It has been suggested in another thread and deserves its own thread. BRING BACK JOE CUMMINGS!!! Put a real soccer administrator back in charge of the Revos. The Ringmaster would probably be thrilled to be able to concentrate soley on the Patsies again. Cummings was the Revos Assistant GM when they did things right off of the field. He left the Revos when he couldn't stand Zenga's nonsense anymore, showing the courage to take a stand against the lunacy. He won executive of the year twice in WUSA, running a successful operation in a floundering league, while getting the team turned around this past season winning the regular season title. BRING BACK JOE CUMMINGS!!! IT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO!
I'd like to see it as well, but would he take the job if it was offered? Also, since our current GM is essentially an assistant GM as Nicol/Sunil make the player decisions, where would he fit in?
He would be more in the Brian O'Donovan type role of a GM if he were to return, dealing with the off-the-field stuff, while leaving the player acquisition issues to Nicol and Gulati, etc. It's funny how in the O'Donvan years, the Revs tended to do these things right, but BOD was considered lacking in the "GM" sense in the traditional definition of the job. He was more of a business manager, not a "soccer guy." Joe is probably more of a soccer guy than Brian, but his strengths are more in the orgainzational areas. He was in charge of soccer at the Atlanta Olympics for the Birmingham, Alabama games before coming to the Revs and Breakers. They could do a whole lot worse than to put the Pats people back doing the stuff they do best (and care about most), and put Joe in charge of the business end of soccer. Tom
Joe has said to me on a number of occasions that he would never have left the Revs if he had know that BO'D was going to step down. What he wanted was to be a GM, and he thought Brian would stay on, so he left. The question is, will the Krafts hire him back? They're not exactly known for re-hiring people who have flown the coop once. Hopefully, they'll grab him while he's available.
Joe is also currently responsible for the Boston and Philadelphia venues for the Women's World Cup. He was at the Philly volunteering orientation on saturday, and seemed to be a pretty bright and friendly guy. (I was actually suprised that a Philly Charge person was not involved in running the WWC in Philly).
Joe's a class person and true professional. Best of all, he's got no ego and is a true team player. Having a guy like Cummings around would only serve to embellish the organization. It would go without saying that I'd like to see him come back. And, long as we're about doing reunions, bring back Rick Faubert, too. He played a part in why the Revs had plenty o' fannies in the seats back in the day.
"They're not exactly known for re-hiring people who have flown the coop once." Well, Renato's one, but he's about the only one I can think of. Rick Faubert would be welcome as well - he was actually handing out Breakers information at a Revs match this year... .... but the Revs have to try and make some play for Cummings, and add me to any list endorsing that effort. The guy knows soccer, he's had a good relationship with Revs faithful in the past... and the guy just gets results. Thing is from what I know of Joe, my guess is that while he's currently engaged in activities associated with the WWC, he's also probably thinking of ways to bring back WUSA and the Breakers. The Magpie
Renato left when Rongen was fired, but ended up in San Jose when the Krafts owned the Clash/Quakes. After the Krafts pulled out, Renato was eventually gone. So technically he never really left the Krafts of his own volition while he was in their employ, unless you count when he briefly stepped aside when Rongen was canned. Don't know what any of this would have to do with Joe Cummings returning. I just doubt that he'd want to return under the present setup. If the Ringmaster bounced back to Patriots-only duty, then the Krafts might be able to recruit him back. Would he return without being able to have his own real soccer staff to work with? Would the Krafts be willing to hire a real soccer staff again? Unfortunately, the answers are probably NO and NO. The chances are better that some other MLS team that wants to do things correctly would jump in and grab Joe, and that would be a wise move on their part.
From this article: On soccer: Cup holders fight to focus By Damian Vega Sunday, September 21, 2003 http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/sports/columnists/scolvega09212003.htm "If the team is looking, Joe Cummings could be in the running to be the Revs next general manager. Currently, the Revs are under the watchful eye of Chief Operating Officer Lou Imbriano, who oversees all business aspects of the Revolution. The Revs have no GM, but head coach Steve Nicol oversees personnel decisions. Most recently, Cummings was the GM for the WUSA's Boston Breakers. In that capacity, he was twice named Executive of the Year. Before joining the Breakers, Cummings -- an Upton native -- was the GM for Mass. Pro Soccer/Boston Renegades (1999-2000). Prior to holding that post, he was the Revs Director of Operations from 1996-1998 before becoming assistant GM for one season." I would not be surprised if Cummings is trying to find a way to bring back the WUSA and the Breakers. There are rumors from the last few days suggesting that the league may have found some investors to help bring it back in the near future. Of course, that remains to be seen. From what I've heard and read about Joe Cummings, he'd be a great asset for the Revs organization. He's familiar with the area from his days with the Revs, Mass Pro Soccer and the Breakers. I believe Craig Tornberg is currently listed as Assistant GM (along with another title) even though we are operating with no GM at the moment. Renato Capobianco is Director of Soccer Operations and I imagine he is involved with personnel decisions with input from Nicol and possibly Gulati. As far as how Gulati and Imbriano are or aren't involved and how all the job responsibilities are divided, I won't even try to guess. There certainly are some things to sort out if Cummings would like to return. I think he'd be a good fit for the team, but it does depend on how much control falls to Gulati and Imbriano. If he came in and his hands are tied, nothing will change. He would need to be given some freedom.
That's damning with faint praise. Joe is familiar with the area because he raised his family here. He coached youth, high school, and college soccer. He started the Soccer Scene club in the late 80's (IMO the best run premier league team in Massachusetts. I believe it morphed into Post Road Soccer.) He spent some time on the NSCAA board. He was venue director for Birmingham during the '96 Olympics. More recently, he was the venue director for the "Champion's League summer vacation" stop in Foxboro. There's not much on the organizational side of soccer that he doesn't know, or, more importantly, doesn't know someone that does know it very well.
My view is that this year has been an attempt to do it the "Imbriano" way - a dismal failure at the box office, any way you look at it. It seems like Gulati is just a "consultant" at this point (and for the soccer side rather than the business side), so whether he stays or goes probably doesn't change much. If the Krafts stay with Imbriano, things will only get worse. Need they look any further than the "Netside Terrace" farce to understand that? If the Krafts are looking for a way to boost ticket sales (and I can't believe they aren't), hiring Cummings take over that role from Imbriano would be an exciting possibility - IF he is given the tools (budget) to do the job. This is a pretty critical time for the Revs business. The on-field product is pretty darn good, regardless of wins and losses. They have a first-class facility that's crying out for some energy and excitement. They have a great target audience that they been allowing to slip away season after season. It would seem to be imperative to stop this decline NOW. There's no time left to give Imbriano another chance to prove that he has a clue about marketing soccer. Cummings knows soccer. He knows the Revolution. He knows the Kraft organization. He knows the Boston and NE community, media, etc. He knows MLS. How could you find a better guy for the job?
My bad, somehow I lost a few words from my post. I'm well aware that he had ties to the area and to soccer going beyond the Revs, Breakers and Mass Pro Soccer. Thank you for filling people in properly.
Just some quick figures to check out. Interesting to see the massive drop-off in attendance between 1998 - 1999 seasons. 2003: Record of 7 wins, 9 losses, 9 draws Total home matches: 12 games played out of 15 total home games Total home attendance: 186,519 to this point Avg. attendance: 15,543 to this point 2002: Record of 12 wins, 14 losses, 2 draws Total home matches: 14 Total home attendance: 236,973 Avg. attendance: 16,927 2001: Record of 7 wins, 14 losses, 6 draws Total home matches: 13 Total home attendance: 203,501 Avg. attendance: 15,654 2000: Record of 13 wins, 13 losses, 6 draws Total home matches: 16 Total home attendance: 247,409 Avg. attendance: 15,463 1999: Record of 12 wins, 20 losses Total home matches: 16 Total home attendance: 267,752 Avg. attendance: 16,735 1998: Record of 11 wins, 21 losses Total home matches: 16 Total home attendance: 307,004 Avg. attendance: 19,188 1997: Record of 15 wins, 17 losses Total home matches: 16 Total home attendance: 342,762 Avg. attendance: 21,423 1996: Record of 15 wins, 17 losses Total home matches: 16 Total home attendance: 304,392 Avg. attendance: 19,025
Feel like getting it on record. 1. He coached Algonquin Regional High School (too bad I hadn't "discovered" soccer yet when I was there) 2. He ran the best summer soccer camp my son ever attended. Too bad he had to shut it down. MLS camps and Mass Pro Soccer Camps don't hold a candle to what he offered. 3. Once, during his tenure with the REVS, I was returning from a business trip and landed at Logan at about the same time the REVS were taking off. My sister, who was waiting to pick me up, noticed the team and introduced herself as a Season Ticket Holder to Joe. By the time I landed, he was waiting to greet me and taking me around to introduce me to all the players! 4. Once when making a particularly frustrated post to these boards (or it could have still been a mailing list at that time), my phone rang a few hours later. Guess who was on the other end looking to discuss the post. Hey Joe, are you lurking out there? He certainly seems to live and breath soccer. He also seemed to live and breath REVS when he was in the Krafts employ. He is a class act and I hope he finds something better to do than return to this organization.
I coached at his camp in the summer of 1981. I'll join the chorus to say that Joe is a genuine good guy and knows the game, and the business. He would be an asset to the Revs. Tom
After reading these posts I can not see why Mr. Cummings would be interested in joining the present Revolution management setup, unless it was simply to have a job. How would those in present Revolution management really feel about bringing someone into the fold that can do their jobs so much better than they can do? Unless the Krafts decided to put Mr. Cummings in charge of the entire soccer operation, it is not something that is likely to work. It is something that they should consider given the direction that the organization appears to have taken.
And a dropoff of almost 5000 in 2 seasons, which has NEVER returned! The peak attendance was probably when the Revs crowd was a multi-ethnic affair. They subsequently lost the respect of the foreign-born fans, who, for the most part, haven't come back even though the quality of play has improved tremendously.