I’m just concerned with announcement of Seattle coming tuesday. Is Comissioner Garber stalling the efforts of Cooper and St. Louis until Philadelphia is ready? Comment by sew2100 — November 12, 2007 @ 9:15 pm Well, that would be the obvious theory — at least the one I’m running with — that the league is going to give Philadelphia first dibs because it’s a bigger city. I spoke to Cooper on Friday and he remains optimistic about St. Louis getting a team. I sense he’s a bit frustrated by how long it’s taking, but he has the impression that both cities will get a team. When each of those teams will start remains uncertain. Comment by Tom Timmermann — November 12, 2007 @ 10:04 pm I posed this question to Tom Timmermann on stltoday.com earlier this evening, This shows some hope. But it also shows Cooper is as frustrated as we are.
i don't see why we are all being so pessimistic, we are not from Philly. when have we ever been this pessimistic. We really have no reason to think we will not get a team in 2009 until Garber says otherwise on Friday. He may just be announcing Seattle early to give both cities a little time in the limelight. I say we need to just patiently wait for Friday and see what happens then, because at this point we are driving ourselves crazy over nothing.
That's exactly what I've been trying to say. I guess some people are naturally inclined towards extreme pessimism.
Honestly, I never expected us to have a team in 2009. Ever since Cooper launched this publicly, he talked about 2009 -- which was great -- but everything I saw from the league made it sound like 2010 was more realistic. He was shooting for the Moon, telling them, "give the word and we're ready now (2009)," but they apparently have other ideas. So if we don't get 2009, I will be disappointed but not enraged. If we don't get 2010, however ... then the inner rage about San Jose's "2nd chance, still no stadium" and other bizarre league moves will boil within me. I think in some respects MLS sees StL like the NHL sees Canadian markets like Hamilton, Ontario: the NHL knows it will get robust support if it adds another Canadian market, so first it wants to exhaust all options in the U.S., including saving Pittsburgh and Nashville, and chasing Jerry Bruckheimer-backed Las Vegas and AEG-backed K.C. Likewise, MLS can pretty much count on strong support any time they expand to StL, but they're seduced by the thought of big money elsewhere (LA2, NY2, SF Bay area, Paul Allen). The price of being sports-mad but not a giant media market, I guess.
Do any of you read the blog from duNord? This tidbit was in 12 Nov postings: dunord(dot)blogspot(dot)com Let's all keep our fingers crossed...
This is driving me freaking insane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gregro and evangel, Why do you keep posting here? Most of the time it just seems like you're trying to justify Seattle getting a team over St. Louis despite St. Louis have the better bid. Seriously, be happy since you have reason to be, but go away.
Number one this is a public forum. Number 2, My posts have been very pro St. Louis. I don't have a problem with you are Philly saying you are more deserving than us. Of course you are going to say that and think it and you should. Everyone should feel that their city is the best and be proud. I get tired of people from other cities that have never stepped foot, let alone lived in Seattle thinking that they know this market when they don't and then thinking that we don't deserve to have a franchise when we do. I have played and supported soccer in this area for over 30 years. We have 130,000 kids playing soccer in this state. I am done defending Seattle. I don't have to. The purpose that I posted previously was because I saw a few people getting really negative here and I wanted to offer encouragement from an outsiders perspective and share our own experience of being turned down and to let you know we know how you feel and tell you not to give up hope. Some of you totally misread this and got defensive and decided to attack the messenger. If some of you want to insist on being negative fine, it may relieve tension but it is not helping your St. Louis brethren feel good. You can use your ignore feature if you don't like what I have to say. To your and all the St. Louis Supporters: I have said this many times before and I will say it again. With all sincerity I hope you get a team. You are a great soccer city with rich history and truly deserve to have a team in your great city. Keep fighting the good fight and never give up! Peace and Good Luck, Greg
. Usually your posts are Pro what ever city your in I've lived in Seattle as former resident, I will be glad to cheer them on, when they come to visit New England. But being born in and raised in St. Louis I would like to have seen been in together. The only time I've issues is someone compares history of soccer in St. Louis vs Seattle
This would make sense if I had some kind of affiliation with Seattle. However, I live in New York and have not ever lived in Seattle (I've been there once and thought it was a really nice city.) I've been posting everywhere because like many others I want MLS to succeed, and as a neutral I can see the logic in what Garber has done with regards to expansion. In fact this expansion has been so exciting it has stopped me from merely lurking here on BigSoccer (I've been coming here since 2003 but never really posted). I really believe that all indicators point to both Philly and St. Louis joining the league, and I don't see any places that imply that one might not get a team. I also don't think everyone will be throwing insults at Seattle when St. Louis and Philly are announced. I think all the pessimism is coming from some previous disappointments in previous expansion rounds. Like I've implied, this expansion round is like no other. All statements have indicated that all the current cities in advanced negotiations will enter the league. Garber's statement at the Seattle announcement, in which he states that he plans on having another team join Seattle in 2009, and two more in 2010 and 2011, should be a cause for optimism.