"Chelsea plan anti-semitism match in the U.S."

Harvard will interpret "semite" to its own happy satisfaction. "Boston" will follow, on whatever that interpretation is, like a Menino in search of his stammer.

 

A more trenchant point, to the abused Revs faithful, is "why Chelsea"? Why, as one of the most inept teams in the league, would you think of playing a world class side, run by a shamelessly corrupt Oligarch from Putania, as your examplar for anti-semitism? Why not play Tel Aviv Maccabi? Truer to the point, and closer in quality.
Does Kraft even realize what crap is his soccer stepchild, fed a diet of bread and water and imprisoned in his basement?

 

Personally I get very confused when sports teams do things like tributes and silly gestures for symbolic importance.

It is like when the World Series has everybody stand up for Cancer.
What the heck is standing up at a baseball game really accomplishing ? Other than saying hey look we all are affected by it. Now lets sit down and watch baseball players and move on with our lives and forget about it..


Or when NFL players wear pink for breast cancer month.

Just seems so weird and contrived without true sincerity. Gestures really don't accomplish anything positive if you truly think about them rationally.

 

Particularly when the gestures truly seem empty.

 

Keep in mind that...........

1) The Krafts have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to various Jewish and Israeli causes.

2) Roman Abramovich is an Israeli citizen (lest we forget) and has apparently donated over half a billion to Jewish causes in Israel, Russia, and around the world.

So these are folks with a common interest that presumably have worked together on a number of initiatives. I don't really know why folks would think there's anything wrong with staging this kind of charity match. They happen all the time in the rest of the world.

[I know, I know................Revs fans wonder why the Krafts can't invest hundreds of millions of dollars into their team instead.]

 

I think Revs fans would be pleased with a couple million.

The Krafts are horrible stewards of their soccer team. Assuming Precourt is out of CLB, the Krafts are easily the worst in the league.

 

i'm pro anti-sentimentality.
I nominate the Bruce Arena Michael bradley led USMNT to play in this match.

 

I'd imagine a game under the umbrella anti-racism might draw more attention and $$$.

 

Roman Abramovich is also Jewish

 

That's exactly why. The oligarch is very close to being exiled from GB and Western Europe in general so he needs some good publicity. His name is also Abramovich so he is sincere in his hate toward anti-semitism if he can ever be sincere, of course.

 

The bigger question: If Kraft has no interest in doing anything for the soccer team he owns, why not sell it to someone else? Why waste his own money?

 

It's a good long term investment, and probably is good from the standpoint of tax purposes from the losses that he is taking. Kraft is, above all else, a pretty good business man, so while you can question his sporting moves, you probably shouldn't be questioning his financial ones.

 

A lot of people in Kraft's position would have sold the team by now. Why continue to take losses when he's already got the New England Patriots, which is clearly where his focus is?

 

No, I think there is a good reason he has held onto it from a business perspective. He clearly has no interest in soccer, but can see the potential on the business side, IMHO.

 

And that's the problem soccer has in this country. They don't care about the soccer side of the equation at all. It's all about the money for them.

 

What losses?? Kraft told Forbes that the Revs have been profitable since year 5. Two years ago Forbes estimated that he made $7.5mil off the Revs. He initially invested $20mil to buy into the MLS group, which also includes SUM. Every expansion team buys into the league and some of that money is used to compensate the previous owners for their diluted share. So basically, Kraft probably has now $0 invested in the Revs, makes $5mil to $7 mil a year and is part owner of SUM; which is worth billions. Why doesn't Kraft sell the team.....because he makes millions doing nothing.

 

"Makes Millions doing Nothing"... That SUMS up our Revs, alright.

 

Then why be a fan of a club with that kind of owner?

 

A question I ask myself, and one for which the answer I give is increasingly failing to be persuasive : "I am stuck as a lesser soul in Greater Boston. I love the sport, and since a child have always gravitated to the team local to where I lived --if there was one. The Revs have been that team for closer to two decades, and there was a time when the Stevie Nicol version made being a fan something worthwhile. Even if the owner didn't care, that manager created a team that cared. So, in remembrance of things past, I still care"......
That said, it has occured to me that I am a chump for still caring...........

 

I'm beginning to feel the same way about US Soccer.

*crestfallen*

 

That is a very fair comparison. Two management teams who clearly don't rate the supporters all that high on their totem poles.