Not to mention Rio Tinto, and Toyota Park. I tend to think Vancouver will get it next year, if they want it. I believe the stadium can have a roof if the weathers too bad.
Look, I know this is he Quakes' board so there's bound to be tons of anti-LA sentiment here, but LA was the best team this year. Their making it to the final is no fluke like in'05. If they win it, they win it. RSL hit a few posts last night too. The ref didn't make them miss those chances.
LA is arguably the best team this year, and why shouldn't they be? The league is set up as a showcase for them and New York. (It's hardly surprising that their new player, Robbie Keane, debuted at the same game as our new #14, Edmundo Zura.) It's a testament to the league's ineptitude that it's taken so many false starts for LA to finally acquire superstar status. New York will get there too, maybe in a year or two, and the rest of us will have to resign ourselves to being part of the supporting cast, perpetual ladies-in-waiting to our league's royalty.
I think I'm finally coming to accept that. Which is why my interest in MLS is starting to wan. They're setting it up to be like the NBA where a few haves are the only ones who ever win and the small guys like us get squeezed out. If our destiny is to be the Warriors of MLS I have better things to do with my life.
If we are destined to be the Warriors of MLS it is because of what we fail to do as a franchise, not because of what LA is doing.
It's actually both in this "new" MLS. If LA isn't playing fair, which we know they're not, teams that would already start at a disadvantage like ours have no shot. I mean hell LA and NY are already at a big advantage based on location. Add in financial tinkering, and league gimmes and it starts to look more like the WWE than a real soccer league sometimes.
I'm going to be slightly controversial here and say that I'm glad that LA is doing so well this year. It's a sign of health for the league when well-run teams succeed, and LA is one of the best-run teams in the league. It's notable that the only stretch of time that LA has truly sucked has been when the team has had poor management, after Doug Hamilton passed on and the power vacuum was filled by David Beckham. Since they hired Bruce Arena and wisely gave him control, they've been excellent. I don't buy the conspiracy theories - it's always been pretty much out in the open, and conspiracy implies a hidden agenda. Yeah, MLS has made up rules that LA has been poised to take advantage of, but the opportunities are there for everyone to make use of. It's been clear from the beginning that the league business plan saw the need for cornerstone franchises, and LA has always been one. It's to their credit that they've managed to be (far more often than not) a model franchise - the anti-Red Bull, perhaps. And despite the presence of Beckham and Donovan, LA's success has as much to do with Gonzales, De La Garza, Franklin, Magee, Birchall, Juninho, Dunivant, Saunders...all of whom fall far short of DP status. LA drafts well, they get the most out of their veterans, and they make canny international signings - all things that the Quakes did well from 2000-2005, and which they don't do now (except for the draft - we've done well there). So I'm not upset that the Galaxy are in the final, and I won't gnash my teeth if they win the cup. I just want a good match. Maybe my animus to LA has been dulled by the decade I've spent living next to RFK, but this year's LA squad just doesn't get a rise out of me like previous versions did. It's not like they have Rafa Marquez, after all.
You're not controversial, clashcity, I agree with you and it's why I said it was good for the league. It's good because there will be more focus and attention to the final than otherwise would be (like if Colorado was in the final again). As stupid as it is, there will be more buzz about this game and positive coverage on ESPN because the league darlings are in it. With the NBA still locked out, MLS can capture more viewers. It will be a more entertaining game with LA there, no matter what the rabid antiGalactoids here won't admit. I support the league growing because in the end it will mean a stronger league and stronger following for the quakes. The Bigger LA gets, the more northern Californians will jump on board with us in our state rivalry. As much as people don't want to admit it, LA was the best team in MLS this year, and if they win the cup, it will be deservedly so.
The thing is that the Quakes CAN become one of the faves, if they wanted to. That is more frustrating than anything at this early stage of the league. It will get harder and harder as more years go by.
nay. I'm a USMNT -> MLS guy now .. To be honest, DB and LD are being showcased as a bunch of WINNERS My advise to LD is to retire from the Nats and not to go over to Everton unless they agree to play nice
I came over to this thread to say: "Thank the Goddess I haven't been following the MLS playoffs this year!" And then I saw all of this! And Seattle too! But yeah, the league invents and changes rules for the benefit of el-lay and NYJ. It's shit, and it makes it hard to watch those teams. Sadly, this is so. It's a message that MLS needs to get too. The promise of Single Entity is that the league be fair, but if some teams are allowed to flout the salary cap, while other teams are not allowed too, well that's just rigging games, isn't it? And do any of us doubt for a second that the Quakes at Shittle Kasey Keller Love Fest (tm) didn't have the ref playing for Shittle? The Flounders should have finished that game with only eight field players, but clearly the ref wanted them to win. Or last year's playoff match at SJ where NYJ were allowed to cheat pretty openly? Nonsense. It's true that we could do much better than we have been, we can certainly do better with what we have, and we could go out and sign a DP or two on our own. But there is still bias in the league. Certain players are almost never called for yellow or <gasp> red cards. Notice that fouling Donovan now draws a yellow card pretty regularly. (How about Narcissus rolling under Beta and Beta getting a red?) But when Narcissus played for us, he got fouled a ton and no calls. Notice that Lenhart and Wondo this year got thumped a lot, but you can't get away with thumping Henry, Donovan, or Montero can you? How many PK's were we awarded this season? How many red cards did we get that we should not have? How many GK's have been kicked in the head by a player who had no chance on the ball, where the kick drew blood, and the offending player got no card at all? That was last season, but it's the same deal. I root for the Nats of course, but for me, it has always been about the Club! So I'm glad I haven't been following the MLS playoffs, and I sure as hell won't watch the Cup. GOOOOO QUAAAAAAAAKES!!!!!!!!! #$%& el-lay!!! - Mark
Nonsense? Didn't Beckham lead the league in yellow cards? I seem to recall having the LA goalie red carded in the game at Buck Shaw. I saw Donovan get a yellow card a game or two ago that he clearly did not deserve. We only had two pk's this year. Last year five I think? We didn't often penetrate into the box with the ball on the ground this year. Not going to get many pk's knocking crosses into the box. The rest of your comments are your typical "we are a team of saints, while the rest of the league are a bunch of thugs" babble.
RSL under Kreis has done a pretty good job developing a club team that plays well!! Would you rather have a good young US player develop under Kreis or FY? Do you see my point?
I don't give a #$%& about Beckham, so I don't know if he led the league in yellow cards or not. I'll take your word for it. As for our guys being a bunch of saints, I don't buy that and I don't say that. Just one more thing that I blame Frank for. He has clearly told our guys to "play physical" in some matches. I don't think that's cool at all. I have complained about Leitch fouling players because he's lost a step or two. I've complained about Ramiro's tendency to make late tackles, again, because he's lost a step or two. I think that most of Ring and Cronin's yellow cards have been well earned. Same for Burling. Have I not criticized Frank for having the guys play "ugly, negative soccer?" By negative, I mean intentionally fouling the other team. Perhaps I have not made that clear. I believe that I have posted after a couple of games that I thought we got away with some plays that could have, or should have, been yellow cards. While it is true that we did not attack on the ground enough, especially in the box, and thus did not earn very many PK's, it is also true that we could have been awarded more than we were, and similarly, that we gave up at least a couple of PK's that should not have been called. Our team sucks. Mostly, I blame our coach and GM. But I also blame ownership for not spending more, and the refs for biased officiating. I blame the league for having screwed us blatantly in the past, but that's water under the bridge at this point. You're welcome to assume that I'm a paranoid crackpot or just a cranky old man or whatever. GO QUAKES!! FIRE FRANK!! - Mark
I see your point, and I hoist a pint in your general direction. I'd take Kreis, or a Kreis assistant over Yallop any day. Similarly, I'd take Colorado's Smith, or one of his assistants over Yallop. To be fair, I would probably prefer you to Yallop. GOOOOOOO QUAAAAAAAKES!!!!!!! FIRE FRANK!!! - Mark