I think this is grounds for complaints from D.C. and negates the point of D.C. finishing ahead of NY. This, coupled with the decision of MLS 3/4 of the way through the season for "goals for" to be the first tie-breaker while NY (and L.A.) conveniently held an advantage in that department is a little frustrating, even from a somewhat neutral perspective. Discuss: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...ew-york-dc-swap-home-dates-mls-playoff-series
Didn't see this anywhere else... due to power outages in New Jersey, DC and NYRB have switched home matches. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...ew-york-dc-swap-home-dates-mls-playoff-series Saturday, 8 PM @ RFK Wednesday, 7 PM @ Red Bull Arena I'd be somewhat annoyed if I were a DC supporter.
Umm.... WTF?? You are aware that New York/NJ was just creamed by a hurricane, right?? And that Red Bull Arena is currently without power and may not have power come Saturday and that getting to the game for most of the fans will be near impossible? MLS is in a tough spot regardless of the decision. They can either delay the start of the NYRB/DCU series until Red Bull Arena is ready to go and throw their entire playoff schedule out of whack..
Yes MLS and RBNY conspired to have a perfect storm hit the Jersey shore when it became evident that DC would finish higher. No grounds for complaint whatsoever . Now the other decision regarding GD was obviously dubious but the mother of all storms will make some changes necessary.
Don't know. S*** happens. It's not like the reason for the switch hasn't been well-advertised, or that there was anything that could be done about it. The only alternative I could see would be to delay the series for a few days, but that could wind up playing hell with the rest of the schedule.
This isn't the point. The point is it takes rightfully won home-field advantage away from one team, and grants it to another. You're telling me there's no possible way they could have relocated the home leg for NY somewhere further inland and kept the dates the same? How about play on neutral ground for both legs so its at least equal? Either way that seems more fair than what they've proposed.
1. Play the game as scheduled. The NFL will play in NJ on Sunday, the NY marathon will run as scheduled on Sunday, too. 2. Play the game as scheduled, at an alternate location. If RBA isn't workable, then play at the Meadowlands (which will be hosting an NFL game the next day). If that's not available, then travel down to Philly and borrow one of their stadiums. Most extreme case, play both legs at RFK. They can play the first leg without fans if necessary. 3. Shift dates slightly as to not bump the overall playoff schedule too much - instead of Sat-Wed, play Sun-Thu.
Yeah.. I'm totally sure they could have lined up a stadium, sold tickets to that new stadium, and gotten fans to come to this new stadium all with a few days notice... It sucks to be DCU, but your alternatives are just silly.
The sensible solution opposed by DC and just days after de Bontin stands strong on principle... hmm...
As opposed to DCU, which now has to sell tickets and get fans to come to their stadium all with a few days notice? I've been in touch with friends who were set to go to the game on Wed, but can't make it on Sat. Do they get refunds? Does DCU have to give them refunds? Will MLS be covering their costs?
Yes, play the game at RBA. Sure, it will be empty and sure, there might not be any power, but hey, why not? Genius.
Announcing it yesterday and giving 4 days notice would be plenty of time if using someone else's stadium. Say...Philly's. Sorry but this was handled poorly. They waited too long to figure shit out and decided that taking a clear advantage away from one team was the way to go about it. Poor decision.
Yes, everyone should have focused on this instead of, you know, trying to put their lives back together and avoid dying.
Note the frequent references to "new stadium". Stadiums and agreements to use those stadiums don't just fall out of the sky.
Don't even pull that crap. There are enough people working in this league to be able to make an announcement like this sooner with a much better outcome.
Yes, but... when you qualify for the first round of the playoffs (or the second round, or the first round proper, or the conference semifinals, or whatever the hell we're calling them now), you're supposed to get a home game. You say that doing this is taking a clear advantage away from one team? Well, not as much as having one team's home match COMPLETELY taken away. DC gets a home game, NY has to play one on the road and one at a neutral site? That's fair? There are no good solutions here. Just different degrees of bad.
This would have ben preferable to the decision that was made to remove by fiat the home-field advantage secured by DCU over the course of an entire season. What was I saying in another thread about a league which makes up rules as it goes along?
...and we know for a fact that RBA will have power, and have full access available for transportation? In other words, throw a whole bunch of revenue down the drain just to appease DC fans? Yes, let's avoid the obvious and easy remedy and not worry about the knock-on effects of shifting the schedule around. Take care of business on the field and you won't have to worry about finding excuses.
This is true. Nothing will make everyone happy. So, from a PURE SPORTING SENSE, which is better: Making the team that earned the higher seed happy, or making the team that earned the lower seed happy? In the end, it will only become really significant from a sporting sense if the series is tied and goes into the 30-minute overtime, now to be held at NY rather than at DC. But man, it's frustrating nonetheless. R.