United and Nationals will call RFK home

In case anyone doesnt already know, you can use bigsoccer@bigsoccer.com and bigsoccer1 as the pass to login to this to read the article.

 

"Our fan base, particularly our young fan base, I don't think has any interest in baseball."

Great KP quote.

 

Good article by Mr. Joseph White.

As Chico pointed out, it is amazing that a Chicago newspaper published the story. Even more amazing is that it was balanced and unbiased!

Great Kevin Payne quote!

 

I'm interested in baseball's eventual demise.

 

Its up on soccernet as well. Its a great quote from Payne, one that is probably true. I will be very interested in seeing what the demographics of the two fan bases are by the end of next season.

 

KP to baseball: "Eat my (positive youth demographic) shorts."

 

Why do these boards overwhelmingly assume--and KP, too (does that put him danerously close to the internet nuts?)--that if you like soccer you don't, can't, or shouldn't like baseball?

Granted, the stadium issues have pitted the two sports against each other for use of RFK, but there's nothing inherent in following United or soccer in general that prevents enjoying both--unless it's a limited amount of time to spend on sports (and I'd give just about everything else up first!). A local baseball team will be a great distraction during the week as I wait for the next United game to roll around on the weekend.

In fact, I know lots of DC United fans who are baseball fans and who are planning to go to Nats games. To a person, we're concerned about the field issues for United (I'll be livid if they don't get the infield conversion thing worked out right), but that doesn't mean we're not happy to see baseball in town. And it doesn't mean we won't continue to spend far too much time and money following United and following United around the country.

Maybe I'm way off here, but I don't think KP's too accurate on this issue in one regard. I think there will be a fairly sizeable number of DCU fans who attend some baseball games. But I do think he's right that it won't have that much affect on attendance at United games. A soccer game has much of the same event value that a football game has--you wait all week for it and plan to party around it. Baseball, played far more frequently and at a very different pace, is enjoyed much differently.

Over the last 9 years, DC United has jumped to #1 on the list of teams I support, but I think I'm far from alone in saying it doesn't keep me from being a fan of other sports. In fact--Go Wizards!!! (Washington, not KC!)

Flame away, baseball haters.

 

Watching baseball is like watching paint dry, very boring.

 

And you have never heard anyone say that about soccer?

 

See, that is what all my friends say about soccer. I am with PCC in wondering why the animosity? I am a sports fan, I love many different sports. As a kid, baseball was my favorite, as the years went by and I learned more and more aobut soccer, it replaced baseball.

I will say to you what I say to my non soccer friends, "If you are a sports fan and don't give this sport a chance, you are really doing yourself a disservice."

If you are just a soccer fan and don't care about other sports, that is cool. I just really hate the hater, whether it comes from baseball, football, or soccer haters.

 

I don't listen to soccer bashers. They tend to sound like Charlie Brown's school teacher.

 

I think a lot of it comes from the fact that most active opponents of soccer are huge baseball backers (see Jim Rome).

 

Looks like the NY Times gave the article some play also. It was on the NYT web site's front page (at least as of 7:30pm).

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/sports/AP-SOC-MLS-United-Baseball.html?oref=login

As far as Kevin's quote:

``I don't think our fan base is going to abandon us for baseball,'' Payne said. ``Our fan base, particularly our young fan base, I don't think has any interest in baseball.''

I think he's right on. For the most part baseball will not effect DCU's fan base and the younger DCU fans probably aren't into baseball too much.

He's not saying you can't be a DCU and baseball fan, just that in general there aren't a lot of DCU fans that are all that interested in baseball. You can count me in that camp.

It's not a hate thing, it's a I don't like watching baseball in general thing. However, I can respect the flip-side of that coin where some people just aren't soccer fans.

 

I thought that was the RFK PA system

 

Enjoy the grass trays guys. It worked great at Giants Stadium (*snicker*)

 

PCC in DC is 100% correct. If you are a soccer fan and can't accept/tolerate/be interested in other sports, then you are exactly the kind of people that people who make fun of soccer have in mind, when they make their statements.

 

This system using grass trays sounds different than the recent description of a system where some sort of grass carpet would be rolled over the field (or was it just the infield?).

Anyone know if this represents a change?

 

This still is the DC United forum on BigSoccer, right?

I've soured on baseball over the years. Greedy players and even greedier owners are destroying what has been our nation's traditional pastime. The same goes for football. Brooks Robinson once said that he would have payed to play because he loved the game so much. Ask A-Rod if he'd consider taking a pay cut or even playing for the money that Brooks made(correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it was around $20,000 a year). I was a baseball fan and played the game as a kid. I guarantee that those soccer bashers out there have never played the beautiful game and most have never actually been to a game.

 

Actually, A-Rod WAS going to take a pay cut to come to Boston last year, only to have it shot down by the players union. And I now thank them for having blocked the deal. Also, for the most part, my friends who bash soccer have played themselves at some point in their life.

 

You need new friends.

Why should I have to defend my passion for soccer on a soccer forum from baseball's apologists. Don't tell me you truly believe that I am somehow damaging the good name of MLS and soccer in general by openly stating my distaste for baseball. I wonder what the Nats fans have to say about DC United sharing their stadium? Again, screw baseball and the Nats. I only have to harken back to all those times DC United were pre-empted by a baseball game or worse, the Little League World Series to know exactly what the American sports media thinks of soccer. I could rehash all the other arguments against the Nats but its been done to death.