Many of us would love to see relegation in MLS, but are also realistic enough to realize that it will not happen in our lifetimes, if ever. But what if MLS did a "relegation" like tactic? If I was the Commish...I would propose that the team that finishes bottom of the standings lose their first round draft pick. Heck, stick to conference formats, and the bottom team in West gets no first round draft pick, nor does the bottom team in the East. Heck, even more incentive to finish top in the conference! Top seed in West gets the last place West sides first round draft. More reward, plus that side is more likely to be involved in Champions League, and deserve a bit more for the bigger schedule. Same in the East. This season, that would mean that Los Angeles Galaxy get Vancouver Whitecap FC's first round draft pick(s) and Sporting Kansas City get New England Revolution's first round pick(s). It's not exactly relegation out of MLS, but it is a real punishment for finishing dead last. Might make a team already out of playoff contention work a bit harder in those final games. And it is a further reward for finishing top in the conference.
Obviously this poster doesn't speak for everyone, but this post really sheds some light on the mindset of the Big Soccer relegation fetishists. I had always thought it was silly eurosnobbery/euroenvy that caused you all to think that there should be relegation in a country where there are barely enough viable teams to fill one division. This post makes it clear, however, that at least some of you see relegation as a punishment for not being good at soccer rather than a way of organizing cometition for a large number of teams whose relative quality is variable. And, furthermore you feel that absent relegation there needs to be some alternative punishment. This odd (to me) urge to punish goes a long way in explaining why you so doggedly cling to relegation despite its being totally impractical here.
I disagree. Right now, if come late July you're dead last in the league, you realize playoffs are pretty much over. What incentive is there to play hard? If we can improve, maybe we finish 14th out of the 19? But if you just play out the games, and continue to suck, and finish dead last, you get first pick of the best college players out there. That's no incentive to play harder. But if your club knows they'll lose that draft pick, you might play harder. I'd bet more on my version to improve play than the current version, where sucking is rewarded. It really has nothing to do with Euro-snobbery at all. I've loved MLS since November 1995 when DC United were first announced. It has to do with REWARDING the clubs that played hard and finished top spot in their conference, and making those clubs that didn't realize that sucking isn't getting a reward. I do not understand that obsession in American sport that everybody has to be equal. Parity is parried around like it's god's gift to athletics. But all it does is punish those that have the finances to be better, and punish the players, because eventually if the club is good enough, they will have to ship some of the talent off (i.e., the early DC United dynasty that was destroyed not because they couldn't compete anymore, but because they were too good). What is wrong with rewarding those that achieve, and making those that suck realize that you better get better next time? Like it's horrible to say "You don't get a reward when you suck." Excuse me for thinking that on-field performance should count for something. Let's go back to "everyone gets a trophy" day.
You're a professional and if you don't play hard you won't be a professional for long. Players really don't care about this. They might be traded or cut before the new draft pick even shows up. A draft pick is a new hotshot player who will come in and take somebody's job. It's not motivation to the players.
I think the easier way to 'punish' the lower-finishing teams is to re-order the way the draft goes. Instead of 18-1 based on table finish, it should be 11-18 then 10-1. Give the team on the cusp the #1 pick and keep teams from tanking at the end just for the allocation order and draft picks (BTW, Allocation Order is far more valuable than a hit-or-miss draft pick)
But everyone doesn't get a trophy. The teams that win the SS, MLS cup, USOC, and NCC get trophies. And they get berths in international competitions, just like everywhere else on the planet.
BUT... My "relegation" like proposal addresses the fact that we don't have enough clubs for more than one division. However, as much as relegation is a means of organizing, it is also very much a way of weeding out the weak, and survival of the fittest. Like it or not. It is a form of punishment for failure. Look at the recent debate that the foreign owners in England would do away with relegation. One could easily lop four clubs off the bottom three divisions for a total of twelve, toss in eight from the Blue Square, and form five pro divisions of 20 teams without ever having relegation again. If it was only about organizing, relegation would be gone there too. It is a huge financial blow to three clubs at every level. To suffer a huge blow like that merely to help organize is absurd thinking at best. As for your last comment, I do not doggedly cling to it. I realize relegation, as it is done globally, won't happen here. That is exactly why I proposed something akin to it. Finish last, lose a draft pick. It would, hopefully, spice up the end of season games for the bottom dwelling clubs much as the relegation battles bring excitement to the end of the season in Europe and elsewhere. More excitement throughout the season, more reward for success, more reason to push hard even if out of the playoffs, these are things that could make for a more exciting MLS season. I don't see that as a bad thing at all.
I disagree that the players wouldn't care about a draft pick. Not every player can be traded away, or sold overseas. Most players will be on that team next year. Most players have some pride. And with the expanded rosters, there is more room. So a team getting a draft pick doesn't mean they have to get rid of every other player. The draft pick will take the place of somebody who probably only saw the field in the reserve league anywho. To give a real world example, you think Jay Demerit and Eric Hassli would say "Hell, let's finish dead last because the new draft pick will just take our jobs, or we won't be here next year anyway." Players do play with pride as pros. But if winning your last two games could get you out of losing that draft pick, you might have that extra motivation to win those last two games then you would now under the current system. And unless the team has major injury issues, any player in the starting eleven and the 7 on the bench will feel safe not losing their roster spot to the hot shot rookie.
I have an idea. Instead of looking for ways to punish teams competitively, e.g. take away a draft pick, not allow entry into the USOC. Why not just embarrass them? We give a Scudetto to the MLS Cup winners, maybe we can give the bottom team a "You Suck Scudetto" that they have to wear all year? Here's some ideas: You never know, that limited edition Golden Turd Vancouver jersey could be worth something one day.
Ah the good old Wooden Spoon. An idea that is really needed in all American sports. I have no problem with teams playing by the rules, even if I don't like the rules. For example, the NFL's "Suck for Luck" campaigns intrigue me. I have absolutely no problem with a team deciding to throw all of their games to get the #1 pick. I also wouldn't have a problem with teams throwing games to get a better playoff match-up or to prevent a rival from making the playoffs. I'm not sure I'm a fan of creating situations were teams want to do that. (About to enter broken record mode--I do apologize that I seem to find a way to bring something like this up in almost every post I write) I like relegation. I really do. I don't like a single table first past the post system, but I do think relegation is one of the best sporting ideas to come out of Europe. However much I might want it in every sport, I don't think it will ever happen in America, even in soccer where its part of the sport's worldwide culture. Because MLS is an American league, I think we will always get the playoffs that I like (though, like all sports bar the NFL too many playoff teams) but not the relegation that I like. I also think that it would be hard to go away from the American need to have draft picks handed out to lesser teams to keep them from becoming the Bad News Bears or the New York Islanders. I think something can be done to improve things. My suggest set-up sort of like the World Cup idea, is to simulate relegation by allowing the vast majority of the league into a second stage of the season. Playoff berths would only be awarded to teams based on second stage performance. Teams not good enough to make the last 16 (or 20 if the league gets large enough) don't continue to play. Now to deal with the fact that in my plan the bottom feeders would lose a lot of home games and to keep the draft in an appropriate fashion, I suggest the MLS Wooden Spoon Playoffs. After the higher ranked teams go on to the playoffs, the teams in the "relegation" zone play off (and possibly have a group stage before the knockout games) for both the first draft pick and maybe an allocation pick for the winners and the Wooden Spoon for the losers. Teams keep playing until they can win neither the number one pick nor the Wooden Spoon. The "winner" of the Wooden Spoon should get a scudetto of sorts as a badge of shame and a kick in the posterior to stimulate better play next year. As a sign of maturity, I won't suggest that the final game to determine the Wooden Spoon be branded the Toilet Bowl nor that Arm & Hammer or Liquid Plumber be recruited as a title sponsor.
it would actually be a cool think on the day the wooden spoon team mathematically escapes the basement they get to publicly shred those jerseys, especially in front of a home crowd. That could begin a fantastic tradition.
I like it. Though I think certain cynical individuals might claim that its a reward for the hollow victory of moving into second to last. Perhaps they can lose it if they reach a certain benchmark-- a .500 season, making playoffs or something similiar.
Well then ******** those certain cynical individuals. Don't teams celebrate being the last team not relegated as well? It would be up to each club what to do with it. timber Joey can shred them with the chainsaw. The Red Bulls can get one of thei fancy F1 cars to drag them all behind on Cape May St. DC can use CIA snipers, etc. it would be awesome and it could happen any time of year.
You don't seem to have much idea about what the system is for. It's not about punishing teams. What you propose is about as similar as a hermit crab and the holy grail. I take it when teams get the best draft pick currently, the players are seeing dancing with joy and the crowds swarm the pitch in celebration? No? Maybe that's because they aren't remotely similar, and there's nothing like as much at stake. You idea would have had more of a chance if you'd not put relegation in the title, or tried to claim it's like relegation.
Funny that I read this this morning. I was just watching a story on the battle for Andrew Luck in the NFL. They had a couple of experts on talking about how coaches in the past have been in this situation and say its an advantage, because player evaluation at the end of the season becomes easy. Those players that quit midway through the season because they were out of it are the ones you cut, those that kept playing and kept trying to improve the team even though they had no shot are the ones you keep. In other words, the incentive to play harder is keeping your job.
The problem isn't that teams aren't punished for sucking, it's that there is an incentive to suck if they're not in the playoffs. Solution? All teams who don't make the playoffs should have their picks decided by lottery of equal weighting. Or, give the teams that finish 11th or 12th have higher chances than 17th and 18th. Because, honestly, what is the real difference between 11th and 18th? You missed the playoffs. That's it.
How is there incentive to suck? It isn't like your club turns around after one draft. You've gotta be willing to spend money too. Just ask New England, Chivas and Toronto.