Wow, every time I take you off of "ignore" I am reminded, once again, why I have you on "ignore". This may be your most tortured piece of logic yet, and dear iron81, that is saying something. Okay, let's break it down, shall we? "For the element of the crowd that was unhappy with the anger directed at Andrew that night, yes." No, the anger directed at Hauptman was justified. Perhaps the manner of demonstrating that anger was over the top (and I don't know whether it was or not, since I did not witness the event. However, there have been no reports I have seen to indicate that it was over the top), but the anger itself was, and is, justified. Lobring was being a whiny little gnat. "That article also played an important role in educating the fans on the realities of MLS, at least it should have. " The article "played an important role" in demonstrating to all long time Fire fans that our anger is not only justified, but, in the case of Lobring (a guy we had not from since, by the way, despite being Senior Director of Communications), that we were not angry enough under the circumstance. His "editorial" was an insult to the fans, the team, the league, to the very sport itself. The backlash among fans and the media was swift and overwhelming. The response from the team was a double-down on the insults hurled at the fans by the "editorial" and that was most disheartening, but really said a lot of what the Front Office thinks of the fans. It had little to do with the "realities of MLS" (and I am not sure you understand the meaning of the word "reality", as you seem to live in some form of bizarre fantasy land). "Whether it did for any one person depends on how far their head is stuck up their butt." I was going to write an insult about you in response to this, but I deleted it. I have to end this by saying that I have been very critical of you and your relentless, ridiculous defending of all things Fire Front Office, but I would like offer a bit of an olive branch. I appreciate that you have not been a fan for as long as most of the rest of us. As a result, your perspective is a bit different and skewed towards to the present. I appreciate that you really like and follow the Fire. That comes through, even when you are being such a contrarian. Cheers for that. I appreciate that you are willing to defend the Front Office in the face of great odds against you. There is something almost Quixotic about it. The fact remains, though, that you almost always incorrect in your assertions, and that is sad. It would be great if all was well with the Front Office and -we had a President that was popular with the fans (and we did at one point), or a president at all, -a coach that was well-respected in the football world (and we did at one point), -and world class (or, at least, formerly world-class) players and regulars with the USMNT (and we did at one point). The sad fact is that we don't have any of those things at the moment. We have an average team in an average league. We have nothing to be proud of or optimistic about at the moment. What frustrates us and angers us about you is that you seem to conflate any good thing that the Front Office does, or that happens with the Front Office with the best things that could be. You are the Doctor Pangloss of Fire fandom. And then, you write things like the little ditty above. We all see that things are improving...a little. Having Mike Magee (regardless of how he got here) is a positive step. The Front Office may have had a lot or very little to do with it. The unfortunate reality is that things have been so bad for so long (especially when looked at through the lens of the first five years of the Fire's history, the development of the league-LAG, Seattle, KC, etc. and that we are in a huge city with a big fan base), that the small changes have little effect on the whole. In closing, I think we can agree that we want now is to watch the Fire stomp all over Toronto tonight, secure a place in the playoffs, and, once the playoffs begin, who knows what can happen from there?
http://www.chicago-fire.com/video/2013/10/19/thank-you-chicago-fire Where's Andy's Thank You? Wait he doesn't care about the fans. #HauptmanOut
Here we go again.... http://www.chicago-fire.com/news/2013/10/potential-chicago-fire-mls-cup-playoff-tickets-sale-now When do you think they run out of hot dogs and beer?
Looks like Orlando is in. $$HauptmanIn http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/os-mls-orlando-coming-vote-20131021,0,5896068.story
and The $100,000,000 million from New York, so say they both get in (NY 2015 and Orlando 2016). Andy would get $5,263,158 from the New York expansion fee and $3,500,000 from the Orlando expansion fee (that's if $70,000,000 is the expansion for Orlando). So in two years for doing absolutely NOTHING he'll get $8,763,158 million, I'm sure he'll spend on the club. That's why I think he's not going anywhere to the 24 teams that Graber wants are all in the league.
Dear Mr. Hauptman: I mean this sincerely. Please do one of two things before 1/1/14: a) sit down with Peter Wilt, just the two of you in a Super 8 somewhere in Iowa and ask him what he would do to make sure the Fire won MLS Cup next year. No lackeys, no objections, no egos, no cell phones, just the two of you and some pizza and beer. Pay him a nice, handsome consulting fee, either over or under the table, and try to do as much of what he recommends as possible. Or, b) sell the team. I much rather prefer that you choose a) With all due respect, Loco
It's been six seasons of failure and repeated mistakes by ownership. What makes anyone think Andy is capable of learning how to run a sports team, even if he hired Wilt as a full-time consultant? The Fire will never be a success as long as Hauptman owns it. #HauptmanOut
I don't think that he will learn how to run a successful MLS club in Chicago. That is precisely why I made the suggestion to have someone else, someone with both competence and experience, to do the thinking for him. I don't want him to be the manager, TD, president, or CEO. I want him to be an owner who listens to people who know wtf they are doing. He could at least throw us all a bone and learn to do that.
But that would offend his raging ego. And with the "Fire family" "editorial" that he mostly wrote, we've all seen what happens when someone offends his ego.
To be fair ..I have talked to a consultant working for a top notch firm and sadly all number crunched leads to weak leadership .
Please expand. Weak how, at which levels, and what are the results from a chain-of-command suffering under "weak leadership?" Who the hell is making the decisions and running this team if our leadership is "weak?"
Meanwhile in the relevant owners that are making strides to win titles journal...Seattle is signing Drogba......
iron81.. If I was interested in blowing my money someplace where the allure of being entertained and seeing something that I could go home happy watching while being lied too., the venue is Heavenly bodies in Elmhurst IL, not Hauptmans House of Rubber Dicks in Bridgeview IL. Where you get a rubber dick personally signed and inserted in your ass, by dollar menu himself, simply by dropping ridicules dollars in the "Starlight room" in Bridgeview stadium club
I PINCH!, If getting lied to is your thing, then strip clubs might be good. Andrew has certainly proven his trustworthiness over time and except for the white one regarding Magee's holdout the rest of the organization has followed suit. As for entertainment, the product at Toyota Park is different. There are less tits and more focus on winning, providing a family friendly environment and enhancing the experience by making a big deal out of the Club's traditions.