If you have a son who's enthusiastic about entering an academy, you want him going through a "respectable" path if you're going to pay $75K/year. Like it or not, it's an incentive if you see other white suburbanite kids following the path and getting to the top --the NT. It's a completely different thing if you're just going to watch. People laugh and call the NFL the "National Felons League" (with all the ethnic connotations) but still watch. Because watching from afar is safe. How many well-to-do parents would put their little Johnny on the track to join those guys paying through the nose for it? The poor white parents are willing to, because playing ball is going to pay for his tuition. But that's completely different. Anyway, I'm done with the topic. Some things people just don't want to see and all you manage if you try to make them see those things is getting everybody around you irritated. So, that's all.
Actually here in Arizona you have non-Hispanic families trying to get their kids into top Hispanic youth clubs. And conversely Hispanic and other non white players are becoming more well represented on the top tier youth teams.
I think every US sport now has teams and leagues where the best kids are and that require money unless you get a scholarship. Volleyball, baseball, football, basketball, lacrosse, soccer. A new study came out that found that most of the best players in all sports now come from suburban middle class families with two parents. It said back in the 60's and 70's most NBA players were from poor inner city neighborhoods but that wasn't the case anymore. Sorry but I don't have a link and am unable to find that study.
I think MLS thinks they need the suburban white boys and consider them prized assets for marketing purposes. But, I think they are completely wrong. White sports fans have long been accustomed to rooting for players of many races. It would be pretty sad indeed if soccer fans as a whole were somehow less able to root for players that don't look like them.
maybe but I see Pulisic, Weah, Sargent, Adams and McKennie all getting pub / hype and they aren't all suburban white boys.
It's because it just so happens that LD and Bradley were suburban white guys, which means that for the last 10+ years the face of the team has been a suburban white guy.
It's not that the masses want all of them to be suburban white boys (SWBs?), just that they need a couple around to inspire parents with money to pay to put their kids through the system.
If you go to CLink you'll see giant posters of JMo all over the stadium. In some respects he's the face of the franchise. Local boy who grew up 5 miles from the stadium, national team player, good looking kid who loves the club and the city. 5 million in a 5 year backloaded contract with lots of incentive clauses is not a bad deal considering his potential (and real) value to the club.
Counterpoint, the NFL and NCAA football, both hugely popular have tons of white stars. The NBA is really the only, essentially black league of the big US sports.
How much of the marketing of the team were they? DMB in particular was fairly quiet, and it's fairly rare for defenders and GK's to be the main event on a team. Also, if we're splitting hairs here, Howard was half Hungarian, and he was a key part of the team, but LD was still the story until the Belgium game.
None except for freaks from this site know that Howard is half Hungarian. Most black kids on MNT and YNTs are half something, but for everyone else they are just blacks.
Just so I stay clear on this, Altidore have been mostly out of the national team discussion these last couple outings so fans are preparing themselves to despise the next vile striker-thing, and Jordan Morris looks to be a solid contender? To be fair, it used to be EJ, so there was a cosmic full circle-ish nature to starting this trashing of JM. Still, to make sure I'm up to date: Morris fatal flaws are he is 1. Injured quite often. 2. White, 3. A child of privilege and 4. apparently getting paid at a rate that may be outrageous but is, at least marginally, above what he deserves. (cue Dr. Evil quoting his lowball price for sparing the world). Good thing you can, actually, have too many strikers, and that speed is quite common.
Bah, who didn't know that Howard was Hungarian? ESPN did a little vignette one time before a match in the early 2010's on his parents/Howard's early life. People need better memories.
That's not at all what is being discussed and it is obnoxious for you to claim it is, both in your content and in your style.
Certainly, the guy that gets all the commercials is Donovan. When he came back to MLS, his salary was not like MB's or even JA's; but he was promised marketing opportunities and he has gotten them. I've rarely seen anyone else in an ad. Never Dempsey, Howard, DMB, Bradley, Altidore. I would expect Pulisic to step in there and not Weston, Tyler, or anyone else. The Morris contract is now being leaked that it is extremely team friendly with lots of incentives. I wonder if Seattle is taking medical advice on the injury from his father? Wow, what a conflict of interest for the guy. I'm sure he is not involved. But he can certainly help Jordan and maybe council him to sign anything that sets him up for the future as much as possible.
Howard - Continental Tires and few others Dempsey -Modelo and a few others I would suspect the Sounders have a medical team guiding them on Jordan's recovery. I'm sure his dad is involved but he's probably not the only doctor providing a prognosis.
The deal about Donovan was that besides being the best player he had way more American Mexican following than anyone else. This "white suburban kid" grew up in Mexican part of So Cal, played on 90% Mexican youth teams and speaks better Spanish than a regular second generation immigrant, so nobody steps in fully, but Pulisic might be the most popular if he keeps dominating goal scoring stats.
Also....................he's Type 1 Diabetic. Which we don't talk about very often. There are very few Type 1 diabetics playing elite professional soccer (that we know of). He keeps a pack of gummy bears on the sideline for when his blood sugar drops. He has that tattoo on his forearm that says T1D.
FWIW, other players Morris' age are getting money. I think that Parkers new deal comes out to 800k a year. The exact figures for Tim Parker’s new deal are 3 years for $2,406,600. #RBNY— Ron Waxman 🏳️🌈🇺🇦 (@RonWaxman) December 12, 2018
Good for Tim, I think he is a very good CB. Also see 3 yrs as quite a bit different than 5 yr contract duration. Now, what do you do with Parker's CB partner, Aaron Long, who was MLS Defensive Player of the Year and will be making $75k in 2019? Interesting.
Do you know the structure of the Morris deal? 3 years guaranteed + 2 years club option. It has been reported to be back loaded and heavily incentivized to favor the club. 5 million over 5 years sounds like it could really be 2.5 million (or less) over 3 years. Still mad?