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In which I try to see things the Fed's way
Posted 23 Jul 2009 at 07:04 PM by Dan Loney
Updated 23 Jul 2009 at 08:57 PM by Dan Loney (This wasn't really right the first time)
Updated 23 Jul 2009 at 08:57 PM by Dan Loney (This wasn't really right the first time)
Adrian Hanauer isn't happy about the site of the Open Cup Final.
It would be easy to just say "The USSF is idiots", hit Post Now, and wait for the "This is your best blog post EVER!" comments.
But, just for fun, let's try to look at it from the Fed's point of view, if that's possible. Let's start with the DC v. Seattle bid.
Ouch, Olympian reporter.
Well, duh, Adrian, you should have made a better bid - what's that?
Look, maybe the Fed wants to go out of its way to avoid scheduling games on artificial turf. Sorry, the semifinal was played where?
Clearly, then, DC United, through judicious use of kickbacks, bribed the bid committee. Except, if DC United made any money at RFK, they wouldn't be trying to leave. And, well, it isn't like this is Germany hijacking South Africa's 2006 World Cup bid. Bribes imply there's a possibility of profit.
There might have been a secret rule that prevents a site from hosting the MLS Cup and Open Cup finals in the same year. It's not like the USSF to support a rule that would cost them money, though.
So what could it possibly have been?
Oh.
And FSC made the obvious decision.
Wait a minute...TUESDAY AFTER LUNCH! That cosmic time of the week when everything gets done!
(Okay, scroll to page five, past the ads. First panel of the story "100% American Dog." This is, like, mega-ultra-1960's comics, by the way. Pretty sure it's safe for work. If you don't read that panel, this whole joke is ruined, so, yeah.)
VERDICT: Um, can't really get on the Fed's case for this one. Qwest attendance > RFK attendance, but TV audience >> Qwest attendance.
________________
Okay, the Telemundo debacle.
You're probably going to have to watch the Mexico-US game in August will be broadcast in some Latin dialect.
From the article.
Well, I really don't see how anyone could blame the Fed for
Oh.
There are a couple of different issues here - whether we have the right to watch the game, and whether we have the right to watch the game in English.
I can't get too upset about those who at least have the chance to see the game, even if it is in Spanish. But even if you are an Anglophone diehard, I do hope that people who do have the option to order mun2 resist the temptation. If you give in to this, it will only encourage more stunts like this in the future. As the Manic Street Preachers said, if you tolerate this, your children will be next. Just watch Telemundo (and boycott the sponsors) instead. I can't imagine there's a market that has mun2 that doesn't have Telemundo, so there's really no reason to give in to this.
I feel bad for fans in Columbus and Hawaii, though, because Wikipedia tells me they don't even get real Telemundo. So I think they are boned on this. They have every right to complain to the skies. I don't know if they can put games on NBC over-the-air affiliates for the occasion - wait, yes, I know perfectly well they can, but said affiliates would scream bloody murder. It's been a publicity-rich season for the sport, but soccer isn't going to outdraw Oprah.
It might behoove the Fed in the future to help their official broadcast partners actually broadcast games, but with less than a month to go, I think a swath of the country is stuck with Matchtracker.
VERDICT: Fed's fault, they should have seen this coming. Telemundo has no incentive not to be cretins about this. I dunno what can be done about it, though.
__________________
TOPIC THREE: Back to Open Cup sleaziness on the Fed's part.
The USSF is forcing Josh Hakala to move his website address later this year.
The whole idiotic story is there. Why is it that when the USSF is being penny wise and pound foolish, it's never the foolish being pounded?
Now, for all I know Josh was asking for Barry Zito money from the Fed in order to keep the site going, but more likely the USSF will try to duplicate Josh's efforts - and, equally likely, with the same love and care the Fed usually gives to the US Open Cup. In any case, we'll see who does a better job covering the Open Cup final this year. Hint: it'll be Josh.
VERDICT: Exactly the sort of pointlessly heavy-handed nonsense people hate Soccer House for. Say, how's the US Soccer Supporters Club going?
It would be easy to just say "The USSF is idiots", hit Post Now, and wait for the "This is your best blog post EVER!" comments.
But, just for fun, let's try to look at it from the Fed's point of view, if that's possible. Let's start with the DC v. Seattle bid.
Quote:
“Our fans deserve some answers,” Hanauer said. “And, by the way, U.S. Soccer has been trying to raise the profile of the U.S. Open Cup. A game in front of 10,000 fans at RFK I don’t believe is going to raise the profile as much as a game in front of a sold-out Qwest Field.”
D.C. United won the 2008 Cup in front of a home crowd of 8,212.
D.C. United won the 2008 Cup in front of a home crowd of 8,212.
Well, duh, Adrian, you should have made a better bid - what's that?
Quote:
“I’ve spoken with other teams that have made bids for finals who thought that they were going to win the bid, and our bid was twice – and in some cases up to three times – the size financially of those bids,” Hanauer said. “I’m also fairly confident that if D.C. United’s bid was the same as ours, that they’re going to lose a significant amount of money on the game. That’s a bit curious to me. But yes, without question I’m very comfortable that we made a very aggressive bid.”
Quote:
Seattle planned to hold the championship game at Qwest, after playing earlier cup games at Starfire Sports Stadium in Tukwila.
....
The use of Starfire became controversial locally and across the league. Local fans who couldn’t get tickets were unhappy. And so were all three visiting MLS teams, who complained about Starfire’s artificial surface, which is older and slicker than the FieldTurf at Qwest.
....
The use of Starfire became controversial locally and across the league. Local fans who couldn’t get tickets were unhappy. And so were all three visiting MLS teams, who complained about Starfire’s artificial surface, which is older and slicker than the FieldTurf at Qwest.
There might have been a secret rule that prevents a site from hosting the MLS Cup and Open Cup finals in the same year. It's not like the USSF to support a rule that would cost them money, though.
So what could it possibly have been?
Oh.
Quote:
The Sounders' bid for the final apparently was for a Tuesday 1:00 PM kick off at Qwest Field on September 1st. The early time was due to a Mariners game later that night next door. US Soccer instead chose the DC United bid for Wednesday night September 2 at 4:30 PM Seattle time at RFK stadium.
Wait a minute...TUESDAY AFTER LUNCH! That cosmic time of the week when everything gets done!
(Okay, scroll to page five, past the ads. First panel of the story "100% American Dog." This is, like, mega-ultra-1960's comics, by the way. Pretty sure it's safe for work. If you don't read that panel, this whole joke is ruined, so, yeah.)
VERDICT: Um, can't really get on the Fed's case for this one. Qwest attendance > RFK attendance, but TV audience >> Qwest attendance.
________________
Okay, the Telemundo debacle.
You're probably going to have to watch the Mexico-US game in August will be broadcast in some Latin dialect.
From the article.
Quote:
An informed source said ESPN wanted to buy the English-language rights, but Telemundo set a price "way higher than reasonable."
During World Cup qualifying in 2001 and '05, the same situation occurred, but ESPN was able to negotiate for the English rights to the U.S.-Mexico qualifier. The difference then was that the U.S. Soccer Federation was a partner with both Telemundo and ESPN.
During World Cup qualifying in 2001 and '05, the same situation occurred, but ESPN was able to negotiate for the English rights to the U.S.-Mexico qualifier. The difference then was that the U.S. Soccer Federation was a partner with both Telemundo and ESPN.
Quote:
In 2007, U.S. Soccer switched to another Spanish-language network, Univision. In retaliation, the source said, Telemundo played hardball in the English-language negotiations.
There are a couple of different issues here - whether we have the right to watch the game, and whether we have the right to watch the game in English.
I can't get too upset about those who at least have the chance to see the game, even if it is in Spanish. But even if you are an Anglophone diehard, I do hope that people who do have the option to order mun2 resist the temptation. If you give in to this, it will only encourage more stunts like this in the future. As the Manic Street Preachers said, if you tolerate this, your children will be next. Just watch Telemundo (and boycott the sponsors) instead. I can't imagine there's a market that has mun2 that doesn't have Telemundo, so there's really no reason to give in to this.
I feel bad for fans in Columbus and Hawaii, though, because Wikipedia tells me they don't even get real Telemundo. So I think they are boned on this. They have every right to complain to the skies. I don't know if they can put games on NBC over-the-air affiliates for the occasion - wait, yes, I know perfectly well they can, but said affiliates would scream bloody murder. It's been a publicity-rich season for the sport, but soccer isn't going to outdraw Oprah.
It might behoove the Fed in the future to help their official broadcast partners actually broadcast games, but with less than a month to go, I think a swath of the country is stuck with Matchtracker.
VERDICT: Fed's fault, they should have seen this coming. Telemundo has no incentive not to be cretins about this. I dunno what can be done about it, though.
__________________
TOPIC THREE: Back to Open Cup sleaziness on the Fed's part.
The USSF is forcing Josh Hakala to move his website address later this year.
The whole idiotic story is there. Why is it that when the USSF is being penny wise and pound foolish, it's never the foolish being pounded?
Now, for all I know Josh was asking for Barry Zito money from the Fed in order to keep the site going, but more likely the USSF will try to duplicate Josh's efforts - and, equally likely, with the same love and care the Fed usually gives to the US Open Cup. In any case, we'll see who does a better job covering the Open Cup final this year. Hint: it'll be Josh.
VERDICT: Exactly the sort of pointlessly heavy-handed nonsense people hate Soccer House for. Say, how's the US Soccer Supporters Club going?
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Total Comments 27
Comments
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USOC - #1 Artificial turf ('nuf said right there)
#2 1:00 on a Tuesday (really?!)
#3 Hanauer is a whiner.....
#4 DC bid more
Yup, sounds like a conspiracy to me.....
p.s. Did I mention the plastic grass?Posted 23 Jul 2009 at 07:48 PM by Boda United 
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I'd like to know, which would get more people if they removed the tarps in Qwest? Both the Sounders and Mariners draw about the same amount, why don't the Sounders push for a Wednesday night game or maybe a thursday game (when the mariners aren't playing)? I think the guy has a point though. 10,000 in cavernous RFK or 30k+ in Qwest, the Seattle fans should be livid with whoever put this bid together.
Posted 23 Jul 2009 at 08:07 PM by njndirish
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Hopefully any web traffic that Josh loses due to the switch will be more than made up by all of the porn searches for "the Cup."Posted 23 Jul 2009 at 08:23 PM by Mr. Bandwagon
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I think that the Fed should manadate that all (Open Cup, MLS, Superliga, and Champions League) matches should be played at Qwest from now on.
Posted 23 Jul 2009 at 09:21 PM by SoccerScottWV
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This whole "bid" process is stupid. Either make it completely transparent, or just have a random draw.
Posted 23 Jul 2009 at 09:28 PM by LordRobin
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Interesting that either team would have a beef -- neither one has really had to travel to whole tournament.
Posted 23 Jul 2009 at 09:42 PM by wahleyed
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2 years running
and DC hasn't played on the road in the Open CupPosted 23 Jul 2009 at 09:44 PM by vflkirwan
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I'm keeping an open mind on this, but I hardly believe this is possible.Quote:Originally Posted by Dan LoneyThis is your best blog post EVER!
Posted 23 Jul 2009 at 10:05 PM by sprovi
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I would expect somewhere between 10-20k, which would be great. But Dan is right - that time of day is not gonna help. But is this game even on TV?
As for the website and the snafu with the TV broadcast of USA-Mexico, this crap is just amazing. If the USSF were still a bunch of guys at a social hall in Saint Louis, I don't think it would be any less professional.
BTW, I couldn't get Telemundo when I was in Alaska, either, which I know is a huge hit to the potential audience.Posted 23 Jul 2009 at 10:08 PM by Mateofelipe
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2 years running
Cry me a river.Quote:Originally Posted by vflkirwan
and DC hasn't played on the road in the Open Cup
Selective memory from Mr. Looney. The Gals did the same thing DC United is currently doing a couple of years back. I bitched to high hell in teh DC forum.
The change of attitude from DC's front office for these bids came when the Open Cup winner got a slot in the CONCACAF Champions League. It's the win last year that's getting us the CCL match at RFK next Wednesday. Which is the best way to the CCL? MLS Cup? Supporters Shield or US Open Cup?
If you want the match, you make the bid. That's the way U$$F works.Posted 23 Jul 2009 at 10:32 PM by The Cold Sea
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