Yesterday's Fire-Burn match was the first one I've enjoyed all year - largely because I felt the teams were playing for something (the Brimstone Cup), even if perhaps the Brimstone wasn't actually on the minds of the players. The preposterous playoff qualifying system that has squelched any competitiveness out of the regular season has rendered almost every MLS game toothless. At least the Brimstone game had something on the line. The lack of intense comptetion between MLS teams has slowed the development of rivalries. What's to fight over when everybody who's anybody wins? Does anyone see any other rivalries in MLS as being worthy of its own Cup a la Brimstone? If so, what would the Cup (or trophy or whatever) be called?
SJ-LA could play for something....the California Cup or what have you. The LA games were always my favorite of the year when I lived back in the Bay Area, and I think there is a good understanding among casual fans that the game means a little more than normal. The NorCal-SoCal thing carries over to all other sports too, which definitely aids the cause
so why wouldn't the metros get involved to create a cup? what, giving the rivalry a cup might make it more meaningfuL? can't wait for this excuse
If you only catch one MLS game a year, this should be it - definitely the marquis matchup of the league. Every game a classic.
Because its retarded to create a cup. I dont need no silly cup to tell me this is an important match against our biggest rival. It cheapens the whole thing. I think the Brimstone Cup is great, but once you start making a cup for every rivalry it just loses its luster.
i don't think the notion of a cup for every match-up is going to ever be the standard but primal rivalries will be... call it something other than a cup... hell, the losing team's fans could get a trashcan full of whatever the winning team's fans want to put in it... and they have to pick it up at the opposing team's stadium and return it to a dumpster at their own but they give something for the casual fan to take note of, it builds the history before they find out... when they take note of the cup, it's been going on for awhile and has something to draw them... increased rivalry it's not just for you, it's for others and it can be a great thing to draw them in... make it special and it will be...
We have the Southern Derby in the A-League, Charleston, Charlotte, and Atlanta. As for the MLS having cups...I think it is kind of cool. It is just one of the many parallels I can draw with soccer and college football. Almost every rivalry game has a trophy associated with it, and it makes the game even more improtant. The Little Brown Jug, The Stanford Axe, The Paul Bunyan Axe, The Old Oaken Bucket, etc. Maybe they should come up with things like that, other than cups?? Back in the late 1970's, my Alma Mater, Appalachian State, started a trophy with arch-rival Western Carolina, the Old Mountain Jug, and it has come to symbolize the rivalry. I do think it cool, though, that 2 cities, Dallas and Chicago, which would otherwise have nothing in common have managed to generate a rivalry based on their team names.
i think that idea of cups is nice???... but you really need that to make a beautiful rivalrie???.... rivalries are made in decades of games... and the best rivalries are the ones who involves the best 2 eams in the history of the league.... look: river - boca.... real - barça... etc... somethimes the rivalries are great when 2 teams from the same city clash for the victory... well we won't see that soon in MLS...
Not being able to instantaneously fabricate decades of history, though, we need something else. The college football example - every team has one or two big rivalries, and many of those games end up getting names and/or cups. The Brimstone Cup seems to have established itself relatively well in the minds of fans of those teams. Other rivalries are forming naturally. If the fans aren't emotionally invested, the "Cup" is contrived and wierd. If the fans care, the supporters' groups will create something, and the league and message board pundits are better served staying out of the way. Let the league run MLS Cup, and the fans can worry about anything else.
Nope. It is one both teams created. That would be the teams, not the fans. Your Metro has just as much blame as United in this farce.
Incorrect sir. If BS did not crash I would be able to dig up the threads that proved this. Either Way: 1. I think it's ludicrous to have Rivalry Cups when there are only 10 teams in the league. 2. If it's done at all it should be the fans and not the teams (ie Chi v Dal)
The Metros didnt even know about the cup. They knew about it at the same time it was announced and all the Metro Fans complained because it said that the Cup was named and created by BOTH teams Fans. Which was untrue because the only poll up was at DCU.com.
No he's right. That's why I am hoping the NY Team for 2003 is not called the Cosmos but is called the NY Water Hydrants. You see then the Water Hydrants and the Fire would have the bestest rivalry there is.
Cups for rivalries are ridiculous. They imply that the two clubs are working together to keep the competition going but rivals should never cooperate. The only Cups I want Metro and DC to compete against each other in are the MLS Cup and the US Open Cup. The ESC doesn't call it anything.
Then how come the press release announcing the cup was given to me on MetroStars letterhead at the US/Jamaica : Metros/AC Milan doubleheader?
It implies nothing of the sort. The Brimstone Cup was created by and for the fans of the two teams. The officials at the club had nothing to do with its creation. Any reference to it at the club level or above is due to the fact that the fans make a big deal out of it, its a damn nice looking cup and we enjoy the heck out of the rivalry not to mention the teams play some damned exciting games against each other. Plus neither team has sucked eggs for an entire season like the Metros and DC have. You don't see many folks lining up for rivalry games with the Cincinnati Bengals. Fans of the teams dictate rivalries. Not team management. That's what happened with the Brimstone Cup. I have no clue who created your Atlantic Seaboard Cup - my guess is Nick S has his pawprints on this one.
Actually, the rivalry is based on the fact that each team's fans hates the other team with the heat and intensity of a thousand burning suns based on what's happened in prior matches. Team names are irrelevant. Actually, that's not true. They're relevant in that it provided a pretty good basis for the name.
DC fans voted for the name, neither the Metro organization or the fans had anything to do with it. The reason it was on Metrostars letterhead probably was just because the Metro decided to go along with it. Once one team names a rivalry something, its kind of hard for the other team to all of a sudden call it something different.