4-15-2004: Ides of April

[JMU Soccer!]

Adu set for New York-area debut before rejoining under-20 national team (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/soccer/04/14/bc.soc.u20.adu.ap/) - AP

MetroStars: Adu is just looking to fit in (http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/108201212018230.xml) - New Jersey Star Ledger

With MLS heavily marketing Adu, he should be starting. (http://www.soccertimes.com/wagman/2004/apr14.htm) - Soccer Times

Saprissa - Fire Result (http://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/wire/sns-ap-soc-saprissa-fire,1,291320.story?coll=sns-ap-soccer-headlines) - AP

Rapids get ball Rolling (http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/rapids/article/0,1299,DRMN_51_2809418,00.html) - Rocky Mountain News

[JMU Soccer!]

Rhinos prefer turf at PAETEC (http://www.democratandchronicle.com/sports/rhinos/0415GP3U7J3_sports.shtml) - Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

No WUSA, but women are still playing (http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/soccer/8436433.htm?ERIGHTS=6905690160794249128mercurynews::bigsoccer@bigsoccer.com&KRD_RM=8opotqoxwxorwqvrpqrooooooo|bigsoccer|N) - San Jose Mercury

[Sachin]

Re: Wagman, the idiot quotient is going through the roof.

Please take a moment today to remember the 96 fans at Hillsborough.

Sachin

[mpruitt]

[QUOTE=JMU SoccerWith MLS heavily marketing Adu, he should be starting. (http://www.soccertimes.com/wagman/2004/apr14.htm) - Soccer Times
[/QUOTE]
Somebody should just take Wagman out back and put him out of his misery. What a stupid take and as usual like a week behind.

[mpruitt]

They're gonna spend all that money on a new SSS with the idea of attracting the USMNT and MLS but they're going to install turf just so they can get some marching band competitions and lacross games in there?

[Northside Rovers]

Let me say again, from the soccer perspective Nowak is completely correct in what he is doing. But once the league -- and given the single-entity ownership structure it has the power -- ratcheted up the hype to the level it has been, and once it began to market almost solely on the "Come see Freddy play," mantra, it then had the obligation to take the decision out of Nowak's hands. Ready or not, Adu should be starting.


Let me get this straight. Wagman agrees that NOT starting Adu is the proper thing to do from a soccer perspective BUT ctiticizes MLS HQ for not forcing a head coach to start a particular player?

Wagman put the ass in assinine.

What are the bets that IF MLS HQ HAD forced Nowak to start Adu Wagman would be howling about that?

Wagman used to be a decent read - but he seems to have fallen in with the wrong crowd and his brain cells are disappearing.

And if Rochester's long-term plan is for an artificial surface - they can stay in the A-League, stadium or no stadium.

[drew_VT_6]

They're gonna spend all that money on a new SSS with the idea of attracting the USMNT and MLS but they're going to install turf just so they can get some marching band competitions and lacross games in there?

There's a virus that many people in Rochester have and it's hurting us again, it's called the "Think Small" virus. They won't look at the possibility of millions being made because, you have such a nice soccer stadium that every team that is in this country or comes to this country wants to play here. Instead they worry about being able to make the 10's of thousands of dollars from band competitions and lacrosse games.

[monster]

They're gonna spend all that money on a new SSS with the idea of attracting the USMNT and MLS but they're going to install turf just so they can get some marching band competitions and lacross games in there?
You know, I don't mind them using FieldTurf all that much, but he really blew the perspective in that article by acting like the Rhinos would have to squeeze their games in between other events. Huge PR mistake.

[AndyMead]

I hate to be a geek, but the Ides of April were Tuesday....

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/ides1.html

[Etienne_72772]

Wow--I can't believe Wagman wrote that piece of garbage. It's as if all of these people came to the game and didn't see Freddy play at all. So as an extension of Wagman's logic--it doesn't matter what type of condition Freddy was in, he should have been playing. If Freddy had a bad ankle--who cares, the MLS has marketed him and he must play. Of course Wagman would probably argue, well if Freddy is hurt, then of course he shouldn't play. But what Wagman doesn't seem to get (or Kornholio or Wilbon, for that matter) is that Freddy's mental and physical state are incredibly important. Throw him to the lions when he is not ready could set him back. It's no different than going into the game with a bad ankle...

[TravisMinor_23]

[QUOTE=Northside Rovers]Let me get this straight. Wagman agrees that NOT starting Adu is the proper thing to do from a soccer perspective BUT ctiticizes MLS HQ for not forcing a head coach to start a particular player?
What are the bets that IF MLS HQ HAD forced Nowak to start Adu Wagman would be howling about that?QUOTE]

I was under the impression the MLS forced Dallas to trade the #1 pick for garbage (an allocation they can't use because they are full on SI's anyways), so I love how we try to argue that competition is currently the #1 thing on Don Garber's mind.
No, clearly that is not true, whatever on the field Garber and the MLS big wigs are completley indifferent. Sure, they'd love a Metro run to get some more fan support for the team, but thats about as much as they care about results.
The Adu had nothing to do with soccer perspective, almost anyone will admit that. So why should Adu's career? MLS bent pretty far over (luckily, the likes of Tony Kornheiser don't recognize a forced trade when they see one) so why shouldn't they buckle. There is little argument to be made against the fact that having Adu starting would create more interest in the sport. That is clearly the idea right now, so I don't see why this is such a proposterous point.
From a soccer standpoint Adu should warm the bench, but to think it is that black and white is incredibly naive. This is about more then DC United's record this season, this is about the health of the league. If it was simply about competitiveness Dallas would currently have Chad Marshall and Adu would be overseas somewhere.....

[mpruitt]

Guess you don't follow MLS much ha? That's a seriously flawed post.

[Chicago1871]

It's called "bait and switch." It's the always frowned upon, and often illegal, practice of advertising one thing and, when the customer arrives, offering either a lesser product or a more expensive one. I think Major League Soccer has been guilty of this when it has pulled out all the stops marketing Freddy Adu, and then had him sitting on the bench for half or more of D.C. United's first two matches.
Kornheiser has ranted recently on the same subject...what I want to know is, when did anyone ever say that Freddy Adu would be in the starting lineup for any game?

Answer: never. Not once did any DC or MLS personnel ever state that the higher paid soccer player, and youngest pro athlete in the country would start for his club.

It can't be bait and switch unless you offer something and take it away. Freddy is being marketed, but not as a starter. I'm tired of this "I know what this is, I read about it back in my business class in college. I bet no one has thought of this angle before" crap.

[peledre]

I too would like to add that Wagman is an idiot.
I haven't bothered reading any of his stuff since before WC '02

[jmeissen0]

Punchless Fire shut-out in Costa Rica - Chicago Sun-Times (http://www.suntimes.com/output/fire/cst-spt-fire15.html)

Rapids hook up with Telemundo - Denver Post (http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~94~2084366,00.html)

D-Day for Revs' Llamosa - Boston Herald (http://sports.bostonherald.com/soccer/view.bg?articleid=126)

Reyes will not be Right Back for Burn - Dallas Morning News (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/soccer/stories/041504dnspoburnbriefs.6b5e6.html)

Game a Boon for Senn Fund - Columbus Dispatch (http://www.1460thefan.com/tf.php?story=dispatch/2004/04/15/20040415-D4-01.html)

OSU Loses, Everyone Wins - OSU Lantern (http://www.thelantern.com/news/2004/04/15/Sports/Osu-Loses.Everyone.Wins-661209.shtml)

Portuguese Club pays Visit - Boston Globe (http://www.boston.com/sports/soccer/articles/2004/04/15/portuguese_club_pays_visit)

[kenntomasch]

http://www.kenn.com/images/wagman_idiot.jpg

[peledre]

http://www.kenn.com/images/wagman_idiot.jpg
As always Kenn, your photoshopping skills are unmatched on BigSoccer.

[babytiger2001]

Please take a moment today to remember the 96 fans at Hillsborough.

Done, and remembered fondly.

[Detective40oz]

I'd just like to know which person who bought a ticket to either of DC united's first 2 games didn't get to see Freddy play? Unless they only bought a ticket for the first half, none of them haven't seen Freddy play. According to Wagman MLS said, "come and see Freddy play" well everyone has seen freddy play, and with people lining up in New York buying tickets apparently seeing him play for a half is good enough for them.

Oh yeah, Kornholio beat you to the punch a week ago with this article, try getting some originality and stop ripping off other writer's work. :rolleyes:

[kenntomasch]

Here's another possible couple of explanations for for the Rochester thing that don't involve the Rhinos' braintrust being less intelligent than your average Bigsoccer poster:

1) When you build a soccer-specific stadium with your own money, like Lamar Hunt (or, if you're fortunate enough to get a progressive community/college and a big naming rights deal), you can tailor it to your purposes without worrying about what other people's interests are. When you ask the state (and, by extension, the taxpayers) to cough up a sizable contribution to the cause, the taxpayers often request that you get maximum use out of the facility. (NOTE: This is not a hard-and-fast rule when it comes to NFL stadiums. Taxpayers, so fearful of the loss of "big league status" that would come from not having their lame NFL team around anymore, don't really care if the stadium they ponied up for only gets used 10-20 times a year.) This means, yes, you do have to let Uncle Roy stay in the spare bedroom, even though he crimps your pimp style, because you can't afford the condo without his monthly contribution.

2) When your personal wealth isn't quite that of a Lamar Hunt or a Phil Anschutz, sometimes you have to find ways to try and recoup your investment, and if that means ancillary events at the stadium (and I don't know what the deal is as far as control and revenue streams from ancillary events at PaeTec means for the Rhinos, I'm just guessing here), then it means ancillary events at the stadium. Sorry if that wrecks your sense of propriety and "thinking big," but that's financial reality, and that usually trumps everything else.

If they have to go with an artificial surface, then it is what it is. I hope it's not true that, as they said in the article, in the near future most stadiums will go to an artificial surface (I know we don't have a cure for cancer yet, but surely some grass guys can figure out a way to make athletic grass more durable).

But, I just hope they don't stitch permanent lines (for any sport) into the artificial surface at PaeTec. Make that little concession, anyway. Put the grasstroturf down, fine, but make somebody work putting lines on and taking them off when you go from one sport to the next.