I'm more bothered by the majority of national anthem singers who change the pace or tone or warble thru the song - than I am at anything the people listening and singing along do with it (O, Red, Night emphasis, etc). On the other hand I was enjoying Jimi Hendrix playing it just this morning - so obviously not all of the "oddball" versions affect me the same. As a NASCAR fan, they overdue (forced) "patriotism" to levels the MLS can only dream of - and most of their chosen singers absolutely butcher the anthem so I can't see how they consider themselves such good americans
Yeah, I'm harping a bit here, but Run DMC, one of my favorite USMNT players, is eloquent about this issue from this article: “The mentality of the American player has to change,” said Beasley. “I think that comes from individually and the coaches and it goes from the whole league as well. I think we need to put more pressure on young players because it’s not there. We need to put more pressure on the young kids and I think in the league it’s hard to do that because, for one, if there’s a hot shot young player, everybody wants to just tote him up and say he’s the best player in the world. “If he’s not, then it’s like, ‘Okay, well, where can he get that exposure, that pressure to play and to grow and to be mentally strong as a player?’ Nowhere really because, no disrespect to MLS, but when you lose a game and you don’t play well, it’s like, ‘Eh.’ “For MLS, making playoffs is the threshold. That’s where the lines is. Really? That’s how it is. It shouldn’t be that way” Beasley added an interesting anecdote about a day at training with the Dynamo in which some of the club’s academy players were brought over to watch the first team practice. The former U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder/defender noticed, however, that none of the youngsters were really focusing on the training session. “I think Jurgen (Klinsmann) touched on it a lot. A lot of the things that he spoke about were true,” said Beasley. “The mentality of American players, it’s once you get to a certain level, you think you’ve done it all, you think you’ve done it all and that’s it. That’s what the problem is. “In Europe, and I’m sure a lot of people can agree to what I say, the youth players when they’re there and the academies are there — I remember one day we’re at training and our youth team was there watching us train and they’re all like this (gestures holding a device and staring at it) on their phones. All of them. That’s the mentality we have. “My point is, they’re in the academy. They’re 16-, 15-years old and they think they’ve did it all, ‘Ah, yeah. Dynamo, okay, I want to go to Europe.’ You ain’t going to get to Europe with that! I guarantee if AC Milan, Schalke, Chelsea, if the young kids get a chance to sit and watch the first teams train, they’re going to be like this and watching eye to eye, ‘ Oh, man. What is (Christian) Pulisic going to do? What is — whoever they’ve got on the field — what are they going to do? How do they play? How do I get there?'”
Pretty much sums it up. That's why teams are pulling in 19-20 year old players from estabilshed South American teams. Those players have the right mentality. They are probably at the same soccer IQ level of a 25 year old American MLS player (the better ones) and probably read the game better than most of our HomeGrown players ever could. JK was accurate in his assessment of the totality of the USMNT program from youth development through to the Senior team. The fact that he couldn't get buy in from the Beslers and LandyCakes of the world is a larger indictment on the mentality of the "elite" American player. James
Well said, James. But, wow, a while back we were having a discussion about the flag, the national anthem and ideas of patriotism and you shut it down, even deleting posts. Now you're participating. What has changed? Respectfully, asitis
Perhaps right message, wrong messenger. Klinsman rubbed players the wrong way for some reason. They quit playing for him.
As I wrote earlier, I don't see any reason for the National Anthem being played before a match. That said, I get homicidal when I hear it butchered by warblers (I blame Jose Feliciano for starting the trend of doing "my interpretation) of the NA). If you must sing it, please sing it straight. (Anyone else remember Placido Domingo singing the NA
I can see the National Anthem being played when a national team is playing. It's just during the other times that it is a bit ridiculous.
my $0.02: this goes along with the singing of "G-d bless America" during stickball snooze-fests, er, games. It is equally inappropriate but this is the cultural zeitgeist we have now in sports entertainment.... Military appreciation night is fine - and I believe it is appropriate to conduct enlistee ceremonies during them. Spontaneous support/reaction/opposition to current affairs is equally fine and to be protected and, as noted above, such exclamations are equally as patriotic as donning the uniform (which is not always done for patriotic reasons). Unfortunately, all too often it is taken out of context - just as the photo Lucho going to the locker room is taken out of context.
A possible compromise: Sing "America the Beautiful" (O beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain etc.). It's not the National Anthem, although I think it should be, so if singers want to butcher it with their own"interpretations" I will be more inclined to keep my murderous thoughts to myself.
While I disagree with the booing that was done, I like @fatbastard raised my right hand and swore an oath to defend their right to boo. They have the right to boo just as I have the right to dislike them booing.
Just not true. There was more disagreement, but the discussion was civil. At the time you said the discussion was off topic, and that's why you ended it. My point, then and now, is that what happens in our society affects the game and those who watch it. This is especially true in Washington, DC where politics and "patriotism" are a part of the presentation of the game. I think it's reasonable to discuss that here on Big Soccer and I was encouraged to see you participating. Peace to you. asitis
At union meetings in South Carolina in the 70s my dad and his buddies would sing the capitalist version. This land is my land This land ain't your land I got a shotgun And you ain't got one You better get off 'fore I blow your head off 'Cause this Land is Private Property...... I watched my recording of the game last night - I pointed out Amerikwa's hilarious trolling when it happened and he is now my wife's favorite new player It's amazing the things I don't notice watching the game in the stadium that I see on TV later (there are other things you never see on TV, it probably evens out). That offside goal they called back was much more obvious, for instance Perry Kitchen was on the field, I had no idea; nor did I notice Pontius coming on. That first goal was a thing of beauty - I knew it was good from seeing it live and replayed on the bigscreen, but in slow-mo it was even better. I never could figure out the exact formation we were playing, if we were playing one at all. I thought the ref did a decent job - which I wasn't so sure of in-stadium . First game in a little while I have rewatched and not just deleted (I deleted the Philly game just before hitting play on this one).
while reading the story on Acosta's benching I saw the following article which has some aspects in common with this discussion (which admittedly has nothing to do with the laxatives) https://theathletic.com/1130248/2019/08/14/the-y-word-spurs-in-consultation-process-with-fans/ It's a fascinating article on fans using “yid” in the PL (but not simply another sports/society intersection story) – the comments of readers are especially interesting to me. I had no idea of the historical ethnic, religious, and other undercurrents surrounding the fan followings of these clubs. In the US, my experience with fans of sports teams is that undercurrents are simply based on being from a different city/region and not at all on the ethnicity, religion, race or sexual behavior of the supporters, players or ownership. At the same time, it is very much like the controversy over the official name of the NFL Washington pigskins, and to keep it somewhat DCU related, its also similar to how most of us stopped referring to the Scum/deadbulls as the "pink cows."
Bringing it back to the game for a minute, with the benefit of hindsight, we were playing an average MLS team at home and we had minimal posession and were out shot. Not taking anything away from the win - it was awesome - but still I wonder if it's a bad sign that I felt good about Sunday.
I'm not sure I'd agree that LA is a mediocre team at all. Their offense, with the addition of Pavon, is MLS elite. I'd consider them one of the favorites for MLS Cup, especially since they're seemingly the only team that can beat LAFC.
Having big name players and being good are not automatically synonymous. They average 1.5 points per game, slightly above average in MLS. They have the ability to beat LAFC, but last year we owned Atlanta and they won the cup. I just don't see how LA Gals can be called anything but an average team. Hell going into the game they hadn't scored an away goal in something like 350 minutes. We were lucky to gut out a win, at home, against an average team. Nothing to celebrate too wildly IMHO.
Beating a rival is always good. And celebrating a home win is always good. But come on, we shouldn't have been losing at home and it's not like we beat LAFC. Yes there were incredible performances from all 11, and Ben had the wisdom to "Set Amerikwa to Kill," and Zlatan is a force, but still, we should have dominated and we continue to live and die by the bunker and counter, which is no way to win a championship.
We should have dominated? WE SHOULD HAVE DOMINATED? You're completely insane. Have you seen this team play in 2019? It takes guts and smarts to be able to look in the mirror and recognize the truth. Bennyball was the only sensible choice and anything else would have been completely delusional. And you should expect more of it against Vancouver.
I'm excited to see the game in Vancouver. I would like to see us play as though we want all three points.