I guess i have a good BS filter, because if you're good at doing the math and you read the whole (long) article, I think thet's the conclusion you come to: 1 - Guy who ripped up local Latino leagues struggles to get time in MLS 2 - Carlos Ruiz plays on the team 3 - Local Latino leagues believe Colin Clarke is a racist Don't #1 and #2 contradict number 3? (They could have pointed out that Nunez and Alvarez are both on the team as well, but even so). 3 - Local Latino leagues think their guys are better than MLS 4 - Pareja and Gato, the two most likely to know, both say different. My only complaint, really, is burying some of the most favorable comments twards the end of the article, and putting heavy spin in the first few paragraphs. After that, the article becomes a fascinating story, and one that was certainly worth my time to read. My general opinoion is if you cover something in enough depth, then even if you spin it, the truth will out.
What is funny is that many South Americans consider Latin America to be everything south of the Panama canal.
... and do not forget that Portuguese, Italians, Frenchmen, & Spaniards are also Latins but not from America....
As Pasta and Samba pointed out, this is where a solid marketing effort on FCD part could overcome any of the local league leaders political agendas. FCD has fallen woefully short in their marketing efforts of this team in the hispanic community, and every other market too, including the suburban market where they are building a shiny new stadium.
My grandfather on my mother's side was adopted; so I just call myself an Ethical Ethnical Winner... ... and I hold Kevin's ability to synthesize truthful information into progressive cause - in high esteem. Yes; truth is relative - relative to the 'situation at hand'.. prevalent dynamics. Chaos Theory.. spontaneous ordering/organizing of chaos.. Situational Management. Leave it to an ethical lawyer to ferret out the truth and DO something with it.. Just Cause.. That's Progressive Baby!!!
While we are on the topic of fair journalism...you might want to remember that the DMN has run an interview with EJ on the 2 pg of the sports as well as many other feature articles.
I have a theory about Landon - that when surrounded by talent, he excells. When in an environment that compliments him, he does well. But he doesn't have that Ronnie "I'm going to put the team on my shoulders" O'Brien attitude of "dammit, we are NOT going to lose." It is the difference between Alex Rodriguez and Michael Jordan. I'm not dissing the skills, just the intestinal fortitute. He is one hell of a weapon in the arsenal, but he has not been the point of the spear, so to speak.
Or recently in Azteca? Hey, I'll give you that he played well in that Panama game that we tied late. But playing in Panama is not the same as say playing in Costa Rica. It is why he did well for San Jose and not for BL.
Wow. Do you give ANY credit to the fact that these folk are overextended, overworked and underpaid? If you want to point the finger, please discriminate between those who set the budget (HSG) and the soldiers in the field. Just a suggestion.
I'll give Landy Cakes a pass in Azteca. Landy was not playing the Mexican squad but rather the altitude and pollution. The crowd would be the third element but that can be handleded w/ goals as for altitude and pollution, there is little that Landy's skills or gumption can do...
Figuring out who to blame does not address the problem. Actually, no problem in any walk of life is ever solved until the step you seem to get hung on often is cleared. Much more marketing was done with much smaller budgets in previous years.
You guys are so ridiculous. Pointing out a couple of games, especially against Germany and at Azteca. (But let's not start the BS favorite discussion) And if ROB really could take the game on his shoulders and refuse to lose, the Dallas Burn wouldn't have sucked.
Re: Dallas Observer article I could be wrong, but as I understand it, "Latin" countries are those that were settled first by the Spanish, and thus generally speak Spanish. Because Brazil was settled by Portuguese, it is not a Latin American country. If I'm right, then Latin American countries would include all of Central America, excluding the Carribean, and select South American countries.
Re: Dallas Observer article I could be wrong too, but I think Latin also covers countries like Portugal and Italy...
Re: Dallas Observer article Sorry, but yes, you are wrong. Latin countries are those that speak one of the romance languages (whose origin is Latin). Italy is a Latin country. So are Spain and France. And Portugal. And so is Brazil. Brazil is very much considered to be a Latin country. All of the South American countries (nine that speak spanish and one that speaks portuguese) are "Latin" countries.
Re: Dallas Observer article Several Carribean countries were settled by the Spanish - Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico ....
Re: Dallas Observer article Yeah, that is right. Latin countries are countries that speak the Romance languages which are Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French or not many people know this but, Romanian. So Romania is a Latin country too.
I'm extremely skeptical about 'marketing' as a white knight in this circumstance. You're basically talking about out-marketing bigotry, a very desirable product.
Re: Dallas Observer article The term "Latin America" btw, was invented by the French, to legitimate their claims in the new world alongside those of Spain and Portugal, against the English and Dutch.
Huh? Getting into the specifc whys and wherefores doesn't address the problem? Yes, because they didn't have their countries 100th anniversary, their wedding, their wive's murder, and Gilder to blame for it.
I agree I'm surprised, too, where ROB's newfound ability to play the middle comes from. He certainly couldn't do it in years past. I know going into this season I was really hoping he didn't end up in the middle (remember all those discussions about how Ronnie needs to be on the wing, etc.) But for some reason, when Richard went down, Ronnie has been a monster. Clearly, the MVP is either him or Simo. Regarding Landon, I'll point you to the vast swaths of games where he is invisible. Someone with his talent shouldn't be away from the ball for much time (see Oscar when he was on his game.)
Re: Dallas Observer article You are wrong. "Latin" refers to countries settled by Latin cultures, of which Portugal is one. So is France, Italy, and Spain. All those cultures' languages are based on Latin - and all kept key parts of their Roman tradition (religion, etc) Latin America therefore includes Brazil and even Haiti. It does not include Jamaica or Belize (English settled) or Curacao (Holland). Hispano-America refers specifically to countries settled by Spain who still use Spanish as their primary language. I probably don't really belong on this thread, but what I've noticed here in LA is a certain amount of resentment by Mexican fans towards MLS that none of their players have ever succeeded here. Heck, some even blame MLS for "ruining" Luis Hernandez. Simply put, it doesn't matter to those who think that way that Carlos Ruiz was MVP - he's not Mexican. Neither is Mina, or Guevara, or Etchevary, or Valderama, or Hurtado back in the day. It's a two-edged sword for them to slam MLS so much - if we're so sucky, why can't a Mexie player come in and set the league on fire. It must be because we're playing the wrong way. If the attitude in Texas is the same as that in Cali - it won't be a Latin star the league and team need to pull these "fans" in - it will have to be a Mexican one. And you're out of luck, cause Chivas USA is probably going to nab him, or with Juan Pablo Garcia, might have already. But yeah, back to the article - it sucks. Very unbalanced.