I would agree with you if I thought JDEsq was actually naive. He is almost always just being obtuse, and its pretty obvious. No naive person would stare in the face of factual evidence that disputes their claim...and ignore it completely. Only someone trolling the boards looking to argue would do that. I know from experience. Personal experience.
Do you understand what an internet troll is, and that it is not allowed under the BigSoccer TOS? Here is the definition from the above link: Personally, I think Monty has shown great restraint. If JDEsq09 had another MLS club listed as his favorite, he would have been banned from this forum along time ago. Several people have encouraged him to become involved in the SGs, but he ignores those posts and continues to incite. His posts go way beyond constructive criticism.
It's fine if you're naive. It's fine if you are not all that knowlegeable. It's fine if you suggest ideas you think will work. It's fine to debate people with different viewpoints on your ideas, even if it gets heated at times. What is not fine is to deliberately ignore points people make as if they never made them, instead of coming up with your own reasons for why you disagree. It is also not fine to smugly insist that either people aren't doing enough, are doing the wrong things, or are doing the right things in the wrong way, when you have absolutely no idea if it is true or not. And worse, you aren't intrested in learning about something you didn't know about. I remember there was a guy who'd get involved in stadium discussions and he'd argue about stuff like traffic flow in a particular area. There was also a civil engineer who analyzed that stuff for a living and knew a lot more about it than your average person. Me? I would tend to trust what the civil engineer has to say on that, as opposed to some guy who counters with "Yeah? Well, I drive by that area every day, and it would be no problem to handle a 20,000 crowd if you added another lane and a traffic light." And to combat NIMBY-ism, "All's [sic] you got to do is go out and reach out to the neighbors and work with them, so they will become more accepting" of having a mammoth stadium (with bright lights at night) right in their neighborhood. What is that saying? "Don't be that guy."
I don't have much experience with him. I generally just ignore him. I can understand how a newbie might be intimidated by the strong personalities around here and become defensive. I have to admit, I think I started this discussion in the wrong thread. Probably should have had this whole convo here: https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/revolution-not-a-major-player-in-mls.1982950/page-7
It kind of depends on which fan population you are talking about. For serious MLS fans (i.e., those who populate BigSoccer and the like - not that those who don't aren't "serious"), I think, yes, the constant criticisms and negativity of Revs fans have had a serious impact on the perception of the Kraft ownership. After all, how do we develop our perceptions of other team's owners? We generally absorb the impressions from the fans and media of those teams if we interact with them. If the local fans love the ownership, non-local fans are pretty likely to get a positive impression - and vice-versa.
By the sound of this article the gap between the Krafts and the Hunts is a big one! http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...-our-michael-jordan-moment-coming#commentsDiv
Good article, and it seems that he has the genuine passion for the club. I guess this is what I was talking about in another post on how an owner can indeed have "vision." He is the one who sets the tone for how everything is done in the organization. I know Dallas and Columbus fans are often critical of the Hunts' management of their teams, but I bet we will see a different tune by this time next year, if things continue the way they are described in this article. Oh, and the other difference between Dan Hunt and Jonathan Kraft that struck me was that Hunt was always a soccer fan. He attended every World Cup since West Germany 1974, even going to Argentina in '78 when it was nowhere near as easy to do as it is now. How many Americans do you think were there? Jon Kraft's kids started playing, and now he is pretty much the driving force for the top-level team in our region....