Dan Loney
09 Aug 2006, 02:05 PM
Chivas USA has had terrific promotions, dating from before the club existed. The San Bernardino open tryout from a couple of years ago yielded no players - not even any players good enough to compete for a spot on the team that would play some of the worst ball in league history. But it drew a bagful of fans, to a metropolitan area that is, shall we say, underserved by the mainstream sports entertainment dollar.
Even the little ideas have been done well - the lucha libre mask giveaways, the appearances in faux-Mexico national team jerseys, the contacts with Antonio Villaraigosa (who, after all, is a mayor of a city where Chivas USA does not actually play). One of the best ideas yet starts today - the 100 Hour Game where passersby as well as old-time club legends will kick the ball around in celebration of the club's centennial.
Which is part of the problem for other MLS clubs trying to duplicate those results - Chivas USA is glomming onto the tradition built generations ago and hundreds of miles away. It's successful, of course, but highly problematic as a role model for other teams. Compare the glowering discontent of Jose Mourinho as he didn't even pretend to be happy to meet the American and Canadian legends behind the Los Angeles Galaxy. Mourinho might not have been aware of the Galaxy's existence before arriving at UCLA. Even if he had, he might have wondered aloud why his team was obliged to train in Los Angeles for an exhibition in Chicago. Picture the Dallas Cowboys flying to Dublin to train for a game in Prague, then having to pretend to care about their "sister" team for a series of photo ops.*
At least Real Madrid was merciful and/or paid well enough to prop up their namesakes in Saltistan. If that doesn't save the franchise, nothing will.
And that's why, however terrific an idea I think the 100 Hour Game is, I won't be dropping by. Because it's not a celebration of Major League Soccer. It's about something I have nothing to do with. I'd stop to see an 11 Hour Game in celebration of another MLS team, or a 2 Hour Game to celebrate Real Salt Lake, or a scheduled 11 Hour Game in San Jose that gets cancelled after 10 hours over the protests of fans. But Chivas de Guadalajara means nothing to me.**
But there is only so much reflected glory that any MLS team, including Chivas USA, can get from posing next to their social superiors. (Somewhere I have a picture of myself standing next to John Prine, but I'm not going to win any Grammy Awards in the near future.) As Jorge Vergara is learning this week, the only thing worse than not being in a position to inconvenience a big club is actually being in such a position. We've all heard, and were amazed, at the story, but Guadalajara snubbed a league game in order to play an exhibition. Keep an eye on Chivas' group in the Mexican League now, because if they miss a playoff spot by three points or less, the horse laughs will be long and loud.
Whether Vergara will hear them over the huge sacks of cash he made on Sunday is another question.
*Even this isn't a good example. The real Dallas Cowboys are currently stuck in Oxnard, California for training camp, so they would probably take this deal.
**Does Chivas de Guadalajara have any non-Mexican fans anywhere?
Even the little ideas have been done well - the lucha libre mask giveaways, the appearances in faux-Mexico national team jerseys, the contacts with Antonio Villaraigosa (who, after all, is a mayor of a city where Chivas USA does not actually play). One of the best ideas yet starts today - the 100 Hour Game where passersby as well as old-time club legends will kick the ball around in celebration of the club's centennial.
Which is part of the problem for other MLS clubs trying to duplicate those results - Chivas USA is glomming onto the tradition built generations ago and hundreds of miles away. It's successful, of course, but highly problematic as a role model for other teams. Compare the glowering discontent of Jose Mourinho as he didn't even pretend to be happy to meet the American and Canadian legends behind the Los Angeles Galaxy. Mourinho might not have been aware of the Galaxy's existence before arriving at UCLA. Even if he had, he might have wondered aloud why his team was obliged to train in Los Angeles for an exhibition in Chicago. Picture the Dallas Cowboys flying to Dublin to train for a game in Prague, then having to pretend to care about their "sister" team for a series of photo ops.*
At least Real Madrid was merciful and/or paid well enough to prop up their namesakes in Saltistan. If that doesn't save the franchise, nothing will.
And that's why, however terrific an idea I think the 100 Hour Game is, I won't be dropping by. Because it's not a celebration of Major League Soccer. It's about something I have nothing to do with. I'd stop to see an 11 Hour Game in celebration of another MLS team, or a 2 Hour Game to celebrate Real Salt Lake, or a scheduled 11 Hour Game in San Jose that gets cancelled after 10 hours over the protests of fans. But Chivas de Guadalajara means nothing to me.**
But there is only so much reflected glory that any MLS team, including Chivas USA, can get from posing next to their social superiors. (Somewhere I have a picture of myself standing next to John Prine, but I'm not going to win any Grammy Awards in the near future.) As Jorge Vergara is learning this week, the only thing worse than not being in a position to inconvenience a big club is actually being in such a position. We've all heard, and were amazed, at the story, but Guadalajara snubbed a league game in order to play an exhibition. Keep an eye on Chivas' group in the Mexican League now, because if they miss a playoff spot by three points or less, the horse laughs will be long and loud.
Whether Vergara will hear them over the huge sacks of cash he made on Sunday is another question.
*Even this isn't a good example. The real Dallas Cowboys are currently stuck in Oxnard, California for training camp, so they would probably take this deal.
**Does Chivas de Guadalajara have any non-Mexican fans anywhere?