United go to the tape on Wizards (NRC) By Gus Martins Bring MLS Cup To The Fans Who Deserve It (NRC) By Ian Plenderleith Drama Dominates Cup Final (LRC) By Scott Tann It's All Over But Maybe It Has Just Begun, Plus An Interview With Steve Nicol By Jim Dow I would like to publicly thank Jim Dow for the outstanding articles he has contributed to RevsNet all season long. At this point in time, I think Jim is one of the top 10 soccer writers in America, based on his vast knowledge of the game, it's worldwide fanatical culture and history, and especially his first hand experience in having watched MLS be born and grow, up close and personal. Jim's incisive ability to clearly illustrate and substantiate both obvious and subtle facets of the ins and outs of our sport, complemented by his mastery of language skills, are a joy to share. Thank you, Jim. We'll have to double your salary for next year...
I'll second that. Thanks, Jim! In other news: Major League Soccer reaches agreement with MLS Players Union on collective bargaining agreement
Interesting comments for a fan of the only team ever to win an MLS Cup at their home venue. (Only other team to have played an MLS Cup final in their own venue is of course our own Revs, and we all know what happened there).
FWIW: Pictures of Chairman Mao (former Revolution faznnie for those who may not be familiair with it) was the first publication (newspaper, magazine, on-line, etc.) to take an extensive look at the MLSPA lawsuit many years ago, and at the time, came to the conclusion that they didn't have a case, and that the only means of getting what they'd want would be through collective bargaining. I spent many an afternoon camped out in the Clerk's Office of U.S. District Court in Boston reading through folder upon folder of documents on file, getting a very good glimpse into the early years of the league, including looks at the nuts and bolts of player moves from overseas to MLS, as well as some league financial details.
Great article by Jim - although United finished in 2nd place in the East! As a United fan, that scene where Nicol and Marriner were laughing on the sidelines was the scariest time of the game. To see the opposition so confident - yikes! From a coaching perspective, Nicol's dismissal of Nelsen's influence should make you a touch worried. Because IMHO, if Nelsen had been healthier United would have ended up in first.
Significant portions of the trial testimony transcripts are available here: http://www.kenn.com/soccer/mlscase/index.html I know that Kenn got them from me, and I got them from a geocities site that had been around for a while, but I can't recall who originally posted them.
that picture on jim's article....with paul and steve....darn it if i don't just wanna' take paul's hair and put it on stevie (and vice-versa). you know, just t'see. anyway, good read. thanks
Don't read too much into Nicol's 'dismissal' of Nelson's influence. His point as always is you have to beat the people on the field and he has a healthy respect for anyone that is out there. He did say that Nelson was better than Ezra. OTOH if he mentioned that there was a BIG difference between Nelson and Ezra then he would be dissing EZ. He is very pragmatic - respect your opponent and play them honestly.
Yawn. It read like an ill-informed BigSoccer post. So Ian, let me axe you this: If this was a home-and-home, how would you determine the champion if the home team won each leg, but by a different score? Away goals? And to moan and whinge that he has to watch the game on TV when he would rather be reading the Sunday Paper (which ain't going anywhere), strikes me as someone who is less than the fan he claims to be. Let's not even think about the fact that MLS Cup is more than just a game played in a stadium somewhere. The League has meetings, lots of announcements, media funcions and other things. They have to reserve hotel rooms, function areas, and a lot of other stuff well in advance. If you don't know who is playing in the final, until a week before, it's going to be impossible to do properly. And since TV time has to be set up many months in advance, suppose the Revs won and had to host at the same time the Pats were playing the Bills, or any one of several other NFL/MLS combos? Oh, that's right, Ian doesn't care about TV. I don't care for the way TV sometimes dictates more than it should, but this is a necessary component to eventually making the league a success. It would be irresponsible at best to refuse compromises that would make you pass up the chance for an ABC appearance. Ironic that this thread contains good examples of the best and the worst of Internet Soccer Journalism... Tom
I assume that if we had a two legged final, it would be arranged the same way that the first round of the playoffs is, highest remaining seed would host the second leg, if the series was tied on aggregate after the 2nd game, then a half hour of extra time would be played (a full half hour, not golden goal, since this would be in the future), and if the overtime score was tied, then the teams would exchange PKs to determine which team would take the trophy. It doesn't HAVE to be done that way. We generally follow the NFL model, but we could as easily hold the annual meetings at some other predetermined place and time. Frankly, it woud be more of a problem for the supporters summit than the league's activities (although I suppose the summit could be held in conjunction with the NSCAA convention at the draft instead). That's the real crux of the issue right there, stadium availability and locking in two national broadcast dates for the series final. Having 100% stadium control during the MLS Cup final window would make that job easier, but it would still be a difficult challenge to get that second consecutive Sunday afternoon (or two Saturdays). Actually, the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of a 3rd place game on the Saturday before MLS cup at the same venue (or a doubleheader). It's second best to having home and home to me, but it's better for fan scheduling purposes than planning to go out to the game then arriving and having no team to support.
OK...so it's not Revs news...just something that made me chuckle... Went to the MLS website. The current news stories rotate on the homepage and the first title I saw was... "Carroll seizes opportunity with Untied" The article itself does says United however. Hey, it's Friday...I'm easily amused. I would also like to agree with Tony. I enjoy reading Jim's articles - as well as his posts on BigSoccer - and look forward to many more. Thanks Jim!
Inherently better or just potentially better? I think it's better for the fans, yes. It's easier for fans to support the team at a home game than at a game that's somewhere else. I think teams prefer to play at home or away than at a neutral site too. They get to feed off the energy of their own crowd or off the negative energy of an away crowd. Are two games inherently better than one? Probably not, but combined with the factors above, I think it would be a win if it were possible to schedule it that way.