oh, and there's something in there about my candidate for MVP, something I intend to flesh out in more detail later in the week.
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In spite of multiple hurdles and anal-retentive genes passed down from my mother, I've posted my ramble on Week 24.
Though I discuss plenty of things over there, there are some things I either didn't mention or didn't sufficiently emphasize. For instance, the result of the week came with the Houston Dynamo's shock (for me anyway) win over the Los Angeles Galaxy. Though nothing like fatal to LA's chances at the post-season, it raised new questions about the Galaxy qualifying; it'd be something - and the word "justified" springs to mind here - for LA to go from champs to chumps in the span of a season. Their recent run alone had pushed the possibility so far from my thinking that I haven't yet re-adjusted.
LA's woes pale next to those of the Columbus Crew and Red Bull New York. Both teams picked up losses at the worst possible time. I can't see Columbus, especially, recovering. After witnessing Amado Guevara's antics (e.g. the sending off), I can't say Red Bull's chances look all that great either - even with those two games in hand over KC.
After that, I'm mainly holding on to my happy thoughts following a New England win and the weird joy I felt when Real Salt Lake tied the game against DC. Oh, and there's something in there about my candidate for MVP, something I intend to flesh out in more detail later in the week.
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Carnival of Soccer #5
Welcome to Soccer Carnival 5.
I am your moderator, the Manly Ferry, and I inherited the job from Mike H over on My Soccer Blogs. Mike also helped me with the few technical kinks involved, which, for some dang reason, posed such a big problem for me (go figure). So thanks to him on that.
The inspiration for this post came in response to a question someone left on a post I wrote for ArmchairGM. Here’s the question (comes from a nice fella named Alex Holowczak):
We can safely ignore the second half of that question, but, whether it matched the commenters’ intention in posing the question, the phrase “relative hierarchy” got me thinking about the history of the league – more specifically, it got me thinking about the teams, not just their character and tradition but how they interact. And that, essentially, is the subject of Soccer Carnival 5.
If someone asked you to describe the character of each of the 12 teams in Major League Soccer, what would you say? What’s the story of each Major League Soccer club from where you sit?
Naturally, no one is obligated to discuss all 12 teams; for instance, I frequently forget that Colorado even has a team – which is, in itself, says something I suppose. But the challenge is to explain what you think about the teams in the league, your own as well as the others. Who, for instance, are MLS’s “Oakland Raiders” – e.g. who are the league’s biggest bastards?
The deadline for submissions will be, oh, let's call it Wednesday, September 20, 2006. That way, I can put up the Carnival of Soccer 5 post on Thursday the 21st - for whatever reason, I view Thursday as the slow news day in the soccer world. Have fun with it. And shots below the belt and all manners of vulgarity are entirely welcome.
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I am your moderator, the Manly Ferry, and I inherited the job from Mike H over on My Soccer Blogs. Mike also helped me with the few technical kinks involved, which, for some dang reason, posed such a big problem for me (go figure). So thanks to him on that.
The inspiration for this post came in response to a question someone left on a post I wrote for ArmchairGM. Here’s the question (comes from a nice fella named Alex Holowczak):
“I need to get into MLS to understand who all the teams are, and the relative hierachy. I need to look at the Standings, I presume Armchair has them?”
We can safely ignore the second half of that question, but, whether it matched the commenters’ intention in posing the question, the phrase “relative hierarchy” got me thinking about the history of the league – more specifically, it got me thinking about the teams, not just their character and tradition but how they interact. And that, essentially, is the subject of Soccer Carnival 5.
If someone asked you to describe the character of each of the 12 teams in Major League Soccer, what would you say? What’s the story of each Major League Soccer club from where you sit?
Naturally, no one is obligated to discuss all 12 teams; for instance, I frequently forget that Colorado even has a team – which is, in itself, says something I suppose. But the challenge is to explain what you think about the teams in the league, your own as well as the others. Who, for instance, are MLS’s “Oakland Raiders” – e.g. who are the league’s biggest bastards?
The deadline for submissions will be, oh, let's call it Wednesday, September 20, 2006. That way, I can put up the Carnival of Soccer 5 post on Thursday the 21st - for whatever reason, I view Thursday as the slow news day in the soccer world. Have fun with it. And shots below the belt and all manners of vulgarity are entirely welcome.
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Garber Gets It (Close to) Right
I think MLS Commissioner Don Garber made a pretty fair statement on the shenanigans that followed last week's game between Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids. Here's the sweet spot:
So far as I'm concerned, the only distasteful thing in the whole game came when Colorado opted against halting play with RSL's Mehdi Ballouchy lying injured on the field; that their goal came after that won't win them any prizes for sportsmanship. But everything seemed fine, just fine.
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The Committee found no evidence of any obscene behavior by any Colorado Rapids player or any actions that require disciplinary penalties."
So far as I'm concerned, the only distasteful thing in the whole game came when Colorado opted against halting play with RSL's Mehdi Ballouchy lying injured on the field; that their goal came after that won't win them any prizes for sportsmanship. But everything seemed fine, just fine.
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Week 24 Previews Up
Omigod. I've got to stop doing this to myself. But masochism is as masochism does, so I've posted my previews for Week 24 in the usual place.
With four of six games being intra-conference battles, this weekend could actually produce shifts in the standings. Then again, the smart money is on a slew of draws....
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With four of six games being intra-conference battles, this weekend could actually produce shifts in the standings. Then again, the smart money is on a slew of draws....
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US Nats Coaching Punditry Update
Having not been overly concerned about time a-wastin' in getting the U.S. Men's National team back in action - and, incidentally, being distracted by shiny, shiny league play - it was a bit, I suppose, unsettling reading Aaron Gidding's latest column on the Yanks Abroad site. As he puts it:
Now that Giddings mentions it, yeah, that would be good to see.
It's certainly not time to panic - not by a mile - but the silence on this hire gets loud enough once one has their attention drawn to it. If FoxSoccer's Jamie Trecker can be believed (yeah, I know the answer for many soccer fans), bagging ex-Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann remains the chief obsession. Well, that's all fine and good if he's available and interested, but what if he isn't? Or what, should Trecker's source be credible, if Klinsmann sets the stakes too high?
Even if it's not truly time to shit or get off the pot, I doubt I'm the only one who thinks Klinsmann isn't likely pull off the soccer equivalent of, say, re-inventing the wheel between now and 2010. The time will come soon enough - I'd say by the Gold Cup - when it will be necessary to take that shit. If nothing else, we might to make an offer to a candidate we can get - be it Trecker's short-list of the Columbus Crew's Sigi Schmid, or the Houston Dynamo's Dominic Kinnear, or someone else entirely like DC United's Peter Nowak, or Chivas USA's Bob Bradley - that would allow them a year or two to show their stuff that could earn them a longer-term contract. To make this work, US Soccer would have to pull their weight by scheduling very challenging tests for this coach - think the Copa America - in order to make the rest meaningful.
While I'm not yet where Gidding is, I'm glad he thew out some cold water. Let's hope it hits the right people.
"Meanwhile, US Soccer seems to be stagnating at a moment when signs of forward progress are needed most. To go three months without a figurehead to look to for organizing the national team seems like an eternity in soccer...Just an idea of what kind of direction the national team is planning on taking in the post-Arena era would be good to see."
Now that Giddings mentions it, yeah, that would be good to see.
It's certainly not time to panic - not by a mile - but the silence on this hire gets loud enough once one has their attention drawn to it. If FoxSoccer's Jamie Trecker can be believed (yeah, I know the answer for many soccer fans), bagging ex-Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann remains the chief obsession. Well, that's all fine and good if he's available and interested, but what if he isn't? Or what, should Trecker's source be credible, if Klinsmann sets the stakes too high?
Even if it's not truly time to shit or get off the pot, I doubt I'm the only one who thinks Klinsmann isn't likely pull off the soccer equivalent of, say, re-inventing the wheel between now and 2010. The time will come soon enough - I'd say by the Gold Cup - when it will be necessary to take that shit. If nothing else, we might to make an offer to a candidate we can get - be it Trecker's short-list of the Columbus Crew's Sigi Schmid, or the Houston Dynamo's Dominic Kinnear, or someone else entirely like DC United's Peter Nowak, or Chivas USA's Bob Bradley - that would allow them a year or two to show their stuff that could earn them a longer-term contract. To make this work, US Soccer would have to pull their weight by scheduling very challenging tests for this coach - think the Copa America - in order to make the rest meaningful.
While I'm not yet where Gidding is, I'm glad he thew out some cold water. Let's hope it hits the right people.
Warning Shots Out of the Open Cup
The semifinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup came and went last night with thin notice (even on this site; forget being a bad fan, I’m a crappy blogger to boot). But the two finalists, the Chicago Fire and the Los Angeles Galaxy, made bold statements through their victories over DC United and the Houston Dynamo, respectively.
Surly as Chicago’s 3-0 win over DC appears to have been, it adds weight to speculation (well, my speculation) that Chicago’s progress bears close watching down the regular season stretch. Moreover, I’d be very surprised if last night’s game was the only semifinal between these two teams this 2006; a similar result would hardly surprise me either. Unless I missed something, not a lot of people expected much out of Chicago this season; whatever they’re doing, it’s working and everyone ought to pay attention.
While less surprising, Los Angeles’ 3-1 win over the Houston Dynamo puts still more weight behind some key advice to the Western Conference: watch your butts. Since the team excised the cancer that is Steve Sampson (Yallop Therapy?), trends out of LA have been damned favorable, leaving one to wonder whether Week 24 will be the one to end with Los Angeles inside the playoff picture. With the West Conference starting to resemble the Eastern, not only does that seem likely, but something else entirely unexpected could come to pass: the Open Cup final might not be the only one featuring Chicago and Los Angeles this 2006.
What about DC United in the East, one may ask? What about FC Dallas in the West? With regard to the latter, they’ve got a bad, bad post-season history, especially against LA. For my money, DC has a better shot of stopping Chicago...though last night’s game, not to mention overall trends, does get one a-wonderin’.
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Surly as Chicago’s 3-0 win over DC appears to have been, it adds weight to speculation (well, my speculation) that Chicago’s progress bears close watching down the regular season stretch. Moreover, I’d be very surprised if last night’s game was the only semifinal between these two teams this 2006; a similar result would hardly surprise me either. Unless I missed something, not a lot of people expected much out of Chicago this season; whatever they’re doing, it’s working and everyone ought to pay attention.
While less surprising, Los Angeles’ 3-1 win over the Houston Dynamo puts still more weight behind some key advice to the Western Conference: watch your butts. Since the team excised the cancer that is Steve Sampson (Yallop Therapy?), trends out of LA have been damned favorable, leaving one to wonder whether Week 24 will be the one to end with Los Angeles inside the playoff picture. With the West Conference starting to resemble the Eastern, not only does that seem likely, but something else entirely unexpected could come to pass: the Open Cup final might not be the only one featuring Chicago and Los Angeles this 2006.
What about DC United in the East, one may ask? What about FC Dallas in the West? With regard to the latter, they’ve got a bad, bad post-season history, especially against LA. For my money, DC has a better shot of stopping Chicago...though last night’s game, not to mention overall trends, does get one a-wonderin’.
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