Eric Wynalda's "Howard Beale moment": FSC employees rant against MLS at the NSCAA Convention

Discussion in 'MLS: News & Analysis' started by xbhaskarx, Jan 13, 2012.

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  1. PhillyMLS

    PhillyMLS Member+

    Oct 24, 2000
    SE PA
    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiahMrRM39g"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiahMrRM39g[/ame]
     
  2. tab5g

    tab5g Member+

    May 17, 2002
    And yet the Eredivisie and Bundesliga were able to adapt/manage and still had relatively normal and successful seasons, yes?

    I haven't read much about those leagues (or domestic fans or commentators) clamoring to move their seasons or start playing through June/July.

    Bad/extreme weather happens. And it can happen in any quarterly meteorological season. MLS in 2011 and in other seasons has been affected by summer storms, tropical depressions and hurricanes -- and games can be and are rescheduled and the season and business goes on to (as always) be conducted in the finer weather months/weeks.

    And yes, winter is the harshest time of years in most MLS markets, but the idea of an extended break in January (and some adjacent weeks) is a smart approach if having a May/June end to the season is the goal at some point in the future (when and if the MLS BoG ever opts to execute such a crazy scheduling format).

    Let businessman Beckham and friends buy in at full price for a NYC franchise, and get that city venue built with or without parking lots and I'm sure he'll be fine.

    A team in NYC (or a 20th team somewhere) is clearly more of a priority for the league, more so than just about anything else, especially any (crazy) thoughts of moving the post-season period out of the NFL months.
     
  3. Beau Dure

    Beau Dure Member+

    May 31, 2000
    Vienna, VA
    The ideal MLS schedule has games from March-June (May, if it's a year with a World Cup not in Qatar) and again from August-November. With a championship game Aug. 15. The trick is setting that up.

    Frankly, the difference between a "spring-fall" or a "fall-spring" schedule is minimal. They'll need a long winter break -- even Wynalda concedes that, though his break still has February games that fans are telling me they won't attend. They could use a summer break.

    But there's certainly a school of thought in the U.S. soccer community that we need to do things the way they are in "the rest of the world," and that "rest of the world" is really the big European leagues. And that's a poor reason for wanting to do something when you're living in a country that has so many geographic and cultural differences from England, Spain, Germany and Italy. (Wanting longer and more frequent breaks for international competition is another issue.)

    I wonder if there's a Wynalda equivalent in Brazil, Mexico or other Latin American countries telling them they need to do things the way "the rest of the world" does. Or in Scandinavian countries. (Heck, I wonder if there's one in Ireland.)
     
  4. Jamooky

    Jamooky Member+

    Mar 24, 2006
    Cleveland, OH USA
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'm surprised Eric's not banging away about MLS adopting an Apertura/Clausura structure. :p
     
  5. tab5g

    tab5g Member+

    May 17, 2002
    Watch out for that mid-Aug Fifa friendly date.

    Agreed, especially if MLS is regularly going to be taking 2-week breaks (or longer) in the summer(s) to avoid the World Cup (and/or regularly large Fifa international periods in parts of June/July).

    At some point, it wouldn't take too much tweaking or mental gymnastics to call that summer off period from league play not a "mid-season break" -- but rather the official "off-season."

    Agree with a lot of those points.

    But I also do wonder if there are other business concerns for the MLS BoG (beyond just the crazy requests of a lost bidding TV partner to get the Post-season out of the NFL window) that may (eventually) cause them to more align their seasons and primary/secondary transfer windows with a lot of those top UEFA leagues.

    For the overall business of MLS, and specifically when it comes to the decisions of when to start and end each competitive season, there are more concerns than just the US/Canada weather and the way the soccer seasons are run in Germany, Mexico, England, Brazil, Denmark or anywhere else.

    (but "the weather" and "what they do elsewhere in the world" are two of the topics that fans/commentators feel the most informed about, given that we don't have a whole lot of insight into the specific details of MLS business and accounting sheets. So those are the items that are regularly discussed here and elsewhere.)
     
  6. JasonMa

    JasonMa Member+

    Mar 20, 2000
    Arvada, CO
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    We know there's an anti-Wynalda (or two) in Scotland suggesting a spring-fall schedule.
     
  7. looknohands

    looknohands Member+

    Apr 23, 2009
    Louisville, KY
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'm not greedy...they can be flat so long as their nips are big.
     
  8. xbhaskarx

    xbhaskarx Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Feb 13, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Nope, that's where this comes in:
    "I would suggest that what's holding us back is our inferiority complex." - Will Kuhns of MLS in the room. "A culture of self-loathing."
     
  9. LongDuckDong

    LongDuckDong Member+

    Jan 26, 2011
    Club:
    FC Schalke 04
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Maybe I'm the minority, but I think MLS should switch to a August-June schedule for players contract reasons. Player contracts in Europe often end in June/July. Switching to a Summer-Spring schedule allows MLS teams to bring in big name free agents at the begging of the season rather than half way through.

    It certainly seems minor, but as MLS grows, having a more compatible transfer/contract schedule with the "big" leagues could be beneficial.
     
  10. Beau Dure

    Beau Dure Member+

    May 31, 2000
    Vienna, VA
    That's a legitimate concern.

    On the other hand, the current economy of lining up two-month loans for people also seems to work.

    But in the long run, I could see contract alignment being one of the arguments that may eventually push a change.
     
  11. LordRobin

    LordRobin Member+

    Sep 1, 2006
    Akron, OH
    Club:
    Cleveland C. S.
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Am I the only one who wants the MLS season to stay the way it is because I like summer soccer??

    I don't want soccer in the winter. I don't want soccer in the cold, overcast, crappy rainy months. I don't want soccer to compete for my attention with football and basketball and hockey. I like going to soccer games on pleasant summer evenings. I like having something other than baseball and auto racing to be interested in during the summer. I just like soccer in the summer!

    In our zeal to toss aside many, many decades of American soccer tradition so we can ape the European leagues, has anyone stopped for even one moment to consider what we might be giving up?

    ------RM
     
  12. JasonMa

    JasonMa Member+

    Mar 20, 2000
    Arvada, CO
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    No. I don't mind the 1-3 cold games at the beginning and end of each season here in Denver, but the idea of being out in the cold from 7-9 every other Saturday night in the winter (even if there's a 6-8 week winter break) would have me rethinking season tickets.
     
  13. LordRobin

    LordRobin Member+

    Sep 1, 2006
    Akron, OH
    Club:
    Cleveland C. S.
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    One more thing: Have those who so desperately want to share the same schedule as the big European leagues considered that MLS would be immediately overshadowed by those leagues? There's an advantage to playing a significant portion of our games when Europe is off when it comes to getting attention for our league.

    ------RM
     
  14. xbhaskarx

    xbhaskarx Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Feb 13, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I really think this could be an advantage for MLS, especially as its reputation continues to improve, both with fans around the world (mainly western Europe) and Eurosnobs here in the US.
     
  15. Beau Dure

    Beau Dure Member+

    May 31, 2000
    Vienna, VA
    Ask what fans would want? Who'd do that? It's far, far more important for soccer fans to just sit quietly and do what pundits tell them to do.
     
  16. tigersoccer2005

    tigersoccer2005 Member+

    Dec 1, 2003
    North Bergen, NJ
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Apertura/Clausura or bust!!!!
     
  17. KensingtonSC

    KensingtonSC Still Lazy After All These Years

    FC Vaduz / Philadelphia Union
    Jan 7, 2010
    Andalusia, PA
    Club:
    FC Vaduz
    What's wrong with things the way they are that MLS needs to change? I just don't understand.
     
  18. tab5g

    tab5g Member+

    May 17, 2002
    Day games on the coldest match dates?

    To get from the 2012 MLS season window (March 10 to Dec 1) to the "long winter break, end in June" schedule, it would require potentially 1-2 more home dates in Dec per team and 2-3 more home dates per team in late-Feb/early March.

    I suppose that could have (some) folks rethinking their ticket-buying habits, but I do think that a some point the league overall would be able to survive (and perhaps thrive for other/new reasons -- new transfer window and CCL alignment) even if teams had those 3-5 home league dates from the June/July window moved into those "new fringe" weeks of winter on either side of a long winter break. And that would still leave about 12-14 of a teams home dates in the same calendar weeks each year.
     
  19. tab5g

    tab5g Member+

    May 17, 2002
    There's nothing wrong.

    But as the league grows and matures, it might (or will) try to do new/different things with their business.
     
  20. tab5g

    tab5g Member+

    May 17, 2002
    You (and others) are likely in the minority with that opinion, for now.

    But I agree with you.
     
  21. KensingtonSC

    KensingtonSC Still Lazy After All These Years

    FC Vaduz / Philadelphia Union
    Jan 7, 2010
    Andalusia, PA
    Club:
    FC Vaduz
    How many more season tickets will be sold by switching the season?

    How many season ticket holders will be lost because of the switch?

    When the answer to the first question is greater than the answer to the second one, that's when a switch will happen. Until then, it's not even worth discussing.
     
  22. xbhaskarx

    xbhaskarx Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Feb 13, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    He's above that sort of thing!
    :rolleyes:

    Just a reminder, this is the guy who works for Fox and said "Fox will give us all the money we need to promote the game if we're not going up [against] the cash cow [NFL at same time as MLS Cup]" as a speaker at a convention.

    :rolleyes:

    ==========

    Eric if you're reading this, why don't you provide some actual analysis/evidence/facts to back up statements like "Fox will give us all the money we need to promote the game" and "If we change the schedule we could go back to Florida"... otherwise they are just bizarre non-sequiturs.
    Hopefully you accept Will Kuhns' challenge to do a town hall debate with Nelson Rodriguez, and come prepared.

     
  23. JasonMa

    JasonMa Member+

    Mar 20, 2000
    Arvada, CO
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Given that around here the coldest match dates are likely to be at freezing or below for a high, not going to make much of a difference. It would still be cold enough that I would re-think pre-buying tickets for every game. Part of me would rather have the flexibility of waiting on the weather before buying tickets.

    Remember that the Rapids pushed a game in early November this year and canceled their Charity Shield game in March last year due to snowstorms.
     
  24. Jamooky

    Jamooky Member+

    Mar 24, 2006
    Cleveland, OH USA
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Eric does sound like a BigSoccer regular. "If you don't agree with me, you're a moron." :rolleyes: How cogent, Eric.
     
  25. xbhaskarx

    xbhaskarx Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Feb 13, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    @Wynalda11 Eric Wynalda

    [​IMG]
     

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