So ... can we play for "rep points" and the public admission of the winner's superior soccer intellect?
Me, Kinky Friedman? Oy, vey. Anyway, just to be clear, LD has to break into the top 20 of all midfielders as rated by Kicker, right? And I am taking the under ... meaning the "over 20" line that he does not impress enough to do so. Any minimum game requirements? Like at least 50% of all B-liga matches for Bayer? We didn't discuss it, so I'll leave it up to you to see if that limit should be established as well.
The coach seems to think the same.... "Bayer Leverkusen coach Klaus Augenthaler remains sceptical about the prospect of United States international Landon Donovan returning to the club. Donovan has commented that he is ready to link up with Bayer for their winter training camp in a bid to finally establish himself as a Bundesliga performer. But Augenthaler is not counting his chickens and will only make plans including Donovan when the player turns up in the New Year. "Generally speaking I think that he'll come but I won't be sure until I really see him," said Augenthaler. " http://skysports.planetfootball.com...id=9&cpid=22&title=Auge+doubts+Donovan+return
You're noted... and I love the concept of a bet for reputation points A bet with no cash value, but rather for online reputation
The loser has to grovel, explain the reasons for his error in judgement and extol the genius of the winner ... and give him more rep.
Ugh. Both the SkySports and Yanks Abroad article are factually wrong and stupidly biased. Landon has never won an MLS Most Valuable Player of the year award, though SkySports says so. Being the MVP of the title game is different. The Honda Player of the Year award is different. SkySports also mentions him as being the "sensitive" American. Yeah, so sensitive that that he scored in his first international game against a hostile crowd, so tender that he begged his family to let him go live abroad at 16, so delicate that he learned German so he could better fit in with his club. Ok, whatever. The Yanks Abroad article is vile in such a stupidly pointless way. There should be a Godwin's Law about mentioning Landon's sister - that anyone who brings her up in an assessment of her brother's soccer skills is a mouth-breathing moronic twerp who gets some sicko conspiracy thrill out of revealing - or mysteriously concealing - the deep dark secret of sympathizing with someone's painful menstrual cramps. This says something about how well Landon can play soccer HOW? HOW? Then the writer picks out and analyzes out of context the most negative quotes Landon has made about going back to Bayer, apparently overlooking the age-old concept of actions speaking louder than words. Once again, Landon is going to Bayer because HE chose to. MLS didn't even get a chance to compete for him, because Landon told them not to. He wants to go. "I am excited about the fact that I will be in a new environment, playing in a new environment and I think it will be good for myself; I think it will be good for the national team; I think it will be good for me to have a new experience. I think it's something that will be positive for me." Oh, look, that quote wasn't mentioned in the article. Neither were the quotes where he praises Bayer extensively. "That being said, Leverkusen were the first team I was at originally and they have accommodated every wish I have ever asked for in every possible way." "Given the fact that they (Bayer) have always been loyal to me, always been fair to me, given me the chance to do what I love to do... I respect that and I honor that and I appreciate that and that has been a part of my deciding to return." And after thanking the Earthquakes and fans for their support: "I want to thank Leverkusen as well." Donovan seems to have maintained and appreciated his relationships with central people at Bayer. "Michael Reschke, who is their general manager now, he was actually the first guy that scouted me in Leverkusen, ironically, and now he has worked his way up to the general manager position. He has just been absolutely outstanding throughout this whole process and he has been about as fair as you can be. I am very grateful and thankful for that." "One other person is the assistant coach who was my reserve team coach when I was there, who was really the only person I have kept contact with is Peter Hermann, and he has been great. He has been kind of like a father to me so I am excited to go back and spend some time with him." And Donovan seems to be aware of the fact that he will be competing for a spot on a quality team and appreciate of the opportunity to do so. "I met the coach a couple weeks ago, Klaus Augenthaler, and he was very good, very nice and made it clear that I will be given the chance to play if I perform." Most of all, unlike many, Landon seems focused on the future. "All in all, thank you to everyone and know that this isn't me having to go back to Germany, it's me wanting to go back to Germany and being excited about going back and I am just excited for what the future holds." But no, none of that was mentioned in the Yanks Abroad article because it didn't fit with the story that the writer was trying to build - so dang it, why not just skew reality for your own purposes instead? BTW, is there any source for the idea that Bayer was upset about Landon's youth national team obligations? I have never heard this, and I've followed reports on Landon since before he signed at 16. If anything, the consensus among many clubs is that the youth tournaments offer competitive pressure in game situations that just can't be found in reserve matches. Considering the quality of the rest of this article, I'm skeptical. There are too many variables in play for me to have any convictions about Landon's success in Europe. But I do believe in his track record of hard work. I believe he has actual talent. The combo often pays off.
But he got homesick and went back home... he's said many times that he values his family life and happiness very much. That makes him sensitive. Sensitive doesn't imply weakness or timidness. There is a bit of truth here if being away from his sister affects him enough that he's unhappy. Unhappy people do not perform as well as happy ones (this is true in general - not just for sports). Welcome to the world where the media often writes and airs stories to create news and turn public opinion rather than simply telling the news. It happens all the time in politics... and often in sports. You have to know who you're listening to and what is their agenda.
Being homesick was only part of the reason for going back home. Getting the chance for first-team action was the other - yet only the homesickness is mentioned ad nauseum. I don't disagree with your definition of valuing family as being sensitive, but this specific writer seemed to imply, through his use of the word, that Landon was too "sensitive" for the tough world of international soccer. You also don't perform well when your teammates won't pass to you. That might also make you unhappy. While I'm sure he missed his twin, along with the rest of his fam, he's the one who pushed to go to Germany and leave them behind. My guess is the lack of first-team action frustrated him the most. The loneliness (some of his teammates resented his presence), bad weather and homesickness added to this. Of course, but this was an especially poor example (or good, depending on your viewpoint) of bad reporting.
You will always be remembered for your more controversial comments to the press, not the other ones. That's the way it works. The German media will have a field day with Lannycakes...
German writing press is only good for politics anyways. What#s good for sport('s opinions) is TV ;-) (Just read the Bild and than watch ARD)
I take the article from Yanks Abroad with a grain of salt. The "writers" for them are BigSoccer posters - posters long before they became writers. So they get to post their opinion in a bigger forum, so to speak. For me, it carries no weight at all. If the writer were a "fan" of Donovan, of course the article would have a different slant. Since he's not - we get the picture he tries to paint. As Femfa pointed out, any positive comments made by Donovan were conveniently left out. And the comments re: his sister and her (menstrual cramps) [- put in parenthesis because the "writer" was too embarrassed to write the word in his article] in the article totally erased any legitimacy to the article and writer of this opinion piece. What still continues to amaze me is that despite everything Donovan has done in MLS and for the National Team - there are still people out there who go out of their way to disparage him in a way that I haven't seen done to very many other players, at least not to players of his stature. And I believe they secretly or not so secretly want him to fail. What, did he get your sister pregnant or maybe he didn't sign an autograph for you or take a picture with you? What a brilliant way to support our Yanks Abroad.
And that was four freakin' years ago. I'm SURE it doesn't affect him now. Donovan's moved on - just wish others would too. But of course, it's more fun this way. Plus any website - Yanks Abroad included, probably gets more hits if they put in an article, especially a controversial one, about Donovan. It generates controversy and it's good for business. Just look at the number of threads that are closed (in this forum alone and over in the German forum) that deal with Donovan.
Just to give some people some perspective, here's perhaps a more unbiased and realistic reporting of Donovan's miserable time in Germany back when he was an 18-year-old kid - KID being the operative word, as he describes the "funnest" part of being over there. http://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?Art_ID=52632
Yeah, I do get tired of it - just as I get tired of the endless drivel that's written about him. As far as the "mancrush," well, don't you have to be a male to have one of those? Sorry to disappoint you - but I don't qualify for that - as I am a female. And no, not a teeny bopper; I'm a mother of three. So fire away Swiss. I've seen it all.
Did I ever say anywhere that it was still the case? All I was pointing out was that unhappy people don't perform as well as happy ones.
I'm going to nitpick a little here ... but only because you emphasized the word. An 18 year old is an adult. They are still maturing to be sure and usually not familiar with the ways of the world, but legally he's an adult.