Official "Mike Burns is Really Bad at His Job" Thread

So we were Seattle before Seattle invented Seattle?

 

... sorry, but what is this in response to? Doesn't really match up with anything Tom wrote.

 

At the start of the league every team had a Supporters Group of some kind, some more prominent than others. DC actually had 3 groups, the Screaming Eagles, the Barra Brava, who were mostly Latino, and another group whose name escapes me. It was something totally unique to American sports culture at the time, and a lot of people were taken off guard. I remember the first Revs home game where a security guard was amazed at what was going on in the fort and had never seen anything like it.

Teams tolerated, rather than embraced it. Doug Logan is a liar when he waxed poetically about how great it was to see Toronto and Seattle with large vibrant supporters groups, when he did everything in his power to de-emphasize it in favor of the youth soccer parents in mini vans. The problem was, if you appeal to 10 year olds, it's great for a while, but in a few years when those kids are 12-13, they see it as no longer cool, and something for "little kids." Supporters culture has a much more lasting effect, but the powers that be were too stupid to see that. Some newer owners did many years later, but imagine what it could have been like had they seen what was possible back in 1996.

But I can't find that forest because there are too many trees in the way.

 

Sorry, I realize it was a little vague why I dropped that.

Tom followed up nicely above - but it was in reference to the Revs trying to "control" the publicity about the team by thwarting the efforts of many diehards early on.

 

People seem to have this impression that I never criticize the team, but I actually have, plenty of times.

 

I know you do, but the frequency seems to have been increasing. That struck me as a little out of character, and therefore, at the time I was reading it, as a little funny -- but not sure I can fully explain why.

 

I’m waiting for Rkupp to break out the torches and pitchfork. Then he truly will be one of us....

 

There's a spectrum though, it goes from Euphoric KAD (captained by Doc) to skeptic NNN (captained by Rkane) to apathetic. Too many have crossed into apathy at this point.

 

haha, I like it.

It would be interesting to see your analysis of where all of the frequent posters lie on the full spectrum ( the Skeptuphoric Spectrum, perhaps.)

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Oh, and I think the word "pragmatic" better describes those people who describe what appears to be more likely to happen based on recent history and context, as opposed to "negative". Pragmatism isn't about hope as it is about analysis.

Optimistic really means hoping that a favorable outcome will occur, whether or not it is well supported by recent history or context.

I envy those who can pull off the Optimist on a full time basis, there is perhaps a lighter load required, mentally speaking.​

I always hope for the best outcome but at the same time remain pragmatic when evaluating likelihoods, as best I can. Sort of a contradiction to some, I suppose.

And yes, at times I will admittedly resort to a decidedly negative take, even before analyzing likelihood, when I fall subject to the overwhelming weight of what pragmatism reveals these days.

 

I guess it's because so often we see Kool Aid being drunk from that Kupp, and so we forget that sometimes that bright red stuff may be instead be Sangria, even a vibrant Merlot......

 

Well just remember that the opposite of love is not hate, but apathy...(though that may have been what you are saying)....I get more apathetic all the time as it seems that our ownership is apathetic as well as pathetic.

 

Yeah agreed. I don't want to trivialize something like the 5 stages of grief but it could be roughly aligned with being a revs fan with Mike Burns as GM:
Denial - "The revs were on the cusp of the playoffs. The fans are just too negative."

Anger - "No playoffs in 3 years. Grab the torches and pitchforks. Kraft out! Burns out!"

Bargaining - "I would do anything for a MLS Cup win."

Depression - "The facts don't lie, being a revs fan is rough. 2/3 of our NFL stadium is empty. Teams wont do business with our GM. Players avoid coming here due to turf and our FO's bad reputation. We haven't won a championship in 5 tries. I need the camraderie of other revs fans to keep going to matches."

Acceptance - "There is no accountability in this organization. The revs are going to always be run as a mediocre family club as long as they are owned by the Krafts.

 

Or, as I phrase them:
[1] No Way! You're better than this!
[2] WTF u SSMFs! Brad can't Kraft his way out of a Heap of Burnsing BBs!
[3] Look, mofo. Give me something, anything, I can work with. You don't even have to give me a Shalrie or Dempsey. Just give me a Jones and I'll be yours for life!
[4] Oh God, where the hell is my whiskey? By Satan's beard, I need whiskey! Oed und Leer das Meer.....
[5] Heh, you drink enough Walleye whiskey, enough Vladimir Vodka, enough rotgut swill from Moonshine Cove, and life gets pretty painless, I gotta say. Time to go to Phoenix Landing and be a kewl Liverpool or Man City wannabe. What's this "The MLS" anyway?

 

I'm assuming that's about the Rowe trade?

 

Yeah he is saying the Revs were offered more for him over the summer.

Just to be clear: the Revs did not pay any xAM in the Rowe deal, that got added by Colorado when they moved him on to SKC

 

... but it sounds like we did pay Monterrey directly since Castillo was with the Rapids on loan.

And in reference to the first point, it seems pretty obvious that we impacted Rowe's value in the league by hardly playing him or playing him out of position.

 

The xAM i'm talking about is the $300k that SKC received in the 3 team swap. As to the Revs paying for Castillo, thats a different sort of problem but doesnt speak to the devaluation of Rowe as an asset.

The Revs essentially traded Rowe for the right to negotiate with Monterrey for Castillo. Thats pretty mind bending, when you consider there are LB the world over who the Revs can negotiate with for free (before factoring in the transfer costs). The 1 upshot of the deal is that Castillo is an american, so he doesnt require an intl slot

 

To be fair, Rowe got a decent amount of playing time and most of it ended up being pretty ineffective (even when playing an attacking position). He also had some mind-exploding defensive lapses leading directly to goals (again, sometimes while playing his natural midfield role).

He has always been a streaky player who required a number of games to really get into a groove. He never got to that point last year. When he was good, he was very good, but, like the discussions about LN, there were a lot of games/minutes where he wasn't very good.

 

The other, which is big IMO, is that he's proven that he fits in MLS.

If this solidifies our defense (still worried about Farrell) and provides an attacking threat from the left flank, then it's a good deal for the Revs.

 

Wow...RKupp...wow. Yeah, Left Back Rowe was pretty innefective. Yeah, there wasn't much that came out of using Rowe sporadically, in different positions with different players and different roles. And the bastard just was too stubborn to recognize Friedel's brilliance in seeing a fullback in him..... Yeah, to have a team which plays cohesively, can sustain offensive passing, and which maintains control of the ball, you have to have a team that plays regularly and which values players who can make the penetrating pass and maintain control of the ball. Go figure.

It's really simple, Kupp. In building an American Blackburn which would make League One proud, you can't waste time with people who are good on the ball and have savvy and a capacity for creativity. So get rid of Rowe when you got rid of Nguyen and Nemeth, and get something of comparable value. Let Friedel get his big blokes who can huff and hoof with the worst of the kick of 'em.

I am very Bullish on our future, for it akes a bull to break players who are like fine china and leave our team buried in dung.

 

Maybe Bye will get a chance to challenge Farrell.

 

Burns and Friedel have pretty squarely put me in the apathy camp for the past year.

I think, given the rapid expansion of MLS, there's no hope anymore for the Revs to succeed at anything, outside maybe of a fluke US Open Cup. Too many ambitious teams are coming in, and trying to top each other, and it's going to continue to make the Revs look worse by comparison.

I truly felt, at the time, that the 2014 MLS Cup was the Revs' last-ever shot at glory - NYCFC and Orlando were coming in the very next season, with more teams (like our reigning MLS Cup Champions) continuing to be welcomed into the league for the foreseeable future. Getting crossbarred again was extra painful for that reason.

If a knockout round loss is the best we can ever hope for, what's the point of passion for this team?

(Yes, I know the guy with a Fulham avatar is moaning about never being a contender, but last year's promotion playoff gave me far more joy than the Revs have the past 3 years).