Cosmos reminiscence thread

[Bring Back da Cosmos]

G: Hubert Berkenmeir

D: Wim Risjbergen

D: Robert Iarusci

D: Marinho

S: Carlos Alberto

M: Franz Beckenbauer

M: Vladislav Bogicevic

M: Johan Neeskens

M: Julio-Cesar Romero

F: Roberto Cabanas

F: Giorgio Chinaglia

Playing our usual 4-4-2 should lead us to an easy win over the Caribou....hopefully we can take advantage of their weak mid-field play and score 3 goals to grab the maximum 9 points.

Tampa Bay has an easy game -v- Memphis and are breathing down our necks!

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You are watching "COS-MOS" soccer"!!!

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[Bring Back da Cosmos]

Why are a couple of you guys disagreeing with my lineup???

Do you think David Brcic should be starting in nets?? Over Berkenmeir??? You guys are kidding right??

I can see perhaps see your argument starting Steve Moyers over Cabanas at F because of that nagging hamstring that Roberto is nursing. But I still think that at 75% Cabanas is more dangerous up front that Moyers!

[nymetrostars2002]

right wing- dennis (the menace) tuart
left wing - mark liveric ( off the bench )
goal- errol yasin
also i would play satiago formoso just because of his Hair.

[F Cunha III]

how about my team

Messing
Eskandarian
C. Alberto
Roth
Beckenbauer
Bogie
Neskeens
Seninho
Chinaglia
Pele
Hunt

[bukie2k]

Originally posted by Bring Back da Cosmos
G: Hubert Berkenmeir

D: Wim Risjbergen

D: Robert Iarusci

D: Marinho

S: Carlos Alberto

M: Franz Beckenbauer

M: Vladislav Bogicevic

M: Johan Neeskens

M: Julio-Cesar Romero

F: Roberto Cabanas

F: Giorgio Chinaglia

[/B]

I'd start Eski in Marinho's place and have Denis Tueart in Cabanas' slot, otherwise I would send that line-up against anyone.

[DoctorK]

Originally posted by Bring Back da Cosmos



Tampa Bay has an easy game -v- Memphis and are breathing down our necks!

[~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/b] [/B]

Look out for the Rogues to steal a 1-0 win over the Rowdies before 6,300 at the Liberty Bowl! Paul Child scores in the 72nd minute, with an assist from Bobby Thompson.

Sorry, got carried away...

[I am Joe²]

Get this Sh!t out of here

[bukie2k]

Originally posted by DoctorK
Look out for the Rogues to steal a 1-0 win over the Rowdies before 6,300 at the Liberty Bowl! Paul Child scores in the 72nd minute, with an assist from Bobby Thompson.

Sorry, got carried away...

Paul Child?!? Tony Fields, baby!

[furie]

Originally posted by I am Joe²
Get this Sh!t out of here

don't fear the future

[riverplate]

The Cosmos! Better than sex!

Viva NeoCosmos!!

[Steve Holroyd]

Remember when the Cosmos seriously overspent on over-the-hill stars they didn't need and drove the costs of operating in the league up so high that the NASL folded? Gosh, that was great.


















Sarcasm aside, I am all for reviving the Cosmos name.

I want to see Randy Horton's name in somebody's lineup, too.

[riverplate]

Originally posted by Steve Holroyd
Remember when the Cosmos seriously overspent on over-the-hill stars they didn't need and drove the costs of operating in the league up so high that the NASL folded? Gosh, that was great.


I'm not going to get into this, except to say that stupidly rapid over-expansion was the biggest reason the NASL was brought down.

[DoctorK]

Originally posted by bukie2k
Paul Child?!? Tony Fields, baby!

Fields on a shite rebound, indeed. Houska saving a PK. Those were the days...

bukie2k, you're alright - for a ManUre fan!

[DoctorK]

Calling the Cosmos internationals over-the-hill is sheer ignorance. The vibe was unbelievable, despite the artificial surface at GS, and the play was brilliant.

Riverplate is spot on when he talks of overexpansion sealing the NASL's fate. Quite frankly, if Ahmet Ertugan owned the Metros, I'd bet there would be more fans in the seats and/or a stadium of our own. I doubt he'd care for the league player pool concept, because he cared about winning. I'm grateful Lamar Hunt has stayed as involved as he is, it just isn't right to own more than one team in a league, and the Anschutz monopoly is simply bizarre an ultimately contra-competitive.

Growing up as a kid in Memphis, and later in NY, the interaction with those foreign "over the hill" guys not only opened my eyes to the beautiful game, but gave me a sense of being a citizen of the world.

If it wasn't for the NASL, soccer would NOT be the number one participant sport in the US right now. Ask 100 Americans to name a soccer player, you'll still get 98 responding Pelé.

That being said, I'm not for the revive the Cosmos thing, at least for MLS. An international all-star team based in the metro area might be cool, but I can't see it happening, and wouldn't want it to hurt MLS or the Metros, whom I support whole-heartedly.

Nonetheless, it is fun to wax nostalgic now and then.

[riverplate]

Originally posted by DoctorK
...it just isn't right to own more than one team in a league, and the Anschutz monopoly is simply bizarre an ultimately contra-competitive.

Here's the deal: Soccer will get big in the U.S. and Anschutz and Hunt will sell off their teams one-by-one at premium prices and make a king's ransom. That's why they're keeping everything in the family and not letting anybody else in. Right now, if individual ownership came about, a club could be had for bargain-basement prices. Better to hold onto a fistful of clubs until the time comes when the purchase price will be going through the roof, and then make a killing selling them off. We'll be told some BS like "well, the time is right and we feel it's the proper thing to do." Or "the league is now stable thanks to our parenthood, but we realize it's time to let go." Everybody will be patting them on the back and admiring them for their tender loving care of the sport while they romp to the bank laughing all the way.

[wwwadriaticfundscom]

Originally posted by Bring Back da Cosmos
G: Hubert Berkenmeir

D: Wim Risjbergen

D: Robert Iarusci

D: Marinho

S: Carlos Alberto

M: Franz Beckenbauer

M: Vladislav Bogicevic

M: Johan Neeskens

M: Julio-Cesar Romero

F: Roberto Cabanas

F: Giorgio Chinaglia

Playing our usual 4-4-2 should lead us to an easy win over the Caribou....hopefully we can take advantage of their weak mid-field play and score 3 goals to grab the maximum 9 points.

Tampa Bay has an easy game -v- Memphis and are breathing down our necks!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You are watching "COS-MOS" soccer"!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow you people need something to do. Go get laid or something!!

[DoctorK]

To follow up on what you've just posted riverplate, this monopolization of MLS by Hunt and Anschutz is most interesting when we think of the antitrust lawsuit brought forward by Caligiuri et al. a few years ago.

I think you are absolutely right, this will pay off big time for them, eventually; but until then it is one massive write-off.

[Steve Holroyd]

Originally posted by riverplate
I'm not going to get into this, except to say that stupidly rapid over-expansion was the biggest reason the NASL was brought down.

Not the biggest. Sure, Woosnam's serious NFL-envy driven expansion was a mistake. But that only excuses the failure of the expansion franchises.

What eventually drove good, solid franchises like Seattle, Tampa Bay, Minnesota Kicks, Portland, etc. out of business? The expansion? Hardly...these teams were drawing some of their best crowds in the 1978-1981 era (indeed, 1981 was the NASL's peak year for average attendance). No, it was the ridiculous costs associated with keeping up with the Cosmos.

The NASL made slow, solid gains in the post-1968 collapse. In 1973, the Philadelphia Atoms created some genuine excitement, followed by the very successful 1974 West Coast expansion. Teams were drawing in the 10,000s, and it was a real grass roots kind of thing. Then the Cosmos grabbed Pele...by itself, not a bad thing, since it brought tremendous publicity and interest in the league. If that was all that happened, Pele would have been the icing on the cake of the grass roots movement.

Unfortunately, the Cosmos were compelled (by contract!) to put a team "worthy" of Pele on the field. To their credit, they initially tried to do this by upgrading from within the league, getting Tommy Ord from Rochester and Bobby Smith and Bob Rigby from the Atoms. But that wasn't enough. So then came Chinaglia. And then Beckenbauer. Even this was OK...every league needs a Yankees. But then the Cosmos felt compelled to put a star at every position. Seriously...was it necessary to go out and spend for Bogicevic, Neeskens, Teuert, Cabanas, etc. etc. Carlos Alberto? They already had Beckenbauer, for chrissake...he only invented the libero position!

All it did was drive up the cost of keeping pace. The grass roots owners were gone, and marginally interested owners like Gulf & Western took their place. Teams drowned in a sea of red ink.

I am not anti-Cosmos, and I'd like to see the name come back. And, of course, there were a lot of stupid management moves which helped doomed the NASL. But the Cosmos played a big part. Obviously, the popularity of the Cosmos spurred the big boom. But was the cost worth it?

[riverplate]

Originally posted by Steve Holroyd
I am not anti-Cosmos, and I'd like to see the name come back. And, of course, there were a lot of stupid management moves which helped doomed the NASL. But the Cosmos played a big part. Obviously, the popularity of the Cosmos spurred the big boom. But was the cost worth it?

Thanks for taking the trouble to deal with this seriously. I don't believe we have any disagreement. A lot of mistakes were made.

I happen to see no reason why MLS at some point can't become a big-time player in the soccer world and rival the European leagues. What makes me sick and tired is that anytime one tries to discuss it the cries of "NASL" are heard, and no more is supposed to be said on the matter.

NASL certainly has its lessons to teach, but let's not think it can't be done right in the future.

[Dr. Wankler]

Originally posted by riverplate
Here's the deal: Soccer will get big in the U.S. and Anschutz and Hunt will sell off their teams one-by-one at premium prices and make a king's ransom. That's why they're keeping everything in the family and not letting anybody else in

So here's the REAL conspiracy surrounding soccer: It's not the media refusing to cover the sport, it's Anschutz and Hunt trying to corner the market and create a soccer monopoly. Curse those robber barons forcing out all those people clamoring to invest in soccer! Damn them to hell!