well..you do know the academies the MLS teams have are for the MLS teams..this is just an brand trying to be a team and for them to have free academies when they have not that much revenue..its pretty big. agudelo and josey..both guys from the RB academy..playyed their soccer in NJ. Now i give a lot of credit to NJ because they have a history of producing top players, but where are the kids from actual nyc or even nassau and westchester? the city with millions of people.. not one made it through the big time? that is where the cosmos come into the picture in my eyes. i think the cosmos have a good backbone in the scouting dept. gio with the player development and the knowledge of the american game. and dont forget cobi, who also has a deep knowledge of the american system and game..these guys arent idiots and saying they are going to play with just homegrown and a couple DPs. you dont think they would have tryouts for the team if this actually comes to fruition?
again. i fully understand that any Cosmos MLS team will have more than academy players and DPs but i don't get the sense that fans or some key people (Cantona) understand that fact. and that makes me wary of them as an MLS ownership team. the history of MLS is littered with arrogant ownership groups or manager/coaches who came in and thought they were geniuses who knew "better" than the MLS did about how to play soccer, train youth players, succeed in MLS and more often than not they were dead wrong and fell on their faces. approaching this thing with "we are the Cosmos, we know everything about soccer and our ways will revolutionize this whole peasant MLS thing" is the wrong way to approach it. both by the fans and by the team. i get that overwhelmingly from the fans and i get a more subtle version of that from many (not all) of the FO/Organzations people. is that just the ignorance of the people they have out speaking to the media to create buzz? perhaps. is it a harsh lesson they will learn and deal with? maybe. is it just true arrogance that will cause them to be utter MLS faiures (ahem, paging Rudd Gullit)? could be.
Who cares what the Neutral thinks? They don't decide anything, you place too much importance on this segment of fan. The Cosmos needs to concentrate firstly on NYC fans before it even takes into consideration what a neutral thinks.
The STadium is the biggest ? - I mean not to say they cant get their deal done but to get it done by 2013. Fraga said "our plan to date is to be ready by 2013" and we all know how impossible that sounds. However, I dont know enough about building stadiums and stuff to know how much work can be done behind the scenes (as they are implying a lot of the work is being done behind the scenes) Its going to be fun to see them try to get that stadium built by 2013. Seems damn near impossible but with the Citys backing, they are talking it so I am going to let them prove they can. As for the Videos guys - i emailed the guy who posted them and asked he number them
You are right and absolutely sincere with us, Nick. But what is the alternative, the plan B ? What is your opinion ?
Fabio - you always ask this but listen to what he said. Right now there is no plan B - they are focused on Plan A - lets see them do it! If there needs to be a Plan B - they will figure it out - but they always told me they have no intentions of playing in Jersey - they want to start in their new stadium.
aah - ok Ok well they asked about stadium and even plan B - other venues - the answer was something to the form of "the plan right now as it has been going is to be ready by 2013 in our own stadium" Going to be fun to see how they make it work. If they can pull that off - feckin a.
I think this assessment is right on the money, including your skepticism about playing from day one in their own SSS. And I do think that it is just awesome that the academies are free and that they seem serious about scouting talent. I mean, running two free Cosmos academies, beyond being the right thing to do, also demonstrates their seriousness about MLS. If my purchase yesterday of a cosmos warm up jacket in a small way helps fund that effort, I'm all for it. And believe me, I hate being a target audience for some marketing wiz, and own very little in the way of football gear, but if my purchase is helpful to what they are trying to achieve, a feel good about it.
Honest question: Why are you guys (and gals...maybe) so excited to see a rebirth of the Cosmos franchise? I don't want to sound like an ass or come across as arrogant...I'm genuinely curious. The Cosmos that you all loved are long gone and will likely never be again. What you may get is an MLS team named Cosmos...but what does that leave you with? I guess what I'm failing to understand is how a team that was "larger than life" for a brief moment in time can hope to reclaim any of that sentiment in a league that is actively constructed to work against such a thing from happening again? Like it or not, the Cosmos name will only go as far as the league...and MLS has a long way to go before it can capture (and more importantly, hold) the world's attention. What is the end game here?
You can ask that question to the supporters of the sold out seats in Vancouver, Seattle and Portland. And 3 DPs is essentially what the Cosmos were.
Personal reasons - and I can not speak for ALL on the board but myself and others - its just about a team in New York City proper - hopefully ideally in Queens. But yea - we started this movement way before the Cosmos movement when we thought Wilpon would do a team and call them like METS FC or something.
Personally, I just want a team in New York City. That's all this has been about for me for 3 and a half years now. the Cosmos look like the most likely, and their history in this region for me is just icing on the cake. But I'd be just about as excited if it were the New York City Crew playing in an SSS as the Cosmos. The Cosmos name just add a little extra cache for me, but their organization keep showing me that they are the best situated to get this done and that they have their hearts in the right place.
This was a good Q&A session. Thanks to the BB for organizing. Good turnout despite the crappy weather. Mon da Mos! My impression of the meeting was that there were a few good nuggets of info. These guys are serious. It is good that this meeting attracted "soccer specific professionals", this gives more legitimacy to what the Cosmos are working to create. Thanks QN for putting up those videos quickly, that should keep the naysayers at bay for about a 5 hours.... A lot of "feel good" came out of this meeting and rightly so, but this is gonna diminsh. A vacuum of information will form again. Expect QN to have to defend the Cosmos by saying the same sh*t to different posters (Update the NYCFC FAQ please!). My question is this Is the front office willing to have another "town hall" meeting in say 6 months, where the Cosmos front office can provide us with updates on their progress/or lack of progress?
we have discussed doing that kind of event like twice a year or something - nothing set in stone yet but that is the goal
I just want a team in the NY area that didn't have ownership that erased my former team from the league. I really don't care if they are the Cosmos , Mets SC or any other team name.
Bravo Nick. The important Aspect isn't the name ( Cosmos, NYCFC, International etc ), but to have a true NYC soccer team !!!!
Just to throw my 2 cents into this... I want the Cosmos to come back simply - as you state - because of the fond memories I have of being a Cosmos fan back in the day. They were my first introduction to pro soccer, and the team that converted me to following the sport, even after the league folded. As a Red Bulls fan now and forever - let the boos and jeers begin - I look forward to the derby. I think the rebirth of the Cosmos will have a positive effect for both teams in the area. There will be shades of the Giants vs Jets, the Yankees vs Mets, etc. I think they can only have a positive effect on the league, especially if they are competitive. As another poster wrote, I don't think it would matter if the NYC2 team came in under another name, but if you are from NY and remember the days of the NASL, then you can't deny the cache the Cosmos name still carries. True, they will not be the superstar club of old, and will be constrained by the same rules as everyone else in MLS. That's where we will see how savvy their front office is as far as bringing in the right DP's, identifying bargain internationals (ala Lindpere, Solli, Tainio, etc.), and bringing along their own homegrown stars (ala Ream & Agudelo). MLS as currently set up does limit teams from running too far ahead of the pack, gives everyone a basically equal chance to field a winner, and creates a parity not seen in any of the big leagues throughout the rest of the world. It will be interesting to see how Cosmos management and eventually coaching / scouting staff fares in this restricted environment. It may only be for nostalgia's sake that I really want NYC2 to be the Cosmos, but thinking about them being that team rather than some other name holds much more excitement for me. Just my opinion.
I can certainly understand NYC fans wanting a team that's not in NJ, and I agree with previous posters that the two teams would be great for the league and the sport as a whole (after all, it would be the first true NYC/NJ rivalry in sports), but I have a question: If the Cosmos name has such a cachet from the NASL, and the vast majority of the fans became those fans while watching them play in New Jersey, how does that translate to such a jones for a team that specifically does NOT play in New Jersey? I.e., how does "Cosmos" translate to exclusively NYC? And yes, I know that the Cosmos played their early games in NYC, but I also know that they were usually ignored there, and until they started playing in the Meadowlands.
It's not the Cosmos specifically that's the driving force, it's that any team in NYC proper is the point. The Borough Boys predate the Kemsley project by at least two years, IIRC. So basically, if there was some other group that was making this much noise but they were simply "New York City FC" or something, I suspect it'd be the same as far as support goes. Amongst the non-casuals like those who peruse BigSoccer, anyway. It's just that the current "Cosmos" share the same vision as the Sons of Ben-like group that already existed in NYC, which is an MLS expansion team in the city.
Some people don't believe in coincidences... Anyway, one of things we'd have to gauge once a proper team is established in NYC is whether the Spanish-language media would pay more attention to than to the Red Bulls so far. Sixteen years and the Bulls are still heard on one AM station and none of the Spanish-language FMs have jumped on board. If the Cosmos are truly reborn they should have an even-better radio signal, I would think.
I dont think the cosmos name alone would mean FM radio or more media coverage or more rating andll more media attention... I thinks MLS as a whole and soccer USA Soccer as a whole has to continue to still fight the ANTI SOCCER MEDIA ESTABLISHMENT.... its better than it was in 1996 but there is alot of work still left to be done........there is still alot of work to get done to trully be accepted... MLS can enjoy right now the fact that they are over taking the NHL they just still have to work more not to over take any one else in just getting accepted 100%.... on a side note i could care less what the name of a NYC team is I just want a MLS NY team that has its own identity a logo to wear proudly and a image not related to a shipping company or a beverage or mc donalds or a junk food item... I want to support a team with its own image regardless who the owners are I dont want to support a product that the owners of a club sell and then double insult me by renaming the team after their stupid product... enough is enough............
If people know Wile off the boards - he is very tough to convince - especially when it comes to a team in the City. That being Said - Wile - did you give your thoughts on the event? All have seen your....well....colorful thoughts on the Cosmos group.
Are the Devils/Rangers and Nets/Knicks not real rivalries? Especially in both cases as the North Jersey based teams have had more recent success than the Manhattan based ones (though not this season for each). The Sons of Ben happily support a team that does not play in its namesake city. The Borough Boys specifically do not do that.