I'd rather watch my team win 1-0 than lose 4-5. I also like players who are boring people in general, and stay away from nightclubs and rap videos. That's the best kind of player.
Do you keep players who aren't performing simply because they're latino, how smart is that? There's a big thread about this subject over on the Galaxy boards. Also, do you have any idea if the player moves are Lalas' call or Yallops call?
Not really a fair comparison is it. Would you rather watch your team lose 0-1 or 4-5? The fact is, most teams lose. With all the ties going on, far less than half the games are won. Through in the fact that only 3 pieces of domestic hardware exist, most teams go hungry each year - and usually for years at a time. Sports is far more about losing than winning. So, if your the average ticket buying fan and your team has 15 games at home, and there's a pretty good chance they're going to go something like 6-6-3, what do you want out of the losses and ties? Do you want 2-2 or 0-0? Do you want 0-1 or 2-3? Sports fans, in general, want two things. If you give them one, they'll usually come back. If you give them both, it's party time. They want (in no particular order) 1) A winner 2) To be entertained Even a purist like be can be beat down into frustration. Watching the 2003-2004 Carolina Hurricanes - who finished 30 out of 30 in the NHL lose 2-1 pretty much every night while playing the boring dump and chase(suck), neutral ice trap(crap) system, can jaundice anyone. There aren't enough "purists" in any sport to reach attendance levels that modern professional sports depend on for ancillary revenue streams and TV ratings. Just like a lot of the anger at Lalas, is misdirected - because I think it points out clearly the fact that MLS is in the entertainment business. The Olympian Ideal (which never really applied to either the historical or modern Olympics) of the purity of sport and sport for sport's sake, doesn't pay the rent. Sports leagues are in the entertainment business. Rules are changed to increase the entertainment value. Matches are scheduled on the calendar and at certain hours to increase the entertainment potential. Gameday add-ons like mascots, fireworks, cheerleaders, old-timers games, the playing of the national anthem, are all part of the entertainment. Alexi Lalas is selling a product. He's doing his job - and I'm sure the "get yourself in the newspaper" is explicitly been communicated to him. And the general soccer watching public would much rather go to a 3 goal game than a 1 goal game. I enjoy 1 goal games. The good ones. I hate 3 goal games, the bad ones. But I find far more 3 goal games to be enjoyable than 1 goal games. There's nothing pure or inately enjoyable about a 1-0 (sorry, 1-nil) scoreline. Some of the greatest games have been 1-0. But 1-0 can also be a sign of disinterested or crappy players and coaches. All things considered, a 3 goal game is far more likely to entertain on both a visceral and a "purist" level.
AL: "Hell yeah, it's lacking. For the most part, we've created a generation of players who are unwilling or unable to show any personality. At times it's mind-numbing. Somebody do something. Grow some Valderrama hair! Date a supermodel! Clint Dempsey isn't everyone's poster boy just 'cause he scored in the World Cup. He made a rap video and plays with that attitude he's got. It's great. Like it or not, controversy, rumor and speculation are good for the game, and we don't have enough of it. So, like I tell my players: Don't bore me. Have an opinion. Make me and everyone else interested in who you are as a player and person. Make an impression." I'm familiar with the Lalas "soccer players have to be entertainers" viewpoint because I've seen similar types of quotes from him. Personally I don't care for it too much. I'd like players to be themselves rather than feeling like they need to get a weird haircut or act in some bizarre manner on the field in order to attract attention. And how exactly are we "creating a generation of players who are unwilling or unable to show any personality"? Is it the short haircuts? I think Lalas's most successful year as a GM was 2005 (well, before he bailed mid-season) when he helped Dominic Kinnear largely rebuild the Quakes into a very successful team that played good entertaining soccer. And the players they acquired that year were just good "working class" soccer players - Brad Davis, Ronald Cerritos, Alejandro Moreno, Danny Califf, Mark Chung, Kelly Gray, etc. The soccer was entertaining because it was good and the guys played well as a team, not because guys had weird haircuts or dated supermodels. DeRo has some flair and a funky goal celebration, but that's just him. He's not trying to be someone that he isn't.
so will Becks "bore" alexi.... jesus the galaxy now have cannon, donovan and beckham, not to mention many others...but thats already a lot of stars..
I just spit coffee out of my nose. You actually included Joe Cannon and Landon Donovan in the same sentence with David Beckham, characterizing them as "stars". Donovan maybe. At least he is a two time World Cup player. But Joe Cannon? I suggest you put down the crack pipe, and slowly back away.