Does anyone care about the U.S. Open Cup?

It's hard to care when it would be nearly impossible for any team other than an MLS team to win and the MLS is so small that every team plays each other so much.

 

Perhaps, instead of all MLS teams automatically qualifying, perhaps only 5 or 6 of the MLS teams should be entered. Maybe it could be the top 5/6 in regular season standings from the previous year.

 

I care.

Also,...all MLS teams should be required to participate in the Open Cup. As far as I am concerned, this is THE trophy in the USA.

Clearly MLS teams are better than the other entrants, but the likes of Charleston, Rochester, Seattle, Minnesota can still compete.

What is better than the Charleston Battery hosting an MLS club in the Open Cup?

 

I don't understand why MLS teams even get home field advantage in the early rounds vs the lower teams .....

 

Makes it easier/more likely for them to participate, as they don't have to make a midweek trip to some godforsaken little town? MLS clubs don't exactly fall over themselves, fighting for US Open Cup slots. Which is too bad.

 

I believe that the first round the MLS played in this year 7 of the 8 games were at A-league sites.

 

I think that the reason there isn't more exposure is because the US Soccer Federation has done an exceptionally poor job promoting it. Near as I can tell there isn't an official web site just for the US Open Cup. It's the oldest trophy in the country but yet not that many people outside the soccer community (and even within the community for that matter) know about it.

(Not to plug to my site, but I got a really nice note from a soccer fan the other day complimenting my site, http://pointme.to/soccer , and the small section I have on the cup and this years schedule/results. I shared her frustration, had a heck of time finding the research material to put that page together.)

 

aye, i know we played in milwaukee

 

they did something like that this year...i know the revs werent in it

 

The GaLAxy do.

 

I do. Looking forward to watching this one on FSW.

 

Everyone on earth should care about THIS Open Cup. The Galaxy stand to do what no team has done yet: The Triple.

And this year only 8 MLS teams were in the competition.

The winner SHOULD be an MLS side, othewise the US first division is actually the A-League.

 

Yes, but Milwaukee is just Chicago's biggest suburb.

 

Re: Re: Does anyone care about the U.S. Open Cup?

Pretty comprehensive, but I don't think you have the proper 2001 US Open Cup champion listed. The Galaxy won last year.

 

You talking about the US Open Tennis Cup, right?

 

Every year this same damned question comes up every year, every new season of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup tournament, does it mean anything.

YES IT DOES!

This means a hell of a lot to me and it should mean a hell of alot to everyone else. So many people want an FA Cup tournament like the English FA does it.

At least they are doing their best to set up the structure for the cup, but the one or two things that US Soccer doesn't do. Proper promotion of the tournament and create a proper cup that should be made of silver. Since the retirement of the Thomas R. Dewer Cup of 2000 US Soccer has somehow loved to create a sparkling glass trophy with the US Open Cup logo sketched into it. In 2001 the US Open Cup became a bowling trophy when the Galaxy won it, then the Crew defeating the Galaxy last season, the cup looked like a glass version of half a clam. If some of you are laughing at this part of my arguement, how is it that a silver plate, or plaque in Germany & the Netherlands stands the test of time and is lifted with happiness & Glee for a footballer, as well as the FA Cup final in England when a member of the Royal Family hands it over to the Captain of the team and the celebration truly starts.

The Stanley Cup of the National Hockey League is over 100 years old, the base has changed thru the years but the actual cup remains the same. If US Soccer wanted the fans to start creating a design for a proper cup I would jump on it.

Promoting the tournament as well as proper TV coverage and the apperance of a proper trophy shows the true pride of winning the US Open Cup.

 

He's absolutely right. Some of the suggestions are impossible without money so it becomes a chicken/egg problem.

Some are easy: The creation of a proper award is paramount. It doesn't have to be exactly like a Euro award, but crystal is no good, save the Baccarat crystal for golf. Award a Cup, put the names of all past Champions on it. I'm sure one of the reasons USS decided to retire the trophy was to get trophies into the cabinets of the MLS teams. This is harder to do without a permanent trophy. Still, The solution is to have a permanent Cup and a replica to give each winner every year. That just leaves money as the problem.

The other immediate thing I would change if given power is to include all teams from all levels and Canandian teams and eliminate the qualifiers. You want USOC to be important? Great, then don't have games count in league standings and for USOC qualifying.

To review: Do the "easy" things now and make a plan to get the money to do the harder things later. How? Easy, professional fundraising 101. USSoccer needs to hire a soccer-loving insurance agent with experience in estate planning . Give the guy entree to all friends of US Soccer and open a website for the purpose. His job becomes one of convincing anyone and everyone to donate a 1% or larger share of their total estate today or upon death. They would do this in exchange for a kind of immortality TBD. This money is earmarked in advance to create an invested endowment that spins off interest. The interest is planned in advance (to cut squabble and FIFA/USSoccer stealing) to be spent for USOC interests. All large charities do this. All rich people do this as a matter of routine for their pet-projects.

This is too involved to get the whole process across here, but simply put, make the USOC self-funded, do things at a high level and the prestige will follow naturally.

 

I second the excellent suggestions of "GIO17" & "wizardscharter".

 

Does any one NOT care about the US Open Cup? Well, okay, there are probably a lot, but they're wrong. The San Jose v Seattle Sounders game was one of the most fun matches I attended last year. What beats jeering LD from the touchline of what's basically a rec pitch as the hometown 11 put five goals past the Quakes (only to lose 6-5)? The Open Cup is my favorite tournament in the States.

 

Wizardscharter: I thank you for your help as well as your support in my argument, but I'm afraid I have one little problem, it's not much but it is a problem with one part of your supporting argument to help mine.

This is the US Open Cup and it's a US Soccer event, Canadian clubs should not be involved with the tournament. If Toronto does get an MLS Club, then I'm afraid that they should not be allowed to participate in the US Open Cup.

True that the NHL, NBA, & Baseball are played with both countries as well as the Minor Leagues in hockey & baseball. But the Toronto Lynx, Montreal Impact, Vancouver Whitecaps, Calgary Storm and any other Canadian clubs involved with the USL or soon to be with the MLS if it does happen, should not be apart of the tournament.

If Canada gets their own league and gets their own Canada Cup, then that's fine, but I'm afraid that involving the Canadian clubs of the USL into the US Open Cup should not happen.

Don't forget that the NHL was started in Canada and they wanted USA participation. Same as the NBA who wanted Toronto & Vancouver (Now in Memphis) in the league and it happened.

But once again Wizardscharter, I thank you for your support in this thread as well as supporting my arguement, but that was the one thing I'm afraid I had to disagree with you about.

 

I care very much about the US Open Cup, I would attend them if the Metros would be playing them here in NJ, so far they played them in NY not at Giants stadium.

To get it most expossure would need a few things. One would have to start with the team itself, to take it seriously, and marketing the game to the fans, including it in the season tickets would be a start, and getting a sponsor just for this,separate TV deal another. Certainly prize money could be an incentive to the teams, a large purse let's say $ 500K to the winner. Otherwise the only other solution is time, but it should stay and became part of yearly soccer showcase.

 

Man I love the US Open Cup.

We just gotta stick with it and it'll grow with the game and the league.

Among the reasons it suffers a bit right now is the fact that it's kind of a stepchild, getting secondary fixture dates, secondary promotion (if any) and often, second string MLS teams.

Nevertheless, I freakin love it.

 

Everyone should care about it. They love it. It's one of the oldest tournaments in the United States and full of history. What's there not to like?

 

i think that teams from canada SHOULD be competing in the US OPEN CUP

if they are playing in the A-LEAGUE and USL they should participate in the US OPEN cup as well

and another thing,i think that clubs should be promoted and relegated from divisions like in England and any other country in the world
like the last team in the MLS will relegate to the A-LEAGUE and the first in the A_LEAGUE should be promoted to the MLS