Turf? Dimensions? Who @#$#ing cares. I get sick and tired of watching qualifiers where the opposing team's fans outnumber ours. Host a qualifer in Portland against anybody but Mexico (that game should forever be in Columbus). Bring in bleachers for the south deck and open the entire stadium (raising capacity to around 25,000). Sell tickets in the following order: (1) Timbers Army season ticket holders; (2) ECS season ticket holders; (3) non-TA Portland season ticket holders; (4) season ticket holders of other MLS supporters groups; (5) public. That crowd would be incredible, and the advantage it would provide would more than outweigh whatever issues there are with the surface and the dimensions. Make it a supporters group party -- people would travel for that. It would be a hit.
Legion Field used to be on our Fed's list, hosted U.S. vs. Ecuador and a wcq vs Honduras iirc. It was THE Southern site, centrally located in the South and a terrific surface. We had great times there. Then that place went field turf. Our guys haven't played there since. It really is that simple to understand folks.
Portland (& Cascadia) has shown great support, no doubt, and deserve US games now & again. But, one day, people are going to look at a map of the united states, then a map of Europe, and think about the two before they post about putting more games on the left coast. I hope I live long enough to see that day.
I am with you. The advantages outweigh the disadvantages greatly and we need to reward our rabid fans in the Pacific NW and cultivate the sport in a positive manner. No one likes seeing other teams' jerseys out numbering ours in the stands during "Home" WCQ's. Temporary Grass could be put in place for a match every 4 years. No big deal in my book.
First, I agree with the first sentiment. Second, those of us that have been following our boys for some time now can probably tell you very vividly where they were when Tab Ramos hit a drive, that is still traveling, to beat the Ticos in Portland in '97 hex play. It was a tremendous display by the Portland folks and the PNW has earned more NT matches in anger. With the second part on the turf to be brought in, the obvious issue is cost. One that the Fed would likely feel ok with absorbing it to help Portland or Seattle but to then pass that cost on to us ticket buying fans. Being cheap as they are they look to skip all this type of issue and just play where the surface is already a non issue. It kinda is what it is.
There is no question the Northwest deserves a high end friendly but qualifiers should be played in stadiums with natural grass. Sorry, games that matter need to be played on natural grass.
With 64k coming out to see Kasey Keller's last match in Seattle. I think the USSF could find it feasible to laydown turf. Even if it was a $5 surcharge. That would easily cover the expense.
But will players play on it? Plus, Seattle is like DC once was in the early 90s/2000s. Very club over country. Will Sounders fans transfer their boner for Seattle to the USA if it's a game against, say, Haiti?
You mean people actually realize an extra 5 hours flight time (x2) matters to most of the Europe-based US national players? Oregon and the NW have displayed great support for the sport's growth and an off-season game on real grass makes sense, but otherwise northeastern or mid-Atlantic locations are far more convenient. If only the original Portland had a large enough stadium with natural grass.
If I remember right, my flight from Amsterdam to New York was 7 hours, while Amsterdam to Seattle was 10.
I think the utter lack of games here helps create that club-over-country mentality. The only games I can think of being played in Seattle over the past 10 or so years was a Gold Cup game which came right after the Confederations Cup so it was a C-type U.S. team and a couple of friendlies about 10 years ago. I think that if it were a World Cup Qualifier against Haiti, the support would be impressive. I know a lot of people didn't attend that Gold Cup game simply because it wasn't our A team (or even close). The attendances for those friendlies 10 years ago were pretty good (somewhere around 30-40,000 I believe). In terms of fan support, this part of the country definitely deserves big U.S. games and in my opinion would show up in significant numbers for them. I know that grass and distance from Europe are issues, but significant home-field advantage should be a check in the positive column as well. I still remember watching a qualifier against Costa Rica in Portland on TV in 1997 I believe and was completely blown away by the atmosphere and know that could definitely be duplicated either there or here for a big qualifier easily.
Both. It does exist but it's not to the level that many believe it is. There are still many here who are very into the national teams, myself included.
One thing to look at with DC is that their most popular supporter group, La Barra Brava, is Latin based. I'm not surprised that they are not big US fans. Ask them about club over country? They'd probably pick country, just not the US.
I went to the USA-Jamica game which was right before the El Salvador-Panama game this summer in DC. The El Salvador fans were clearly, vocally, behind the US team in the early game. I have no doubt they would have turned the tables if we had been playing them, but that's a different issue.
but the question is, would they spend money to attend a US match? One that wasn't paired with El Salvador.