Let's make it a respectable league and not have ANY playoffs. :| Obviously this won't happen, but we can always hope. Anyway... COME ON ST. LOUIS!! DESTROY THE FIRE AND THE WIZARDS! I can't wait. Season tickets, here I come.
I would have to agree with you on that also,it would be only a logical assumption to think that Garber was speaking of the current structure now.
Not to put the cart before the horse, but with MLS' standard of reffing, we should start a pool now on who's most likely to become KC-StL's new Don Denkinger. My money's on Michael Kennedy. Also hoping St. Louis signs hometown boy Taylor "Hot Pants" Twellman.
I hope we sign all of our hometown boys; there's like 30 of them in the MLS. Noonan, Davis, Twellman, etc. They seem to be all offensive, however. Oh well, we'll just be MANUre and score 5 goals a game and allow 3.
The Western conference would be weak. As a SJ fan I like those odds. Do you really think they would be willing to have unbalanced divisions with an even number of teams? How would the playoffs now work out? Seems like there would have to be a lot of changes to allow Philly to Join. This would certainly work against them if it is a close race with Seattle. Ultimately, there are far more potential cities that may eventually want teams that will fall into the Eastern Conference. This is because the Eastern Conference includes the geographical areas of the East Coast, Midwest, and potentially the South. I agree that eventually a change in Conference structure looks necessary.
Truth be told, like many in out-state Missouri, I find most people from St. Louis offensive. Just kidding. I'm looking forward to coming to a match in Collinsville.
I don't know for a fact, but is it that hard to figure out? I'll give you a hint: starts with M, ends with Y, with a ONE in the middle. Evidently Collinsville was the only place with the right combination of factors (cheap land, local government willingness to use TIF/public bonds, accessible location) to make the finances add up. Personally, I'd rather have a downtown or inner-suburban stadium, too. But I'd much rather have one in Collinsville than Chesterfield or St. Peters.
Ah, but how would MLS feel about it...? They like to have the hometown boys playing for the hometown team, right? Besides, St. Louis had 'em first!
Fat Frank also doesn't hustle as much as other players. He coasts through games, sitting at the edge of the box waiting for the occaisonal chance for a volley or long range shot that he specializes in (only for Chelsea mind you).
Honestly, I think after the Cards got Ballpark Village funding, leaders in Missouri are a little gun shy about doing a project like this. The city and county both have laws that require a public vote for any public funds towards a stadium; the climate for a funding simply isn't all that favorable. I can't be certain as to the specifics of problems in Missouri, but this probably was a major factor.
Please indulge me if I respond to a few things all at once: There is an extremely thorough financing plan in place. I was at both of the Collinsville meetings (last month and last night) and they have a mind-numbing number of financial details already in place. Absolutely. Cooper walked down the street for beers with us fans last night after the council meeting, and he is for real. St. Louis can't be in the West because a rivalry with Chicago is too important. If Philly gets the other team, they'll move KC to the West and put STL in the East.
Once you go over 20 teams then it might make sense to reintroduce conferences; but IF we ever got to some crazy number like 32+ teams, then I would be all for two leagues, either MLS 1 and MLS 2 or MLS East and MLS West. However, considering we're at 14 teams in 2008, we have probably a decade before more than 20 teams would even be on the radar.
Tree = Lampard Forest = Lots of players play 40-50 games or more in a season Here are some more trees in the proverbial forest... Makelele 01/02 - 35 games 02/03 - 33 games 03/04 - 54 games 04/05 - 57 games 05/06 - 43 games 06/07 - 57 games Ashley Cole 01/02 - 28 games 02/03 - 37 games 03/04 - 56 games 04/05 - 56 games 05/06 - 19 games (injured) 06/07 - 49 games John Terry 01/02 - 36 games 02/03 - 39 games 03/04 - 56 games 04/05 - 60 games 05/06 - 52 games 06/07 - 55 games
Congrats to the MLS Fans in the St. Louis area. This is not a done deal, but it's one step closer to happening. Congrats.
This makes sense, but I find it hard to believe that once MLS gets to 16 teams (when St. Louis comes in) you will see a single table with a 30 game home and away schedule. With CCC and Super liga and USOC there will be more than enough games. This will finally make the Supporters Shield truly meaningful as all schedules will be the same. It seems to me that Garber is trying to get to the single table format -- we just need a minimum of 16 teams as they would never go under a 30 game regular season. The other thing to consider when you bump the number of games is that you will need to pay the players more just on the number of games alone.
I have season tickets to the Fire and go to a lot of Cardinal's games. While the drive to Toyota park is much further than the drive to Busch stadium, there is no comparison at all once you get there. Parking at Toyota Park is right next to the stadium and getting in and out is a breeze. Parking at Busch is a pain in the A$$, period. With that in mind, I'll take a perimeter location with easier access any day. The one problem that, hopefully, will rectify itself shortly after the Collinsville stadium opens, would be lack of local sports bars to congregate post game...
That just means that you're not from around here [St. Louis] and don't know where to park. You can park right next to the stadium, but it costs like $15. I usually park for free down by Ralston-Purina and walk 5 minutes. Personally, I was confused the one time I went to Baltimore and couldn't find any street parking or small independently run lots near their stadium.
Nice try, born and raised in the St, Louis area. I must assume that you have probably never been to a Fire game and had the ability to compare how much easier it is to park at Toyota Park. You are right there and getting out after the game is easy for a place in the Chicago metro aea. With Busch you never know what you are going to get on any given day. I generally try to park in the outdoor lot right by the parking garage across the street from Bush. Yes, it costs more but I like the convenience. Some nights I get in and out ok. On others it is a nightmare. It all depends on what else is going on in town and what is going on with road work. Lately our preferred modus is to simply get a hotel for the night and walk from there. More fun that way since I do not have to watch my alcohol consumption. Our son can still not drink so there is someone sober to lead me back to my room . The thing I really try to avoid with Busch are parking lots with pigeon roosts. I made the mistake of grabbing a spot in a private lot at the old Busch and come out to find the car covered with green pigeon S%^T!! You ever tried to get that crap OFF YOUR CAR!!!!
Hope St. Louis gets a team, but history should have little or nothing to do with it. St. Louis should get a team because they have a stadium in place, a local owner, and a fanbase sizable enough to support a team.
There are lots ALL OVER the area around Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium. Most of them are garages in the immediate vicinity, but tons of big open lots within a 5 minute walk as well.