I said this in another thread, but if nothing else we can use Vergara to get the team in SD and get the SSS built. Then when Vergara finds out the league doesn't work the way he wants, the MLS should have a buyer lined up (which shouldn't be a hard sell if a SSS is built). What would you all think if think if this was Man United, Real Madrid, Ajax or the like who was doing the thing and not Chivas?
I'm a San Diego gringo and I will support this team through and through. I already have a Chivas kit and will be first in line for season tickets. Viva San Diego Chivas!!!!!!!!!!!
Good point, since it looks like Garber and MLS are ok with importing popularity for money may as well go out and try to get the other teams you mentioned to invest and have teams here also... Manchester and Real seem to have sold a good amount of tickets also in exhibition matches, so may as well start laying the groundwork for making MLS like an "all-star" league full of famous club names and uniforms. If you can't build your own traditions then just bring it in from elsewhere.
Real Madrid already has plans for this...for a Real Miami in 2010...in which players which have retired from Real Madrid will go play for Real Miami... I mean this chivas situation seems more positive everytime i look at it, but this is still "our" league, i mean do we want a Real Miami, an Ajax Orlando, NYC Red Devils, Detroit Arsenal, etc...? or do we want our own league, with our own traditions?
Our own league...with our own traditions...and our OWN IDENTITY! That's the whole point of MLS dammit! Don't lose sight of that guys!
Man, those look like some dedicated, happy fans. If MLS can convert even a fair amount of them, we'll be in good shape. And our tailgate parties will improve as well. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/index?ver=us&cc=5901
AMEN!!!! I'm a San Diego chino myself, and I'm getting so jazzed for this it's not even funny. Not even these wildfires can bring me down and I've got a sore throat, a dirty car, and had to evacuate my studio!!! Some of you have made a point before about how your own home team might become a quasi-"road" team when Chivas shows up, since all the Mexicans will come out to root for Chivas. Well cry me a river. Try going to a Raiders game at Qualcomm. It's absolutely ridiculous. A little less extreme but still annoying, a Padres game when the Mets or the Cubs come to town. It's like every single family that uprooted and moved out here feels the urge to go to the Q and root for the team of the city they moved from. So it sucks for you guys but we've had to put up with it for decades. And for those of you who actually hate Chivas for the right reasons, because they're coming into MLS and stomping some a**, here's a tip of the hat and a message: [insert your team's name] sucks! See you at the games.
suck it up MLS college boy teams may have to work harder against a team coming from a club like Chivas that has a real understanding of what the game is all about. That will be good for MLS business, it will be fun to watch, and it will be good for the US World Cup team. If MLS wants to succeed it needs to do better in the huge Hispanic market, by doing things like holding open tryouts every year for members of the local Latin leagues. Similarly, US Soccer will win internationally sooner when they get poor brown kids playing with upper middle class white kids. Just look at your states ODP pictures. Almost all white. Hispanics are the largest minority group already, and they are still growing. Believe it or not, "they" will soon be "us."
Yeah, like those pinche Rinches (Texas Rangers) and their tradition of harrassing and killing those goddamn beaners! (More Mexicans were lynched in the South West US between 1848 and WWII than Blacks in the entire country, thanks primarily to the Texas Rangers.) So, what groups are included in this identity? I'm sure Dallas Burn management would love to recoup the Latinos that avoided Dragon this year. Kind of made Dallas #s look like WUSA, you know, that league not supported by Latinos.
Well I also thought that was the whole point behind MLS but Garber and the others have proved me wrong... So to correct your statement: "That WAS the whole point of MLS dammit!"... Now the fact is MLS resorted to importing another team's popularity and brandname recognition. So now Manchester United-States should be next and so forth until the season reads like an international fantasy league.
Exactly. Looking for the quick buck instead of thinking in terms of the long term benefits of our league. Such a shame...
I'm not sure I'm completely sold on Chivas USA yet, but so far all the developments have been fairly promising and not what some of the Knee Jerks thought they'd be. However, I've said time and time again that this won't be taking any spots away from American players that they're already trying to develop. If Chivas didn't want to invest in MLS would there be another expansion team lined up? Maybe, but probably not. This is creating jobs in American soccer not eliminating them. Keep in mind also that they're not chaning any of the international rules. So if they want to do the whole Hispanic-American thing, then great. It's still American players. Maybe they will tap into the latino market, maybe they'll tap into unfound latino players, maybe this could be very good for the development of American soccer because of that.
39 million Latinos, for whom soccer is the #1 sport. 22+million Mexicans, for whom soccer is the #1 sport. Don't know about you, but I've seen the future of US Soccer w/o the Latino fan: it's called WUSA. Let me repeat for you what the Anglophone press repeats ad nauseum: Gringos don't like soccer. Latinos do. Football, baseball, basketball, and even HOCKEY all rank ahead of soccer for the Gringo. Soccer is king for the Latino, especially so in the South West. Latinos actually watch soccer. Go figure. They actually watch the USMNT almost as much as frickin' country full of Gringos, even though they are only 10% of the country. Sure, many (not all) watch to root vs. 'em, but hell, US Soccer doesn't mind. The players don't mind as much b/c they get larger bonuses for each cap. So you tell me where the future lies.
I'm also not sold on it... It was supposed to be the existing MLS teams and USSF that "tap" talent from all corners of the country but they failed at that. So because of MLS imcompetence, Vergara and his bucks have now been portrayed as being the only ones who could effectively do this. And as far as Hispanic-american thing, that's also great but these new job opportunities you're talking about will be limited for those with the right skin shade or last name. I don't see how these exclusionary team policies, not even considering some american players because of thier ethnic background, be "good for the development of US soccer"... Make the new team policy what an american professional sports team is supposed to be about: ALL american players to have equal acess based on ability and no matter what color, ethnic background, or last name they have... Make building a great team of professionals the top priority and not ethnic origin THEN I'll say this is good for MLS and the development of US soccer... Otherwise, it's just promoting exclusion of some americans in the name of big money and profits.
As far as I'm concerned there's already 10 teams for the gringos. Let there be one that goes the extra mile to please the hispanics. If this team is placed in my hometown of San Diego, I will take up support of them. I won't have a problem if they want to focus on hispanic players, my only wish is that fans of all backgrounds are accepted and encouraged to come to the games and root for the team.
Do San Jose and LA not go far enough (Hispanic Heritage nights etc) in the current framework? Or is it just possible that they aren't interested in MLS? I think that Garber thinks the latter and think this could shake 'em up. Whether that is right or not is a seperate issue.
Re: Chivas de San Diego Yeah, I think those are all good points. But the lawyer who worked on the deal will have already settled all of that. But none of us actually knows what they've decided.
"MLS PHILOSOPHY Major League Soccer has made great strides during its first seven seasons, both on and off the field. The League’s goal is to become one of the world’s most competitive and prestigious soccer leagues as well as one of America’s premier sports and entertainment properties. As MLS continues to develop, the League has created five guiding principles for all aspects of League business. · Become the meeting place for U.S. soccer fans · Reflect inclusiveness and diversity · Stay young in attitude, style and fan profile · Express and evoke passion for soccer · Be the inspirational destination point for today’s soccer-playing youth In addition, MLS will continue to assist and improve the performance of U.S. National Teams in domestic and international competitions on all levels." I don't see anything about "our own" this or "our own" that. I don't give a sh!t about "our own identity". I just want something that will make money and give me a league to cheer for until the day I die. If they have to import Gamba friggin Osaka to do that, I don't care. And do you think Utah Jazz fans are complaining? New Orelans might as well be a foreign country to Salt Lake City...
You sir, are a tool. NEWSFLASH. MLS is doing just fine without your ethnic pandering, bullshit made up teams. Screw Viargera and the goats.
We're not talking about Hispanics were talking about Meixcans. Hispanics _already_ support MLS in large numbers. It's the Mexicans that don't because they already have their own damn league that they follow. You think all of the Hondurans, and Guatemalans and other Central Americans in this country give two damns about Chivas? At the All-Star game there were a ton of Hispanics rooting against Chivas. I have no problems with Chivas USA, but let's not pretend that this is the magic bullet that all of the sudden converts millions of fans to MLS. I'll bet you a hundred dollars they don't lead MLS in attendance their first season.
I wonder where's hardcore Chivas fans? San Diego, L.A. or elsewhere and I think L.A. is largest Chivas fans, aren't they?