Can stop all this Kraft bashing?!?

Excellent, then we both agree we can safely dispense with the rest of your post.

"A good man always knows his limitations." - Dirty Harry, Magnum Force

 

Don't forget football lines & turf issues.
As I've said before, I enjoy the matches at Gillette since it's live soccer, but it could be so much more....

 

The football lines were non-existent (at least that's how it appeared on TV) for Saturday's game, even with a Pats game the night before. Hopefully this is a non-issue going forward.

 

Good point. Give credit where credit is due. Field looked good. I haven't checked the schedules (nor will I) but there are usually issues with UMass Sat games followed by Revs with Patriots on Sunday. That and weather usually hamper there ability. I also heard there are less UMass games going forward.

 

Wow, you are right, I hadn't heard that.

UMass is playing 3 games at Amherst this year, and only 3 in Foxboro:

Aug 30th, 3pm vs Boston College (Revs away)
Sep 6th, 3pm vs Colorado (Revs play home Sunday)
Oct 18th, TBA vs Eastern Michigan (Revs away Thurs)

http://www.umassathletics.com/sports/m-footbl/sched/umas-m-footbl-sched.html

 

I'm guessing you've got some sort of financial investment in Patriot Place?
Because why all the focus about a shopping mall on an internet forum for a soccer team?

 

Brady on Pats crowd

http://www.boston.com/sports/footba...ady_sometimes_we_dont_have_a_great_crowd.html

 

Shhhh! We don't want NNNs _or_ KADs feeling vindicated.

I mean then we'd have to understand that all the NNNs wanted was for the owner to show _some_ sort of commitment to his team. They need to find the problems in signing JJ and the issues with the partnership with Sporting and loudly decry misery on BS. Isn't that all the NNN's live for?

And the KADs? We don't want them to point to any proof whatsoever that the team has been working on and has accomplished something right. They have to keep their heads in the overly optimistic, speculative cloud where they feed on hope, faith and implied professionalism in the Revs FO. Isn't that all the KAD's live for?

No? Funny how traction showing Rev's turnaround on and off the field soothes the masses. What do we do on BS now?

 

I was in Michigan in August, and I was looking up the Lions preseason game online. There was a button to "Get Tickets", so just out of curiosity, I clicked it. They had tickets available for $7 (I still didn't go). You can't even get into the parking lot of a Pats game for $7. You probably can't even get a beer at a Pats game for $7.

 

That, and trying to lure the rest of you out of that dark, dank hole of despair.

 

But we're all just unwilling passengers on a runaway train to doom and annihilation. Brief spasms of joy are only there to point out the total hopelessness of all human endeavor. Or something like that.

 

It's sad, I went to the Browns game last year and besides the long-suffering Browns fan I brought to the game, myself, and the two Korean War vets who sit in front of me who've been following the Pats since they played at Nickerson and Fenway, nobody else in my section was paying much attention to the game most of the time. Sacrilege, but a few bad years might weed out that crowd.

Back to the Revs, with all the strides taken recently, I got a harsh reminder how where the team sits locally two weekends ago at Quincy Market. The Roster store (where the team had an event earlier) only had 3 t-shirts and some scarves. I was told that was the leftovers from the event and they wouldn't be getting more in. Why? No demand. The large "World Soccer" store next door had zero Revs gear.

 

I was actually just at that soccer store today. They had a rack of Jones Revs t-shirts. Did you say something to them?

 

I'm gonna take credit, because I did tell the guy there it was pathetic they didn't have any local team gear.

 

I'm not here to bash the Krafts but I am curious as to what fans think of them as MLS owners (as opposed to any article written by a pundit). I value: 1. producing a team that challenges for winning championships, 2. supports a top notch atmosphere (which includes soccer feel in home stadium and fan connection to players) and 3. shows a willingness to attract and retain top talent (which directly influences 1 and 2).

Bob seems such an affable guy (except when he used Hartford), which is great, but over the course of 20 years, my quick gut reaction, is that the Revs deserve a B+, D and C- on these fronts, respectively, which puts him at around 2.0 or C overall. Do others feel this is fair? What grade would you give him?

Kraft is looking to find his soccer version of Belichick and Brady (and other leaders) -- and perhaps he feels he has them at this point -- that's his model for #1; #2 has NOT been a priority (he's much more concerned about keeping competition out of New England) and, while not the only thing that matters for this category, I don't know where the new stadium effort is at this point. #3 seems to be done only in a very measured, business calculated sort of way (which is probably very prudent but must hamper attraction and retention efforts so I felt that had to put him at a slightly below average rating). The highlight - Bob won big through the great draft talent acquisition when Nicol was coach (not sure who was responsible for these efforts). It's also looking bright now if the team can overcome its recent wave of injuries (I feel for Jay Heaps on this one).

If I didn't feel the Revs deserved a D for #2, I might have been a Revs STH for many years.

What grade do you give the Krafts and why? If your criteria is different than mine, please share what it is.

 

I am unsure what you mean by "that;" please clarify.

If you are asking what is my question, another way I could re-ask it is: What do you think of the Krafts as owners of the New England Revolution and what is the basis for your assessment? Please elaborate on your criteria if you use ones that are different from the ones I listed.

I noodled on this question myself because I was thinking about why I "like but not love" the Revs especially since I am very fond of live soccer.

If you are asking what is my overall assessment of the Krafts, I would call them average MLS owners (not bad but not great either) and that impacts how much I choose to support the team. The Revs experience is only partly compelling so I go up to half a dozen games per year. If I felt the experience was more compelling and that ownership had demonstrated a real commitment to improving the stadium situation over the past two decades, I may have become a season ticket holder at some point.

 

But they get an A+ for their off-season acquisitions, since they signed a guy who used to play for the club and retained "almost all of" the starters from MLS Cup.

 

The somewhat lacking game atmosphere at Gillette continues to loom larger. The crowd last night in Yankee Stadium was fantastic. That club looks like it's walking in at the Seattle level. I watched a bit of the Portland-Gals game afterward and Portland's game atmosphere is so good it makes you want to cry. In a lot of places, MLS games are becoming the coolest ticket in town. I've got a feeling 2015 is going to be a year where the traditional sports media clamps onto the topic of "What is going on with these awesome MLS crowds?" Can't say for sure, but I think the story of MLS this year will be it's now a grownup pro sports league. The Revs, DCU and Chicago are forming the rear guard. The recent on-field success has bought Kraft some time, but at some point he's got to recognize his organization lags well behind the rest of the league in terms of stadium and game experience. And when I say "recognize," I mean that he fully grasps the problem and takes action to correct it. Applying lipstick to the Gillette pig won't get it done.

 

I just had trouble following what you were saying because it read

Ha ha! Touche! I just got confused trying to understand your post.