From The Eagle-Tribune: Revolution face no-win situation http://www.eagletribune.com/news/stories/20030323/SP_006.htm
more drivel about this tournament that the revs have no place being in, as meanless as it is. i certainly hope that nobody here dreams of the day when 60k watch the revs lose disgracfully 4-0 to a team in the 60th best league in the world (if they are lucky). just what the local media and the local fan need to hear. lets just keep this tragedy to our self, and not complain about the lack of coverage for a change.
As the author of said "drivel," I thank you for your response But even if the Champions Cup isn't the biggest deal (and it isn't), the Revs still took it less seriously than the other teams in their own league. By the tone of your second and third paragraphs below, it's fair to assume you're embarrassed by the performance of this team. Why on earth shouldn't they be called out for putting themselves at such a competitive disadvantage?
You'd be ***************ing blessed REv-Oke to have the ability to write "such drivel" as you call it. The Revolution got their assess handed to them tonight by a superior team, and it doesn't matter a bit as to the supposed lack of quality of the league. LDA are a class team and they proved that tonight. They'll prove that again when the Revs play at home on Wednesday... ... funny thing about a home-field advantage: the Columbus Crew whom many wrote off after their performance in Panama advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament with a 3-0 win at home: Lousy weather from the look of things in Columbus. The Magpie Cause what else did we expect?
Spot on Beez! I disagree with Rev-Oke's claim that your article was drivel. Many of the points have been discussed on these baords and I feel needed a wider distribution. You hit the Rev's management right between the eyes on several points. Thanks! A professional question for you. Do the Rev's ignore you / limit your access if you are tough on them in the paper? I ask this question becuase you could really put them through the meat grinder on the shameful circumstances revolving around this tournament and their recent lack of disclsoure. Let the news flow!
Tim Bresnahan called it absolutely straight on. The upper levels of Rev management are clueless when it comes to ambition and sold their side out for a bottom line consideration. Brian McBride's return to the Crew rubs salt in the wound with deserved justice. I suspect he passed up more money than Kraft Sports saved by selling off the second leg. Now that the Crew have gone through if LA wins at home we will have a clear demonstration of the home advantage. Maybe even San Jose will put up a good showing. I feel terrible for the coaches and players. They don't deserve this. It certainly will be a learning experience but the people who should be doing everything to help this team suceed and grow have them playing with one arm and two legs tied behind their collective backs. Getting hosed by a really good team in late season form at home isn't a crime. Throwing away any opportunity for the team to win back some pride is, on the part of management. Sadly, JIM DOW
its unfortunate that possibly the most loyal fans in the league get hosed all the time by the management. Lord knows we would have the best franchise in the league if the powers to be actually shared our passion.
Unless you're the Iraqi Ministry of Information, you normally don't limit access or shun journalists or news organizations just because you don't like what they wrote. Bad press goes with the territory, just as good press does. And unless you write something that really strikes a nerve (or that someone disputes from a factual standpoint), teams usually just let bad press slide. They might not like it, but they don't make a big deal of it.
don't misunderestimate me here - i'm angry that the revs reverted to the clavijo era ball that i thought was dead. LDA is NOT a 4-0 powerhouse. they are not exactly loaded with creativity and talent. mid season form, yes. Magpie - i guess if i don't hold your view i'm fit to be put feet first into a plastics shredder. There is no need to have a cow magpie. i don't think you need to personally attack ME (big soccer poster) because i think that a pro writer for a legit paper copy and pasted from big soccer, ran the spell check and called it an article. i admit that "Drivel" is a bit harsh Beez - it is better than I could do - lets just say I disagree with your content - please keep writing - i don't care what you write, as long as its about the revs. as for complaing about the Kraft Ministry of Information - on the one hand you stick it to Krafty for not marketing the team properly. - on the other hand, you wanted them to promote this garbage. how does the great magpie et al suggest to his soon to be soccer converts, the tartgets in his great marketing plan that after this flacid display the revs are "Major League"? IS this result some kind of marketing coup? I can just imagine the headline, had they hosted a game here: 7 Rev fans, and 32 flag waving Costa Ricans brave the cold to see Revs demolished at the Razor by the PowerHouse LDA... TV ratings are in the negative - the 10 fans that stayed home to watch actually destroyed thier TV's, permanently removing themselves from the Nielsen Public. Soccer has really taken New England by storm, and gosh darnit our boys can play with the the best of them, or at least, them. Stroke of genius to keep this one under wraps.
Rev-OKE, The suggestion that the opinion I expressed in my column was "copy and pasted from BigSoccer" is a slap in the face. I'm sure you revel in playing the role of obnoxious contrarian, but I'd appreciate it if you'd at least consider that I might have reached these conclusions on my own. Yes, I do read these boards and post on them -- I think it's a valuable way to get a pulse for what fans are thinking. We don't have soccer talk on sports radio, so a forum like this is especially useful. And of course, no matter the medium, reporters often pay attention to the issues that mean a lot to fans. If people are interested enough to post on a topic, they'll probably want to read about it in a newspaper. But it's laughable to suggest that I needed BigSoccer posters' ideas in order to put this column together. No, the Revolution's actions (especially in contrast to the actions of the other MLS teams) gave me all the ammunition I needed. They made a decision to sacrifice on-field performance for a quick buck. I think it's short-sighted. I have no problem with you disagreeing, but your attempts to portray those who disagree with you as mere sheep following the flock is pathetic. Finally, I'll do my best to make sure I only report on Revs games that are glorious victories that take place in front of over 20,000 fans. I'll keep the rest "under wraps", just for you, man.
"The main issue, according to Gulati, was the field condition at Gillette Stadium. A brutal winter and the wear and tear of Patriots season have left it unplayable. Attempts to find a suitable site -- both in New England and in warmer American climes -- just didn't pan out, Gulati added." How many soccer fields in the USA with seating for at least 12,000 people? I don't think you even tried.
Get over it! I can't wait until Thursday, maybe then we can see an end to all the kvetching about selling the home leg. Is it disappointing that Revs management did that? Sure. But consider the facts: The tournament is meaningless (maybe it won't be someday, but today it is). The refs are corrupt. The Revs could have played the home leg in Alaska and still not made up a four goal deficit. They could have played the game at the Razor in front of 500 diehards and further embarassed themselves, losing money in the process, or do what they did and get another game of international experience and make a few bucks that could be better invested elsewhere (a #10, developmental roster, etc.) There are too many other issues the team needs to address for us fans to waste anymore time on this one. Where was that post about flogging the deceased equine?
Re: Get over it! I was looking for a single fact in there but couldn't find one. The tournament is meaningless only because the team choses to treat it that way. It's certainly no less important than the U.S. Open Cup. If the Revs had won and advanced, it would certainly seem more important. Even if you don't value the tournament, it would have been a useful tune up. Treating it like a joke undermined even that value. BTW, there's no way that saving that 25K is going to get the Revs a midfielder - unless they use it to pay someone to do more scouting. Salary cap figures are fixed, and the MLS League office negotiates contracts - so the 25K ain't going to get a midfielder. Fact is, the Revs scouting has been something approaching pathetic for years, and consequently the team has to rely on the kindness of strangers (the MLS League office) to supply them with foreign players. Being so far back in the queue right now, it's just not going to happen until every other team is happy. I will also state for the umpteenth time that I don't not have the vaguest notion what it is that Sunil Gulati has to do with this team.
I'm not so sure I would've played many of my starters if I wasn't taking this tourney too seriously. Why risk it? I mean, why go halfway. If Rev's management were really 'blowing this whole thing off', I certainly wouldn't allow Taylor to suit up... hmm... why was JMM MIA?.. Llamosa?.. well, I'm sure there were legit reasons. I guess. As far as 'gleaning info off of BS boards' ... Please. If someone's going to borrow info of a message board, I hope it's for the reason of making a name for themselves in a sport that's currently in the top three. Stealing info off BigSoccer for Soccer? Give me a break. We may love this sport to death, but it's still the fifth major. Better to borrow for comedians' sake.
Hey - I appriceate your work. I disagree with your last article. It parrotts the BS party line. You may agree with it. Wether you actually cut and pasted or wether it was a simutaneous invention is irrelvant. if you can't take criticiszm from a-holes like me with a grain of salt, then get out of the kitchen. What irks me about your article, (not to metion the Revies on the board) is the arrogance by which you assume that all 15 of you speak for the average soccer fan (who runs the gamut from WAY more savy a fan than you all, to the clueless soccer mom carting PTH to rev games and to soccer celebrations). Out of the 60k that were at the final (actual soccer customers, aka fans) how many agree with you? i'll bet it isn't the same persentage as if you polled just those in the fort. or those still upset that POCM is out of print. Go write a article that actully represents the majority of the sports (soccer) fans opionion if you want to impress me. Else, write your own "fanzine" and sell it to your 9 best friends, and claim a conspiracy when nobody buys what you are selling.
Knock it off ladies This one is done and cooked And Magpie - should moderators talk to posters like that ? I will say Beez, that I liked the article but you did have an agenda. It was more opinion than a story. Granted we performed about as well as an Iraqi tank last night but still as a journalist you might want to remember this - DEWEY BEATS TRUMAN As for dead equines - I think we played like one last night But thankfully it's only preseason Where was our golden boy JMM ?
"And Magpie - should moderators talk to posters like that?" Actually, while my profilfe lists me as a Moderator I gave up that responsibility some time ago. I have no idea why they haven't changed it. As for the tone of my remarks, too bad: I know Tim (who wrote the article) and hold a pretty high opinion of his abilities as a both writer and knowledgable sports fan. To suggest that Tim "copy and pasted from BigSoccer" is a ludicrous assumption, with Rev-OKE's editorialized comments being both innacurate and insulting. Let him take that with a grain of salt, and maybe he could solicit the opinions of some of those "average soccer fans" he speaks of so as not to appear "arrogant" himself. The Magpie
Huh? Catering to the masses is a way to “impress” you? Not to put words in your mouth but it sounds like your saying 'Write what the people want to read, ‘cuz that really takes guts and skill. If your opinion doesn't exactly match that of most everyone who reads your articles, you should be writing.' What writer/reporter anywhere doesn't have his own opinion? Who is this mythical beast that can convey ideas without being at least slightly affected by it's own internal thoughts? You may not agree with what he says, but that doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t say it.
Revoke, there are two possibilities as to why so many informed people have concluded that the Krafts made a big mistake by playing the home leg in CR. One is that everyone is following a party line, badmouthing the team unreasonably for the heck of it. The other is that the Krafts actually did make a stupid, pound-foolish decision, and most reasonable people can figure that out independently. I don't think you recognize how silly you sound claiming that a broad array of people who have, in the past, differed greatly in their opinions of the management of the Revs, are in thrall to some sort of group-think. By smearing a lot of smart, loyal Revs fans as mindless drones, and claiming that there's some "silent majority" who is more savvy about soccer than a lot of people who have been seen as the most articulate voices of the American soccer fan-- by league officials and players and coaches, by the way, who were avid readers of what Tom and others wrote in POCM-- you're coming across as not only totally uninformed, but also as a real prick.
before you post -- read. several times, i stated that i am glad he writes, and appricate his efforts. i like to read even things i don't agree with. just because the magpie is his pal doesn't mean i should agree with him, or face the magpie's verbal WMD - a bit petulant don't you think? as for "impressing me" - reading in the paper something that i don't agree with, and represents a vocal, yet irrelavent minority gives me the right to mention that i disagree. i always thought that options were for the editorial pages of the paper - or opinion columns. i wongly assumed this was "news" which is supposed to be fair and objective. fair and objective impresses me. enough about me, and the fact that i disgree with the minortiy. the vocal majority rests. this horse is dead.