The name is way down on the list of things being wrong with this team. Get rid of Andi, fire NRod & Pauno, hire somebody to run the team, that knows what he's doing and it will improve 1000% (This would happen in Bridgeview or Solder Field).
JFC - every time. No shit there’s other problems besides the team name and location. Doesn’t mean either shouldn’t be improved, especially when the chance of literally anything else changing (except Pauno- he’s probably toast after this season if not sooner) is like zero percent.
If you fix the BIG problems, Andi, NRod, Pauno, FO staff, etc, than the name will be just fine. In the last 10 years have we (Andi) signed anybody that knew how to run a soccer team? Andi pretty much fvcked this team by what he's done (or not done) the last 10 years. Joe buys out Andi (#1 problem), fires NRod (#2 problem), fires Pauno (#3 problem) and all of the NRod/Pauno guys, brings in a GM/President, who hires a competent coach, who hires a competent staff, oh yeah get the fvcking games on TV. When they show they care, run the organization the right way and we start winning, the name will be the last thing people will be concerned about.
And if “if” was a fifth we’d all be drunk. Other than the location (which is huge), the big problems aren’t going to be fixed any time soon, and even if they were, brand confusion and SEO would still be issues. Moving out of Bridgeview is as a good a time as any to deal with it, so if they do, so be it.
Location isn't the problem, a non caring owner (for 10+ years) that doesn't give a shit about his team is the problem. If it was a problem then we would average 6k a game. So you think it you move this team as is (Andi, NRod, Pauno and all the non soccer people) into the city (a better location), with a new name (FC, United etc.) new badge, new colors, that we will magically start being relevant and bring in better crowds? Sorry that's not going to happen.
you're absolutely correct, but the name is still a problem and the location still sucks. the argument that if we can't get rid of Andy, Nimrod, and Pawno, then we shouldn't address anything else is just silly.
It's rather comforting to know that I can take a few years off from the Fire only to come back to check in and the conversation is still the same.
Yeah, sure there are more things that could/should be fixed, but the name doesn't have to be one of them. I don't have a problem with the possible move, I just hope it is in a SSS, not Solder Field, because that will bring up many other problems.
Thinking the name is a problem is like someone arguing the Yugo isn't selling because people think it's a country. The idea that soccer fans can't find the team is ridiculous. Do you all know how idiotic you sound? Do you know how ridiculous the notion that someone isn't coming to games because a TV show is ahead of the team in search results is? Good Lord people.
This....... I'm pretty sure Andi (10+ years of not caring), NRod (3+ years of not knowing what the fvck he's doing) and Pauno (3+ years sucking at his job) have a lot to do with our lack of success.
No, they don’t know how dumb they sound. Search engines have nothing to do with this. It has all to do with Andrew being unwilling to accept any blame. It’s not been his bad ownership, it’s been all these other factors. The fact that some people here are buying into it is mortifying. This type of braindead thinking got Trump elected.
You're assuming people care enough about the fire to Google them. Isn't there a game tonight? I'm thinking of going
Yes. This is what I have been thinking. Why no blame on Hauptman? When it comes down to one single factor, he is the one that caused this mess. Not the location.
Lol again, JFC, nobody is ********ing saying ownership etc aren’t problems, there are simply problems that can and cannot be immediately fixed and ownership ain’t getting fixed any time soon that I can tell. FFS, we could have a thread about the weather and half of the goddamn posts would end up being about Hauptman or Nrod for no good reason. The Almighty Allah himself could own this team and sign 23 Jesus Christs to play for it and Bridgeview still wouldn’t sell out every game and the name would still be greeted with a collective “meh” from half of the damn city, assuming that all of that would even get half of the city to identify “Chicago Fire” as a soccer team name.
[puts on flame suit] We have Hauptman because of the location...and the lease...and everything else that comes with the Bridgeview deal. AEG had to sell the team with a pitch of "Oh, so when you'll buy you'll be locked into a lease that limits your ability to gain ancillary revenue from the stadium, gives you $0 for any higher priced or premium seats, where you'll be playing in a facility has a three lane parking lot of a road between you and the major population center, and your team is going to play in a league where the last two expansion franchises were Salt Lake and something called a Chivas USA, the former of which only happened because a bid from Cleveland fell apart, and they'd been in the works about giving a team to Canada because they couldn't find anything better domestically...and oh yeah, that league is now talking about ramping up roster spending, so have fun keeping up and staying in the black with your revenue capped. We also have a number of other teams for sale which would allow owners to come up with their own plans for facilities, but hey, you should totally buy the Fire!" If you want to know why in a town full of rich assholes, that we ended up with a B-list Hollywood producer who ended up in over his head, even with AEG talking about their priority to sell to local owners, that's why. "If we just got rid of Hauptman..." is a mantra around here about how this team could be a success at the facility known as Toyota Park, but it's not a coincidence that the new moneybags (half) ownership is using the first of his $$ bailing out of the stadium deal. I understand the aversion to pointing fingers at the first edition of the front office for their role in where the team is today, but even great people make mistakes that end up looking bad in hindsight. And even then, that's ok.
This is absolutely false. Please don’t perpetuate this mistruth as the Fire controlled virtually everything and every potential dollar. Posada was hired in part to sell all of that BACK to the Village so Andrew could lower costs. It’s irresponsible for you to make your claim. Andrew gutted any chance the Fire had but they could have easily bought back the rights to manage the stadium. The Village didn’t want them and gladly would have shared that with a vested and interested party. Do NOT put blame on the Village. This is ALL on Andrew and his cheapness.
You mean the part about a supreme being buying a soccer team with a name that places it fourth in relevance to a historic event, a municipal department, and a crappy TV show in the hearts and minds (not to mention search results) of most of the city it represents and plays its games in a tiny hard to get to suburb? Yes, hogwash, I mean- duh. That was the point- not even Allah can 23 Jesuses, I mean, c’mon.
I was trying to be polite when I called your words “hogwash” but they were actually more insidious than that. You’re probably unaware (as in it wasn’t intentional) but your statement was a textbook example of a very popular propaganda technique. You made an obviously farcical and hyperbolic statement that everyone knows is impossible. You then put an opinion stated as fact next to the hyperbole. People read the farce and see a “statement of fact” (actually just an opinion with zero supporting evidence) and see it as more believable than the hyperbole. This is actually how fascism flourishes. Hitler and Mussolini did this in the past and Trump does it now. As for these boards, most readers here deserve better than this so maybe try clarify fact from opinion. A little hyperbole can add some color commentary but let’s keep the actual arguments free from propaganda.