i did watch that once in a lifetime.... and it was great.... but the league or at least cosmos were doing so well.... and it seemed like it was going strong...i mean u dont just draw over 40k consistently and assume something wrong is going on.... i wasnt alive but it seemed like it would have been great..... was the rest of the league just that bad or poorly managed?
The demise of the NASL was due to fiscal irresponsibility and over-expansion. I think that if they had kept the number of teams to about 12, instituted a strict salary cap and come up with small soccer specific venues belonging to the teams, it probably could have survived as a niche sport. If it had had that solid foundation, the country probably could have gotten the 86' World Cup increasing the sport's popularity even more. Who knows? Some say it failed because the country wasn't ready to accept soccer, but I think it could have survived with smarter management...That's just my opinion....
i wish MLS used some of the nASL rules they made the soccer games more interesting.... i say countdown the clock, so everyone can see too. have overtime evry game, and i would like to see unlimited subs, more scoring
This is one of those few times I would suggest somebody use the "search" function and check out the many threads on this subject. In fact, you can start with the "Pele and U.S. Soccer" thread in this very forum and get a good start. Putting aside the fact that I have real problems with the fact that Playing For Uncle Sam's chapter on the Philadelphia Atoms was lifted lock, stock and barrel from my work (without attribution), it is not a bad source. I do tend to think that the NFL's influence is a bit overstated--after all, ratings for NASL games were dismal. Once In A Lifetime interviews an ABC rep who says he wanted to do a weekly anthology show because he didn't think individual matches would hold people's attention until they became better acquainted with the league. Sounds like it was a good idea, but it was ignored, and the public was instead treated to exciting Edmonton Drillers v. Memphis Rogues action.
Wasn't the NASL declared a rogue league by FIFA due to all the unapproved rule changes? I'd rather have MLS as a member of the international soccer community than the NASL doing its own thing. ------RM
i watched alot of the NASL on thw youtube, it was much better than some of the traditional soccer. i wish MLS used some of the rules nasl had.. even in the documentary, carlos alberto said it would be nice that fifa gave in alil. soccer in my mind needs to im prove if they want to be successful in america, it takes morethan understanding the game but listen you need action suspense that mean more scoring or at least more chances in scoring, more hits more more more, you dont get alot of that, even in the epl.
i hope you have proof, that makes no since, since abc only had monday night football during those years, i dont see that statement with any validity.
To each his own. Me? I like the idea that DC United, Boca Juniors, Gamba Osaka, and AC Milan could conceivably play in a tournament, and each would be playing by the same rules they use at home. You don't get that in any other sport. ------RM
i think MLS should bring back the shootout or overtime for each league game and countdown the clock and have it on display like they do in the nasl it will bring more people to watch., restrict the offsides rule two the penalty areas when the ball is on the Attack, unlimit the subs too that will in crease scoring alil bit and give the Goalie some actual work for a change.....most soccer i see is too conservative.....it maybe good for the european fans thats fine for the uefas and the premier leagues but it wont last if those games was televised on regular national tv every week.
Nope. FIFA granted permission for all the experimental changes. By 1983, FIFA had withdrawn approval, and threatened the NASL with rogue status if they didn't change back. NASL did change back, though, so the threat was moot. One of the precursor leagues to the NASL (the NPSL, aka "the league that was not home to Joe's beloved Stokers") was a rogue league, because USSF did not sanction it. But that, too, was quickly settled.
They already have a sport for you. It's called indoor soccer. Check it out. Seriously...given this opinion I wonder if you're Earl Foreman. While I respect your view, you must be aware that this kind of thinking was resoundingly discredited in the early 1990s with the demise of the original MISL. The huge crowds at WC '94 was the final nail in your argument's coffin. If one truly understands soccer, there is plenty of action and suspense in a typical match. If one does not it will be dull (much like I suspect baseball or cricket is absolutely tedious to someone who does not understand the rules and strategies). Dumbing down or changing the rules to make it more palatable to Americans has not worked, and will not work.
actually im DCUdiplomat96! and yes i have played indoor soccer quiet fun for a rec sport. ....also as for the rest of you post , if thats the case then Soccer has failed again in the US any way... in commecial appeal and to the american sports fan.
i dont see should let MLS experiment at the least to pleas and bring more american sports fans to soccer. FIBA has tolerated the NBA actually FIBA has adopted some NBA like rules to the international basketball scene, i dont see why not the same for FIFa at least let MLS show what it can do to help improve soccer. believe me it needs improvement
Dude, how long have you been following MLS? They did let them experiment, remember? Official countdown clock on the scoreboard? Shootouts to break ties? Remember all that stuff? It didn't work. It didn't bring "more american sports fans" to the games and disgusted the true soccer fan. So, what -- you want to make the rules even more wacky? MLS made the decision to play the game like everybody else, to build from hardcore fans outward rather than trying to sell the "mainstream fan" some bastardized version of soccer. The league has been growing ever since. ------RM
how is MLS growning??? when it relys on the latinos market thats why it caters it so much.... and "true soccerfans" probably dont know american sports. ... i can bet you if the ePL was put on espn on a weekly basis it wont last two months maybe a month th ratings will be too low..... plus its shown so early in the morining no thanks to the 5 hours ahead of time. Soccer needs to be more exciting, its really not majoirty of the time. here in the states soccer wont last muc`h long on tv. some changes are needed i recomind unlimited subs to start and count down he clock.
You are so wrong it's comical. No single sport in the US, or anywhere else, has the full appeal to every sports fan. If you don't like soccer the way it is, then you probably never will. MLS really doesn't care about the non-soccer fan, they care about the soccer fan who appreciates the international game. Why, because unlike the NASL, soccer development trumps getting rich quick. MLS isn't trying to become an overnight success, they are trying to build a strong league from the ground up consisting of mostly American players. It has another 10 to 15 years before it should have a reputable status in this country and around the world. Golf, Baseball and NASCAR are sports that are more boring and they all have have stood the test of time, as has MLS. Time will make MLS more exciting, not stupid rule changes that appeal to ignorant "fans". See the XFL, Slamball and most importantly NASL on what not to do when it comes to selling the soul of a sport for a quick buck.
Your reasoning is becoming increasingly bizarre. And let's not even touch on your syntax. The NASL was a soccer league that failed, for numerous reasons, about a generation ago. It was a travelling road show of mostly aging foreign players, operating under some quirky rules, that was largely disconnected from anything one could call "American soccer" (it had only a couple of token Americans on each team; it's clubs didn't take part in the USOC). Again, it failed. And did very little to "grow" the sport of soccer in the US. Period. MLS is suceeding on many fronts: - it is building a lasting foundation: constructing stadia (which can't be underestimated); attracting deep-pocketed investors who understand what they're getting into and appear committed for the long haul; signing multiple TV deals that now are actually paying the league cash to show its games on TV (and 100% of the league's games are televised); - it is developing American (and perhap seven Canadian) soccer: There are a lot of foreign players in MLS, but it is primarily an American league. I mean, look at the number of Americans playing in Europe now. Someone with more time on their hands than me could go back and try and reconstruct what those numbers have looked like over the past ten years (I'd love to see those numbers; if you do that, I'll buy you a beer). But what I do know is that you'd see a huge jump in the numbers over that time. Vast. And it's because of MLS. Even the players who didn't choose to play in the States first, the Benny Feilhabers and the like, the reason most of them have a chance to go abroad right away is because the US has a successful first divison league that's helped to make the USMNT competitive and, to a certain extent, a league that's become a marginal source of transfer talent into Euro leagues. Without MLS, there's be no platform upon which these young players could stand. Hell, I wonder how many of them wouldn't even have stuck with soccer, because they all grew up watching MLS games on TV. Seeing that, as an American, you could grow up and make a living as a professional soccer player. There is simply no comparison between the NASL and MLS. One was a flash in the pan failure; the other reprsents the future of the sport in America, a future that's looking awfully bright. And all you seem to want to talk about is gutting rules of the game here because it's just not exciting enough for you.
People...please do not feed the idiot. It's hard enough for him to walk and chew gum, much less make a coherent and educated post...you only fuel his stupidity by acknowledging him.