Didn't see this link posted from over the weekend: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38458-2002Aug2.html Roundtable with Balboa, Maisonneuve and Bocanegra. Choice quotes: Balboa: "The best thing that could happen is if baseball goes on strike. That's going to help soccer tremendously." Bocanegra: "I want to say something about how the promoting goes. I think a lot of people portray soccer players as dorky guys, you know what I mean? I think so. A basketball player or a football player is a big, strong, tough guy. A cool guy. The basketball players have the cool Nike commercials. There's a good soccer one running in Europe that they don't play over here with guys juggling crazy. I've never seen it over here. I think they should portray us as people instead of "soccer players" from a marketing standpoint." Balboa: "To help the league. Landon's got to stay. Landon's a huge name right now. Beasley's got to stay. But [should MLS take away a player's rights] to go to Europe? Maybe [take away] $2 million or $3 million on a transfer? Maybe [take away] a $1 million signing bonus and maybe $15,000 a week? That's a lot of money for your future."
Thanks for the link. Very interesting article. I'd love to read more stuff like this. It's especially interesting to have this kind of mix: one old-timer, one veteran USMNT pool player, one up-and-coming USMNT starter. The thing that really jumped out at me: These guys are very pro-MLS. They seem to realize that without this league they'd have nothing. They clearly feel a lot of pride about this league.
Good link. "What's your quick impression on the league's contraction? Marcel Balboa: The league should never have been put in that situation. They should have moved one of those teams to Chicago before expanding. Now we're back to where we started with 10 teams. It's a case where we took two steps forward and two steps back again, so we're back at square one." I don't think Chicago would have wanted the Mutiny moving to Chicago.
The Fire quotes from the All-Star weekend were pretty hilarious. First, there's the trash-talking, and then, from 'Los: "Show a dirty tackle. People love that. They think soccer players are [weak]. We just run around out there and kick the ball around." He's not making it easier for me to say we're not a dirty team, but then again, Jolley has said worse. Later, COZ
Good read, definitely agree. It shows that these guys are intelligent, have thoughts about the future of the game they play, good representatives for soccer, etc. I like Bocanegra's quote on "dorky" soccer players, which reminded me of the great one from the Sports Guy during the World Cup: "Reason No. 125 why I never could have been a soccer player: Those four-man walls where everyone holds their hands over their packages and then the other team kicks the free kick right into them. That's about as fun as a car crash. It's funny, soccer players always have a reputation for being wusses, but this game is much more dangerous than baseball or basketball. The problem here is that we all went to high school and college with soccer players, and we know they're the types of guys who say 'Dude' all the time and hit on your girlfriend when you're away for the weekend. Hence, the anti-soccer backlash." - The Sports Guy, Jun 15, 2002
It was posted in the 8/3/02: Past and Future thread. I know some days there are alot of articles, but I am hopeful that you catch the daily news....
trust me, your work goes noticed by us... and i don't just mean the few of us that help you out from time to time this may not be the news thread, but thank you gpk
There is hope that once our 1990 generation of soccer players (Ramos, Meola, Harkes, Vermes, Balboa, Caliguiri etc), all retire, that they will stay involved in the game. Harkes has been outspoken about this in the past, saying that MLS needs soccer people not only in the coaching positions, but in the GM positions. This generation may be the first to step into that role league wide in a few years.
Um, the Mutiny played 2 years before there even was a Chicago team. The point he was making was that if they were only going to have 10 teams and Tampa wasn't going to work out, they should have moved the team to another city that wasn't in the original mix. By the way, it was Dallas who got the franchise originally slated for Chicago in 1996. The reason Chicago wasn't in the origninal mix has to do with stadium issues. Tom
I thought it was kinda interesting, though, that when Veronica Paysse asked Harksie about coaching, he smiled and said something to the effect of he still had a couple years left before that happens.
That's what I meant. i figured he was saying MLSHQ should have done a better job of reading the market and moved the Mutiny to Chicago after the 1997 season. Looking back, my guess is Fire fans are glad that didn't happen.
Bocanegra: "Our stadium [stinks]. We play on AstroTurf and it just gets so hot out there. There's rubber underneath and the heat index on the field is terrible. In Europe they have little stadiums that hold 20,000 people. They sell it out and get it rocking in there. If people have fun in the stands they'll come back."