I'll do better than that. I'll do your job. 976815886697992192 is not a valid tweet id Judge for yourself whether I smeared Jay. Or whether McCollum is full of shit.
He's gone full ... ... and you can't figure out how you and the vocal brigade of the p/r crowd is viewed as you are. Ted has earned every bit of what he's received here and on every platform he desecrates by speaking on. He actively seeks it in order to do your favorite thing: play the victim card. He's the very reason MANY people don't give the p/r discussion a chance at all. Now he's indoctrinating more people (you) which means he's earned even more .... A badge you earned by action of your own. And this is the tell all. It's WAY MORE than poor taste to use a horrific tragedy like that to push an agenda. That's not poor taste, that's being a bottom of the barrel human being and here you are upholding, brushing it off, and seemingly agreeing with his usage of it. He used it to prop up his pro/rel narrative and agenda. That isn't good human behavior Jeff. I see you avoid mirrors. Though who here as threatened violence in a bar, used racist/sexist terminology, slandered another board member with lies about social media stalking ? ? ? ? Who fits that bill Jeff? It ain't Dan, Barral, myself, or any of the "usual suspects" as you'd say. It is laughable that you NEVER show evidence of the fouls you cry on. You're full of shit and are nothing but attempting to discredit, defame anyone that DARES to call you on your shit. You've been doing it for years Jeff. As opposed to the ones you rep from "M" and other Johnny come lately pro/rel spewers that do nothing but echo the same tired and overused lines without providing of substance. FACT IS THAT PRO/REL DISCUSSION HAPPENS WITHOUT YOU JEFF ... IT WAS GREAT UNTIL YOU SHOWED BACK UP
With respect, this particular thread has seen repeated efforts at an armistice, going back years and including a "soft reboot". Repeatedly, @USRufnex has been the only one who refused to comply. As I observed, an extended period without him saw a marked improvement in the level of discussion in this thread. This is a person who lies and mischaracterizes others both here and elsewhere. I personally have seen this guy butt into genuine, cordial, spirited discussions and "inform" the participants that my posts are not sincere and that I am - for reasons he has never outlined - "pretending to be reasonable". I have mocked and goaded - and apologized for that. I have reached out with direct messages in order to smooth things out and clear the air, on more than one occasion. At best, that has been met with no response. At worst, I have been told that I would be physically assaulted if this conversation took place in a bar. We know that it is ridiculous. We know that it is absurd. I could do the same as before. Go back to trying to keep things civil but we all know how that goes. It will only be a matter of time before this poster returns and attacks the posters here. When I have been deemed to have committed infractions by the resident moderator, @bigredfutbol, I have accepted the repercussions without public comment. To the best of my knowledge, this is true of all other, apart from @USRufnex, who instead elects to present it as evidence of bias against him. It's not bias. It's just that the rest of us don't protest about it in the open forum. After all these years, it is my view that this user should be banned. Prior suspensions have clearly not had the desired effect. He continues to hold the mods in contempt. He continues to attack other users. He continues to make false statements. A majority of his posts are about an imagined "anti-pro/rel" clique and not the topic at hand. Indeed, there have been many situations where given the choice between responding to posts directed to him about the topic of promotion and relegation in the USA and engaging in what we've seen this week, he selects the latter. By my estimations, it's not even close. I resent being once again asked to toe the line, when I have done so repeatedly. This is not a reflection on the mod. This is a thankless task and his job is made all the more difficult by a minority of participants that elect to play politics with claims of bias. Thank you for your time.
I see that UCLA men's soccer coach has now been indicted on a charge of conspiracy to commit racketeering.
Here's the thing, though. If I reported Jeff for personal attacks and slander, and he gets banned offscreen? He flollops around either on some other forum or some other media claiming that he's some sort of victim. I guess now I can report him, because there's a god-damned carnival of evidence against him and he publicly tripled down instead of apologizing. But I didn't start it, and if I stopped it off-camera, he would have kept lying.
That kind of shows where soccer rates in the US. It doesn't rate very high, as in people dont care enough about it. The core of this debate is essentially that both sides want soccer to be more than it is here, or culturally more relevant, i.e. more financially profitable for all involved. One camp believes that we dont have the culture yet but we are on our way. The other side wants to reshape the landscape in order to increase the cultural/financial landscape of soccer. I land in the camp that our soccer culture is not 'perfect' but we are making strides. I'm not against pro/rel but dont see the necessary reshaping of the system as the way to go. It's kind of like politics of today. One side says that we are a positive force with flaws and should keep going that direction while the other side sees us as a broken country and wants to reshape into something different.
This is what happens when you turn your back on Jeffrey McCollum, I guess. And this is only since the beginning of the year. Moron didn't even remember the name of the fan I maligned so brutally as a racist.
I am sure things have changed in the 20 years since I was applying to colleges in Southern California, but it was widely known back then that if you could pay the full freight and didn't need any financial aid USC was not that difficult to get into.I had friends who were rejected from Public Schools inside and outside of California but were accepted to USC. Now USC, and other private schools, deny this but my understanding is they do not need to have a public admittance policy, so it's basically up to them who they let in and why. And again none of this has anything to do with pro/rel while you could just about argue that college football's popularity eliminates the need for a lower division pro football league, having a lower level of pro football does not automatically lead to pro/rel. Again look at Baseball, or Ice Hockey. Now not saying I don't want pro/rel would love it, even in American football. Hey pay the "college players" and swap Alabama for the Cleveland Browns. Sounds good to me
Dan, I remembered the story and that the guy said he was taken aback, but not which Louisville fan told it to me. "Bigsoccer Double-Standards for $500, please." PART I of 2: (Part 2 will include how NPSL Pro & NISA should fit in, how moving towards a fully open system must address economic stratification between leagues, and will include a suitable apology to @Expansion Franchise for all the monkey shit left in the Laxative section at Walgreens while he was gone) My case, as someone who is strongly, forcefully, and enthusiastically in favor of Pro/Rel in the United States of America that would someday include MLS or at the very least an alternative USSF D1, revolves around the issue that there must be some sort of non-MLS entity (or entities) strong enough to enjoy massive support. Strong enough to inspire investors to spend the kind of $$$ after MLS stops expanding that some of them have spent and are spending right now in the hopes of getting MLS expansion spot #28... through 32+? I wish NCAA D-1 Men's soccer had the potential to occupy the space that college football and basketball do for the NFL and NBA but that's just not in the cards and I can document several reasons why that's the case and why I think it will continue to be the case for the foreseeable future. And I also don't think a top heavy NFL-sized MLS with huge gaps in talent and budgets compared to USSF D2's USL Championship will cut it either. Ditto for the differences in talent and budget between USL Championship when compared to PDL (now USL League Two) and NPSL etc, etc. That kind of stratification just doesn't do domestic soccer or the US Open Cup any real favors in the long run, at least in my opinion. It's funny how so many soccer boosters who look at how to implement Pro/Rel focus on the idea of promotion only, at least to start. Because I believe the first real attempt at Promotion/Relegation will be from the newly branded USL Championship to the newly formed League One, and will ironically be in the form relegation only, at least to start. 1 / 2
I hear you, but I also think this could be addressed easily if you put him on your ignore list. Why not do that?
This has been attempted but my not seeing what he posts doesn't prevent him from disrupting the thread at large. And as we've seen, he's not above misrepresenting my views, particularly when he thinks I'm not looking. I have reason to suspect that people may have blocked me based on his efforts. So you see, simply hiding his content doesn't solve some of the chief issues. I don't like reporting people but if we are to have another armistice, it will be zero tolerance on my part and I don't think it's unreasonable to ask that @USRufnex receives stern sanctions if he once again breaks it. EDIT: In fact, I will stick my own neck out and submit to being held to that same standard should I fall out of line. That's only fair.
I have to side with Barry here. If one person is continually throwing Molotov cocktails into the thread, the onus shouldn’t be on everyone else to buy fireproof blankets.
Interesting discussion started by @Beau Dure : Asking aloud -- if FIFA suddenly mandated pro/rel in U.S. pro soccer (we'll say they'd allow a five-year transition period), what would happen?— Beau Dure 🇺🇦🌈🖖☮️ (@duresport) March 14, 2019
@USRufnex - with respect, there is a serious conversation taking place here with a serious tone. You have an opportunity to take stock, draw a line under all this and engage sensibly going forward. I think you'd be very surprised if you gave that a sincere try. I'm asking you seriously: do you have that in you?
There's a reason Jeff repped this post. Ignoring him gives him carte blanche, which he has abused, in my opinion, well past the point of tolerance.
With due respect, I'm tired of what I've perceived for a long time to be some serious double standards on this thread in particular and in this forum in general.
I repped it, Dan, because I tried placing multiple posters on ignore several times and would keep them on ignore for weeks and months at a time. Ignoring them gave them carte blanche, which some (not all) abused well past the point of tolerance. In fact, when I would occasionally spot check and see that abuse, I'd reply to one of their posts and only be told, "I thought you had me on ignore."
*phone rings* Shady Private Admissions Counselor: "Hey, UCLA Soccer Coach, here's $200,000 if you fudge the numbers and add a kid on your team as a preferred walk-on so we can get him into college. His grades are marginal so this would really help out." UCLA Soccer Coach: "Did San Jose get relegated last year?" Shady: "What? The city?" Coach: "No the San Jose Earthquakes. Finished dead last. Did they get relegated?" Shady: "I don't know. Why do you care. I'm offering you $200,000 if you give my client's kid preferred walk-on status" Coach: "Well since San Jose didn't get relegated...sure. Had they been relegated it would be another story." Shady: "Okay good. I'll send you the details and a cashier's check" Coach: "Can we get a transit stop at Pauley Pavilion? Or an improved metro system?" Shady: "What's wrong with you?" *dialtone*
I'll reply to this the same way I did on Twitter. The first thing that happens is that so many lawsuits come out that you could swim around in them like Scrooge McDuck in his money vault.
Who would sue whom and in what jurisdiction? A FIFA mandate would have to be resolved through the DRC, wouldn't it?