laopinion: Club America close to buying Earthquakes & rename SJ to Club America USA.

Wait a minute. Are you a fan of the team or a fan of the name?

It would be kind of strange to meet someone who became a fan after they changed their name from Clash to Earthquakes. I thought most of their fans left them after they changed the name.

For what its worth, America USA is a pretty stupid name for a club. I seriously doubt that will be the name of the team. Although it is better than Wiz. Anythings better than Wiz.

 

Yeah, I'm sure that both of you season ticket holders not renewing will put a major dent in their plans.

It's not like San Jose hasn't been given a chance to prove itself as a soccer market. Don't think for one moment that:

A) if there hadn't been so many sub-10,000 attendance games this year in San Jose that any of this would be happening, and

B) marketing the Clash/Earthquakes in the traditional, Amerkun way to traditional, Amerkun fans hasn't proven to be a total failure.

I don't know how many crappy attendance years, for a team that has been one of the best in the league the last couple of years, the league's investors need to absorb before concluding that something drastic needs to be done. If you want to protest, fill up Spartan Stadium for this weekend's playoff game, and bring signs reading "Save The Quakes" or some such. Give those making this decision to sell the team to foreign investors some reason to think that it isn't the exact right thing to do.

 

Re: lame...

I agree completely. The only problem is that Garber lately seems willing to do whatever JUST to get investor money...and that's not good.

Didn't the NASL follow an eerily identical forumla?

 

Nobody beats the Wiz.

 

the team.

i'm just not a fan of club america. club america can go to hell.

 

I don't want to protest. MLS and Club America can do what they want, but I'm not giving my money to Club America.

 

Don't forget your Personal Identification Number number!

 

I think they should name it Macho Business Donkey Wrestlers.

 

Re: Re: lame...

No. Not really.

 

TV listing says that Major League Soccer soccer is on, or National Football League football is up next.

 

Good work.

 

Re: Re: lame...

I'm getting this weird vibe that Garber is taking a page from his NFL Europe days. How long until the league is officially renamed MFL Estados Unidos?

 

This is the list I meant to post:

http://www.topskills.com/redunt.htm#TopTen

 

MLS is not that dumb to change the name of the San Jose team again.

You really think Landon Donovan would play for a team named after a Mexican club? I don't think so.

 

maybe it will get his lazy ass to Europe

 

Why would he object? He grew up in SoCal and is fluent in Spanish.

For what it's worth, I don't know what to think of this. Obviously there is a ton of trash talk going on.

I don't think renaming the team and starting from scratch (if the smack talk is to be taken seriously) would be prudent. Given the amount of blase management (including AEG) of the franchise, it's incredible that they have 10,000 fans at games.

Is it wise to alienate those fans? Is there a fan base of Mexican fans who would adopt the team?

The Bay Area isn't LA, which has a large Latino middle class, even a "high-lower class" Latino fan base from which to draw. The Bay Area Latino is less diverse as far as social class. SJ has a larger middle class than the North Bay, but still...

And consider the source: LA OPINION IS NOTORIOUS FOR PRINTING ANYTHING, especially in their sports section.

 

Who cares what they call the club? Just as long as they put some effort into marketing the team, I'll be happy.

If the connection with the Mexican club brings fans to the game so much the better.

Marketing is more than picking a clever nickname for the club. I'd be happy if they did away with the nickname altogether and let the fans choose their own name for the team. (That is the way team nicknames started --- before they became a marketing tool)

Club America USA is just fine with me. Club America San Jose, San Jose FC, San Jose SC.... Club America California SC whatever.

Just as long as there is a team in northern California.

(And one more thing... if Donovan is such a pinhead that he won't play for a Mexican-owned club, or a team named after a Mexican club, he can go bleep himself as far as I am concerned)

 

Re: laopinion: Club America close to buying Earthquakes & rename SJ to Club America U

Do a good search for his remarks on Mexican soccer players.

Which was exactly my point.

 

Creating a new expanion team that is from Mexico is one thing (Chivas), but taking over a current team and changing it to be Mexican is another.

Chivas are building their own team and own fan base.

San Jose already has a team and (albiet a small one) fanbase. If they change the name again, I would not blame San Jose fans for ditching the team. Changing from Clash to Earthquakes is one thing, but changing from Clash to Earthquakes to Club America is completely disrepectful to the current fanbase.

Which is why MLS won't do it.

 

This move might be bigger than worrying about whether the current fanbase is offended or not. If a current Quake fan had the choice between SJ being moved/folded or the team being re-named, what would the fans prefer?

Who knows if the MFL naming works in MLS, it does appear to have some potential and if things don't improve in SJ and name change to Club America USA is the only solution, than it's probably better to many than not having a team at all.

 

San Jose would not be a "Mexican team". As a San Jose fan I couldn't care less who owns the club or what they choose to call it as long as they do what they can to improve and market the team.

I really don't see how changing the name from 'Earthquakes" to "X" is in anyway disrespectful to San Jose fans. How is it more disrespectful to call a team "Club America USA" than to call it "Clash" or "Earthquakes"?


As for the fans SJ fans who would abandon the renamed club-- good riddance.

An ownership that actually makes an effort to make the club a success will be more than welcome, and they will draw fans. And I don't give a ---- if they show up because of the connections to a Mexican team.

The fans who leave because of the name change, or because the ownership is Mexican, aren't really fans anyway.

 

what I don't understand is why these Mexican clubs think that bringing their brands to the U.S. in the form of MLS clubs is going to suddenly bring out all the Mexican fans that have so far avoided MLS.

I don't think Mexicans and Mexican-Americans are so naive that they'll go watch a team simply because it's owned by Chivas or Club America. They want the real thing and they can watch that every weekend on Telemundo/Univision/Telefutura. They can even see the real thing in person when those teams play friendlies in the U.S.

If Luis Hernandez (shudder), Carlos Hermosillo, and Jorge Campos didn't bring out the fans MLS had expected, how is Chivas USA going to do that with a roster of players who can't quite cut it in the MFL?

Perhaps not the best of analogies, but I doubt there are that many Americans expats in Europe who feel any sort of strong allegiance to a NFL Europe team.