Geee man that great! But Mathis' injury was healed 3 months prior to the cup all he was working on was getting back into shape. And really he wasnt THAT out of shape. They have you believing he was 250lbs overweight. Get Real. But they are their teams best players and if they would have been 100% match fit they couldve changed the way their team played. If they were fine, maybe they couldve done more. Could they have still lost every game? sure.
I agree. And regarding the idea that they "cherrypicked"...well so what? We're talking about Real Madrid, self-promoters of the worst kind. Did the news that they were celebrating their centenary somehow not get to Nick? Do they not have people there able to read the Spanish papers, that for the past two years have been kicking up various plans about what and where Real Madrid were planning for this celebration? Oh-right, this is the same group that didn't understand that Celtic and Rangers don't quite get on (and you still think it's all bluster re: Zoffinger claims about their marketing knowledge?). Simply put a match involving Real Madrid was there for the taking. But even if they didn't, I think there are still areas where they could have gotten a similar crowd for a similar good (and more local) cause. The Twin Towers Fund is a good charity that I'm sure many here have given to. They might have said no, they might have not been able to fit it in their plans, but a match with Celtic and another big team, as part of a double-header, Irish-themed (maybe even a concert as well) for the this charity? (The Mets have similar days, w/ Black 47 concert after. I was there this year and there were plenty of Celtic shirts in the crowd.) There were several youth soccer coaches in the NYFD who lost their lives that day-not to mention how Irish culture resonates within the area as well as the rank and file of these two departments. There is also another charity set up for the families-they give out sport and concert tickets to the kids whole lost moms and dads. IMO these are all areas where this team has/had a chance to forge an important bond with the community and has failed. In this regard, I can't help but to agree with Zoffinger's claims. And please, this is not about using 9/11 to promote soccer. It's about taking steps to make the team a fabric of its surrounding society-something people actually care about because of it's place as an institution. This was a franchise that was supposed to be a "flagship" franchise for the league. It has been for the most part, a faliure. Have the NJSEA acted like pricks often and made life more difficult than it should be? Yep. But are they largely responsible for the problems of the club. No.