How about this quot from Nichol: "We had to do two things tonight. We had to make sure we were competitive and we had to take the competition with respect," said Nicol. "We showed the respect the competition deserves." He must think that this competition deserves no respect because that is what he demonstrated last night... rand
We had two starters in the game when the final whistle blew last night (Heaps sending off kept it from being 3). And we showed this competition respect?
Banged-up Revs bounced By Mike Biglin/ MetroWest Daily News Thursday, August 4, 2005 - Updated: 07:55 AM EST http://sports.bostonherald.com/soccer/view.bg?articleid=96562 Nicol plays it safe By Mike Biglin/ MetroWest Daily News Thursday, August 4, 2005 - Updated: 07:58 AM EST http://sports.bostonherald.com/soccer/view.bg?articleid=96560 Revolution down, then out in loss to Fire: Chicago controls play, wins in OT By Fluto Shinzawa, Globe Staff **|** August 4, 2005 http://www.boston.com/sports/soccer/articles/2005/08/04/revolution_down_then_out_in_loss_to_fire/ Heaps brings spunk to Revs soccer pitch By Ron Chimelis, The (Springfield) Republican 8/4/05 http://www.masslive.com/chimelis/republican/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1123141821164500.xml&coll=1 Fire gains quarters; Rhinos next By Chris Cowles, Special to the Chicago Tribune 8/4/05 http://chicagosports.chicagotribune...03fire,1,5110767.story?coll=cs-fire-headlines Fire Beat Revs In OT In Open Cup By Bill Quigly, TheFireAlarm.com 8/4/05 http://thefirealarm.matchnight.com/tfadefault.cfm?page=ARTICLE&show=905 U.S. Open Cup: Fire 3, Revolution 2 Fire burns Revolution in extra time http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/dssports/pro/042sd5.htm Fire advances in Open Cup with overtime win http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/sportsstory.asp?id=80144
Well, if Nicol can say that this showed respect and he can find nothing to complain about then it is perfectly clear that the Revs will never lift the Dewar Cup while he is coach. I would have prefered excuses to this "spin."
The thing is that this is fine by many of our fans. They couldn't care less. So apparently it's acceptable for the Revs to lose.
This article sounds about right. like it or not. wishing the open cup was big time does not make it so. with the reserve system/league in place, i think we have found a tournament that those guys can play for. if chicago wants to send ringers at the expense of the mls season - good luck to them. the open cup will be the olympics of us soccer.
I look forward to the facts documenting this claim... Let's see how the Revs and the Fire do in league play over the next month AND how that relates to making the playoffs and league position.
I'm so sick of this. Do people do any research before they post? Wait, this is bigsoccer ... stupid question. For some God unknown reason, there are two camps here. One that believes that the Open Cup is important and the Revs should go all out to win the Double (hell, the triple!). Then the other side that believes going all out for the Open Cup will somehow be "at the expense of the MLS Season." Not that I'd like to ruin your arguments with facts, but here goes anyway. 2004 Open Cup Winner: KC. MLS Cup Finalist. 2003 Open Cup Winner: Chicago. MLS Cup Finalist. 2002 Open Cup Winner: Columbus. Lost in the Eastern Conference Final. 2001 Open Cup Winner: Los Angeles. MLS Cup Finalist. 2000 Open Cup Winner: Chicago. MLS Cup Finalist. 1999 Open Cup Winner: Rochester. 1998 Open Cup Winner: Chicago. Won MLS Cup. 1997 Open Cup Winner: Dallas. Lost in the Western Conference Final. 1996 Open Cup Winner: DC United. Won MLS Cup. So yeah ... I can definitely see how trying to win the USOC can just kill your MLS chances.
sure. whatever. did you factor the number of starters involved in WCQ, Gold Cup and high profile allstar/exhibition matches this year? don't bother, cause thats not the point. point is (did you read that linked article) USOC is irrelavant, in the big picture. if i declare that the Ingural REV-OKe Cup is played in my back yard this weekend and MLS teams are all invited, and me and my family show up to watch it would you complain if the revs don't show, or mail it in? every stupid money losing meaningless tournament that comes down the pike needs to see the big guns blazzing - so we can 'win some hardware' or because the other teams do it? just because little jonny down the street's mom lets little jonny eat icecream for dinner doesn't mean you get to.
Well, REV-OKe, you could also say that in relation to the sports landscape in the US, MLS is irrelevant. So why should any teams really take it seriously anyway?
Classic response. You tell me that the Fire sent ringers at the expense of the MLS season, and when I prove to you that teams that have done well in Open Cup play have done well in MLS play, you respond with some stuff about your family hosting a tournament. Great ... thanks for that addition to the argument. And btw ... no I didn't factor in players that were in WCQ, Gold Cup, and All Star matches. I'm guessing that almost every year, those aforementioned teams have lost players or two or three to their respective national teams for tournaments like this. Just because the Revs weren't really all that well represented on the US National team the past few years, doesn't mean that DC, or Chicago or LA didn't lose their set of players either.
Bingo. Hey, in the general scheme of US Soccer, the Open Cup is meaningless, so why bother playing it? Hey, in the general scheme of US sports, MLS is meaningless, so why bother supporting it?
pick and choose your battles. you want to promote the open cup. means there is something else you can't promote. the http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/exclusives/485593.html article (and SN seems to agree) that going to bat for the Open Cup (or other regional tournaments that are thrust apon MLS teams) is time wasted. if i have limited resources why bother? so YOU can claim braggin rights over the fire? Seems to make more sense to send an MLS allstar team to play fulham or Real Madrid or have Carribeian night or other $$ generateing activities. This isn't a charity, whos mission it is to win every trophy that comes down the pike. Again, be a realist. this ain't an MLS tournament, so why should they (or the revs) promote it when they get nothing in return? they have thier work cut out with thier OWN Marketing - why take on Open Cup projects as well? trouble is i think you are smart enough to know i'm right.
You got to be effing kidding me??? Please tell me you're not serious here??? Do everyone here a favor and just read this: WHAT IS THE LAMAR HUNT U.S. OPEN CUP? Dating back to 1914, the U.S. Open Cup is the oldest cup competition in United States soccer and is among the oldest in the world. Open to all affiliated amateur and professional teams in the United States, the annual U.S. Open Cup is a 90-year-old single-elimination tournament. In a nutshell, the U.S. Open Cup is very similar to domestic cup competitions popular throughout Europe, South America and the rest of the world. Cup competitions, which usually run concurrent with a country’s league season, are open in the early stages to any club that can qualify, giving local amateur teams a chance to compete against the best teams a country has to offer. In leagues like the English Premier League, the Serie A in Italy and the Bundesliga in Germany, cup competitions are prestigious tournaments waged between country’s strongest teams like Manchester United, AC Milan and Bayern Munich, and smaller teams like the amateur French side Calais that made it to the finals of the 2000 French Cup only to fall to defending champions Nantes on an injury time penalty kick. Watford F.C. in England, is another small-time club that hit it big in 1984 by making it all the way to the F.A. Cup Final. Just five years ago, unfashionable Chesterfield of the Second Division (the third flight in England) advanced to the semifinals of the 1997 F.A. Cup in England before finally losing. The winner of each country’s domestic cup competition, in addition to taking home the prize money, is automatically placed into a tournament to compete against neighboring countries cup winners. In 1999, the U.S. Open Cup was renamed the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup to honor the long-time soccer supporter and pioneer. Hunt, the owner of the Kansas City Wizards and Columbus Crew of MLS and the owner of the Dallas Tornado of the old NASL, was one of the sports first major ownership figures and is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. The winning team of the U.S. Open Cup will have their name engraved on the Dewar Cup trophy, that has been permanently retired at the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, N.Y. Yeah, this is a stupid meaningless tournament! Please tell me you're just trying to be an ass.... Mike
Um wow ... I don't even know where to begin on this one. And who the hell is talking about promoting the Open Cup? I'm talking about winning a game! I'm not talking about marketing this thing, that's not what my concern is. But I've decided you're completely right. And now that we know that all the MLS teams last night pretty much went full out for the wins, we are guaranteed MLS Cup. Per your reasoning, we saved up our energy for the league, and Chicago (and therefore the other teams) used their ringers in trying to win last night in expense of the MLS season. So we're going to win! YAY!
This is a fantastic post. For all the people who speak about the great importance of winning the Open Cup and how important the tournament is... then why is this thing played in 5,000 seat stadiums? Why isn't it on TV except for the final. Why should I care about it when the powers at be don't?
Why should I care about a league that doesn't have all it's games on TV? Why should the FCD fans continue following a team when they can't see most of the road games on TV? Gee ... they played in a pretty full 5k stadium last night. That's just terrible when you consider we had all of 8k for the first two games of the year, in a 68k stadium. That's just much better.
MLS is hardly ever on sports center. They only get 8k for a midweek game. The tv ratings are barely a blip on the radar. They get pissed on by much of the sporting press in the country. Why should I care about it when they don't?
Not trying to troll, but since this has turned into more of a USOpenCup argument than a Revs argument, I figured I'd chime in on the bold part. The answer to your question is simple .......... the powers that be will never care if "we" don't care about it. The powers that be respond to the consumer, not the other way around. These games are played in 5,000 seat stadia because "we" don't come out in numbers greater than 5K. The Open Cup is our FA Cup. It always amazes me how many people are more concerned with "traditional" sounding names than they are with actually establishing true tradition through our domestic tournament. If fans like you and I demand the most from our teams in these competitions, they will attempt to provide that for us, or lose us ........ the consumers. When they provide the most, more people will come. Making excuses for our teams losing in our longest running domestic championship does not help the "powers that be" create a better atmosphere for the tournament.
That's the problem. The "powers that be" ie the Rev's organization don't seem to care about these types of matches but other team's organizations do. Either do it right or don't do it all. It's that simple. Try to win as much as you can as often as you can. Half-azzed efforts do nobody any favors, not the fans, the players, or the league.
Hey the support that Rev fans and others have given the Open Cup is fantastic. But lets look at another tournament that I know you've taken very seriously when a lot of MLS fans have not... the CCC isn't something I started giving a care about until the games were on FSC. I for one think the whole notion of FA cups in any nation is a bit silly and obtuse. Let me tell you something 90% of all MLS fans couldn't give a crap about the Open Cup. Of the 10% that do, 9% of them are the team's fan that won the thing and the other 1% are the ones like yourself who believe the Cup should be important.