And... if there's ANYONE for whom this would be in their top 1000 of daily problems, it would be a COACH OF AN MLS TEAM IN CONTENTION FOR THE SHIELD. To find his concern "suspicious" says a hell of a lot more about you than it does him. This season is not "bogus." It's irregular. It's weird. But players still have to show up and play the games. They could have just wiped out the season altogether; they didn't. They came to work, despite the considerable risks to themselves and their families, many of which weren't/aren't fully understood. American soccer fans have something to watch because of them, even if they can't personally attend. To say what they're doing is "bogus" is, well, bogus. I'm willing to listen to arguments that the Shield shouldn't be awarded (even though I strongly disagree) because the schedule is so jacked up and uneven that it's hard to really quantify who the true best team is. But just dismissing the season out of hand because it's different is wrong.
Regarding the PPG issue, the top 3 teams currently all have a full slate of games scheduled to reach 23. Of course any of them or their opponents could have a COVID situation in the coming weeks, so nothing's certain, but there's a reasonable chance that the team atop the table on Nov. 8 will have completed the 23-game schedule with enough points to still be on top even if you gave every team with missed games 3 free points for every missed game.
It sounds like we agree. The players' efforts are not bogus. The sincere desire of teams to win is not bogus. The sacrifice and commitment of everyone involved at the labor level is not bogus--it's commendable. But the season, for the purposes of an award meant to honor the quantifiable best team--is bogus. A coach whose job it is to navigate different kinds of competitions that measure different things should be the first to acknowledge that. He's not mad because the decision was wrong. He's mad because he wanted to win it.
I'm not saying that it's bad that he wants to win the trophy. But just because he wants to win the trophy doesn't mean he's right. For a variety of reasons, some which could have been controlled and some which could not have been, the league couldn't deliver a season where the Shield could be legitimately awarded. He can be mad about it or pretend it's not true, but that doesn't mean we all need to.
The same logic could be applied to the playoffs. If this season isn't legitimate to determine the Shield, it isn't legitimate to determine playoff qualification and seeding, and the playoffs aren't legitimate to determine an MLS Cup champion. We can pretend they're all just playing friendlies, but that's not how the players and coaches are treating it.
Correct. So how to honor the players and coaches here in 2020. There is the story of the Gordian Knot where Alexander the Great, when presented with a complex situation that many others could not find a solution to, a knot said to be so unsolvable, he navigated around "how" the knot was to be undone and produced his sword, cutting that bad boy in half. Thus, no more knot. I'm not advocating to cut the Supporters Shield in half and give the MLS points winner half the Shield but here in 2020, an odd season might demand an odd solution. Perhaps stay the course with not turning over the legitimate Supporters Shield itself this one season, yet award some silverware to honor the team who is a legitimate points winner. Something from us supporters in MLS that does honor their commitment to the beautiful game. Or if anything, go purchase an old school ball and ink the MLS team's name on it. Something simple. The old school ball being symbolic of the traditions in the sport. Then the ball, literally, is in the players and coaches court. If they still want to stay on the situation then that will be on them, not us MLS junkies. Carry on Toronto.
There was no complex situation to solve until the Foundation created one. All they had to do was the default: award the Shield as usual. There would have been no uproar and everybody would have gone on with their lives not even noticing the Foundation's existence. Some people would probably place their own mental asterisk on this year's winner, but so what?
"We would like to be able to present our results no later than 12 pm PT on Thursday, but the sooner the better."
Correct. No lie there Apples. When the news dropped I found it difficult to believe that this issue came to such a pass. That the Foundation took themselves so serious. More so since 2020 has been so serious. But ya know, I notice in life that many folks I run into down at the watering hole, when we are watching all the screens, talking sports n shootin' the shit over pints, after siting there for a bit, one hears how they create their own situations in life more often than not. Bringing their own friends into some drama of theirs. My players back in the day used to say "I ain't about that life Coach!" Haha!
What i have been questioning so far.. is why the trophy needs to have a board or some such?. They pay for the storage of the trophy?, are they there so they can put the title in their twitter profiles? are they managing the excel spreadseet that holds the winners of each year?. I am at a loss
Oh you would be surprised who you run into with gals n dudes that turn up and claim to be some MLS die hard supporter. I am talking specifically on the people that literally just stumbled on soccer and all it's enjoyment. Which is good on them! Good on them for getting on board with the most dominant sport on the planet. However, their dive into pro soccer and their MLS fandom becomes their self identity. Then they get elected to their board. Start overcookin' the chicken at the tailgate by adding xls spreadsheets to the fun times.
It is now well past 1200 PT on Thursday, and we have yet to hear a result of this "vote" of the team ISC's. The cynic in me suggests that this is because the "vote" goes contrary to the position staked out by the SSF.
Speaking as a repeat member of the Rocky Mountain Cup committee, at first it was for fundraising and buying the cup, as well as promoting it. Now we do things like maintain the trademark (f you MLS), continue promoting the competition, pay for repairs of the Cup, and coordinate getting the Cup to events and such, and to the Rocky Mountain Cup games. The RMC is a fans trophy, so committee members for the team that is the current holders actually keep the Cup in their possession unless the team needs it for some reason. Due to multiple incidents where the Cup was damaged when left in the hands of non-committee members (I won't name names/teams) there's now a rule that a committee member attend any fan event where the Cup is requested. Up until this year we even handled transportation of the Cup between the cities but due to COVID the teams were willing to take it with them, Salt Lake took it to Denver and brought it back after the first game and then Colorado brought it back to Denver with them after winning it after the second game.
Not that much more confirmation is needed, but multiple sources tell The Inquirer that the Supporters' Shield will be awarded this season after all.Also confirming it are @Morgan_Hughes and the Red Patch Boys: https://t.co/Sxa0svXmY5— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) October 23, 2020
And yet that team's supporters possessed the Shield through 2002. EDIT: Fun fact, when they finally did surrender the Shield - just in time for the Supporters Summit just north of Foxborough, MA that year, it arrived with a new larger second base with a second plaque affixed to the back of the base. I remember getting a small jeweler's screwdriver from the hotel front desk and removing it in quick order as we got the Shield within a couple of hours of its official handover. I wonder who has that plaque. I'm sure someone grabbed it. I've got photos somewhere. I should look for those at some point
The original statement from the Supporters' Shield Foundation: There is nothing in there even remotely close to: "We had based our initial decision on the many schedule imbalances throughout the 2020 season."
I know they say all publicity is good publicity, but I'm not sure that applies here. It'll take some time to wash the stink off of this near-disaster. If it does help raise the profile of the Supporters Shield in the general soccer public, great - but the only folks I see that were up in arms (myself included) were those who already had bought in to what the SS stood for.