I would almost rather play the USOC Championship at Rutgers, than have to stare at those ugly gridiron lines on the pitch on Wednesday! Tell me how, and why is it possible for Foxboro to play a soccer game on a Saturday, and a NFL game on Sunday, and have the NFL lines vitually invisable during the soccer match (WWC), and vice-versa the next day. While at GS, soccer lines are barely noticable during the Metro's matches? It would seem to me that it would be easier to "scrub" off the lines, and apply new ones on the fake grass than it is on mother nature's stuff! Could it be the the NJSEA doesnt give a rat's ass about the Metros?
people just like to complain. I don't even notice the lines after a while. Maybe it's because the field were I play my soccer has gridiron lines on it. Who knows, but it doesn't bother me. After we win the cup wednesday you'll say, "Oh thats nice, but it would have been a better Cup win if there hadn't been yard lines on the field." Soccer is Soccer.
It's about respect. The national championship for soccer in America should be played on a pitch with 'soccer' lines only.... Casual fans who see MLS games being played on a gridiron field think it's "bush league".
Guys, I don't care, and neither should you. It's not about respect, and anyone who says otherwise is very, VERY self-conscious.
Of course I'd rather not have any of those lines. But being what it is I can deal with the yardage lines and even the Logo's somewhat.The sidelines just suck it throws the perspective of the game off for me.Also our markings are barely visible BIG -.
Truth is that one can hardly see the soccer lines, actualy the football line look worst to those in attendance then on tv. maybe someone can check the metros record since they play with the lines. No wonder their away record is better then at home. Soccer can be played as is, but its not right to the fans and to the players. Beisides what are the alternatives ? none. I can't wait to have our own stadium, i dream of it everyday and more so when i have to look at the stupid football lines.
Be patient guy's, I don't like the gridiron lines either. They clutter the field. MLS is starting to gain a foothold. We have Crew Stadium and the Home Depot Center. We also have The Burn breaking ground pretty soon. Use your imagination's and think ahead 5 years. about half of the league will be in their own stadiums. Enjoy the journey.
One of the things mentioned when the turf was first put in was that it was easy to change from football lines to soccer ones and back. So the answer is that NJSEA doesn't give a rat's ass. They could do it if they chose.
Praise the Lord! Now you know how it feels to be a Burn fan this year and we've had it for every game. I will be so happy in '05. I hope you don't have to wait long for your own happy announcement.
Re: Re: Friggen gridiron lines! Precisely! The way they used weather as an excuse the first time, and then just ignored the issue all together was a massive insult. There was one time last night when I thought Walker couldn't tell where to put down the ball for a goal kick! If the soccer lines were at least distinct it might be a bit more understandable, but given the fact that they PROMISED the line changes would be done, and done easily, this is just one more reason to despise NJSEA.
I was stuck at home with a wrenched back, and I watched the match on TV -- twice. The field looked terrible; the yellow soccer lines were barely visible. Not even the pain-killer and muscle relaxent improved the look of the game on that hopped up field. You have to care about this stuff. This is supposed to be a professional league, and there is a certain aesthetic aspect to the game that is important, that can't be shrugged off at this level. The green rectangle with great swathes of open space, bisected with a line that also divides a great circle at the center of the field; the penalty area, and goal area that mirror the shape of the goal itself, the four corner arcs, the sidelines and endlines -- these all have meaning, and define the game. These matter, and transform a simple kickabout into a match governed by rules. The casualness that has overtaken our culture carries with it a large measure of disrespect for authority, and this extends into every nook and cranny of society. It is not as egalitarian as we might expect, since it repects its own proclivities, but will not admit to others. Aesthetics don't count -- "I don't mind the lines"-- except when those of the majority are disturbed. The NFL would not dream of playing on a field not properly marked, measured and signed with their own logos. And so we are forced to accept the definition of their game stamped on our game -- a distraction that we should not have to 'get over', since it lowers the standards of our game, and makes us second class citizens in the eyes of those who rent to us, and those who watch. Those elements that are the foundation of a professional game -- a properly marked field of play being cheif among them -- are important, and we have a right and duty to insist upon having them. This is especialy crucial in matches that decide a championship. To accept less is to accept other people's lack of respect for soccer -- NJSEA in this case or the Giants organization, which doesn't want the field to be relined after the Open Cup. Quite possibly our front office declined to pay for the cost of post-Cup relining. If that is the case, Metro should not have pushed for the match at the Swamp. We might have insisted on nutral ground, like Columbus, or accepted Chicago's offer to use the game as an appetizer for the international friendly to follow. The lack of respect (or power?) MFO has for the look of the game it offers the public is really disheartening. No wonder fewer and fewer people show up for the matches. I have to wonder how the field conditions effect the attitudes of our players and of the visiting team.
Re: Re: Friggen gridiron lines! for a price, NJSEA told MFO they'd have to pay the overtime for the grounds crew to take the lines off AND put them back on
Re: Re: Friggen gridiron lines! Could and did. Sat. 8/23, 8pm, Giants vs. Jets, lines on the field: http://images.nfl.com/images/photos/2003/pre3/NYJ@NYG3.jpg Sun. 8/24, 4pm, Metro vs. Chicago, no lines on the field: http://www.metrostars.com/gamedaytracker/082403/gallery2.htm It took them less than 16 hours to erase the lines pretty completely. They haven't done it again since then. I mentioned this on another thread, but does anyone else think they mowed the turf recently? The fieldturf played much quicker last night than I remember at any time this year... the ball was bouncing all over the place. If true, that's a bigger impediment to a good match of soccer than the lines issue.
It is about respect, respect our league doesn't have. They need to darken the soccer lines though, I couldn't even tell we got a penalty last night because you can't see the box. Ridiculous.
Yeah right, Play at Soldier Field in front of 40,000 tri fans chanting mexico mexico during one of the most important events in American soccer. The NFL teams have their own stadiums, and when they do have to share sometimes they play with a big swath of dirt across half their field. (Miami, Oakland) Nobody says "well that patch of dirt cheapens our game, and those pesky baseball players should be respectful enough to cover it up." NJSEA doesn't have to let the Metro play at the Meadowlands. I'm sure they make more money from one Giants game than they make from a whole season of Metro home games. But they rent it out anyway. Maybe they don't give a rats ass, why should they? It wouldn't hurt them at all if Metro took their money and left. The only answer is to get our own stadium which, allegedly, is in the works somewhere in Harrison. Then we can put nice red lines on the field if we feel like it. But that might cheapen the game too. Anyway, until the metro get their own stadium It's my opinion they should just play soccer. And thank whatever gods they believe in that MLS cared enough not to have them play in a highschool football stadium with nice BLACK endzones and field lines.
I wouldn't mind the football lines if it didn't have a huge ass NFL logo in the middle of the field. Why does MLS allow NJSEA to promote another league during their games?
Well this is one of the most arrogant, pompous and narrow-minded responses to a comment I have ever seen on Big Soccer! Do you really think that we should all think precisely like you? You don’t think that these boards exist because there are a multitude of opinions and conjecture to be offered? If you don’t mind the lines on the field, I am sure that there is little I can say that will change your mind, if you are not receptive to new ideas, or to changing. Some of us here (as exemplified by other post) feel that our sport, and by extension soccer fans, deserve a certain amount of respect. The gridiron lines on the field are only one example of the lack of respect given to soccer fans, and the game itself by the NJSEA. I will never forget an incident in the team’s first or second season. I was standing in line for a hot dogs and sodas when something happened in the line next to me, the worker next to me tells his co-worker, “don’t worry about it, they’re only soccer fans.” I left my order, and walked away. That night I wrote to the NJSEA, and the food service (whose name I forget) to register my complaint. I never got a phone call, or a letter of apology. Another example of lack of respect. If you need another example, all you have to do is think back a few years ago to how the security guards, would treat the fans sitting in section 101. I will say that this area has gotten better in the past few years. While in may be true, Deuteriumoxide, that NJSEA does not make as much money from the Metro as it does from the Jets or Giants, the fact is that they do charge rent. They do charge $10.00 for you to park your car. They do make money from all the concessions sold. So my question to you is this; Is there any other business that you would go, where you would get second rate service, insulted and demeaned, and feel that you should just accept it?
My problem on Saturday night was that I brought two newbies to the game for their first time: a father and son. The son is playing his first year of travel team soccer and had never seen a pro game before. Imagine how well my conversation went when this ten year old asked questions like: 1) How come there's nobody here? 2) Why are there football lines on the field? 3) Why can't we see the soccer lines? 4) Why do they play two five-minute overtimes? 5) Are they allowed to play on fake grass? And then the kid's father, who is a baseball guy, said at the end of the game, "Zero-zero tie. That figures." Hey MLS-Corporate-folks: I'm trying to help promote pro-soccer to a travel-team family who isn't sold on pro-soccer yet and you are putting out an absolutely crappy product. The core fans will put up with this nonsense because we're fanatics, but why would the casual fan come back after witnessing a presentation of the game like we saw on Saturday night?
I guess thats the difference between yourself and I. I don't feel insulted and demeaned. The current situation is not ideal, crying about it won't change it. Supposedly the situation is going to be better in a few years. I guess I'm just a more positive person.
As I noted in my post, that would reduce our Cup Final to an "appetizer" before the scheduled main course: the international friendly. It is not an acceptable alternative. However impractical it might seem, playing at a neutral site like Columbus would be acceptable, and there is a precedent: the OC Final was held there during the stadium's debut year, and the Crew were not in that final.
That indeed was *your* problem. Why would you bring a group of newbies to a meaningless match??? When you should have brought them to the open cup final only four days later! Dont blame MLS for your bad judgment.
At this stage no match is meaningless to us. I'm sure the team wanted to maintain momentum after beating SJ. Losing a match before the OC Final would have to be a setback, one that puts our position in the playoffs in jeapordy as well. Furthermore, we need to build our fanbase, and shrugging off any match as meaningless certainly won't win new fans for the team or the league. If the team doesn't care about the game, and management doesn't care about the field of play, why should anyone else care -- especially new fans?
Brownswan and Karem you are making to much sense for some of the posters here. Its hard for them to understand, but they getting a good soccer education. I am saying this knowing they do not feel insulted and demeaned Yurcak field at Rutgers would have been my first choice to play the Final if not Giants Stadium. It has natural grass and only soccer markings, close to the action, cozy ALL what we metro fanatics deserve. Have you seen Solder Field this weekend, it had the same football lines, looked crap i couldn't stand watching that for more then 15 minutes and they had 30k,wonder how many will return. Fact is we were promissed no football lines and they LIED to us. wandering soccerdog you right and as a metro fan i thank you for your efforts i know how you feel i done it many times and i am doing it again for the Open Cup. I am bringing 10 people who have attended some metro games in the past but they are the casul fan and will comment on the field, poor play, and attendance. It is a choice we have to make and i rather have them in the stands then not.
Mr. Diggler, An 8pm game-time might be too late for the kid to be out on a school night, and perhaps our pal the Wanderer is actually showing good judgment by not wanting a baseball fan to rain on the "parade" at the Open Cup final. We've all got the anti-soccer friends; those who ridicule us for our pursuit of FOOTBALL and dealing with them is bad enough at the office or at school. You just don't need the naysayers at a game with you. Soccer truly is the beautiful game, it rivals any spectator sport and for those of us who actually post to these boards I suspect it surpasses them all. The gridiron lines do detract from the experience and I support all who've written before suggesting that it detracts and makes MLS look like an afterthought. Whining? Sure we're whining, but whining is part of being a FAN. The first professional game that I attended was in the early 80's: FC Koln home game (they weren't at the bottom of the table then) it was a near sell-out crowd and it was truly an awesome experience. The scope of the stadium, sound of the crowd and level of play: I'd like it if such an atmosphere were available in the US on a regular basis. Not just when the Champions League folks decide that they want to take a publicity tour. I believe it is possible, but for it to happen many factors have to come into play, and the details will matter. Go Metros!