North American Pro Soccer 2018

[Jer15]

nm: I now see it's covered in another thread. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

6 hours ago, Gothamite said:

Me, too. 

 

I don’t care that MLS isn’t the Premier League.  I don’t care that it’s not the best league on the planet.  It’s really good soccer, and it’s local, and I love it. 

 

I don't understand why anyone complains about MLS in comparison to European leagues. The best part about time zones is that it costs you nothing to watch Bundesliga, EPL, Serie A, La Liga and MLS. The entire European slate of games is generally finished before any MLS games kick off.

 

There are also the pro/rel truthers, but I think they're beyond saving.

[Gothamite]

2 hours ago, DG_Now said:

 There are also the pro/rel truthers, but I think they're beyond saving.

 

A-men.

 

I do think there's a subset of soccer fans who want to watch all the best players, and consider anything else beneath their notice in the way that a baseball fan in Las Vegas might be more interested in watching the Dodgers on television than the 51s in his own town.  And it's hard to argue with either the roster or the history of foreign leagues.

 

But there's something truly special about a local club in a domestic league.  And FWIW, I think the more people who actually check out an MLS game realize it's so much more than they thought.

[Brian in Boston]

The Austin, Texas City Council voted 7-4 in favor of negotiating and executing "agreements with Precourt Sports Ventures, LLC, or its affiliates, related to the construction, lease, and occupancy of a sports stadium and associated infrastructure and development on a city-owned site located at 10414 McKalla Place, under terms outlined in a term sheet."

[gosioux76]

33 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

 

A-men.

 

I do think there's a subset of soccer fans who want to watch all the best players, and consider anything else beneath their notice in the way that a baseball fan in Las Vegas might be more interested in watching the Dodgers on television than the 51s in his own town.  And it's hard to argue with either the roster or the history of foreign leagues.

 

But there's something truly special about a local club in a domestic league.  And FWIW, I think the more people who actually check out an MLS game realize it's so much more than they thought.

It wasn't long ago, though, when that subset of fans was much larger, and it was a more justified position. The MLS of the 2000s was a far inferior product to what the league produces today. I recall around 2004-2005ish enjoying the World Soccer Daily podcast — all two hours of it, daily — despite their almost complete dismissal of MLS as a second-rate league. Maybe those guys were alone in that sentiment, but it certainly seemed to be the common refrain at that time in the league's history.

 

Today's MLS is just so much better than it was back then, and more and more people have become aware of it. Expansion has also toned down that rhetoric. It was a lot easier to be an EPL-or-bust American soccer fan in an Atlanta or Minneapolis or Philadelphia back then because there wasn't a local team to support. 

 

 

[Sport]

Anthony Precourt just sucks so hard. 

 

He's born with a winning lottery ticket, could've done literally anything with pops' money. Could've gotten charitable, could've :censored:ed off to a private island and done all of the drugs, could've remained just a normal sleazebag in the energy sector. No, instead, out of all his options he chooses, seeks out, the path where he lies to and robs from an entire American city. It's like he was trying to be a villain in a cartoon. That's perverse and psychotic.

 

Austin, enjoy your trust-fund dingleberry who sucks so much the best site he could get for a stadium is in the burbs and you'll be stuck with an albatross in a bad location when in 7 years he flips the team and goes off to :censored: something else up. Enjoy that. 

[WJMorris3]

12 minutes ago, McCarthy said:

Anthony Precourt just sucks so hard. 

 

He's born with a winning lottery ticket, could've done literally anything with pops' money. Could've gotten charitable, could've :censored:ed off to a private island and done all of the drugs, could've remained just a normal sleazebag in the energy sector. No, instead, out of all his options he chooses, seeks out, the path where he lies to and robs from an entire American city. It's like he was trying to be a villain in a cartoon. That's perverse and psychotic.

 

Austin, enjoy your trust-fund dingleberry who sucks so much the best site he could get for a stadium is in the burbs and you'll be stuck with an albatross in a bad location when in 7 years he flips the team and goes off to something else up. Enjoy that. 

Isn't this the kind of thing the Modell Law is supposed to prevent?

[Sport]

39 minutes ago, willmorris said:

Isn't this the kind of thing the Modell Law is supposed to prevent?

I would love it more than anything if after all this Precourt and his dumb face lose in court but I don’t have high hopes. The Modell law in 1996 was a too-late temper tantrum move by a few state politicians to feel less helpless and to appear like they were doing something for their constituents in the wake of the Browns move. The actual thing is a bunch of wimpy language and should be easily circumventable, even for Precourt’s team of doofus attorneys. It basically just says that an Ohio based sports franchise who has received financial assistance from the public (which the Crew has) can’t relocate unless they’ve given advanced notice (6 months, I think) and have to reasonably listened to offers from local buyers.

 

My hope is the legal battle delays the move to Austin and then it just becomes easier for this guy to sell than it would be to continue fighting to move. 

[Gothamite]

2 hours ago, gosioux76 said:

Today's MLS is just so much better than it was back then, and more and more people have become aware of it. Expansion has also toned down that rhetoric. It was a lot easier to be an EPL-or-bust American soccer fan in an Atlanta or Minneapolis or Philadelphia back then because there wasn't a local team to support. 

 

That’s true enough.   I really tried to get into MLS in the early 2010s, but without a team in New York it just felt hollow.   I considered Portland (where I went to school) and Philly (out of respect for the Sons of Ben), but I couldn’t do it.   So much easier when you have a local club. 

[gosioux76]

6 hours ago, Gothamite said:

 

That’s true enough.   I really tried to get into MLS in the early 2010s, but without a team in New York it just felt hollow.   I considered Portland (where I went to school) and Philly (out of respect for the Sons of Ben), but I couldn’t do it.   So much easier when you have a local club. 

I lived in Albuquerque when I first really started following soccer in the late '00s and fell right in line with the MLS-is-crap crowd. I thought I'd give Colorado a shot due to some tenuous ties to Arsenal, my EPL club of choice, but, like you, that felt false. Then I moved to Portland in 2008, during the last few USL seasons, and got a taste for what it felt like to sit among the Timbers Army and I was hooked. I sat in the press box for the club's home MLS debut and I've never looked back. I used to clamor for anything EPL — books, magazines, TV rebroadcasts. Now I pay far less attention to it; MLS and the Timbers have satiated that need.

 

Here's what's funny: Back in that late '00 era, the sports radio meatheads and their acolytes were still dismissing soccer as a kids sport. Now — and this is just a casual observation — that meathead is more likely to be the EPL-or-nothing soccer fan who turns their nose at MLS. 

 

[nickp91]

finding and attracting a new ownership group should be the singular focus of the Save the Crew movement

[MJWalker45]

5 minutes ago, nickp91 said:

finding and attracting a new ownership group should be the singular focus of the Save the Crew movement

That's been the goal since Precourt refuses to acknowledge Columbus exists. The next home game will either be pretty awesome or a train wreck. 

[Jer15]

34 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

 

That’s true enough.   I really tried to get into MLS in the early 2010s, but without a team in New York it just felt hollow.   I considered Portland (where I went to school) and Philly (out of respect for the Sons of Ben), but I couldn’t do it.   So much easier when you have a local club. 

 

21 minutes ago, gosioux76 said:

I lived in Albuquerque when I first really started following soccer in the late '00s and fell right in line with the MLS-is-crap crowd. I though I'd give Colorado a shot due to some tenuous ties to Arsenal, my EPL club of choice, but, like you, that felt false. Then I moved to Portland in 2008, during the last few USL seasons, and got a taste for what it felt like to sit among the Timbers Army and I was hooked. I sat in the press box for the club's home MLS debut and I've never looked back. I used to clamor for anything EPL — books, magazines, TV rebroadcasts. Now I pay far less attention to it; MLS and the Timbers have satiated that need.

 

Here's what's funny: Back in that late '00 era, the sports radio meatheads and their acolytes were still dismissing soccer as a kids sport. Now — and this is just a casual observation — that meathead is more likely to be the EPL-or-nothing soccer fan who turns their nose at MLS. 

 

I felt the same way....I tried to follow the galaxy (before TFC came around) but my loose tie to LA (my great aunt lives near Anaheim) just didn’t do the trick. 

 

To further hammer this point home (as if that’s needed, lol) I’m counting the days until Forge FC take the field. Nothing like a club playing at a stadium within walking distance from your home. 

[FiddySicks]

Ok so Precourt is a tool and this sucks for Colombus (I think), but does Ohio really need two pro soccer teams? If anything the market is oversaturated and this levels it out a bit. It’s actually a shorter distance from Colombus to Cincinnati than it is from Sacramento to San Jose. If anything, it’s a worthwhile sacrifice because Ohio just got an upgrade. 

 

You’ll live. 

 

[Kaz]

44 minutes ago, Bucfan56 said:

Ok so Precourt is a tool and this sucks for Colombus (I think), but does Ohio really need two pro soccer teams? If anything the market is oversaturated and this levels it out a bit. It’s actually a shorter distance from Colombus to Cincinnati than it is from Sacramento to San Jose. If anything, it’s a worthwhile sacrifice because Ohio just got an upgrade. 

 

You’ll live. 

 

Does Texas need 3 teams though?

[FiddySicks]

Considering the size, moreso than Ohio needs two, I think. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Nice -- Wednesday MLS action on ESPN2.

 

Everything about LAFC is so cool. I would very much like to see a game in their stadium and buy one of their sweet jerseys. They really got everything exactly right out of the chute. Good for them.

[4_tattoos]

So tonight's win over Portland leapfrogged D.C. United from last place in the Eastern Conference standings to 8th. Currently one point in the standings ahead of Orlando, Chicago and Toronto. Portland is the best team they've beaten since Rooney joined DCU. If they keep playing like this, they could actually sneak into the playoffs after having such a bad start of the season. Wow man, wow

 

Take note San Jose lol

[DG_ThenNowForever]

13 minutes ago, 4_tattoos said:

So tonight's win over Portland leapfrogged D.C. United from last place in the Eastern Conference standings to 8th. Currently one point in the standings ahead of Orlando, Chicago and Toronto. Portland is the best team they've beaten since Rooney joined DCU. If they keep playing like this, they could actually sneak into the playoffs after having such a bad start of the season. Wow man, wow

 

Take note San Jose lol

 

Plus they have something like 12 of their final 14 games at home. They're in a pretty good spot.

[Gothamite]

4 hours ago, nickp91 said:

finding and attracting a new ownership group should be the singular focus of the Save the Crew movement

 

They’re doing that.   The list of potential owners who have identified themselves is under court seal, though, while the process plays out.