The "Thoughts That Don't Require Their Own Thread" Thread IX

No Revs in the Homegrown game.

Harry Shipp, Shane O'Neill headline Landon Donovan's 22-man Chipotle MLS Homegrown Game roster
July 22, 2015
MLSsoccer staff
MLSsoccer.com

Not sure why. Seems like mostly bench warmers with a few notable exceptions, so I can understand Fagundez and Caldwell being kept home. It would be a good chance for Okoli and/or Heriveaux to get some PT though, but maybe Kraft didn't want to spring for the plane ticket to Denver. Or, maybe it's just that Donovan hates the Revs...

Only four teams not represented: NER, NYC, SEA and POR.

 

Players can turn down the invite, so I assume that Fagundez and Caldwell turned down an invite.

 

Emmanuel Frimpong was red-carded for a Russian Premier League team after flipping off a fan who made monkey noises at him. He was given a further two game ban by the Russian FA. His club basically said "sometimes you just have to put up with that sort of stuff."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33628079

Revs (and other MLS teams) should be wooing every single black player in Russia, IMO. Similar to how Giovinco has said that he loves the quality of life in Toronto because, even though he's recognized in public, he's not swarmed by fanatics on the street. MLS's pitch should be "come play in America, where fans won't make monkey noises at you."

 

I don't understand this perspective. As a Revs fan, I'm perfectly happy when the opposition's best player is a no-show.

 

Yes from an on field competition standpoint, it's good that Lampard and Pirlo didn't play. But from a business / ticket selling standpoint, I would venture most of those 28k at the NYC game came to see Lampard and went home disappointed. Would you want to disappoint your customers?

 

I can't agree more and I've been saying this for years- this needs to be the Revs' pitch (as well as others). The checks will not bounce. You will not be hounded in public. You will not be subject to racism from the fans. The quality of life in this country is terrific in comparison to where you are now. We do not have violent, hooligan fans. Play in a league with stars like Pirlo, Kaka, et al.

That has to be attractive to players at Frimpong's level.

 

In the short term it's fine. In the long term it damages the already pretty badly damaged Revs brand. Imagine if stars in other leagues never came to play the Pats, Sox, Cs's, or Bruins? You're turning off the casual fans or the people who are curious about the league/team.

I worked at the MFA when Beckham showed up to wave to the crowd. 40 of my co-workers bought tickets, most had never been to a Revs game. The overwhelming reaction the next work day? "Ah that guy didn't even play." Not hey the Revs won. Most never went back.

 

It's about the greatest players in our league standing up, en masse, and saying "Bob Kraft is bad at running a soccer team".

 

I'm the very last person on this forum who will defend Kraft on anything, but I think you are looking at it in the wrong perspective. What the best players on the other teams are saying is, "We don't need to play for our team to compete with the Revs!"

 

That's BS - you're just putting your words in other's mouths.

Well, it would be worse if they did believe they were utilizing it well.

 

I disagree. Are Revs fans there to watch their team win or to watch the opposition? Lol. I hope I never see Pirlo, Lampard, Drogba, Ronaldo, etc. at Gillette Stadium against the Revs - whatever gives the Revs the best chance of winning. If these people were disappointed that they didn't see Lampard, then there will be a new group of suckers the next time Lampard decides not to play on Gillette turf. People who follow the Revs know not to expect the aging stars to play on Gillette turf. Henry only played here during the playoffs last year, right?

I just don't understand this at all. I would absolutely give up the opportunity to watch Lebron James play against the Celtics if it gave the Celtics a better opportunity to win. Same for any star football, baseball, or hockey player.

If you were a Revs opponent, why would you care the slightest about Kraft's poor operation of the Revs. Take your 3 points and have your celebratory drinks.

 

I agree with your sentiment, but for the league's sake I hope that we can have the stars play here. Probably 24K of the 30K who came for the first "Beckham game" were there for the chance to see Becks sit on the bench. They probably felt ripped off, and weren't likely to come back (probably only a few would have converted to be fans, but his not playing reduced the few to a trickle or none). Yet another good reason for an SSS.

 

OK, but why not look at it from a different perspective. Wouldn't you like to see them playing FOR the Revs? The Revs have always talked about the needle movers - that they would only spend big bucks on players who would move the needle on and off the field. But our ability to attract needle movers is hindered by the plastic crap field we call home. Wouldn't it be nice to be one of the teams making a big splash signing from time to time?

 

The Revs don't draw big crowds. Star players bring in soccer fans who don't pay attention the Revs and hopefully get them to come back.

I'm sorry if the long-term brand-growing implications of this are beyond you, but don't feel bad they seem to be beyond KSG as well.

You woulda really been confused back in the day when people only went to Foxboro in any kind of numbers when Dan Marino's Dolphins or Jim Kelly's Bills came to play the sad sack Patriots.

 

I can get behind the argument to get rid of the turf so that it improves the Revs ability to obtain better players. That's a better argument for me than worrying about the quality of the opposing players.

 

The star players are still drawing big crowds even though they don't appear against the Revs. How about people pay to see opposing stars, the stars don't play, and then the Revs win. What's so bad about that?

Your Marino/Kelly illustrates my point. Clearly the quality of the opposing QBs didn't so anything for the long-term growth of the Pats. You know what made the difference? WINNING. What's the point of large crowds coming to see Marino/Kelly only to have the Pats lose and miss the playoffs?

 

Relative to this there are two types of fan. You (and I, and most of the posters here) are the first type -- the fan of a specific team. The second is a fan of the game, who would rather see a beautiful game than or team or another win. There are some of each everywhere, but for some reason, the Northeast has a much higher percentage of "homers." If you are marketing a team and don't do something to appeal to each of these fan groups (plus the not a fan of the game, but curious about it types) you are missing an opportunity.

 

It's incredibly short-sighted. Look, this isn't about you. You are a fan. They already have you hooked. They don't need to put out any effort whatsoever to keep you coming back.

This is about adding new fans. If, as speculated above by @Revs in 2010, 24K first-timers came out to see Beckham and he didn't play, that's 24K that walked away with a negative experience and will never come again. It happened to the people that I brought to that game, and I've heard it related from dozens of others who brought people as well.

Now say Beckham played, and 10% of those people enjoyed the experience enough that they decided to get season tickets, that's 2,400 new STHs. At (guessing) $25/ticket, that's $1M in new revenue.

Sure, you don't care, it just means more traffic to you. But if they Revs invested that $1M in better players, the winning might increase, then you would care.

Yes, the numbers are made up, but the greater point remains.

 

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They're either saying 'your surface sucks' or 'your team sucks'. Or are you suggesting that it's simply happenstance that great players don't play here?

 

The first step in solving a problem is to recognize that it exists.

I think every instance has its own explanation. I think a lot of it is prima-donna stars taking a convenient excuse to avoid a road trip [Thierry Henry] and/or harboring unfounded/outdated superstitions regarding the safety of field turf.

 

Is Parkhurst among those prima donnas? He had some damning comments about the turf and recovery time. There's more too it than coddling stars.

 

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