Join NowAfter further review....
How David Beckham Ruined the US Soccer Hall of Fame
Posted 18 Nov 2009 at 01:53 PM by Dan Loney
Updated 18 Nov 2009 at 01:55 PM by Dan Loney (Link added.)
Updated 18 Nov 2009 at 01:55 PM by Dan Loney (Link added.)
If I'm Jonathan Ullman, present of the Soccer Hall of Fame, I'm so pissed off at Cobi Jones right now I can barely see straight.
It was the Year of Our Lord 2006. Cobi had missed the MLS playoffs for the first time ever, having followed up a triumphant 2005 double year with a truly miserable train wreck under his old friend Steve Sampson.
Then, according to Tim Leiweke, either late in 2006 or early in 2007, he and Cobi had a conversation that went something like this:
Cobi: I've decided to retire.
Tim: We've signed David Beckham.
Cobi: ...next season.
Grant Wahl documented most of what happened afterwards. But one of the little ripples of that decision was to delay Cobi's Hall of Fame eligibility for a year. That year would have been this.
Meanwhile, the Hall followed up major media-friendly inductee events featuring Alexi Lalas and Mia Hamm by inducting no one, thanks to the blinkered and stupid soccer media. Offers from handsome, well-spoken and erudite bloggers to cull the voter rolls, with violence if necessary, went tragically unheeded. Yet market forces, not for the last time, would force a change in voting procedures - by lowering the threshold for induction.
The following year, the Hall saw to its horror that the soccer media still refused to induct anyone terribly interesting, picking the admirably soft-spoken Agoos and Fawcett. The public cared about this only slightly more than about Anson Dorrance.
And so, for two solid years, the Hall of Fame, tucked in adorable little Oneonta, had little to entice visitors except the Dewar Trophy and an actual Colorado Caribous jersey*. (WELL worth the trip, by the way, but lamentably, the sports tourist public refuses to agree.)
So the Hall once again tweaked its rules, saying that for crying out loud, SOMEONE will get in besides a Builder or a Veteran - in other words, hopefully someone who could draw a crowd large enough to fill a Radio Flyer.
Which brings us to this year's ballot, as Andy covered here.
Now, I suppose a couple of those guys might get some greater than passing interest, but the likely winner will not. The new nominees this year are Chris Henderson, John O'Brien, and Eduardo Hurtado, none of whom will make it. That pretty much leaves Preki. Unless he loses points for his playoff coaching. Whoever gets in, he or she won't be even as famous as MLS washout turned Buckeye shamateur Devin Barclay.**
The silver lining is, because Cobi took an extra year, that gives the Hall until the 2011 induction to get a reboot going with a big splash, whether in Oneonta or elsewhere. I mean...they can't possibly waste Cobi and Eddie Pope on a conference call...can they?
*Recently chosen by the readers of the Uniwatch blog as the Worst Uniform in the History of US and Canadian Sports. Not, as you see, simply for the wrong plural noun. Me, I wish that Jomo Sono had named his South African team the Jomo Caribous, but as in so many things, I'm in the lunatic minority.
**Sorry - just a little Herky bitterness. I think college players should have the right to be paid in any case, so if TFOSU wants to hire a former professional athlete, that's fine. He probably makes more with the Buckeyes than he did with the Mutiny, and in any case the NCAA is about college education the way "Hamlet" was about ham - stop me if I've told you that one.
It was the Year of Our Lord 2006. Cobi had missed the MLS playoffs for the first time ever, having followed up a triumphant 2005 double year with a truly miserable train wreck under his old friend Steve Sampson.
Then, according to Tim Leiweke, either late in 2006 or early in 2007, he and Cobi had a conversation that went something like this:
Cobi: I've decided to retire.
Tim: We've signed David Beckham.
Cobi: ...next season.
Grant Wahl documented most of what happened afterwards. But one of the little ripples of that decision was to delay Cobi's Hall of Fame eligibility for a year. That year would have been this.
Meanwhile, the Hall followed up major media-friendly inductee events featuring Alexi Lalas and Mia Hamm by inducting no one, thanks to the blinkered and stupid soccer media. Offers from handsome, well-spoken and erudite bloggers to cull the voter rolls, with violence if necessary, went tragically unheeded. Yet market forces, not for the last time, would force a change in voting procedures - by lowering the threshold for induction.
The following year, the Hall saw to its horror that the soccer media still refused to induct anyone terribly interesting, picking the admirably soft-spoken Agoos and Fawcett. The public cared about this only slightly more than about Anson Dorrance.
And so, for two solid years, the Hall of Fame, tucked in adorable little Oneonta, had little to entice visitors except the Dewar Trophy and an actual Colorado Caribous jersey*. (WELL worth the trip, by the way, but lamentably, the sports tourist public refuses to agree.)
So the Hall once again tweaked its rules, saying that for crying out loud, SOMEONE will get in besides a Builder or a Veteran - in other words, hopefully someone who could draw a crowd large enough to fill a Radio Flyer.
Which brings us to this year's ballot, as Andy covered here.
Now, I suppose a couple of those guys might get some greater than passing interest, but the likely winner will not. The new nominees this year are Chris Henderson, John O'Brien, and Eduardo Hurtado, none of whom will make it. That pretty much leaves Preki. Unless he loses points for his playoff coaching. Whoever gets in, he or she won't be even as famous as MLS washout turned Buckeye shamateur Devin Barclay.**
The silver lining is, because Cobi took an extra year, that gives the Hall until the 2011 induction to get a reboot going with a big splash, whether in Oneonta or elsewhere. I mean...they can't possibly waste Cobi and Eddie Pope on a conference call...can they?
*Recently chosen by the readers of the Uniwatch blog as the Worst Uniform in the History of US and Canadian Sports. Not, as you see, simply for the wrong plural noun. Me, I wish that Jomo Sono had named his South African team the Jomo Caribous, but as in so many things, I'm in the lunatic minority.
**Sorry - just a little Herky bitterness. I think college players should have the right to be paid in any case, so if TFOSU wants to hire a former professional athlete, that's fine. He probably makes more with the Buckeyes than he did with the Mutiny, and in any case the NCAA is about college education the way "Hamlet" was about ham - stop me if I've told you that one.
Post a Comment
Total Comments 10
Comments
-
The Hall of Fame voting has been a sham for as long as I can remember. It's nice that the grandmothers and the mailman show up for these inductions, but the current crop of American soccer fans know better.
Speaking of Hall of Fames - the USL version - which exists in as much as the lost city of Atlantis - is proof once again that when it comes to chronicaling American soccer, we don't know what we are doing. There is a vast difference between recognizing participants and immortalizing members of these Halls.
The "identity crisis" which the above entities suffer - indoor, college and women mixed in with the MLS /NASL veterans is indeed laughable if not sad in the global scope of things.
The closest thing we have to a real soccer museum is the International Soccer Archives. Let's hope the rumors of Seattle bringing it a home to the NorthWest are valid.
This could all be moot as the majority of these entities (except MLS) may not exist after next year.Posted 18 Nov 2009 at 03:20 PM by TheHun 
-
Beck's in my opinion ruined the MLS the day him and his Z list wifey turned up.
His spot should have gone to someone ( his wages/endorsement could have paid for a whole new team) who actually cares about the game in this country. NOT someone who plays half a season here and half in Italy. Just in some vain attempt to be a 35 year old one trick pony at the 2010 World Cup.Posted 19 Nov 2009 at 07:43 AM by cbrown89
-
Only tangentially relevant note: according to the Uni Watch site, the jersey that the Colorado Caribous beat was the 1980 jersey of the Tucson Toros. I actually own one of those. 100% polyester!
I'll bring it next time I'm in LA, Dan. Just for you.Posted 19 Nov 2009 at 01:32 PM by tedski
-
I know that I have mentioned this before but it just drives me crazy:
There's a soccer store near me that's owned by a guy who used to play in the NASL. He bounced around to something like eight different teams and he has jerseys from all of his clubs hanging on the wall in the store.
He has both home and away Colorado Caribou shirts up there. With the number 10.
I've offered all kinds of money, cars, young girls, young boys, whatever he wants but he won't sell. My current plan is to just steal them.Posted 20 Nov 2009 at 06:17 AM by Bill Archer
-
I guess when it comes to jerseys and underwear - peronal preference is always subjective.
I love the Colorado Carabou jersey. I don't know if it would be practicle to wear for play, but it looks cool as hell.
Imagine if the movie Easy Rider had been made in the late 1970's - Fonda and Hopper might have been donning a fringed NASL soccer jersey while toting around Jack Nicholson.
As for Hall of Fame voting, in other sports - fame is more powerful than stats. That's why these institutions are named Hall of FAME ... not Hall of accomplishments.
Having said that, if Beckham snatches a winners medal this Sunday, that will make it 3 out of 4 (Man. Utd. and Real Madrid - with AC Milan being deferred)
That's a good record in any hall.Posted 20 Nov 2009 at 06:57 AM by TheHun
-
"Sham" is a very strong word. My dictionary defines it as "a trick that deludes," "hoax," "cheap falseness," "hypocrisy," "an imitation or counterfeit purporting to be genuine."Quote:Originally Posted by TheHun
The Hall of Fame voting has been a sham for as long as I can remember. It's nice that the grandmothers and the mailman show up for these inductions, but the current crop of American soccer fans know better.
I've been compiling and maintaining the Hall of Fame's eligibility lists for the last 10 years. For the last several years, I've also been involved in assisting with the elections. I've done this work honestly. I haven't been witness to any tricks or hoaxes or falseness or hypocrisy or counterfeit. I've been proud of the list of inductees that my work has helped to produce over those 10 years.
So, I would be interested to know what prompts you to label this a sham.Posted 20 Nov 2009 at 09:26 PM by Roger Allaway
-
Roger - can you tell us who votes for these inductees ?
While I am familiar with soccer journalists and historians alike, I am confident in saying that few of them are active participants in electing the members to the Hall of Fame.
And even fewer of them are involved with the top professional associations or the pulse of modern soccer.
Can we reflect on the reason why voting parameters were changed recently ?
Could this have anything to do with the fact that attendence was low for the selected members inductions ?
I am not pointing the finger at you, Sir. You have made it clear you are an unpaid volunteer - and admirably so.
Yet the question begs - if these are the people's choices, why do they not flock to inductions or patronize the Hall that has elected them ?
Electing a college coach - in essence an amateur level coach - over and before retired National Team players and ones with World Cup pedigrees is reason to wonder.
This is contrary to an istitution called the National Hall of FAME.
Sham is the term for processes that claims one thing and prove to the contrary.Posted 20 Nov 2009 at 09:53 PM by TheHun
-
I don't have the list in front of me, but Jack Huckel at the Hall of Fame has told me that while he won't announce who each voter voted for, he will say who they are. The names of the voters (there were 159 of them last year) are not a secret.Quote:Originally Posted by TheHun
Roger - can you tell us who votes for these inductees ?
While I am familiar with soccer journalists and historians alike, I am confident in saying that few of them are active participants in electing the members to the Hall of Fame.
I know that the man on whose blog we are commenting at this moment, Dan Loney, is among the media voters. I think that some other media voters (I may be wrong about a few of these) include Beau Dure, Grant Wahl, Mike Lewis, Frank Dell'Apa, Kenn Tomasch, Ives Galarcep, Frank Giase, Steve Goff, Mike Woitalla, Ridge Mahoney, Andy Mead, Paul Kennedy, Tom Timmerman and Tobias Xavier Lopez. For the most part, the list of media voters is compiled from the lists of media contacts maintained by Neil Buethe at the USSF and Dan Courtemanche at MLS.
The list of voters also includes all living Hall of Famers. The identities of those people are well known.
The list of voters also includes all living former national team coaches and all MLS coaches with four years MLS coaching tenure. The identities of those people are well known.
The list of voters also includes a number of major administrators in American soccer, people like Sunil Gulati, Peter Wilt, Don Garber and Francisco Marcos (but nobody from the Hall of Fame staff).
In short, it is not, as you seem to imply that it is, a murky group of people nobody has ever heard of.Posted 20 Nov 2009 at 11:42 PM by Roger Allaway
-
I am well aware of the process that Jack has dealt with during the past decade.
Why not publish the voting list like professional baseball ?
So if I put adjectives to what I see - or rather what the public does not see - the UNPUBLISHED list of voters for players that, for lack of better discription, are not famous- well sue me.
I find it absoulutly troubling that the institution deemed to represent the world game in this nation - has an identity crises.
Let ask another question (although the previous ones were not addressed) ...
When was the last time the greatest players inducted into the Hall attended a function ?
Pele ?
Beckenbauer ?
Chinaglia ?
how about recent inductees with MLS ties ?
Wynalda ?
Harkes ?
Lalas ?
I can tell you as fact that the last time I asked one of the above players if they were attending the induction week ceremonies - they told me they were going fishing instead.
The bottom line is that the Hall has closed its doors - something needs to be fixed.
While I understand your defending of your work (and Jacks's) - the proof is in the pudding ... I cannot excuse the key executives who have run the National Hall of Fame out of business.
Where are they to defend your hard work ?
Distance yourself from this mess, Roger. You do good work.Posted 21 Nov 2009 at 08:33 AM by TheHun
-
I, too, find it upsetting that recent inductees have not been returning with the same frequency that older inductees like Walter Bahr, John Souza and Harry Keough traditionally have. For the older guys, the induction weekend has been a reunion. I think the younger ones see each other all the time and don't feel the need for a reunion. The fact that the soccer Hall of Fame doesn't pay plane fare for returning inductees like the baseball Hall of Fame doesn't help. This does not, however, add up to a reason to turn my back on the Hall.
The Hall's financial troubles are more than just an open-and-shut case of mismanagement. Non-profits like the Hall are suffering difficulties all over the country. Fund-raising sources have dried up. The basketball Hall of Fame in Massachusetts had a financial crisis earlier this year.
Financial troubles or not, the Hall of Fame's archives, which are considerably larger than the amount of stuff on display in the museum, remain a tremendous resource concerning the history of soccer in this country. I'm not going to distance myself from that.
You say that the Hall's financial troubles have made things difficult for the historians. Is that a reason for historians to turn their backs on history? The Hall of Fame's archives are where the history of soccer in this country, which goes back a lot farther than many fans realize, is recorded.Posted 21 Nov 2009 at 09:44 AM by Roger Allaway
|
Post a Comment
|
Total Trackbacks 0
