The Wizards should have been fined many times over the years for playing such boring soccer. But this is just lame.
And the Wizards finally got some tolerable kits too, now if they could only do something about that name and logo.....
This from a league who has games played in Dragon Stadium. OH yeah, but white shorts! That's much harder on the eyes!
Doesn't the league office have better things to do with their time? Maybe lending a hand to get the Metros out of Giants stadium of the Quakes out of San Jose. How about working on selling the league to the media? Cut out this petty crap and focus on the real issues!
they did the same thing in the NFL a couple of weeks back to the Denver Broncos for wearing the wrong color pants. The NFL is notorious for being stringent about uniform codes, MLB is making a feeble attempt to do the same thing.
What does it matter if the two teams can be told apart? Like someone said before, doesn't the league have better things to do? Also, with SEM doesn't this money basically go to the league anyway? What if the Wizards didn't pay it? The league would still get the money, right?...or maybe wrong, just a thought
I would venture to say that this is more to keep teams from wearing different stuff every game. The teams probably have a home kit and road kit turned into the league at the start of the year and they have to wear that unless they get permission ahead of time. I think the bigger question is why do any of the teams wear the same color on jersey, shorts and socks...how bad does that look!?!?!?
In the NFL with the Broncos it was different. San Diego asked the Broncos to wear their dark jerseys, because it was going to be hot in SD and they wanted to be able to wear their whites. Since San Diego was the home team, they could do that. The Broncos, however, showed up in SD with only their whites, necessitating the Chargers wear their dark blue jerseys. So, the Broncos double-crossed the Chargers to gain an advantage. The Wizards fine, however, involved no such thing. Just stupid policy. Really dumb.
Photo's at Andy Mead's site: http://www.ibiblio.org/footy/2003/1004_kc_col_ycj.php Both Colorado and the Wizards were wearing the same color shorts. That's a no-no. The referee's need different color shirts, shorts, and socks to better call the game. Speaking as a referee myself, I've found that it does help. It's somewhat implied in Law 4 in US Soccer's advice to referee's (http://www.ussoccer.com/templates/includes/services/referees/pdfs/Advice2001.pdf) and should be spelled out in the competition guidelines (I couldn't find the ones for MLS). It's generally ignored at the rec level, but enforced at competitive levels.
This is ridiculous! In some piddly little tournament called the World Cup teams have worn the same color shorts. How about when Paraguay's change kit was a burnt orange, with white socks and shorts, and they played Spain who wore red jerseys with dark blue shorts and socks? The jersey colors were pretty close, even if it was different from the waist down. That was a lot worse than the Rapids and Whizzers wearing white shorts. If anything, they should have made Colorado bring their black shorts. I saw KC a couple of weeks ago in blue with the white shorts vs LA, and I thought it looked a hell of a lot better than the all-blue look. MLS needs to get a life. Spend your energy on something worthwhile, like referee training courses. Tom
Whatever. Those photos make it patently obivious that the colors woudl make ZERO difference in trying to call or play the game. MLS teams could be lit up like the Midnight Cowboy and the refs are still going to call the random games they always do. GOD forbid a team try and mix their colors up and break up the monotone solid darks v solid whites we are treated to every frigging game. Exactly - the same organisation that green-lighted the move to Dragon stadium is now concerned with the aesthetics of blue jersey and white shorts. NO team in the league wears a dark jersey and white shorts - who can they be confused with. Everton?
http://www.ussoccer-data.com/docfile/MLShb03.pdf The handbook is there. I couldn't find the "matrix" but it clearly says that they get a grid at the beginning of the season and get an update with their game guide. It's not like things like this are MLS-specific. All leagues do this. In fact, I'd say MLS is probably one of the least restrictive based on reports of fines in the NBA and NFL. The switch wasn't that big of a deal, but I don't see why enforcing a rule should cause such consternation.
I think it was more an issue of both teams wearing white shorts, and MLS having told KC to wear blue, and not any asthetic sense that is the issue here. Hopefully, KC will try next year to make blue shirts, white shorts their No. 1 kit, and then we'll see if MLS has an asthetic problem. If they do then , screw 'em...
So shouldn't you all email MLS headquarters and tell them how stupid their decision was?? After all, they keep saying "Its your game." Then again, these clowns in suits don't know *#*#*#*# about the game, so i have no faith in that they'll listen to people that actually do. What a stupid fine!?!?
The actual matrix is on page 73 of the manual that Monster provided. And in typical MLS fashion, even they don't have it right. According to the manual, the Metros wear red socks with their white shorts/jerseys for all away games. I have never seen this combo, but maybe a Metro fan can verify if they have ever worn something other than all-white. Also, it says the Revs are in blue socks with their blue jerseys and shorts, when they haven't worn that since 2001. The whole thing is too silly for it's own good. As long as there isn't a color clash, let them wear whatever. Tom