My original point was that Freddy would be easily the most recognizable figure in MLS and have national media attention. Therefore with that kind of media momentum why not try to get a stadium built quickly so that we can draw people in to a beautiful SSS and show them how great soccer can be. A SSS would also bring in more money than RFK so therefore from the money aspect this is the chance to really cash in on Freddy. Also there would be plenty of public support for a stadium if Freddy plays well.
they might have been. i have never looked at the numbers. however, i do know that a lot of people in this area know of/about Freddy since his playing days at Potomac. He's a bit of a schoolyard legend amongst kids who play in the area and that alone would spike attendance up.
No he won't. He'll be at best, a curiosity until he proves he can play amongst men during a league game, not a 45 minute scrimmage where no one wants to take him out. Even if he were to have some kind of exalted media status it will not translate into a new stadium. I also don't see a lot of public support out there for a stadium if it uses public money. No one's willing to pony up right now and DCU's been talking about a stadium for a few years but DC is still too enamored by baseball to get serious. No other municipality has come forward to declare their interests, at least publically, Freddy is not going to miraculosly make people change their mind just because he's Freddy Adu. It is highly unlikely that Freddy is going to be some great catalyst for soccer or transcend the sport especially in the US since it is highly likely that he'll be off to Europe once he turns 18 and once he leaves the country the only ones who will care are the current hard core fans who already follow the current Yanks Abroad.
I understand your points and they are pretty valid, but i do believe that Freddy can be responsible for momentum towards a stadium. This is a business, and what people understand is the almighty dollar. So although not necessarily thinking about Freddy, people will step to the plate if they see that the stadium is drawing people. Although i agree that Freddy will not have it easy, there will be a good attendance spike when he simply JOINS the roster because he is a known commodity. He played here before and has actually gotten a fair amount of press. many of my non soccer loving friends have expressed an interest of going to games if he ends up here. When the powers that be see that spike in attendance, favors and cooperation from them will be more likely. obviously you are right .......... he will have to play well eventually to sustain the numbers. however, if he does, and he would have to be here for 3 and a half seasons before being able to leave for the first Euro season after his 18th bday, it is certainly possible that we could already have a stadium deal in place.
Adu will never play a full season in MLS -- the hard men will see to it. They watched his game vs Brasil's youngsters and they've got more size than those players used to neutralize Freddy. He'll be nothing more than a marketing gimmick and if DC has to spend anything more than a developmental slot for him, it will be a mistake. He's too young and too small. GM
Freddy is only a know commodity when playing against his own peer group. DCU had a good spike in attendance a couple of years ago and even had very good attendance, close to league leading, the first season the team didn't do well under Rongen and that didn't see much cooperation or favors from the powers that be. The only power we need to worry about is AEG, because we won't be courted by local governments we will have to court them to put a stadium in the county or city paid for by private funds and hope to get some government funding for roads and the like. AEG doesn't need Freddy Adu to know that a SSS is in their best interest and fits many of their long term goals in the entertainment industry. AEG's problem has been having too many teams and not enough qualified people to get serious about SSS in every market. LA and NY were the top priorities for obvious resons. Colorado is off their plate with the sale of that team. Only now are the really able to concentrate on their 2 remaining properties DC and Chicago. I see us having some kind of deal in place in the next 18 months, only because AEG can now bring the necessary resources to bear on getting it done, not because Freddy Adu may come and may have an impact on attendance.
gotta agree with the grillmaster here. adu is a promising talent but isn't physcially ready to comptete with guys 10 or 15 years older. i saw him bounced around and marked out of the match with ease against brasil. there were at least 10 guys on the brasilian side who were better. this isn't to say he won't develop into a force, but if the u-17 cup is anything to go by, he isn't ready to face bigger players as of yet. mls scrimmages are simply not games.
first of all, Freddy played the u-17 WC hurt, as did Eddie Gaven. secondly, freddy didn't thrive against Brazil because the team wasn't good enough. they played kickball soccer and basically never had possession of the ball. and this too small thing has to go. there are many players around the world right now who are as small as him. in our own league, DMB and Landon are basically the same size as freddy. michael owen, javier saviola, john spencer, roberto carlos. take your pick. the guy is 5'8" and 150. he's not a genetic freak, but there are plenty of guys his size who do well because they are skillful. do i expect him to have a huge impact his first year? NOPE. i sure don't. but to think that he will just be constantly hurt because he ain't 6'2" and 180 is just a wrong. some people are just more durable than others, regardless of size.
you misunderstood my comments from the getgo. when i say he is a known commodity, i'm referring to the fact that he already has a following in this area due to his earlier play here. NOT that he will immediately be as good of a player from day one in a DC uniform. I'm talking about being a DRAWING POWER, and he will be that on ANY level when he first hits the scene....... not just when he is playing against his own peer group.
Nothing new. More smoke blown up the arse. AEG can present all the proposals and artist's renderings it wants but with the DCSEC dragging its feet and waiting for beisbol, nothing will happen.
dang, this is HUGE news. I would love to see something open here in 2006. I really hope that the powers that be can get this done. What I found particular wonderful was the statement about the HDC and the fact that they believe that they might have actually turned a profit this year. that despite the fact that the team has been pretty bad this year overall, and has no television money to speak of. when each of these teams has their own investor and can market their team like they want, happy days will be here.
A little more than nothing new, but I need to see a quote from the DCSEC before I get my hopes up. If not DC, then Arlington, College Park, or wherever else they were talking about putting a stadium.
Which is usually why I take a critical eye towards knee jerk giddy threads towards allusions Bergin posts on his rumor threads...
now THAT is the one thing that worries me. clearly, the carrot that is baseball has been what has been dangled in front of DC and is what has made this process so slow the last couple of years. It appears as if baseball is sliding off into the sunset again though, due to the foolishness of MLB. We'll see, but i hope everything works out.
well, it's not a rumor that Bergin just threw together ......... unless you believe that he falsely quoted Ray Hudson. All i'm looking at when i see that article is the recent quote of Hudson saying that they are getting closer and that it seems like it may be done by 2006. If Hudson turns out to be wrong, then so be it.
Absolutely nothing new. As I predicted in the recent thread on Goldwater and other crooks and incompetents in DC government, don't look for a SSS stadium before 2010. As far as Freddy goes, he will be interesting to watch in warm-ups but will get little playing time in the first part of the season. As he gets more playing time and if he shows some ability to play at this level, the hacks and thugs who pose as defenders in MLS will snap him like a twig. He will be lucky not to finish the season on injured reserve. I may be too pessimistic on all of this but I don't see anything to become overly excited about. No real news on the SSS and Freddy's was coming assumed if he signed with MLS. The PR related to the signing, if it happens, will be the only positve in all of this.
You're missing my point. I don't really think this constitutes news. As nothing new is really said. Ergo, when people get excited about Chris Bergin putting out word of potential news developing, I'm often skeptical.
dang grumpy!! you have really lived up to your name here. well, i could very well be wrong here, but i have never heard a high level DC employee (in this case Hudson) make such a comment about getting a new stadium. that encourages me. secondly, we all know that there are some thugs out there. they are in every league. but this kid is BIGGER than DMB and the same size as Landon. by all accounts of foreign coaches and domestic coaches, this guy (Adu) is better than both of them at this stage. and the new season doesn't start for another 6 months. will he get bounced around? yes. will he learn from it and will it make him a better player in dealing with it in the future? yes. does that mean he will be constantly hurt? we have nooooo way of telling. are DMB and Landon constantly hurt? no. have some faith. let's have some positive vibes here. DC fans can't be all doom and gloom forever. Our team is the 3 time winner of MLS Cup fellas!!!
I wonder if this will be the only positive achievement of the Bobby Goldwater era (he's gotta put down something on the resume). K
Hudson is not a high-level D.C. employee. He's a coach, and a wonderfully enthusiastic one at that. That's all. Payne, Goldwater (and Goldwater's replacement), and the sports commission members are the only ones with any first-hand knowledge of the stadium plans. If it were up to AEG, a stadium would be built tomorrow. But AEG doesn't own the land next to RFK, so expect a very long process.
Thanks for the info Steven. While Chris Bergin works hard and has some great insights into MLS, I think on this particular article he is using the wrong source. I'm sure AEG has plenty of designs and artists concepts for the sight - they have to have them to show the Sports Commission what the complex will look like. However, the final arbitors of this will be the Sports Commission and AEG not DC United nor likely anyone in DC's front office. Simply put - they don't have the line authority to spend $20 million on a stadium. My guess for when DC gets a new stadium is 2015 at best. By then the league will have been established and hopefully has a track record of making money on peripheral businesses like stadium and merchandise revenue. That way AEG or the then current owner (Mr. and Mrs. Revelation) can sit down with the Stadium Commission and really have a good discussion...
So I guess Kevin Payne and Stephen Zack don't count. They have both talked about a SSS in about the same terms that Hudson was quoted. I think at some point in time there was an artist rendition that was floating around out there, I think it was on the web at some point. They've been talking for a couple of years and each time it's the same story, we're waiting for DCSEC and baseball blah blah blah. Only recently did Payne say they were looking somewhere else also, probably hoping to spur DCSEC into some kind of action, which won't happen until they get off the baseball kick. Baseball is not yet dead as the Mayor has a proposal for a $339 million public financed stadium before the DC City Council. It remains to be seen if Jack Evans will kill it as he has promised in the past to do. Also if they go ahead with a baseball stadium where it is will have an impact. If it's to be near RFK or where RFK currently sits an SSS might have a better chance. If it's built downtown as some want, DCSEC might not want to do anything. AEG needs on their own to find some land, buy it, get the zoning done and hopefully get a government to help out with things like roads. I think a DC stadium will be privately financed.