Re: How many Testspiele? The last matchday of both leagues in on the same weekend. As Floormaster Squeeze said, the 1. Bundesliga will start two weeks earlier in winter instead (I'm just repeating it to confirm it, as he used "I think" in his post ).
Thanks guys for the explanation. Pretty sweet...we're just 3 weeks away from the start of BL 2 season. Its kind of sad how obsessed I am with the sport. The break is only 1.5 months and yet I still find myself watching the U21 EUROs and Gold Cup just to get my fix in.
Thats quite a collection, this one has got to be my favorite. MLS!? There are higher quality leagues to watch during the summer too! Norwegian Tippeligaen and the Swedish Allsvenskan are both competitive and not the MLS, a win win combination
I have about 55 kits but no where NEAR that number of Sechzig gear!!! Who owns that!!! That is impressive!!! I had a few favorites. Here and here. Liked those because they were simple. This was my all time favorite but is a HOT kit because it is that old-style polyester fabric before they went to the lighter stuff in the 1990s.
I also like the Nike kits/trikots, but all I can think about when I see that lotto kit is this: Combined with the second ugliest US kit ever:
I was being quite sarcastic. I have tried to support the MLS, but the quality of football is a bit lacking and, really, the whole organizational structure and infrastructure of the league seems shoddy. Just my opinion though.
And yet you follow a 2. BL team? I'm not saying that MLS is higher quality than 2. BL. Let me get that out of the way. So, you follow a team in Europe that you can't even watch on TV that's not even in the highest level of its own league system and you say that the quality of MLS is lacking? How have you tried to support MLS? As far as organizational structure and infrastructure seeming shoddy. Have you been reading this thread? Sounds like a bunch of excuses to me. Couple that with having your country listed as Germany when I'm fairly sure, correct me if I'm wrong, that you're at least 2nd generation American and I'm getting a more complete picture here. And I just noticed you have Charleston listed as well. Quality of football? What a laugh.
Simmer down, Dave. Last I checked, a public forum is for the exchange of thoughts and opinions... We need not always agree. Yes, I prefer 2.BL football to MLS. Why? Technically, it seems more crisp and fluid. More passionate. Often times, for me, watching an MLS match is like watching 22 fools try to catch a greased pig. I am aware of the issues facing 1860. I would have to be blind not to. That said, the way the MLS is run is not exactly a model for other leagues. Still, they are in their infancy and I understand and appreciate that. It makes me proud that my home city of Philadelphia has - perhaps - one of the best supporters clubs in the league, not to mention a dynamite football-specific stadium. Charleston? They are the most local club I have here. Albeit 3 driving hours away. Historically, they have beaten MLS clubs in the US Open Cup and made the final of that competition just a few years back. Big deal? For them, yeah, it is. I am not offering excuses in the least. They are my preferences. What does it matter where I fall in my family tree? Take it as you will. Truth be told, I never respond to posts like this because while I have respected your opinions and even agreed with you on some things, I find it in NO way my responsibility to justify a damn thing to anyone on a message board. Why I support 1860, Philadelphia Union, Charleston or even Jahn Regensburg is my deal. Granted, if I had more football to choose from in the 7th ring of hell that is South Carolina, I would be all over it. Again, no disrespect intended, but the tone of your inquisition was not friendly.
It's okay, you can disrespect me. It was not intended to be friendly. I'm not going to pursue the issue any further. Thank you for your response, it clears things up a bit.
Not my argument, but why does he need to support MLS? Do they support him? Is there a team near him that he can watch with regularity? Charleston is his local team, and he supports them. Now I live in Alabama, the nearest team for me is Columbus. I have a have worked in the game in the US, so I know many of the personalities behind the scenes. After a while, that makes it hard to have a team that I like. I used to like Chicago when Peter Wilt was the GM, as he was a friend of mine, but that changed when he was let go. I lived in New England for a time, the Revs made no effort, proved it to me over and over, and alas, I made no effort in return. Metro/Red Bull - well that just wasn't going to happen. I could go on and on about each team and why they hold no special allure for me, but I do still spend my $80 on DirectKick, even though I can't afford it, and the games are generally dull, tactically poor, technically weak, and the announcers give me a headache. How do you compare the MLS structure to that of the 2nd Bundesliga? The first Bundesliga? Any liga? Teams with tradition moving up the tables, fans that have weddings in the stadiums, teams that know their role is not to win, but only to make it into European competition. Teams that grew up from a small sports club into a top club in the league versus a team that was bought for a large fee, with some crazy name that will get changed at least once, that plays seven hours away from me on a good day? Now that all said, if Nashville would get a team - that would be my MLS team. I'd spring for season tickets, buy shirts, etc. As for supporting Germany, I grew up in an era where the US wasn't even a thought when it comes to soccer. If not for Paul Caligiuri we may still be a 3rd world country in that regard. I grew up loving the Dutch, and as I have gotten older I love watching the New Germany teams. I'll always support the US, and when we eventually figure it out that spending $3 million to develop a handful of players is wasteful, I'm sure we'll actually have a chance to win the World Cup, but till then I don't think it will happen.
So you are saying that people need your approval of where their sentiment lies? I'm getting a real complete picture of you too.
Alright, I was going to be done with this discussion but since other people are responding to me. My responses in bold. I never forced anything on anyone or said he needed anyone's approval. I did not want to mention the following in thread, but I feel the need to defend my statements. I simply do not understand when someone supports another nation's team when they would not even be eligible to play for them under FIFA's rules. It strikes me as plastic, bandwagoning, frontrunner, whatever you wish to call it. The whole "europoser"/"eurosnob" thing which I'm sure you've heard of before. The US could be complete shit and I would still support them no matter what. I follow Germany, and wish them well, Austria, too, as Bavaria is the home of my ancestors. But I'd never place them above the US where my family has lived for over 250 years, and more importantly, where I have grown up. I'm sure sometimes people have complicated reasons for selecting the national team they support. I was curious to what his were, because some I can understand, and some I can't. You're right, I was being nosy, and he can do what he likes. But as he said this is a forum for discussion. People can support whom they like, but I don't have to like it, or approve of it as you say. If you don't like me because that's my opinion, so be it. I probably should have just kept quiet and moved along, but it pissed me off.
I have no problem stating that my great grandparents came to the United States from Germany in the late 1800s. And, yes, I follow the German National Team and really do not follow the US National Team. I am NOT ignoring my heritage at all. If anything, I am actually embracing it. To be American is to be from somewhere else...unless, that is, you are Native American. Too few Americans remember and appreciate that. Your mileage may vary. The fact that anything that I said pissed you off directly says a great deal about you and how you see others. Don't sweat it though. Yours is a common theme in this country.
MLS v 1860 - apples to oranges? MLS v Bundesliga - apples to apples Revolution v 1860 - apples to apples just making fun.
Wilt was a heck of a soccer manager. Fire fans miss him very much. Frank Klopas has really made a mess of things this year. I still support the club, but they're very hard to watch, and the suburban stadium makes getting to games an ordeal. I miss the old days of Nowak, Razov, Stoichkov, Podbrozny, Kovalenko, Beasley and Thornton. MLS needs to re-focus. They expanded way too much and way too fast (akin to NASL in the 70s) and without the cash to lure more and better talent (and keep it there), the play has really suffered. 2 divisions with relegation (with some inter-division play) would be a good solution, but I very much doubt the US audience would go for that. The 2.BL doesn't belong in the same argument as MLS.
Not to drift tooooooo much further off course. You will never have promo/rele in the MLS. Too much money invested. Top down structure, not bottom up... meaning relegated teams would probably fold.
You can spin it however you like but YOU are the one who is a snob because YOU are the one calling people names (even if you are careful to couch it indirectly) and JUDGING people. It is absolutely none of your business who anyone else supports; if you want people to support your team make it about joy and fun; not a swamp of small-mindedness, prejudice and ignorance. I have been around soccer my whole life and I have never met this mythical "eurosnob" so creating fictional straw men to make arguments does not make you look good (and it does not matter how many people think the world is flat, it is not). I support the US team up to the point in which its minority of boorish fans embarrass me (the players I generally have no problems with).
Agree and AGREE - sort of. I think the US audience would really get into it. In time. MLS is still a developing product. Sadly though, the MLS and its owners have not, in any way signaled a hint about looking into this. Still, a better product needs to be on the field. No question. Attractive football, I believe, will put more butts in the seats.
So, you let some idiot fans dictate who you support? Every team has embarrassing fans. That's a nice excuse. You can point at assholes like me and say that's why you don't follow the US? More power to you then. It's alright. I think as this conversation goes on it'll just make me look worse and worse. While some of the harsh views of me are probably justified, I'm not as bad as some of you may seem to think. So, now I really am stopping here. You all can have the parting shots.
Dave, No problem at all. We all have different opinions, and we just explained our views. It did come off a bit condescending, but this is the interwebs and stuff happens when you type instead of talk. Now back to '60 - where is our news update with translations of the day?
That's exactly why I stopped. At least the discourse here is mostly civil compared to some parts of this forum. Anyway, should we place bets on when in the season Fuerth will collapse? I'm going with mid-March as I have for the past several years. Has next year's schedule been released yet? When is '60's first real match?