New York, New York. Somebody should write a song -- strictly for miniature violin. https://elitesportsny.com/2019/10/2...s-just-cant-take-the-playoff-anguish-anymore/
I was not present for the SSV/Garber meeting at the Fairmont, but I was present for the next meeting when SSV sat down with Wolff for breakfast at the Fairmont. (That is when Don G. suggested directly to Wolff that he seriously consider a deal with San Jose State for a stadium). That breakfast was when I first saw the real businessman Lew Wolff (rather than the sweet grandfatherly media image I had read about). Don sat directly opposite Lew, while I was at the end of the table. During a pause in their conversation I piped up and said something about the potential negative effect on attendance and the local fanbase if the Quakes delayed their return too long. Lew slowly turned his head to the right, and locked his eyes directly on, and through, me. In a cold voice, he said, "Don't try to scare me." The head resumed its original position, the voice returned to normal, the eyes relaxed, and he went back to his previous discussion. Like Don, I do not know about any previous Wolff/Garber communications, but in a conversation I had at a much later date with a Quakes executive, the executive strongly implied that Wolff and the League had decided Wolff would come in, and it was not SSV's doing. I inferred that this person did not want to publicly say this or try to disabuse anyone of the notion that SSV was responsible in some way. I took this to mean that it was merely not an important topic for the franchise as to what fans might think, or not think, about this. It would be counterproductive or petty to debate such a thing publicly, and that wouldn't be good business. The Quakes website has a "History" section. It reads: 2006: THE REBIRTH BEGINS On May 24, Lew Wolff, principal owner of the Oakland Athletics, purchased an exclusive option to acquire an MLS team and bring professional soccer back to the Bay Area. David Alioto was named the Executive Vice President of the San Jose Earthquakes. 2007: THE EARTHQUAKES RETURN On July 18, Lew Wolff activated an option for the rights to the San Jose Earthquakes and Major League Soccer granted them a new expansion team. The club started to take shape on Oct. 3, when John Doyle was named General Manager of Soccer Operations. On the same day, the Earthquakes unveiled their new uniforms and team logo.
Reading about the suffering of fellow soccer fans...needs a trigger warning, hankie might be required
This tied the Premier League record for largest margin of victory. (ManU 9-0 over an Ipswich Town side that featured defender Frank Yallop that day.) On a landmark night, Leicester also: recorded the biggest ever victory by an away side in an English top-flight league match in the 131-year history of the Football League inflicted Southampton's biggest ever defeat as an English league side in all competitions in their history became only the second team in Premier League history to establish a five-goal lead in the first half of an away game in the competition, after Manchester City against Burnley in April 2010 (also 5-0) became only the second side in Premier League history to have two players score a hat-trick in the same game (Perez and Vardy), after Arsenal in May 2003 - also against Southampton (Pennant and Pires)
More suffering in LA too: Congrats to the league on their team advancing in the MLS Cup Playoffs.— LAG Confidential (@LAGConfidential) October 25, 2019 Apparently they feel the league is biased towards their favorite teams. Man, it must really be rough for them and their small team.
How about Christian Pulisic with a hat trick? I thought Americans couldn't play soccer? Chelsea fans are chanting USA!
Remember when Matias was crucified for getting into it with an LAFC fan while leaving the pitch down there? There will be a three game suspension for Zlatan, right? Right? Zlatan not having any of your trash talk... as he reaches for his “man region” in response #ElTraffico pic.twitter.com/XSaWwbEA9r— Jorge Sedano (@Sedano) October 25, 2019
There won’t be a ban for Zlatan but it won’t matter anyway because he is going to Europe. Balotelli’s 4 game ban in France’s Ligue 1 was carried over to the Serie A now that he is with Brescia but I doubt that UEFA cares about what happens in a USSF sanctioned MLS....
Merritt Paulson speaks again! Paulson discusses Valeri, Savarese, potential signings after "bizarre" season
KQED is showing Chinatown this evening. Fantastic flick. Highly recommend it for young folks who want to understand the game of soccer.
A Sports Business Daily December 16, 2005 article "Earthquakes Move to Houston" ( https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com...tle-Roll-MLS-Earthquakes-Move-To-Houston.aspx ) describes Garber's public announcement of the relocation, and implies some direct discussion between Garber and Wolff had already taken place: "Garber said A’s Owner Lewis Wolff has “expressed interest in investing in MLS in the Bay Area.” Wolff said that owning both the A’s and the Earthquakes “had business benefits, but would say nothing about the notion that having a soccer team in San Jose could be tied to the relocation of the A’s.” Wolff, referring to the MLB Giants’ claim that San Jose is part of their market, said, “I’m going to comply with [MLB] rules.” Meanwhile, Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment President Greg Jamison said that while the company “passed on the same proposal now open to expansion owners, he’s open to restarting the conversation.” Jamison: “The team that AEG owns is no longer on the table.” He added that there was “simply not enough time to resolve many issues” regarding the sale of the existing franchise (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 12/16/05). "
I think it's extremely smart to have celebrity owners with even a small stake in a club, because these folks can bring much greater media exposure and publicity to a team. Or, you could simply spend more money to buy the exposure and publicity. Or, like Fisher, you could simply sit pat, not promote your team to any significant extent, not engage with local and national media, and simply be content to sit passively by and let other, more ambitious owners build the value of your team indirectly.
I'm actually kinda torn since while I'm rooting for Seattle over Los Angeles as a city, I'm rooting for Banc of California Stadium over CenturyLink Field as an MLS venue. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Well, could be Atlanta except I'm not rooting for them. (Feeling optimistic now that I've rooted for the winning team one game in a row.)