View Full Version : 12/27/04: Lite Day
Cincinnati to field new pro soccer team-Cincinnnati Business Courier (http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2004/12/27/daily3.html)
German team signs soccer standout - Independence native turning pro-Macon Telegraph (http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/sports/colleges/mercer/10504663.htm)
"That's one of the things that excites me the most. In America, you don't have 20,000 fans clapping and yelling and chanting for their club team."
Guess he's never seen an MLS game. :rolleyes:
rocketeer22
27 Dec 2004, 02:23 PM
First article
"The Kings' coach will be Jon Pickup, director of Cincinnati's Cardinal Soccer Club."
The paper missed a perfect opportunity to present a bold headline of "Anyone for Some Pickup Soccer?"
Second article
"It was after he got seven goals and two assists in his first season at the University of Cincinnati this fall that the club's director of player development came to Kentucky to negotiate a contract with Hughes and his family."
Wow...if that is all it takes...
Justin Cedar
27 Dec 2004, 03:13 PM
I think it's sad that a player of his caliber would say something so stupid. It makes me mad when people, who are even going to school on a scholarship for soccer, don't even follow our domestic leagues. But then they complain that we don't have big crowds at games... That's like bitching about the government and not voting. :confused:
Oh well. Best of luck to him.
themodelcitizen
27 Dec 2004, 04:20 PM
20 000 screaming fans at MLS games? You'll have to forgive this guy if what he had in mind wasn't soccer moms yelling at their kids to sit back down...
The Cadaver
27 Dec 2004, 04:21 PM
From the first story:
"The team owners said they conducted a market research study prior to forming the team and found that Cincinnati ranks No. 2 in soccer participation in the United States, with more than 100,000 youth and adults playing the sport locally. Kansas City, Mo., was the No. 1 market for soccer participation."
And we all saw how that translated into large crowds at Wizards games.....
medicjavier
27 Dec 2004, 06:56 PM
Is this guy and idiot or just that naive? The Galaxy regularly sell out the Home Depot Center which seats close to 25,000 fans. And what about the Columbus Crew they have some the best fans in the league. Cincinnatti must be a long way from Columbus for him to have missed them play. He's going to play for a reserve team in Germany and he's putting down American soccer and it's fans. I guess he wasn't good enough for MLS.
purojogo
27 Dec 2004, 07:03 PM
German team signs soccer standout - Independence native turning pro-Macon Telegraph (http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/sports/colleges/mercer/10504663.htm)
"That's one of the things that excites me the most. In America, you don't have 20,000 fans clapping and yelling and chanting for their club team."
Guess he's never seen an MLS game. :rolleyes:
Yelling, yes...(for whatever reason)....
Chanting? 20k? Not as easy to remember this happening as often, not in MLS
apostolo1
27 Dec 2004, 07:12 PM
Soccer in the Midwest, you gotta be kidding!
It is very nice form Mr. Abdallahi and Mr. Roberts to field soccer team in Cincinnati. I would be really interested, however, to take a look at their market research study, which says that Kansas City, MO is number one market for soccer participation.
What soccer participation? If the people in charge of the study only included kids and adults who play soccer as recreation on Saturday or Sunday, they would have made VERY wrong conclusions (why the Wizards play in empty stadium?). My understanding of participation is the following: first, how many people go to see games to Arrow Stadium; second how many are watching the home team on TV (at a local bars if you want); and, finally, is there a good newspaper coverage of the sport (take as an example the Boston Globe or the Washington Post – one of the most soccer friendly papers in the country).
Not too many people, if at all, care about soccer in the Midwest. Also, I would site a soccer writer who said that soccer and politics go hand in hand. According to Franklin Foer, people form red states (who voted for George Bush) most likely don’t demonstrate any interest in soccer, as opposed to blue states – people from the East and West coasts who voted for Kerry – and are more likely to enjoy the game (go to games, read in the paper and watch it on TV).
jmeissen0
27 Dec 2004, 07:24 PM
i'm sure different studies will have different numbers
but i've heard the number one thing bandied about for kc a few times
apostolo1
27 Dec 2004, 09:00 PM
Thanks for taking the time to reply to my message. The same was done in S. L. City, Utah where the new MLS team - Salt Lake Real was fielded: as it seems many kids play the game there. But, have you ever seen mormons playing soccer or watching the game on TV or at the stadium? I really want soccer to catch fire in the US, however, I am sure it will not happen in places like KC or SLC (sad but true)
Dave Marino-Nachison
27 Dec 2004, 09:11 PM
He's going to play for a reserve team in Germany and he's putting down American soccer and it's fans. I guess he wasn't good enough for MLS.
I'm as big an MLS fan as anyone, but cut the kid some slack. He's from Kentucky -- goes to school in Cincy -- in other words, how much affinity is he supposed to have for the Columbus Crew? He's probably watched most of his MLS matches on TV, and you've got to admit MLS fan support frequently looks crap on the tube in those big stadiums. (Not always, of course.) I cringe every time the mic picks up some little kid asking his mom for a cotton candy.
At any rate, he'd probably be playing for a reserve team in MLS next season too. I'd say a crack at 1860 Munich compares well to that.
I wonder if MLS was interested. They did get Josh Gardner (who I'd never heard of before last season) from UC, so they might have been...
Eric B
27 Dec 2004, 10:16 PM
At any rate, he'd probably be playing for a reserve team in MLS next season too. I'd say a crack at 1860 Munich compares well to that.Indeed. How do you say "Are you Seth George in disguise" in German?
mpruitt
27 Dec 2004, 10:23 PM
i'm sure different studies will have different numbers
but i've heard the number one thing bandied about for kc a few times
How many different cities or areas have we seen than claimed to have the highest _________ participation in the _________(USA?) 10? Christ, how many cities call themselves 'Soccertown USA' more than three?
Roehl Sybing
27 Dec 2004, 11:47 PM
Yelling, yes...(for whatever reason)....
Chanting?
What's the difference?
mpruitt
27 Dec 2004, 11:58 PM
Well one would think that there's a difference between "Down in front!" and chanting about an opposing player's wife/sister/mother's social habits.
Roehl Sybing
28 Dec 2004, 12:01 AM
Both are rather unsophisticated, wouldn't you say? Mind you, I'm not above doing either at a game.
mpruitt
28 Dec 2004, 12:07 AM
Both are rather unsophisticated, wouldn't you say? Mind you, I'm not above doing either at a game.
Don't you think that the "Down in front!!" or "Johnny! Behave or we aren't stopping for ice cream on the way home!" chants are a little counter intuative to fan support?
You guys can get your panties in a wad about this comment all you want, but the fact is he's right. At MLS games 20,000 fans are not all that uncommon. People chanting is not all that uncommon. Both at the same time is nearly unheard of. Outside of maybe, 'MAKE SOME NOISE!!!!!!!' on the jumbotron it doesn't happen... excluding if there's a free tee-shirt available.
In a league where some supporter's groups membership numbers in the dozens I'm not sure if we have much of a leg to stand on in compartive and collective fan passion.
Roehl Sybing
28 Dec 2004, 12:20 AM
You guys can get your panties in a wad about this comment all you want, but the fact is he's right.
I don't really care if he is. If his beef is there aren't enough people going to games, then he's got a point. If that the fans aren't loud enough or acting in a certain way that traditionalists deem proper is a dealbreaker for him, then I don't understand.
mpruitt
28 Dec 2004, 12:25 AM
I don't really care if he is. If his beef is there aren't enough people going to games, then he's got a point. If that the fans aren't loud enough or acting in a certain way that traditionalists deem proper is a dealbreaker for him, then I don't understand.
I think he might simply be talking about going to a situation where the majority of the populace or even the majority of the fan base give a crap about the result of the game.
Roehl Sybing
28 Dec 2004, 12:33 AM
I think he might simply be talking about going to a situation where the majority of the populace or even the majority of the fan base give a crap about the result of the game.
In the grand scheme of things, how many people in the world honestly care about a sporting result? If anything, those involved with American soccer pay far too much attention wondering how many people around them are paying attention.