I wish I could link the tweet here at work but Wall just said that US prez told the Mex prez that the game will not be in Columbus. Not sure how much I put on this but it was out there. If this is true at least we know that Columbus is so far in their heads they want these kind of answers the day of the draw. The Crew FO came out and said nothing is 100% so I'm still hoping for the game..... and an early winter storm in September
Exactly. The "war of words" is ON! THOMA GOL paging YOU! I'm reminded of Bill Archer's blog entry where he wrote that the FMF wanted the game in Columbus to be moved. USSF agreed...if they'd move the game from Azteca. FMF said "no, si puede" and USSF said "Columbus it is."
I heard that Warzycha had something to do with the USA not being happy pre/during/post game and that is why they may not play the USA game. My sources told me that the team wanted the grass to be really long in order for the USA to be able to slow down the pace but Robert wanted the grass really short to take advantage of the huge speed advantage the Crew has during games. Fire Warzycha now. Of course, I just might be making all of this up as well.
Sunil needs to tell Mexico to pound salt about the venues. Why should we care what they want? It is almost foregone conclusion that US will play in Azteca in March. So why we are going to capitulate? ******** em.
Seattle? Fake grass or temp grass? Not likely. Also, kind of surprised that he left off RFK. While it is a complete shit hole, it has served well for us in qualification, has it not? Also, I think LA gets one before Philly does.
Yeah, it suggests that RioTinto "could" host Costa Rica. Alvaro Saborio plays for both Costa Rica and RSL, as the article says. Would USSF potentially want a bunch of people cheering for their club player, as he plays for the other team? Think of the potential psychological benefit to Costa Rica. We have five opponents playing hardball, making their opponents play in the toughest stadiums in the harshest environments. Why would we cater to their requests or possibly make things any easier for them? "where the Seattle Sounders install a quality grass surface that wouldn’t interfere with the Seahawks." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA YEAH RIGHT. Here's my list of "probably not going to happen, but why the heck not?" March 22nd- vs. Costa Rica -- Colorado. With the Mexico game being shortly thereafter, people seem to want this in Salt Lake. I'd say put it in Colorado. I *was* going to say put it in a cold-weather stadium like Rentschler Field, but Colorado also works. June 11th vs. Panama -- Possibly KC or a city very close. June 18th vs. Honduras -- Possibly KC or a city very close. Both cities would be very close together, so it would probably be beneficial to have the team play these two critical games with as little travel as possible. The article writer suggests having the team fly thousands of miles and three timezones for a critical game. Really? I understand Seattle's passionate fan base, but no. I just don't see it. Sept. 10th vs. Mexico -- Columbus. It's in the heads of the FMF. They'd probably do just about anything to have the game move from Columbus. We can tell them it won't be in Columbus when the result doesn't matter. Oct. 11th vs. Jamaica -- Chicago. Once again, cold weather welcoming a warm-weather country. Easy travel from all over the country, two major airports and it's COLD!
I don't think the weather needs to matter in bringing the game to Cbus. For all the stated reason Columbus Crew Stadium causes problems for Mexico. Let's continue the hex (see what I did there) that we have over them in Columbus.
I am afraid that money over winning might sink Columbus getting Mexico. Any of the other games sure but not Mexico. If USSF wants the money they will put in some giant 80k+ football stadium in a big city with a large Mexican fan population and charge $100 per seat. Or they can put it in Columbus with 23k for $75 per seat. Don't get me wrong they should play Mexico in Columbus I am just sayin' . . .
The potential risk of money lost if the US loses to mexico and somehow fails to qualify for the world cup finals should outweigh the short-term economic gain of a Us-Mexico tilt at a larger venue.
But that was the case in each of the last three cycles as well. The Fed has clearly shown that when it comes to World Cup play, they want the home field advantage. That doesn't exclusively mean Columbus, but it's not going to be in a football stadium.