http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/10/sports/soccer/10SOCC.html?tntemail1 Judging by that article, the new Cosmos will actually be a sort of barnstorming team or something, with folks like Baggio and Batistuta on the team, and will NOT be part of MLS. Also, Pele's involvement is in question, but Giorgio Chinaglia is indeed involved. The money quotes: The team, which would be a collection of international stars like Roberto Baggio and Gabriel Batistuta, would play between 6 and 10 games a year, half at Giants Stadium and half overseas. It is possible the Cosmos could be back on the field as early as late spring or early summer. "The team will come back with some of the best players in the world," Chinaglia said. "We want to create some buzz. We don't want to be part of a league; that's laughable. We want to play a limited number of games over, say, a three-year period. We don't want to overdo things." (end quote) This seems to me like either a meaningless diversion from American soccer, or potentially a huge step backward. Chinaglia is hardly a friend of MLS or U.S. Soccer, and if this "Cosmos" gets more media attention than MLS, it could be a huge problem. Once again, U.S. soccer would just be a way for "the best players in the world" to pick up an extra paycheck or two. Thoughts?
But he'd rather just be a ONE TEAM laughable show. Dont get me wrong MLS is LAUGHABLE, but c'mon giorgio you cant be serious when you talk about this crap.
How is someone who wants to create a non-competitive, over-paid team that's not affiliated with any league, not in it for the money? Who was it that said "Harlem Globetrotters of soccer"?
Do you think Batitusta and Baggio would want to give up their summers to join some dink barnstorming team? Neither do I.
My cash will only go to MLS & players that need the money.Not to teams and players out of the US that make too much money. MLS needs our money not PELE or Batestuta.
Ajax65, that is a very funny comment! Frankly, I loved the Cosmos. I would love to see an MLS team named the Cosmos. But Chinaglia is an idiot. He has even less of a concept of reality than the rest of those out of touch former players. Talk about someone who just wants to make a buck! The pot shot at MLS is exactly as bad as the fact that Man U isn't playing an MLS team. Frankly, I say cut Chinaglia out of any and all Nat's broadcasts from this point forward. Ice the guy from TV. This Harlem Globetrotters' Cosmos idea is the biggest laughingstock I've ever heard. It will set US soccer back 20 years in our international image, utterly ruin the Cosmos name, and make soccer seem like a freak show at the carnival to fans of other US sports. Why? Because Chinaglia wants to make a buck. Geez, just look at how the fatso dressed for the World Cup broadcasts ... he is the laughingstock, and now he's trying to pull US Soccer, MLS and the Cosmos down with him. Man, I sure hope that Pele does start an MLS expansion team with the Cosmos name, but this abomination that Chinaglia suggests is worse than anything I've ever seen happen in US sports before. -Tron
Re: Re: New Cosmos? Maybe, but not in MLS Notice the punctuation (semicolon). I think he's saying that being part of a league (any league) is laughable. Not that the league MLS is laughable. That said, it sure does come off badly.
NY COSMOS I would pay to see the NY Cosmos take on a good oponent. It is not everyday that you can watch Batigoal or the "divine ponytail" Baggio playing in your hometown. So what if they are washed up, in a friendly game they will have the oportunity to show flashes of their brilliance. I went to see the Mexican Nationals against AC Milans scrub team, but i aint complaining as i got to watch Leonardo, Dario Hubner and even Serginho. Good fun, good fun indeed..
Hmm...I seem to remember Chinaglia saying something like this after the Cosmos embarassed themselves by being the first MISL team to fold mid-season. "We're going to concentrate on a serious of high-profile exhibition matches," he said at the time. They had, what...one? Then the team went belly-up for good, and Peppe went running with the logo to open a soccer camp. Good plan, Georgie...worked well 18 years ago. Chinaglia is an arrogant ass. Ignore him.
Because those who would exploit the US Soccer market for their own short-term gain without leaving any legacy to build on have always seemed to win out over those few brave souls who have a long term plan for the development of US Soccer. Sachin
I still think folks are WAY overreacting to this. So these guys play 3 or 4 games on US soil. Big deal. If that's enough to knock MLS off its moorings, then the league is a lot weaker than we'd like to admit. The best these guys will pull are a group of players like Ginola, Gascgoine and a few other semi-retired/retired guys out for a buck. They'll play a couple of Euro teams in out-of-season form. This is going to set back US soccer 20 years? Maybe I'm not seeing it. Some of you guys I've grown to trust (Sach, 'tron), please enlighten me... without all the "Stilltano is the Dehbul" and "Chinaglia is a charlatan bastard" stuff. Consider those facts as a given.
That's pretty much my opinion. I mean, Chinaglia is a pinhead, and Americans who would ignore MLS but go to exhibition matches are no friends of the sport, but I don't see a handful of games over 3 years as a major problem. Has anyone thought that, when Chinaglia said that being a part of a league is laughable, he might have meant that his thrown-together team would be the ones getting laughed at? It sounds like he's trying to make the maximum amount of money with the minimum amount of commitment, which is basically the American way, and if MLS can't survive the onslaught of 12 games over 3 or 4 years... well, to repeat, then the league is doomed.