first of all, thanks for coming on here to try to clarify some things. now to this quote. if i was critiquing exactly what that meant, i'd probably break it down like this: if winning championships is the ultimate goal, attention and dedication to the on-field product is priority #1. decisions made that directly benefit the players and their performances override those that directly benefit the fans. this is not a statement that the fans are unimportant, but rather an understanding that the fans' focus is on value, and that value is largely based on the on-field product. hence, dedication to the fans is a natural by-product of the organization's dedication to the players and their performances. with that in mind, i'd then see how that applies toward the possibilities of the first third of next season. regardless of what merlin may post on here supporting the company, i doubt a player would say that they prefer to play a full third of the season away from their homes (assuming they all live in kc at least during the season) consecutively without a single respite. the best of the bad situation for the players would be to give them a few home games to break the constant struggle of being away from home. the league is pretty stupid sometimes. the only possible reason why the league might be pushing this that i can think of is because they want a regular television slot. nonetheless, i hope you all fight against it as much as possible. weekday games (including sunday games) are FAR less desirable than saturday (night) games.
Shouldn't there be some comparison made to what is expected from a long home stretch as well? Is there data to support that a club playing at home can get on a roll and pick up more than expected points simply from not traveling? It seems to me to all come out in the wash from a logically point of view but I am more than certain that using logic in these cases can't completely be trusted. All that I care about is the date for the home opener at the new stadium be set early so I can make travel plans to be there.
the problem is that if the long road trip at the beginning of the season puts the team in a large hole then the long home stand and any benefit derived from that could be cancelled out by the pressure of such a long uphill climb and the fact that there is little room for error being so far behind.
yeah. da funk. and the bad funk not the good funk either: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjKFCYzqq-A&feature=related"]YouTube - Parliament Funkadelic - Bring The Funk[/ame]
That's what Roush was wanting, a comparison of how teams did at home after their long road trips. I didn't get around to that yesterday, I may tonight.
The idea of playing in Phoenix for a home match is not a bad idea. Omar Bravo will generate a lot of attendance, and that will create a stronger brand recognition (and possibly support) in a part of the nation that isn't currenly part of the MLS. Although it does little for us as STHs, it does benefit the team. I will make a concerted effort to fly to PHX to catch this match.
How? They won't be able to watch us on KCWE. Will tens of thousands of Arizona based fans buy authentic Bravo shirts? Will people start driving to Kansas City to see our games? Not trying to be snarky but MLS growth is about regional outreach, I have never understood how growing our branding in AZ or anywhere else thousands of miles away helps.
From a business view, I would open in AZ for one or two games. Play the NYRB game in Arrowhead and play the Chicago game in St Louis. Maybe play the Dallas game in OK City? I also think the idea of another arrowhead game as a doubleheader. The team would lose the revenue of not having the double header at their own stadium, but it could be a perfect oppurtunity to build hype a few weeks before the new stadium opens. Imagine if the new stadium opened two weeks after the ManU game last year.
So play anywhere from 3-4 games outside the KC area, plus 2 games at Arrowhead? So of the 17 game season you only play 11-12 games at the new stadium? Yeah that's not going to happen.
I was actually considering the effects of Eastern teams playing in the West, particularly East Coast teams who are doing 3 time zones changes, but to a lesser effect those of only two time zone changes as well. I just consider that a team traveling +3 hours west are not only affected by travel in general but also by the fact that they are playing the away game at 10:30 - 12:30 pm (in 'their' time), therefore most likely much more tired than the reciprocal West coast team playing at the equivalent 4:30-6:30. Anyway, I was thinking of trying to do some analysis on the whole thing but had then realized that I don't have time to do stuff I really want to do, let alone random analysis which will probably show that I'm out of my mind anyway. But it is something to think about...
Per extended road trips - I think that if MLS could find a way to mitigate the amount of actual travel needed to do long road trips (both the usual 3+ game variety to the front-loaded away variety) then I feel that teams would be effected by such things proportionally less than they would otherwise. Like figure a way for a team on a 3 game road-stand to visit all three California teams, and not in a single week but a normal game/7 days schedule. Let the team stay in LA for the first week and then bus/train/fly up to San Jose for the second... not having to come home and then end up flying all the way back later in the season. While it doesn't nearly get the away games to be as 'good' as a home game, it does reduce some of the stress involved in going somewhere else to play, especially in a country as large as ours. That being said, schedule making has got to be pretty difficult as it is, and if you could do it for one team but not for all, _should_ you do that?
travel makes you tired, but what I am saying is 1-2 time zone changes will not give you "jet lag", it is different from just traveling, you will experience the same tiredness going north south the same distance as east west, but that isnt the case when you travel say 5 time zones. Even with 3 time zone differences, I would be really surprised if people phyiscally capable of playing professional would feel true jet lag for a 3 hour change. in most cases, going East is worse than going West for jet lag
This seems like a great idea to me, although I wouldn't really worry about the sequence of the games. I would say starting the season at Colorado on the 19th, followed by a trip to Arrowhead the next week, would be a great way to start the season. Much better than the minimal financial gain the club might get in AZ. Any gains there would go away when Bravo leaves the club anyway.
But you're trading all of that for the stress of two weeks away from home and family. In a much earlier version of my life, I used to go on two-week business trips. My young, single co-workers loved it. But those of us who were in some kind of relationship thought it sucked. Even in MLB, which has a ton of games to cram into a summer, doesn't do more than 10-11 day roadtrips.
For real ... just a few years on the road I would spend up to five months a year on the road. Married, Kid ... 8 days in Thailand felt like I had not been home on a month. That put a wrapper on it for me -- I am no longer traveling for more than a few days at a time.
Hmm, Thailand....other than the jillion-hour flight, that sounds better than the two weeks I once spent in Mansfield, Ohio. In February. When it didn't get above 20 degrees. And snowed every day.
I can only see 2 games at Arrowhead gaining enough attendance to be economicaly viable (doubleheader and NY). After that, its a question of how many road games our team can handle with the purpose of minimizing travel to attempt to prevent burnout. With two out, we are looking at 11 games we have to account for. Our options to cut into that is to play in AZ, St. Louis, or OK city. This is where the teams claim that winning record is weighed against how many home games in the new stadium. Obviously for them, 13 away games makes the most the most financial sense. It sounds like you expect only 2 home games during this stint.
you could do 3 road games, 1 double header @ Arrowhead, 3 road games, 1 regional "home game" (ps AZ is not a "regional" market for KCW), 3 road games, 1 game @ Arrowhead vs RBNY/LAG. that gets you to 12 games. if it happens to be 13 then you can do one road game nearby (ie not on one of the coasts) and then have the new stadium opener. that gives you no road trips over 3 games. sure having 3 three game road trips in succession isn't brilliant but it would break them up just enough to perhaps mitigate the worst of the effects.
Just curious....where are you coming up with the number 13 that keeps popping up in your comments above? Are you assuming 13 weeks of the season before the stadium opens?