Re: MLS FINAL...Should I said....Told U so... I was at the game also and just finished watching my tape on Tivo in HD. TV portion presented really well, good sound, generally good shots, very colorful with all those yellow jersies in the crowd against the green grass, the blue sky etc.. Actually the whole stadium was very colorful... People in Jersies from all over MLS, and teams and countries all over the would. Like a big soccer convention - Best thing for me, was no stupid half time music act on the field or end of field stage.. that also seem so unproffessionally done. (this is not the Super Bowl and we don't get the Rolling Stones, U2 or Paul McCartney level bands) They put the stage out back near the tennis stadium... good - Trophy presentation done well, like the basic simple stage, was put out quick Big soccer celebration out in the parking lot-- sponsor booths and lots of players signing autographs... I got DeRosorio, Cooper, Olsen, Kletsjen (?), our rookie of the year Franklin.. well done. Lots of people early. Red Bull brought their bus, had huge party tents, tvs, drinks.. they seem to throw money around or they car.. Lots of RedBull cars in the parking lot. - All in all, better than the prior 2 MLS Cups at the HDC, not as good as the game at the Rose Bowl (Mainly because of the huge crowd 55k) - I am really glad the majority of the non-corporate LAG season ticket holders showed or got people to use their tickets, good traveling support considering the distance and props. to the people who from the general public side bought standing/hillside seats and whatever seats were available. ALso, all the handicap slots around the rim had folding chairs and they were mostly sold... Yeh, its to bad they couldn't do something about those corporate no shows, but that is what it is.. = = Allstar game in Salt Lake City next year.. Any rumors as to where the MLS Cup will be? I would like to see Houston get a shot (warm weather and they have had 3 playoff crowds of 30,000 k) or do they build off of what looks like Seattles base crowds and try the cup there and go big?
Re: MLS Cup thots: presentation, stagecraft, etc. I was at the game also and just finished watching my tape on Tivo in HD. TV portion presented really well, good sound, generally good shots, very colorful with all those yellow jersies in the crowd against the green grass, the blue sky etc.. Actually the whole stadium was very colorful... People in Jersies from all over MLS, and teams and countries all over the would. Like a big soccer convention - Best thing for me, was no stupid half time music act on the field or end of field stage.. that also seem so unproffessionally done. (this is not the Super Bowl and we don't get the Rolling Stones, U2 or Paul McCartney level bands) They put the stage out back near the tennis stadium... good - Trophy presentation done well, like the basic simple stage, was put out quick Big soccer celebration out in the parking lot-- sponsor booths and lots of players signing autographs... I got DeRosorio, Cooper, Olsen, Kletsjen (?), our rookie of the year Franklin.. well done. Lots of people early. Red Bull brought their bus, had huge party tents, tvs, drinks.. they seem to throw money around or they car.. Lots of RedBull cars in the parking lot. - All in all, better than the prior 2 MLS Cups at the HDC, not as good as the game at the Rose Bowl (Mainly because of the huge crowd 55k) - I am really glad the majority of the non-corporate LAG season ticket holders showed or got people to use their tickets, good traveling support considering the distance and props. to the people who from the general public side bought standing/hillside seats and whatever seats were available. ALso, all the handicap slots around the rim had folding chairs and they were mostly sold... Yeh, its to bad they couldn't do something about those corporate no shows, but that is what it is.. = = Allstar game in Salt Lake City next year.. Any rumors as to where the MLS Cup will be? I would like to see Houston get a shot (warm weather and they have had 3 playoff crowds of 30,000 k) or do they build off of what looks like Seattles base crowds and try the cup there and go big?
Re: So, we're positive the ABC broadcast is in real HD? I watched on Atlanta's ABC affiliate through Dish Network. Pretty darn HD here.
Re: MLS Cup thots: presentation, stagecraft, etc. Houston won't get a MLS Cup until our stadium is up and running. Chicago is probably high up on the list for a Cup...maybe the Dick or Columbus next year...but those are just guesses
I enjoyed the match and really the only thing that needs adjustment is making sure the SG's get behind the goals at these neutral venue Cup Finals. Of course Foudy as a commentator and her thoughts as a former player on a game and league she has never played in can get flushed down the shitter...jeez get her off ABC. I guess Cobi could not have been asked to get in front of the camera and share his thoughts. He only played in 3 of 'em Cup Finals unlike a Julie Foudy and Cobi Jones is about as L.A. of a soccer guy as it gets....i.e. when the Cup Final is in L.A. A post match "MLS Year in Review" highlight reel set to some music would be nice I agree.
So, at least three disparate threads got merged here? Nice. I'm sure today's BigSoccer visitors, along with future Googlers, appreciate the confusion.
One quibble was the quality of the non-HD broadcast. It was really hard to pick out the players and everything looked out of focus. I've posted it before and will post it again - the only thing MLS needs to copy from the EPL are television production values. Even on FSC, the EPL games look sharp and clear.
Re: MLS FINAL...Should I said....Told U so... We would have been packed. 17k for the conference championship plus however many people from other teams? Yeah, it would have been packed.
http://www.eufootball.biz/Competitio...up_finals.html "he Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup final selection process may undergo a few changes. Through the upcoming months, a group of MLS executives are expected to discuss modifications to its playoff format, with MLS Commissioner Don Garber already confirming the concept of permitting the strongest regular-season record finalist to host the championship game." "In order to alleviate any potential calendar struggles, a week’s rest would be added in the middle of the conference finals and the championship game."
I agree. I know that Superdave felt that the number of close-ups was, well, not inappropriate but I feel otherwise. As a viewer, I like to get into a flow and ESPN / ABC made that impossible. It is important to show crowd shots but after a while the corner shots of the Red Bull fans seemed like something out of a Woody Allen piss-take on South American dictatorships. I did like the overhead replays because they gave one a sense of the collective (sorry) and territorial dimension to the build-ups. Sadly, so much of that was otherwise missing because of the many close-ups. I didn't need to see Osorio every minute. Yes, he's active. But this isn't college basketball. And viewers need to see EVERY PASS. The presentation was disorienting. Lalas' glibness is growing old, as are his attempts at earnestness. That he has become, well, so yesterday makes me feel old. Cultural relevancy is not so important, however, that one should reduce one's self to constant vomitting forth of currently hip utterances as did Foudy. Stone, of course, is barely literate and annoying and he did not disappoint on Sunday. The presentation of the halftime music was mercifully limited to shots of the Crew cheerleaders clapping along. Believe it or not, I found that shot of girlish comfort with a simple 4/4 to be an appropriate dose of fun-loving, goofy Americana. Pedro Gomez is competent and likeable but his background is baseball and he's still clueless when it comes to soccer. I sense that he'll take to the game. His ability to conduct interviews in Spanish is important even if his Spanish is often nervous and rusty. Allen Hopkins was once promising but he's lost his way once more was demanded of him than being casual and hip with Bretos during the doldrums of whichever match they were presenting.
Re: MLS FINAL...Should I said....Told U so... FYI, MLSNET says on 14K were there for the conference championship. However, the final would have been sold out if in Columbus. Only 2 times home teams have been in finals, there have been sell outs of over 50K. If Columbus got the final, that would have made 3 times sold out.
I was at the Columbus MLS Cup in 2001 and the stadium was empty. Very few SoCal Fans because we couldn't get the flights (I bought in advance) mainly Chicago fans who wanted our scalp. They were all cheering for NoCal/Houston. Saw many Columbus fans trying to sell their tixs. I was even stuck with 2 extra tixs for this game. Bought for someone at the last minute and he decided not to go.
Just happy I got to actually see the game this year...(as opposed to ABC in Seattle not showing the game last year and instead showing some clown show with George Sotoroplopolis which was the first MLS Cup and first televised MLS game in league history that I missed...) I have all MLS Cups recorded (besides last years, look above) and watch them all the time, for some reason 1997 and 1996 in that order are the two most exciting to watch. The "feel" of it was like a big time game, what a final should come across as on TV, from pre-game, announcing, in game, etc...or maybe it was just because the field wasn't half sun/half shade?? So ya, MLS Cup felt the same as it has every year since 1998, pissed that it was on during the NFL so have to bring in a 3rd TV into one room so I can watch the game live, record it, and watch it again to make sure I didn't miss anything after the day of NFL action ends... liked that the Crew won, like them more than most teams, just glad "our" champions aren't named after an engergy drink and even more happy with the fact that I've never had to watch an MLS Cup with the ridiculous team name that is Chivas USA playing in the final. otherwise, same as always, move the game to later in the afternoon. or, just saying this for the sake of typing what I WANT to happen, have MLS Cup on Saturday Nights.
I thought it was a great broadcast. Love the announcing team now. Kudos to ESPN for the many improvements. I cannot, I repeat CANNOT recall them showing Osario every minute. From memory, he was shown less then ten times. So unless the MLS Cup was a ten minute game this year, I think whomever complained about that was just looking for a whine. As for Foudy, she's not the best analysist out there, but I don't really mind her. I also didn't get the feeling she was just tossing out hype modern cliches. For those who complain about appearances on TV, let me ask this question: would you rather have a sell out (and despite the appearance, MLS Cup was sold out) or have a jam packed stadium which has 5 to 7 thousand freebies handed out. For me, MLS makes more money selling all 27,000 tickets, which is better for the league. Anybody who watched that game and only came away with how it didn't look like a full stadium will never be a soccer fan, so let them complain. Having 7,000 freeby tickets tossed out there might look good, but that's money out of MLS's pocket. I thought that 98 MLS Cup looked bad on TV, because even with 55,000 in the stands it was still half-empty on the sky shots. But it didn't take away from that game. This was an exciting final. Would it have been a better game in Columbus? Atmosphere better, yes. Game better, I doubt it. When each team has a stadium, I think MLS would be stupid not to switch to home team there. But right now this format is not the end of the world. I'm beginning to think that maybe ESPN should move the Cup to an evening game now, on the ESPN networks. The ratings on ABC continue to be low, so I'm not sold that we need our final on a major network. .7 on network is a bad rating. .7 on ESPN or ESPN2 is not so bad. Saturday nights would be a tough ratings draw during college football. Maybe have it Sunday night. There's only one NFL game to compete with, and that's on NBC. Either way, Sunday afternoon on ABC isn't doing much, so that's one change I could get on board with.
My only problem with the final was the grass at the HDC. All season long MLS fields seem to be slick with the ball skipping around fairly fast. In the final the ball didn't roll smoothly. The grass seemed to be slowing it down quite a bit. Taking weird bounces off the grass instead of just rolling. Early in the game you saw several simple passes end up short because the field was playing slow. The field wasn't necessarily bad. By the end of the game many exciting plays had happened from passes that would have skipped out of bounds on the normal faster pitches. The problem was that it wasn't what I was expecting based on watching the rest of the season.