The following is a (very) rough transcript of FSC's interview with The Don from the NSCAA Convention. Proceed with caution. Don Garber :: We're in good shape but there’s still lots of work to do to grow the league and the sport in this country ... highlights of 2010 were getting the CBA done, bringing in Thiery Henry and Rafa Marquez, opening Red Bull Arena ... more (American) players coming back with more on the way ... we're excited. FSC :: Any thought on moving to the FIFA (Fall – Spring) calendar? Don Garber :: (Laughs) Well, we don't know what that's going to be. That may change in 2022. Now wouldn’t that be ironic … FIFA moving to an MLS schedule? MLS will almost certainly move further into the winter. Frankly, we worry less about aligning to what FIFA has asked to us to do and more about what is best for MLS and our fans. Soon we’ll have 19 and then 20 teams ...we’ve got the CCL ... the USOC ... international friendlies ... there’s just not enough time to fit it all in. The MLS Cup could happen after Thanksgiving ... (and that) could be happening soon. FSC :: What are your thoughts on the impending Vancouver/Portland/Seattle rivalries? Don Garber :: It’s HUGE. It’s going to be something special ... we’re looking at having a compact competition in 2012 (?) ... perhaps having derbies occur during a single week ... we may also look to do something similar with DC/Philadelphia/NY. Derbies are an important part of the soccer culture. FSC :: What are your thoughts on diluting the talent pool and the quality of play as a result of expansion? Don Garber :: I think that the quality of play has been improving (even) with expansion ... the academies ... college (is getting better) ... just look at Tim Ream ... international teams are now chasing him. I’d like to see more DPs ... getting the bottom (layer of talent to be) better ... and make the top (layer of talent) better. ... that will lift the middle. FSC :: What about Edson Buddle? Do we have to work harder to keep American players in MLS or just develop more players? Don Garber :: Both. (The European club) offered Edson more than twice of what he was offered (by the Galaxy) … and (LA) offered twice what he was making. We need to create a league where players like Edson Buddle can find a home. But we’re competing against (foreign) teams with a lot of money. FSC :: What about 2011? Don Garber :: I continue to hope for more DPs ... it’s good for the fans ... it’s good for the broadcasters ... the summer window is more active for MLS than the January window ... no one would have expected that Thiery Henry and Rafa Marquez would be playing in MLS. FSC :: Any new prospects that you feel can make an immediate impact? Don Garber :: There’s great value from Generation Adidas ...it’s an important program for us … it keeps teams from fighting to have to try and fit (good young talent) under the cap. FSC :: What about the reserve league? Don Garber :: With the expanded rosters, we need a place for them to play ... we need a better format and setup (than we had with the old reserve league) ... it’s a big financial commitment for MLS … and a strategic commitment. FSC :: How about them Cosmos? Don Garber :: The Cosmos owners are smart, creative, passionate people with a lot of experience ... (mentions the Tottenham connection). They've got it right. They have a long way to go in order to become a competitive club ... they need a stadium. Do they have the commitment to go all the way? We’ll see.
Massive props to Garber!! Screw that corrupt geezer Sick Blatter and his bunch of cronies!! We need to to do what's best for MLS, not worry ourselves with lining Bladder's pockets with bribes and pretend to suck his d**k .
He said more players will come back to MLS in the following weeks i wonder who he means by that? and also more D-P's!!!
I think that the MLS cup will soon be on the day after Thanksgiving. It just would be the perfect day for it as no one really plays in any other sport, so the league could own that day. Now the next thing is how do we compete in CCL as most of the teams that will soon compete to get to the final are quite different from the ones that started the competition.
Yes, thankfully the farce about of MLS playing games in January and Feb is behind us, and the Cosmos thang does seem like it has a shot, but not sure if it is necessary to compact these rivalry games instead of letting them play out naturally over the course of the season. However, what about the friggin playoff format for the 2011 season, whcih is fast approaching? Is it possible they have not decided yet on its final composition, i.e. cross conference wildcards, etc, or are they holding it out for maximum impact (negative or positive) later???
I saw in Goff's notes that Garber says they are "close" to finalizing the playoff structure AND conference alignment, which goes back to the question of which team(s) will shift at least for the 2011 season to balance the ranks. One bet is to flip KC to the West and the two Texas teams to the East for the Texas derby, but if they do an expected round robin schedule it would not matter and could just as easily be say Dallas jumping to the East for one season then go back to the West in '12 when Montreal comes along, for it is assumed by us all that the Cosmos are in eventually barring a meteor strike or flood of Manhattan.
Good point about the day after Thanksgiving. I also cannot think of any really significant pro sport event that occurs on that day, and a good portion of the population has that day off.
This year, there were 14 Division I football games the day after Thanksgiving. Three of them featured two teams ranked in the top 25, including Auburn-Alabama. They may not be pro events (cue Cecil Newton jokes), but MLS will far from "own" that day. There were also 11 NBA games and 13 NBA games. The coverage and analysis of those won't stop because MLS plays its title game. You are also asking fans from the participating teams to travel over one of the busiest (and costliest) travel weekends, plus possibly give up family plans at the last minute for a game which already has difficulty selling out. Even if they move to higher seed hosts, there are the difficulties in travel and accomodations at the last minute on Thanksgiving weekend. And this doesn't even get into the fact that it's Black Friday and any coverage will get crushed in the analysis of the minutiae of that event. That's what a lot of people do on that dayoff. Or they try and recover from dealing with family on Thanksgiving.
College football has a couple of games. I'm pretty sure that's the traditional day for Texas-Texas A&M. But yeah, it's a pretty light day for sports, and a holiday. The concern is that MLS is on ESPN, and they're a big carrier of college football.
As noted, scheduling near Thanksgiving (or anywhere really in late Nov into early Dec) can be a real challenge for MLS. it's difficult to know what they will think is beneficial for their business, and the scheduling of their post season, in the seasons ahead. there is NCAA College Cup weekend the first weekend in Dec, but I have no idea if MLS is at all concerned with scheduling in conjunction with (or in competition with) that event. yes, with all of the league games and other competitions that MLS wants their clubs to play in a season, there's really no way for them to avoid "expanding" the date range within which they play games. if they're going to have clubs playing in the CCL in Feb, it seems logical (perhaps) for them to also consider having an MLS league schedule that kicks off before mid-March.
Not to mention the issue of traveling fans. Most people to tend be with family during Thanksgiving, not planning to visit sporting events.
Also a full slate of college basketball games. But that's OK, because as we've seen from multiple BigSoccer posters, "no one really plays in any other sport" on that day. FFS people, ESPN.com allows you to go back to any date in the last year to see the scores on that date. For example there were also 21 college hockey games and 3 women's college soccer games on that date (not that they are real competition for MLS). Is it really so hard to do a bit of dammed research before spouting off?
What you say, besides black Friday, is true of about every weekend in October and November. If MLS really wanted to avoid conflicts with college football, NBA, etc., they would play MLS Cup during the summer. Obviously, the summer is out the question given that many big international tournaments occur during the summer. I still think that Friday after Thanksgiving is about as good an option as any for MLS. As I have said before on here when people inevitably complain that an MLS game has to go up against *fill in the blank* event, you are never going to find a date or time completely free of conflicts. This last MLS Cup was played late on a Sunday night, which I felt was a terrible time to play the game. Friday after Thanksgiving would be good because most people would not need to go to work or school the next day. Plus, if MLS consistently played MLS Cup on that day, people might become accustomed to watching MLS Cup on the day after Thanksgiving, much as they are accustomed to watching NFL games on Thanksgiving, and Bowl games on certain dates, etc.
I've said for a while that Black Friday is the perfect day for the MLS Cup Final (really the U.S. Open Cup Final, but that's another discussion). Yes, there's college football, but college football is a national embarrassment, and you have to compete against something.
You keep using those words. I do not think they mean what you think they mean. Plus you left out the NBA, NHL, and college basketball games that day.
Not to keep the date for MLS Cup thread going, but... College football used to have a little break since some conferences didn't have a championship game. Now that is going to change with the Pac 12 and Big East. Who knows how many bowls there will be next year? Or how long ESPN will drag out the 40 days of Capital One Bowl Weeeeeeek? Why not a winter break? Why not play for the Cup after Valentine's Day? Easter? Week after Mardi Gras, because I'm not missing that. Or even better, a permanent game in NOLA the weekend of Mardi Gras! Back to serious. Couldn't the season start a little later, or be spaced out further to allow for international competitions, summer friendlies for MLS v who ever? Won't adding more teams automatically make the season longer? Not switching to the FIFA schedule, but having a shorter winter break while having teams from North of the Border hosting openers.
Adding more teams wont make the season longer ---- they'll simply go to NFL style scheduling, where every team plays the same number of games.
Further into the winter should mean up into February, not past T-Giving. There's a post-SB dead zone that could seriously be taken advantage of to launch each season. So what if Houston, Dallas and the California teams get a few more early home games?
Seriously. Come on people, you can't just pick a day YOU would like the game and ignore all evidence about the reality of the situation. Black Friday is actually a pretty busy sports day with events people normally tune into. Just because YOU think college football is an "embaraasment" or don't have interest in the matchups that day does not mean that's how others feel. And you know what - even with the great support college football has, it still didn't do well on TV this year outside of Alabama-Auburn, which crushed the ratings. So unless a game has massive national interest, it will probably struggle on that day. In order to overcome things that people aren't that interested in, you have to actually get people interested in your game. That hasn't happened yet with MLS Cup so forget these dream scenarios where you ick a day, pretend its obstacles are less than the obstacles of all the other days and decree it the perfect day for MLS Cup. Because right now, the only perfect day for MLS Cup is the one the network agrees to show it to the widest audience possible. The information is out there people. Look at the other league sites. Go by Sports Media Watch to see what actual ratings for actual events are. It's not that hard to get a clear picture of the landscape beyond your own self interest.