As I read it on the oficial website, The San Jose Earthquakes were moved to Houston in December 2005. Now they are back!? What the hell? Is this a new club with the old name (something like a FC United of Manchester), or has Houston lost it's franchise? Don't get me wrong I think it's great, especially since odd-numbered leagues look a bit weird, but this bit of business makes little sense to me. Are these teams just clubs or franchises?
Houston isn't going anywhere. The Earthquakes are going to start from scratch. They'll get one or two good players and surround them with RSL domestique type players.
Franchises. That's how virtually all American sport leagues work. The old Quakes moved to Houston and became the Dynamo. The new Quakes will be a new franchise with new ownership but assume the same identity as the old Quakes.
Houston was treated as a franchise even though they technically were San Jose. This San Jose team is also treated as a franchise although they're still going to be under the San Jose Earthquakes name. The best way to explain this is while San Jose has won 2 MLS cup with many of the players that are on the houston roster, Houston wasn't credited with their thrid when they won the MLS Cup last year.
Ok, now that's weird.... So if we look back in history, the San Jose Earthquakes won two MLS cups, then moved to Houston...who won an MLS cup last year. BUT they don't take credit for the two preceeding wins... THe new San Jose Earthquakes start from scratch with none of the players or staff from before...will they be allowed to refer to themsleves as 2 time MLS cup winners? Its things like this that end up belittleing the history of a league.
They were allowed to keep their records because the league knew they would be back in a couple years, just like the Cleveland Browns situation in the NFL.
This precedent was set by the NFL with the Cleveland Browns. It didn't make sense then, it still doesn't make sense now. But if the NFL could do it, then it's good enough for MLS. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Browns However, it's interesting that there were 2 different Washington Senators in baseball, and when they moved, so did their records: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Senators http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Twins http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Rangers_(baseball)
Yeah, I remember getting into a long argument about this. I think it's wrong. Right now we have the 3-time MLS champs, the Houston Dynamo. And a new, expansion franchise, the San Jose EQuakes that have no history at all. That's how it ought to be.
Precisely. Don Garber even specifically mentioned the Cleveland Browns in his San José departure speech almost two years ago. The current San Jose Earthquakes is officially the continuation of the team that went into hiatus in December 2005. The team-name, logo, wordmark, colors, trophies, records and history all remained here. The Houston Dynamo, on the other hand, is officially a 2006 expansion team. It only has one MLS Cup victory. The Alan I. Rothenberg trophies from MLS Cups 2001 & 2003 have been (and are still being) held at the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, New York, and will soon be returned to the San José front-office. The San Jose Earthquakes' jerseys next season will include the two championship stars above the logo crest. -G
It's things like these that respect the history of the league. The San Jose Earthquakes weren't just the players who took the field to win those championships. There were also the fans, the jersey, the city and all the Earthquake teams of the past. Sure, the players moved to a different city, but players always come and go. The stars belong to San Jose.
They are franchises. The franchise that was in San Jose moved to Houston in 2005 and is not moving again anytime soon, at least as far as I know as of today. The San Jose franchise that will begin play in 2008 is a new franchise (an expansion team), and it will just happen to have the same name as the team that used to be in San Jose. This has happened before, just not in MLS. In the NFL, the Cleveland Browns moved from Cleveland to Baltimore in the mid-1990's and were re-named the Baltimore Ravens. Well, Cleveland loved the Browns but couldn't get the financing in order for a stadium. So, when a new owner convinced the city of Cleveland to help him out on a stadium, the NFL granted an expansion team, a new franchise, to Cleveland. Their name? The Cleveland Browns. The old Browns are in Baltimore. The new Browns are in Cleveland. Same concept here in MLS.
Agreed. Just like in the NFL, the Cleveland Browns were a big part of the history of the league, and they were a "brand" that was still popular with the fans. It made complete sense that if an expansion team ever was put in Cleveland, they should have been called the Browns. Same thing here in San Jose.
What do the 2 previous MLS Cup's mean to those in Houston? What do the 2 previous MLS Cup's mean to those in San Jose? From the outside, I believe the League was right to allow the previous history of the Quakes to remain in that community and not ship every record and tradition of that side to an expansion team in Houston. The trophies were won from a team in San Jose, the history should therefore remain there. In essence now, the Quakes are the same franchise as they were 2 years ago.
The 2 previous MLS Cups mean more to the people of San Jose than they do to the people of Houston. If you are someone who lived in San Jose and was a fan of the old Earthquakes, then you have fond memories of those 2 championships and you can look forward to the prospect of more with the new Earthquake franchise. If you're someone in Houston, it's as if your history doesn't start until the 2006 season. In essence, the Quakes for 2008 are indeed the same franchise, with new owners. Even though that's technically not correct that's not a terrible way to look at it.
Actually, that technically (i.e. officially) is correct. The MLS records of the current San Jose Earthquakes will read (1996-2005, 2008- ), not just (2008- ). I understood what you meant, though. -G