View Full Version : Chivas USA: Spanish as main Language and LA as #1 Expansion Location.
Kqql
16 Oct 2003, 03:30 AM
Looks like Chivas USA wants MLS to be it's AA club.
Ivar Sisniega, the club's executive president:
"We believe there's room in Los Angeles for two teams without a problem, '' Sisniega said. "There are more than 5 million Mexicans (in the L.A. area), and there are many examples of cities that are home to two teams.''
The MLS has agreed to allow us to have more Mexican players, and we would also seek Mexican-Americans and other players of Latin origin,'' Sisniega said.
"We want Spanish to be the main language on the team and we want to stay close to our Mexican roots.''
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2003/10/15/SPGC42BKP91.DTL
UncleSam527
16 Oct 2003, 08:52 AM
Plain and simple: play by the rules dirtwads.
I hate Chivas, and the idea of Chivas USA. I will not let MLS become Vergara's biznitch.
dawgpound2
16 Oct 2003, 08:55 AM
Because of the vitriol being spewed about Chivas USA (in LA), that's exactly what I want to happen now. It'll be great!
Joe Stoker
16 Oct 2003, 09:36 AM
LOL! There seems to be no middle ground on this subject. Either we love it or hate it. Although Garber Baby seems in love with Vergara, I cannot believe all the other MLS ducks will fall in line and dance to the mariachi beat, no matter the lyrics. I could be wrong. The NASL proved that "genius" and "pro soccer owner" weren't synonyms.
I'm not convinced the Chivas USA/San Diego franchise will be a "go" anytime soon. Too many questions to resolve and promises to hold. And, after the PD article (see Cleveland thread), it sounds as if Cleveland isn't as sure as they had us believing either. The way MLS has been backpedaling, groping & stumbling on expansion after all the big talk earlier in the season, they might as well save face and just let Rochester in on a sweetheart deal & be done with it. And I'm a little more than half-serious.
law5guy
16 Oct 2003, 10:01 AM
Any one watch the MEX v URU game last night? I think that if Chivas USA ever happens... better get ready for beer bottles, cups, and every other kind of trash to be thrown onto the field. What a disgrace that was...
socrne1
16 Oct 2003, 10:05 AM
I agree no class whatsoever from those fans, luckily they are not the type of fans that come out and support the fire.
Paul Schmidt
16 Oct 2003, 10:08 AM
[IMG SRC="http://www.thesith.com/vader/extras/vader3.jpg"]
"I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further."
Who's driving the bus? Vergara, or MLS? This is very troublesome. Chivas USA is fine, but will have no credibility if they dont play by the same rules as everyone else.
uclacarlos
16 Oct 2003, 11:14 AM
Originally posted by Kqql
Looks like Chivas USA wants MLS to be it's AA club.
I read through the quote you cited, but I see no reference to MLS being a minor league franchise to the Guadalajara club. I also have read a ton of articles, watched English t.v. (oh wait, they don't mention $hit about soccer), watched Spanish t.v. (gee, where they actually talk about soccer... A LOT), read Anglophone press, read Mexican press, US Latino press...
I have found ZERO references to any such notion. There are a lot cheaper ways to develop a minor league franchise. I see Chivas MLS as another franchise in a growing sports management multinational corporation.
As per Spanish being the language of the team, given the shere number of Spanish speakers in So Cal (approximately 8 million), what's the problem? Spanish has always been a major language, back when it was colonized by the Spanish, administered by Mexico and then yanked away by the US (which promised linguistic, cultural and religious rights in perpetuity).
And honestly, what's wrong w/ marketing to and speaking the language of the #1 consumer group of soccer in this country? In simple terms: soccer is the #5 sport of white bread America, whereas it's the #1 sport amongst Latinos.
Kqql
16 Oct 2003, 06:01 PM
As per Spanish being the language of the team, given the shere number of Spanish speakers in So Cal (approximately 8 million), what's the problem? Spanish has always been a major language, back when it was colonized by the Spanish, administered by Mexico and then yanked away by the US (which promised linguistic, cultural and religious rights in perpetuity).
And honestly, what's wrong w/ marketing to and speaking the language of the #1 consumer group of soccer in this country? In simple terms: soccer is the #5 sport of white bread America, whereas it's the #1 sport amongst Latinos.
Oh please! Separate but equal has been over in the USA long time ago.
Race and language based team is wrong and illegal in the USA.
Every person from any Ethnic background has
a right be on any MLS team. PERIOD!
PLUS, looks like you still have issues with
past historical events.
BulaJacket
16 Oct 2003, 06:22 PM
Originally posted by Kqql
Oh please! Separate but equal has been over in the USA long time ago.
Race and language based team is wrong and illegal in the USA.
Every person from any Ethnic background has
a right be on any MLS team. PERIOD!
PLUS, looks like you still have issues with
past historical events.
True
You do make some decent points carlos, but, I believe you should need to refer to it as anglo america or something that can't be taken as racist instead of white bread if you want to have credibility in your arguement.
Isn't "no discrimination" a US "value"? Ask the NFL about black coaches.
and what do you mean by "yanked away" by the US? It seems like the Spanish language has seeped and invaded more than get yanked away.
bostonsoccermdl
16 Oct 2003, 06:35 PM
Originally posted by uclacarlos
[BAs per Spanish being the language of the team, given the shere number of Spanish speakers in So Cal (approximately 8 million), what's the problem? [/B]
the "problem" is that in the United Stated English is the standard language of the country.
If you want to hear them speak in Spanish, watch it on Deportivo or Univision..
DaMunk
16 Oct 2003, 06:59 PM
Originally posted by bostonsoccermdl
the "problem" is that in the United Stated English is the standard language of the country.
If you want to hear them speak in Spanish, watch it on Deportivo or Univision..
What is "standard" supposed to mean? The US has no official language.
Who cares what language they speak on the field? The worst that will happen is the American players they field will learn a bit of Spanish.
bostonsoccermdl
16 Oct 2003, 07:19 PM
I meant standard, as in the language 98% of things are communicated in our country...
look, people can speak what ever language they want.
What grates on me is the owner being so brazen about what he wants, and shoving stuff like this down our throats...
uclacarlos
16 Oct 2003, 07:22 PM
Originally posted by Kqql
PLUS, looks like you still have issues with
past historical events.
Actually, I've tried (during varying states of sobriety) to have issues w/ FUTURE historical events, but decided that would be impossible...
A message from the Department of Redundancy Department
uclacarlos
16 Oct 2003, 07:29 PM
Originally posted by bostonsoccermdl
I meant standard, as in the language 98% of things are communicated in our country...
In my part of the country, I hear nor read not one single language 98% of the time.
In LA (and I'm not making this up), I've seen Korean and Chinese merchants fighting IN SPANISH b/c they were trying to get an Egyptian couple into their respective store. somebody called the cops, and the common language was ... Spanish. The cops spoke w/ the merchants and the couple in Spanish. The only thing done in English was the police report. :)
7 million Latinos will do that to a city...
Chowderhead
16 Oct 2003, 08:09 PM
Originally posted by uclacarlos
In my part of the country, I hear nor read not one single language 98% of the time.
In LA (and I'm not making this up), I've seen Korean and Chinese merchants fighting IN SPANISH b/c they were trying to get an Egyptian couple into their respective store. somebody called the cops, and the common language was ... Spanish. The cops spoke w/ the merchants and the couple in Spanish. The only thing done in English was the police report. :)
7 million Latinos will do that to a city...
Boy, LA really seems so cosmopolitan and hip!
As for the police reports in English, keep them coming.
Justin O
16 Oct 2003, 08:28 PM
Most Americans speak English as a first language. Many others speak Spanish. I see nothing objectionable about having 1 of 11 MLS teams use Spanish rather than English as the primary language of communication. If Columbus opted to do so that would be silly. But for a team in San Diego? I fail to see what the problem is. Many Spanish-speaking athletes have figured out how to get by in English-speaking team environments. English speaking athletes can figure out how to get by in Spanish-speaking team environments, too.
onefineesq
16 Oct 2003, 08:36 PM
Originally posted by Justin O
Most Americans speak English as a first language. Many others speak Spanish. I see nothing objectionable about having 1 of 11 MLS teams use Spanish rather than English as the primary language of communication. If Columbus opted to do so that would be silly. But for a team in San Diego? I fail to see what the problem is. Many Spanish-speaking athletes have figured out how to get by in English-speaking team environments. English speaking athletes can figure out how to get by in Spanish-speaking team environments, too.
I understand what you are saying, but that's a disingenuous statement. the spanish speaking athletes who have figured out how to get by on an english speaking team are doing so because they are in an ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRY. you name me the place in a SPANISH SPEAKING COUNTRY where the english speaking participants can force the team to speak a different language on the club. in the rest of the soccer world, the language of the land that you are playing in, is what is spoken. netherlands ........ you learn to speak dutch. italy ......... you learn to speak italian. germany ......... you learn to speak german. only in America is the answer to make the americans learn to speak another language. I don't buy that reasoning. it makes our league look mickey mouse that in an american league, the americans don't get the same courtesy as every other team across the world. hell, even David Beckham is learning Spanish at Real Madrid.
Justin O
16 Oct 2003, 09:08 PM
Off the top of my head, Atletico Bilbao. All-Basque team in Spain (presumably) all Basque-speaking. Given the separatist movement there, that is far far more contentious than Chivas San Diego. And Bilbao certainly adds a level of intrigue to La Liga that simply does not exist in MLS.
Also, I'm sure there are teams in the former Soviet Union where Russian, rather than the national language, is the language of communication on the team.
I haven't made up my mind on the whole Chivas San Diego, but I don't buy many of the arguments heard here. But I will say from the perspective of a neutral fan that, if they can arrange things in such a way that they aren't simply banning players due to their ancestry, it would certainly add a bit of personality to the collection of cookie-cutter teams that make up the league now.