My last post actually gave me an Idea!! wouldnt it be cool if if MLS allowed a Mexican/Hispanic only team and in exchange they could get a MFL franchise that fielded US/Anglo players? Lol!!! Arturo
The reason why WC '94 and LA '84 and Atlanta '96 were all record setting tournies, is NOT b/c 40 year old white/black coach potatoes got off their asses to attend a footie match. The reason why they were so successful is b/c immigrant America went out to see quality footie b/c they are DESPERATE for the product. Lacrosse has to convince the average American of the value of its sport in order to succeed. Soccer has to convince the immigrants that the footie played here is of a high quality AND the stadium atmosphere (eventually) will remind you of home.
Re: Re: Is Garber nuts!? Chivas to operation under different rules... bull *#*#*#*# about the Metrostars, looks who's talking about getting Adu instead of Dallas, if any of the rules been broken is by DC United,
The kid in this situation would probably opt for the US. He's a "pocho" in mexico. He would have nobody backing him in Mexico. Politics rule the game at the MNT level. Unless he was an absolute phenom, then nobody cares...
I guess by now everyone has seen Wheelock's argument ............. http://www.foxsportsworld.com/content/view?contentId=1757930
And maybe we can have Canada represent us at an OAS meeting while our diplomats sunbathe and have Mexico warm the Security Council seat while Negroponte runs out for a reuben. NAFTA players? God forbid.
Re: Re: Is Garber nuts!? Chivas to operation under different rules... You can add DC and Chicago to that list.
And we all know that the next Zinadine Zidane is a disenfranchised Mexican-American joyfully expressing himself on a dusty lot somewhere. Please. But it's a good point.
Separate but equal has been over in the USA long time ago. Race and language based team is wrong and illegal in the USA. Every person from any Ethnic background has a right be on any MLS team. PERIOD!
Fortunately, France has a system set up so that players of Algerian ascent (descent would be their offspring), such as Zidane, are incorporated for the betterment of the country. But we'll never know what we are missing out on if we continue to harvest exclusively the middle-class.
How so? What are you negating, that Zidane is Algerian or that the USMNT is stocked w/ guys from middle class suburbia? Look, I'm truly proud of this country progress in soccer. But I'm not the only one that has said that we need to make inroads in the inner-city. Suburbia can only take us so far. It's gotten us to where we are today, but if we want to get higher, time to expand the scope of US soccer.
Wheelock writes in his Fox Sports World article: "But I've always been a fan of inclusion rather than exclusion. Bringing Mexican stars to MLS is a great thing, but making an all-Latin side could be polarizing and ultimately bad for MLS, and the sport as a whole. "In fact, it would be a mistake. The new Chivas expansion club should represent its home city, not a specific ethnic group or nationality." I could not have said it any better...
If MLS accedes to Vagera's wishes, the league will have given ammo to all these right wingers about the effects of illegal immigration.
Let's EVERYBODY get over their race hang-ups and just play The Beautiful Game... By saying, "You can't play on my team because you aren't (fill in the blank).", you achieve the opposite of what the game is all about. Frankly, there exists no Chivas USA "tradition" as of yet, so there's no need for MLS to kneel-and-bob this Vergara guy at all on these ridiculous "conditions" he's laying down. The double-edged sword of political correctness in our society will either judge that MLS is supporting racist policies by using Latino players only, or, it'll be said that MLS needs a place to foster the growth of Latino only players in the US, which will draw a reaction from more conservative types. Either way, I think it's a bad idea to focus on race or ethnicity in our league, because it simply not the American way, nor does it have a place in 2003. Expansion is nice, but don't sell your league's growing and hard-won credibility for a quick buck. Only $6 Million for a franchise? Do you think Kroenke is going to be happy about the fact that he likely paid $10 million for the Rapids? The product would be undervalued, and basically cheapened in the process. Vergara's money is not worth this crap, Garber. This whole Chivas thing is going to go sour, IMHO. Good riddance, I say.
How long would it take the Gringo team to be relegated from the 1st div. to the 2nd div. and so on...
I think it's time to just throw the nationality rules in the dumpster. None of the four major sports leagues in the US have nationality regulations, and MLS doesn't need them either. The reason the EPL has as few englishmen as it does it because... get ready...there aren't enough good english players. It all comes down to quality and money. If Thierry Henry were kicked out of the league for being french, who would replace him? Some chump from Preston North End? The EPL is a big money league and needs all the big money players it can get. Teams (and fans) love english players and would be 100% english if they could be, but there is simply not enough quality. It's not as if englishmen are running around all the other top-flight leagues of Europe. The EPL has the best of them. MLS will continue to fulfill it's mission as training ground for american talent, independent of regulations, if it does only one thing: tune the salary cap to the level of american talent. At the current cap level, great teams like San Jose and Chicago are powered by star american players. Fans favor american stars over foreign (only slightly, but slightly is enough). Is someone going to rush out to sign an $80k Lithuanian when an $80k american is available? Hell no. Only if the cap gets raised will pressure mount to sign foreigners as the pool of quality americans is drained. Let Chivas bring in whoever they want, just hold them to the same cap.
This may be a step forward for soccer, but a step backward for the US. The implications of this move is much greater than you can imagine. If you want to know why many Americans are concerned about controlling the border, this is a prime example. Different rules for different people. Vagera is basically saying to the MLS that your rules don't matter my money does. If that is all the we have become then we might as well close up shop. I am not a whore.
All this is true and a new system is needed. The major problem is this exclusivity you talk about comes from simple supply and demand for the professional game so far. For the system used now to radically change it has to be driven by demand for more quality players and better quality (championship) teams. But until then, players must pay most of thier way through a system... Unlike a place like Brazil where teams foot the entire bill, they have no problems spending all that money because thier possible financial rewards are great. Agreed The step backwards people talk about to is not this new system of finding new players and development programs and "reaching out"... all that is very welcome... The step backwards is starting off a new team in this league that offically states it will maintain an ethnic predominance. The same as if a MLB team tomorrow states it will officially maintain a black predominance, or if some other MLS team officially declares it will be 90% white. I know all about the politics of sports teams and soccer already, but a major part of credibility in pro sports is the belief teams are going after the best players based on talent, not first considering someone's skin color or language. That automatically implies exclusion based on something other than ablity. I agree... but I don't believe replacing this segregation with a new segregation policy of exclusion on pro teams is the answer.