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

So another MLS Cup is in the books, and a boring match it was too, just like last year. I really don't see why MLS lets so much time elapse between the end of the regular season and the Cup. The players lose sharpness, and the game suffers as a result. Plus fan attention wanders. Really, they should find a way to wrap up the whole thing before the international break in November.

 

At least Seattle had two shots on goal, which is two more than they had in last year's Final.

I was kind of hoping to see it come down to PKs again, just to see if Dempsey stepped up this time...

Anyway, TFC was clearly deserving of the Cup, so congrats to them.

Remember when we used to laugh at TFC? Good times, good times...

 

Boring? Toronto must have had 4-5 good chances int he first half alone. I was getting worried that Seattle might steal it, but fortunately TFC eventually broke through.They were very deserving champions.

 

Totally non-analytical musings on MLS Cup: I was surprised to find myself rooting hard for Seattle. Why?

1. I think I've finally forgiven Clint for not taking a PK in 2006 MLS Cup. I wanted him to be on the field for a cup win.
2. I am not over Trinidad vs. USA, and am not ready to see Bradley and Altidore triumph.
3. As a city, I prefer Montreal to Toronto.

 

Anyone know based on all the MLS Cups the Revs were in, how many would we have hosted under the new rules?

I know we just happened to make it to the one that Foxboro was hosting when they had neutral sites.

Just wondering if that would have made any difference in all those losses.

 

We had a better record than El-Lay in 2005. Not sure off the top of my head about the other years.

 

We would no longer have hosted in 2002, but hosted two others:
2002 LAG 51 pts, NE 38 pts
2005 NE 59 pts, LAG 45 pts
2006 NE 48 pts, HOU 46 pts
2007 HOU 52 pts, NE 50 pts
2014 LAG 61 pts, NE 55 pts

 

Thanks, much appreciated. Interesting.

 

Hosting MLS Cup 2005, Nov 13, 2005, Foxboro was 45 degrees, no precipitation.
Hosting MLS Cup 2006, Nov 12, 2006, Foxboro was 56, half an inch of rain.

Back when MLS playoffs didn't stretch into mid-December.

 

Under Heaps and Burns in 2012-17, the Revs went 78-82-44 in the league. That means they took 45.4% of the available points. Somehow Mike Burns still has a job.

 

We also hosted a couple of non-Rev MLS Cup games, with DC in their glory days.

The 2nd one was raining so hard I could barely see the field.

 

Wanted to toss out an idea here. Some context: I live in Atlanta and am an Atlanta United season ticket holder. Lived in Atlanta and followed Red Bulls until Atlanta got a team, and made the switch, haven't figured out how to change my favorite club on my flair, so here I am..

That said, Atlanta and Seattle have made it work in NFL stadiums, and I'm wondering if you guys think that Gillette could see the same success with the Revs?

Here's my pitch... if New England invested 20 million over the next two years in player salaries and ESPECIALLY marketing, do you think the Revs could see a similar level of success? Or is the marketing success wholly reliant on a stadium?

Picture Revs hiring a marketing firm and launching a huge new rebrand. Same colors, team name, but a different logo and new direction from a marketing perspective.. Then cap that off with a few big-name signings. I personally don't like signing old players in MLS, but do whatever it takes to get someone that people would pay to come see and be easy to market..

I just love Gillette for playoff games when there are 35k there, so I'm just wondering if that's ever been tossed around or considered here? That Gillette could hypothetically work long term if there was a large investment in players and marketing?

 

You lost me at "investing."

 

Wail, y'see the new tax bill has some changes in the kinds of things (rich) people can claim as deductions. Some of this is still up in the air, but charitable donations may be affected. In the case of the Kraft family, it's not about donations of money to charity, it's about donations of bowel movements. And the Krafts have never made that kind of donation when it comes to the Revs, new tax laws or not.

Sure, we could do what Atlanta and Seattle are doing. We were, in many ways like that in the early years. But it all rests on the ownership. If we had a guy like Blank or some of the other more ambitious owners in the league, it could be possible, but not when the only purpose of the team is to keep foot traffic flowing in the mall and book ~20 more events in the stadium when the Pats are not playing.

 

Google tells me that Mercedes Benz stadium is a 7 minute walk from a metro stop. Gillette Stadium is in the middle of a distant suburb of Boston. No matter what Kraft invests, he can't change that until he builds a stadium within Boston. The MLS stadiums with the best atmospheres - Atlanta, Toronto, Portland, Seattle - are all within cities and accessible by mass transit.

 

That was the 1st MLS Cup in 1996. The weather was a lot better in 1999, our second time hosting. Both featured DC and LA.

 

I will always maintain that it is a possibility that Gillette could be - stress on could, I am by no means confident that it would - a better home for the Revs (and by that I mean average crowds of 30,000 or so, basically the lower bowl always full) if the team had some star power on its roster, they figured out a way to retrofit/outfit the stadium so they could hide the upper levels and make it more Revs-friendly, and they ran the train to every home game and put in a ton of work to let the city crowd know that the train was now an option. Grass field would be nice, too.

All of this would equal a better product on a better surface in a better and more accessible stadium. It would also show a higher commitment level to the team and its fans than in the past. A new urban stadium would be great and it is still the preferred route - along with investing in a better team. But if the urban stadium is not in the cards - which it hasn't been for over a decade now - it would be preferable to try some of these other things out and see if they work. They certainly couldn't hurt.

 

Regular train service would be a big priority for me if I was Kraft, far beyond a grass field or hiding the upper decks. Failing that, could run multiple Revs buses. I think a good way to promote them, whether buses or trains, would be to have some recently retired Revs ride them and Periscope or something.

 

No that was the first one, the typhoon in 1996. I was at the second one in '99, also against LA. It was windy and cold but not rainy.

 

Providence Park in Portland is Fenwayesque, on a main Street, close to bars, nestled in with streets on all sides. BMO is a short walk through the pedestrian only fairgrounds but still very close to things. Have not yet been to Seattle or Atlanta but I know they are both ultra convenient to urbanites in their respective cities.

 

Or just theme them out with the militiamen riding them. There's always the local founding fathers route..the John Adams bus, Paul Revere etc

 

Back in the day I suggested to one of the the Revs top brass that they could do some sort of shuttle bus from Riverside or Alewife. Maybe not perfect, but when I was in my 20s, living in town with no car, I would have jumped all over this faster than a mutton vindaloo through a lager lout's colon!

The reply was that it was too expensive to get Greyhound-style buses, especially if they weren't sure if they could (mostly) fill them. Of course, I was thinking more like MBTA or even school buses, you don't need a bus with comfortable seats and a bathroom for a relatively short trip like that. Again, I can't see that forest because there are too many @#^%$ trees in the way!

 

I expect in a few years one of the big spending clubs will pull a Jerry Jones. Where they look around and see teams like NE Revs and DC United not putting any greater effort into growing the league than the bare minimum and say enough of this single entity league. You guys don't have a problem cashing the profit sharing checks, but you are not producing your fair share. Then breaking up the single entity and letting teams fend for themselves. Maybe then the Revs will realize that they have to do more than the bare minimum.

 

I stand corrected. I do remember watching intently and still not seeing the winning goal go in the net (not that I doubt that it happened).