Boy that's terrible! Glad it's 3.5 orders of magnitude less than the amount of damage done by the militia folks at the Capitol. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/us/politics/capitol-riot-damage.html
Same can be said for San Francisco. The game has been indoctrinated in the city for over 100 years. The San Francisco Soccer Football League or SFSFL, established in 1902, is "the oldest American soccer league in continuous existence. History - San Francisco Soccer Football League You had the Glens, Concordia, Lothar Osiander’s Greek-Americans, Scots ,San Francisco Italian Athletic Club , El Farolito/CD Mexico as well as college, USF... Again, I don't think it will ever happen but after Sacramento, what's left? Red Bluff, Chico ,Fresno Solvang? How about back to Elk Grove? Remember that one?
Back in the day, circa 1988, while visiting a friend working on Capitol Hill, I arrived at the Russell Senate Office Building shortly after 5 on a Friday evening following a day-long drive from Buffalo, disheveled and unshaven and wearing army surplus pants (purchased in Berkeley) imprinted with "L.A. County Jail." I was able to park on the sidewalk right outside the front door and wander in with barely a nod from the security guard. I walked by a wide-open door to Senator Ted Kennedy's chambers (on my way to the chambers of Senator Nancy Kassebaum, which was also wide open). If I had wanted, I could have dropped in and said hi and even sat in Kennedy's chair. Who knows what the psychic injury to staff of seeing an unshaven future Quakes fan in the halls of Congress would total in today's dollars.
outrage has become completely selective. right wing folks I know are completely mute on the Capitol riot and the damage done there to property and lives, etc. But mention Portland or Seattle, the outrage is immediate.
I see no evidence, in any articles about this particular riot, that the damage was inflicted by people of a particular political persuasion. In most situations, the rioters (not to be confused with regular protesters) are garden variety criminals out to destroy property or steal merchandise. When there has been a political leaning, the perpetrators are far more likely to be affiliated with radical RW groups. Note that there is no group called Antifa, but I hope we can all agree that fascism is not a desirable system of government, and that being opposed to fascism is a virtue. (But then, there are some who believe that the Capitol insurrection wasn't really executed by supporters of the former guy.)
I just don't see the point of adding another pro club to the City at this point unless you have a clear plan to get to D1 / MLS, meaning a billion-dollar operation with stadium proposals.
were the actions that day not so heinous and disgusting in every way, this would be amusing. one would have to be completely stupid to believe these were the actions of antifa. the rioters were so clearly and obviously there at the beckoning of one person (the flags, hats, their online history and by their own admission, once arrested!), for one reason, to disrupt democracy based on 'The BIG Lie'. it's a sad sign o' the times, folks are so silo'd by their internet web sites and favorite partisan TV pundits that we've lost sight of the bigger picture - we're all in this together! its been nice to give news a break for awhile but the realities are as bad as ever. extremism (which we should all be able to denounce, wherever it rears its head and in whatever form) is on the rise, and folks are willing to contort themselves into ridiculous positions to claim moral high ground and demonize their neighbors, friends and family with whom they disagree. really makes "a day at a time" a philosophy worth living by.
Forget about USL or any other minor league, if you are going to do it, you must build an MLS club with a soccer specific stadium and a clear plan. With this pandemic , it’s not going to happen now or in the next 2-4 years. As time passes and things get back to normal within a a few years and World Cup 2026 on the horizon, the impact can be pretty great. Just looking at what the 1994 WC did for soccer in the USA , there is no telling what can happen post 2026. Pre 1994, there was no MLS , no teams , stadiums or anything. Look where we have come since 2004 alone! We went from 10-26 teams , tons of new stadia and the game has grown immensely. We have teams in Nashville and Cincinnati. Who would have thought 5-7 years ago there would be soccer teams in those towns? If the next few years are any indication of what the last 5-10 have been like, there could easily be more teams. The north Bay Area is the only other place left untouched.
From your lips... I'm not convinced that life will ever be quite like it was before, because that damn virus is going to keep spreading and mutating. Think about THAT next time you're musing about having bat or pangolin for lunch!
Our lives changed significantly after 9/11, although I'm not sure we realized it -- it was a one-day event but with long shock waves. Covid is sending us in yet another direction. We're not going back to that old world -- not only the virus but other factors, like climate change, will keep us looking over our shoulders. As for location: there's a reason that a Super Bowl hosted in Santa Clara chose to hold Super Bowl City in San Francisco. We may not like it, but that's reality.
The article you linked doesn't mention Antifa at all. The head of the historical society said, "But anonymous acts of destruction outside of any agreed-upon process are toxic, unaccountable behavior that has no place in our city." Sounds like anarchist douchebags to me.
I never really cared about about bringing up the off the topic political doom and gloom on the threads. If this virus continues though as is perceived across the board, then we can very well forget about expansion and start thinking about more franchises not to mention the league as a rule ultimately folding. In regards to San Francisco getting a team, I for none never cared or wanted them to have one because I was always afraid it would take away from our team and getting a stadium in San Jose. Now that we have one though, its a different story. Still, I can care less and have no desire to see a team in Oakland at all. I doubt many fans would either. Its not surprising that the Warriors and Raiders left and why the A's want out. So far we have seen minor leagues in Reno and Fresno folding and now Sac's MLS venture pulling out. Not sure how much longer they will want to play in the USL. Again, after Sacramento, there really aren't too many other places in California -Nevada to put a team other than maybe Las Vegas and San Diego.
I don't think it's political to say that the pandemic is going to reshape our culture and the choices we make. Activities that put lots of people in a small space -- sporting events, theaters, concerts -- are going to take a while to recover and may never revert to their prior form. From an investor's standpoint, that's a hard sell.
Right, that’s why it raised my eyebrows when some MLS pundit tweeted that if Sac’s out of the picture, now the expansion franchise cost can go up relative to the $200 mil Sac was going to pay! Not so sure about that, at least in the short term. Or folks here thinking this will be the year that Fish finally shows that he’s really committed to winning! People continue to act and think as if the pandemic hasn’t happened.
Again, if this virus lingers , we can just forget expansion and start thinking about survival. I just hope it doesn't end up killing the league.
Best case is that things more or less go back to normal by let's say fall. But even if they do, now that a pandemic has occurred, it will be in back of people's minds - oh, yeah, pandemics can happen and really hurt any industry that depends on large live audiences. But hopefully we'll be much better at jumping on them early before they get too out of hand. Soccer has a little bit of an advantage over hockey and basketball because it's played outside.
Unlike European teams which usually make money from the local fans and TV contracts, MLS relies on concerts, income from other events held at their stadia as well as SUM. I always retained that the league makes money and I even stated this on the MLS analysis boards last week. I believe they do in fact still make money in value of franchise or whatever. Having owners own their own stadiums, they no longer are paying rent but still no revenue is coming in so they aren't making much. Not sure how much TV or sponsorship money comes in but I can't imagine its that much. Salaries compared to the rest of the world are low and the new CBA deal I believe was a contract that went in the owners favor as they told the players take it or leave it. That contract runs until 2027 so that may be good for the ownership groups. Still, its either the owners are making or they are losing a ton of money and if they are losing , sooner or later, more will want to pull out because I can't imagine anyone would want to keep writing checks out the door with nothing coming in. On the other hand if they are making a profit, then I don't think it will affect teams and the league all that much.
Actually, my good friend was a CID special agent for them. He quit after he found out how crooked they are.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/15/turkish-soccer-star-hakan-sukur-is-now-an-uber-driver-in-the-us.html A little old, but very interesting that the best Turkish player ever is living in the Bay Area. Jesse should give him a call.
And, he's been to an Earthquakes game! https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/s...ostgame-thread-r.2083575/page-3#post-36632621
Last I heard Hakan Şükür had to leave the Palo Alto as he had suspicious people coming into his café/bakery. He is now in DC driving UBER. I'm surprised the Jesse or Garber for that matter , won't won't give him a job. He seems like he would have a lot to offer the game.
He seems like a nice enough guy, but I doubt the Earthquakes want to get involved in international politics, much less hire someone who may or may not be on Erdogan's hit list.