ben olsen

[jonaldo]

hi im a forest fan from england and we had ben olsen on loan a few years ago. he seemed like a good player but got injured. is he back in ur team and playin for the national team again???

[Red&Black]

he's played a couple of times for the national team and is again starting and playing regularly for our club. he seems to be improving, still coming back somewhat but playing at a reasonable level. he has a bit more defensive responsibility this year and several posters will contend he is not quite back to full speed. he looked good last night, played a good game, many i spoke with thought it was his best this year.

[jonaldo]

yeh he was more of an attacking player when he was with us. is soccer still a small sport over your way anod u really dont know who beckham is??

[greatscott]

Originally posted by jonaldo
. is soccer still a small sport over your way anod u really dont know who beckham is??

two questions:
1. This is a soccer message board? Dear Lord.
2. Who the hell is David Beckham.

:rolleyes:

[MikeLastort2]

Originally posted by jonaldo
yeh he was more of an attacking player when he was with us. is soccer still a small sport over your way anod u really dont know who beckham is??

Are you taking the piss with this post?

[Red&Black]

he used to attack a bit more for us but we play a different scheme now. he did play striker a bit last year when he first came back. i think it likely he'll start going forward more.

mls is certainly not as large as baseball, football or basketball in terms of salaries, tv deals, etc. but our game attendance is strong and rising. seasontickets are at all time highs throughout the league and several teams have built or are building new stadiums. the league seems to be getting more secure financially, though it needs new owners to invest in some clubs. the level of tv coverage is triple what is was a couple of years ago.
the us play in the last world cup boosted popularity. the quality of play increases each year, as our national team results of late have shown.

us soccer fans are pretty hardcore. our club DC United averages about 17K fans this year, with about 7500 season ticket holders. fans tend to be pretty knowledgeble and many have played on clubs/school teams and some still play regularly. many fans are also fans of european football--i love dutch football and travel there to watch it and watch EPL and German matches every week on sattelite. many bars in cities show european matches on the weekend mornings. any soccer fan knows beckam and many non-soccer people, especially since the movie "bend it like beckam" became popular.

[greatscott]

Seriously, we get these kinds of questions all of the time. Soccer is not a huge sport over here, but it does have a larger awareness than it used to. Lots of players on mls teams are becoming household names and attendances are better than they used to be. You just have to remember that the people who attend, besides supporters, do not have the same dedication to the club as they do in other countries. But our supporters clubs are growing and so is the total fan base for the clubs. Thanks for stopping by these forums. I visit yours fairly regularly.

[jmsdoc]

jonaldo.......sorry about the way your season ended!

John

PS. Sale of women's knickers to men in the US has picked up since we learned about Becks.

[sch2383]

I think Benny's play grows with the length of his beard.

[MikeLastort2]

Originally posted by sch2383
I think Benny's play grows with the length of his beard.

I asked one of the DC staffers what was up with Ben's "mountain man" look. He told me (I think jokingly) that Ben isn't going to shave it until he scores.

[eric6854]

Originally posted by MikeLastort2
Ben isn't going to shave it until he scores.

Has it really been that long since Benny's gotten laid?

[MikeLastort2]

Originally posted by eric6854
Has it really been that long since Benny's gotten laid?

:)

Scores a goal, damnit. :D

[DC Forever]

Originally posted by eric6854
Has it really been that long since Benny's gotten laid?

Well the beard certainly can't be helping.

[amyep]

Originally posted by DC Forever
Well the beard certainly can't be helping.

Oh, I don't know....I think the beard looks good. :D

[TheFarSide]

Originally posted by amyep
Oh, I don't know....I think the beard looks good. :D

He has a Gentle Ben, Grizzly Adams, some may say UNI Bomber look to him now.