Thoughts about 2013

Discussion in 'Sporting Kansas City' started by giftedmadness, Jan 26, 2013.

  1. giftedmadness

    giftedmadness Member

    Jun 16, 2003
    KC
    I have two ideas to share about 2013.

    First off, it's hard to get excited about MLS since more than half the teams make the playoffs. Yes, this is the same scenario as the NBA, but in the NBA you have best of 7 playoff series, not best of 2 and one game playoffs like in the MLS.

    It's hard to get excited for a regular season game in the MLS. We have had the best record in the Eastern Conference for the past two years. Where has that gotten us? Nobody cares about winning the Supporters Shield. (It's true, but I wish it wasn't this way. TBH, I think it's better to win the SS than to win the MLS Cup.)

    How do you all get up to watching the games each week when you know that the game really isn't that important? (besides the Lamar Open Cup games, those are fun because they actually mean something.)

    Second on the list for this year: I am soooo glad we finally aren't associated with Livestrong anymore. That deal was a no-win situation for us. We PAID someone money to use THEIR name on our stadium? That is so retarded. We gave them $250k PLUS free advertising and they still broke off our contract? Way to go Livestrong...... I am so glad we are done with them. We will sell our rights to the stadium name and make millions per year, like it's supposed to happen. This altruistic idea of ours was a big time fail. It amazes me that a non-profit would break off our deal when we gave them $250k for nothing. Unreal. I was against this deal from the get go.

    Also, does anyone else get mad when you talk to these new soccer fans in KC? I'm not talking about the people in their early 20's or younger, but I was talking to someone my age, in their mid 30's, and they were wearing a SKC jersey. I asked them who their favorite player was. They said Kamara, so far so good, because he is my current favorite player as well. But then I said, "Yeah, but I miss the good ole days of watching Preki tear up the field." His response......"Who is Preki?"

    Yeah....so I feel a little left out nowadays with today's SKC fans. I bet most don't even know who Preki is......sad sad times. Awaken me when regular season games mean something. Let me know when we are actually making money from our stadium name. And let me know when we have someone exciting to watch as Preki.
     
  2. ji_shuheng

    ji_shuheng Member+

    Mar 26, 2003
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    who's preki?
     
  3. giftedmadness

    giftedmadness Member

    Jun 16, 2003
    KC
    nice troll.

    This is why I stopped posting on this site years ago. There were about 3 troll posts for every 1 legit post.
     
  4. ji_shuheng

    ji_shuheng Member+

    Mar 26, 2003
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    :D

    personally, i prefer having a team where everybody is so good, and plays lights out, and feels irreplaceable, to a team where you can point to someone like preki and say "god."

    looking at the difference between the USOC final in 2012 and 2004, i don't really give a shit if a thirtysomething who just found MLS knows who preki or digital or jules rimet is. if they feel it's important to catch up on what they missed, they can read beau dure's book. now, if they're wearing a "zusi" rep and don't know who zusi is, that's different, but the idea that they're somehow less deserving or valuable certainly isn't productive and more than likely isn't tenable anyways.
     
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  5. Buzz Killington

    Buzz Killington Member+

    Oct 6, 2002
    Lee's Summit
    Club:
    Kansas City Wizards
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I don't see ideas here. I see you posting your feelings regarding the regular season and the Livestrong partnership, but when I started reading the thread I was expecting ideas on how to fix those things and they never came.
     
  6. giftedmadness

    giftedmadness Member

    Jun 16, 2003
    KC
    I didn't mean it that way. I'm certainly glad we sell out every game now, but I just feel left out of the conversation at bars when i bring up the past greats.
     
  7. giftedmadness

    giftedmadness Member

    Jun 16, 2003
    KC
    You are right. I was venting. I shall try to come up with ideas on how to fix things. The regular season fix will be harder than the corporate sponsor fix. The naming of our stadium for money is as simple as anything. Fixing the regular season and playoffs, now that is a toughie.
     
  8. Buzz Killington

    Buzz Killington Member+

    Oct 6, 2002
    Lee's Summit
    Club:
    Kansas City Wizards
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Think of it as a teaching experience. :)

    Most people that I've run into that don't know history as well are more than willing (or at least they pretend to be interested with me around) when I talk about some of the stuff from the team's past.
     
  9. Inca Roads

    Inca Roads Member+

    Nov 22, 2012
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Hate it when people say regular season games don't matter. Frankly, for 90% of the teams out in the world, the regular season games end up not mattering. But really, to me, it's a sore attitude. Because some people only focus on winning it all, and that's just so silly. Sure, we got edged out of the Supporters' Shield, and we got cheesed out of the MLS Cup, but we had a fantastic, fun regular season full of quality games (and the Open Cup win was icing on top). Why worry so much about if we can claim the title or not? Go to a game and enjoy it. Doesn't mean I don't want us to win, but it does mean that I am irritated when people equate a lack of trophies (which we didn't suffer from this year, really) to a waste of a year.

    Maybe it's that KC professional sports have bred me to accept mediocrity--and so when a team excels, I'll happily take anything above average without complaints. Maybe it's in my personality... I would rather watch Swansea or Norwich or Everton, for example, and those teams have little to no real reason to shoot for the top of the table. Yes, a brilliant Everton season means they could sneak into the Champions League. Yes, a terrible season from Swansea or Norwich means they could get relegated. This year? League Cup for Swansea aside, I predict nothing but mid table finishes from the three of them.

    I too am glad Livestrong is done. That's a big weight off us.

    I may be something of one of those new fans you're afraid of. Yes, I know who Preki is--I can read wikipedia. But frankly, before someone convinced me to go to a match vs. Toronto in 2011, the last time I'd been to a Wizards game... let's just say there were a lot of advertisement posters with a giant-bearded, crazy-maned Alexi Lalas everywhere. Never really thought it was worth my time, but Sporting and the players and the park and all that convinced me MLS is definitely something worth investing time and energy into.
     
  10. Buzz Killington

    Buzz Killington Member+

    Oct 6, 2002
    Lee's Summit
    Club:
    Kansas City Wizards
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    To be fair that woulda been the 99 season you went to a Wizards game, and we were horrible that year.
     
  11. Inca Roads

    Inca Roads Member+

    Nov 22, 2012
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    I know! Lalas is the only reason I knew when the game was. 1999... I was 11. I didn't avoid them after that because I thought the play was too poor. Was more of when I started getting excited about soccer, I spent little energy looking into MLS, even with a professional team here. Eurosnobs told me not to watch them Wizards. Thanks, boogers.
     
  12. ji_shuheng

    ji_shuheng Member+

    Mar 26, 2003
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    the austin powers mo johnston ads. *shudder*
     
  13. Buzz Killington

    Buzz Killington Member+

    Oct 6, 2002
    Lee's Summit
    Club:
    Kansas City Wizards
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I miss "the queen" commercial. I'd love someone to find that commercial and post it on Youtube. "Go Wizards"
     
  14. ji_shuheng

    ji_shuheng Member+

    Mar 26, 2003
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    are these all sitting on digital beta tapes at arrowhead or the sporting club offices somewhere?
     
  15. Buzz Killington

    Buzz Killington Member+

    Oct 6, 2002
    Lee's Summit
    Club:
    Kansas City Wizards
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The 99 season was the last season before I could drive so I only went with my parents (which was pretty regularly since we were half pack season ticket holders). But in 2000 I was going by myself if I had to, just enjoyed watching live soccer over TV, most of my friends were the Euro-snob types who didn't really care about MLS. It's funny cause I see many of them at games now.
     
  16. ji_shuheng

    ji_shuheng Member+

    Mar 26, 2003
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    given the production quality of those broadcasts, who can blame you.
     
  17. Buzz Killington

    Buzz Killington Member+

    Oct 6, 2002
    Lee's Summit
    Club:
    Kansas City Wizards
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    if they are, I'd gladly pay for them to get them out. But some how I doubt it. HSG didn't really keep a bunch of stuff. There are team posters hanging in the locker room at Swope now, those had to be donated by a fan cause no one at HSG thought to keep those type of things for posterity.
     
  18. ji_shuheng

    ji_shuheng Member+

    Mar 26, 2003
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    and they were presumably all done in house, so there's no production/post house who might have kept them.
     
  19. Buzz Killington

    Buzz Killington Member+

    Oct 6, 2002
    Lee's Summit
    Club:
    Kansas City Wizards
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The queen one was an MLS/ESPN commercial if I remember right.
     
  20. vividox

    vividox Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 10, 2005
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    1) Everyone bitches about >50% teams making the playoffs, join the club. The model isn't going away, it's how the league makes money.
    2) It's not hard for me to get excited about a regular season game. At all. And with how close the standings are at the end of the year and how much teams are vying for playoff positions, how can you possibly say they really aren't important? I literally plan my life around regular season games, I really can't relate to where you are coming from here in the slightest.
    3) The Supporter's Shield IS a big deal. We haven't quite gotten it the last few years, but I guarantee you if we had it would have been a much bigger deal than "1st in the East" was.
    4) Livestrong was an amazing, ground-breaking relationship. Instead of plastering a corporate brand on ourselves, we were helping the community - specifically the cancer community - instead. This deal was so much bigger than the bottom line. It's a shame that some people can't see that. The endgame did not turn out how we would have liked, and I definitely think that parting ways with Livestrong when we did was the right decision; but to generically call that kind of a business partnership "so retarded" is pretty damn short-sighted and insensitive.
    5) New soccer fans mean we are growing our fan base. This is a very good thing, not a bad thing. Sure they are not as knowledgeable as the people who have stuck by the team for 17 years, but that knowledge will come. It helps to pass along that knowledge instead of ridicule a person for lack of it.
     
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  21. BenDover

    BenDover BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 4, 2010
    Rio Verde, AZ
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Agree,
    Love the regular season...from the tailgates, to the game, to the after game get-together,,,it is what I look forward to every week.
    I liked the Livestrong relationship because it was unique, worthy, and believed it made a difference. I personally would like to see another sponsorship deal along the same lines if SKC could find the right partnership.
    New soccer fans are a must,,,,we need to bring them in, infect them with the crazy soccer flu and make them lifelong supporters.
     
  22. kcscsupporter

    kcscsupporter Member+

    Apr 17, 2002
    D17
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    the first problem is that you put too much focus on where we end up and not enough on the journey. i'd compare it (loosely) to people who watched the tv show "lost," but then hated it because of how the show ended. the ending was not great, but each episode on the journey was fantastic. this helps if you have a deep love of the game itself, though.
    the second problem is not necessarily accepting the standard external stimuli (e.g. playoffs, mls cup) for importance. you said yourself that you think it's better to win the supporters shield than to win mls cup. that right there is your own stimulus for the importance of each game. if you use that, doesn't that inherently make each game more important?

    i've posted my thoughts on this in a couple of threads now, but i'll go ahead and do it again here.
    why are you using the word "we" here? do you see any benefit to yourself if sporting club donates $2M or gets paid $2M? to begin with, it's not the team getting paid for the sponsorship. it's the ownership group. this is money in/from their pocket, not yours.
    has the makeup of our playing squad been negatively affected because of financial constraints over the past couple years? it certainly hasn't seemed that way to me. we've had the resources to put together a squad that's won the eastern conference the past two seasons. do you think our squad would've been different if we'd had a paying sponsor on the building instead? personally, i don't think it would've changed one bit. so the only thing i see is the owners, who are worth billions, getting a couple million richer or being good citizens of their community and trying to actually donate money and awareness for a worthwhile charity.
    and yes, part of the reason they made that deal with livestrong was because they thought it'd bring more events to the stadium. so what? i'll take that type of deal over a like-it's-supposed-to-happen type sponsorship deal any day of the week and twice on sunday. if it doesn't affect you personally, wouldn't you rather the people who are making decisions make an effort to do something good for their community rather than just pocketing more money? why wouldn't you rather your beloved club be associated with an organization that's trying to help people over being associated with just another bank, or mutual fund, or pizza conglomerate?
    most of all, just because everyone else does it one way, it doesn't inherently mean that another way is wrong.

    joke does not equal troll. a troll has no interest in the topic whatsoever and is just doing it to get a rise out of people. ji_shuheng is clearly an skc fan who was just joking with another skc fan.
     
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  23. ji_shuheng

    ji_shuheng Member+

    Mar 26, 2003
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    yeah! and if you wanna reminisce about preki destroying some other team, take it to the tfc forum!

    :p
     
  24. Gmac Daddy

    Gmac Daddy New Member

    Aug 9, 2011
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Who is Preki...that is exactly why Sporting Park needs a Wiz/Wizards/Sporting hall of fame of sorts...that way Tony Meola isn't a TV Commentator or the guy that Jimmy is chasing for records but was an amazing cog in an amazing run...and so we can commemorate the highs and lows of our team...just a thought...

    I know they have a few banners in the members club but they could and should do better.
     
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  25. Felixx219

    Felixx219 BigSoccer Supporter

    Nov 8, 2004
    Kansas City, MO
    Club:
    Kansas City Wizards
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I actually think the playoff and SS chase has been pretty good the last few seasons. I dont have an issues with the regular season.
     

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