San Jose Earthquakes vs. New York Cosmos... again?

I don't get it, would it be an expansion team or would it be some kind of all star team for World Club competition he's proposing? And a World Club Cup will never work, as FIFA found out.

 

ONLY if MLS puts a second team in the New York/New Jersey area OR the Metros change their name (longshot here).

Also, MLS is the only sanctioned league for top flight soccer in the USA so if a renegade league is set up with the Cosmos in it, it ain't gonna happen!

Might be better for him just to buy into the league with the name and logo.

Cheers!

 

I really hope this doesn't happen. It's a symbol of a failed league. MLS should be creating it's own identity rather than pillaging an old one.

 

I second this.

Sean

 

I'll have to disagree on this. The Earthquakes name was part of the old league, would that be a symbol of failure given they won the MLS Cup in 2001 but were merely competitive in the NASL days? Also, some of the A-League teams have brought back the name of their predecessors from the NASL days (Timbers, Sounders, Whitecaps, and Drillers if I remember).

Also a Cosmos name under the MLS banner could mean a sense of cred to those from Europe.

Just a take. Most likely it isn't going to happen but anything to bring the Cosmos back is going to require someone selling the rights AND the club would have to be in MLS.

Plus, only the 30somethings and older remember the halcyon days of the NASL. The younger generation see it as a footnote in US soccer history so their brand identification is with MLS.

Teams such as the Fire, Galaxy, and Revolution have their tradition set in the new so no chance if ever seeing them revert to the Sting, Aztecs, or Tea Men/Minutemen. Only the New York club could get away with a team with NASL name ties today but to play it would have to manage itself in the MLS structure--No name players, salary cap, etc.

 

Well, actually it think I posted about the Cosmos joining MLS.

Here's a site that talks about 2004 MLS:
http://www.soccernova.com/html/activism/cosmos_campaign/cosmos_campaign.htm

 

I seem to recall scuttlebutt about MLS wanting to put a 2nd team in the greater NY market, perhaps on Long Island, if a suitable site for a SSS could be found.

Perhaps the longest of shots would be for the Metros to be that team with the Cosmos returning to their "traditional" home ground on the Jersey swamp.

Also, didn't the Planet Football item say that the Cosmos hit hard times after Pele's retirement "and were made defunct in 1980"? What planet are they on? If so, what side was it that Steve Zungul and the boys romped on
3-0 at Spartan in 1983? And what team was it that the NASL player of the year Roberto Cabanas played for?

 

Pre 9-11 that was the plan to put the second team in the New York area but when that happened that was on hold. Then Phil bought the rights to run the team and that's taken a backseat.

Long shot the Metros will ever change their name as noted since they are holding up since the advent of MLS. Of course, we could get into the dynamics of that area but that's for the Metros thread and the locals could explain it better than I could.

I do look to the day there is a team in New York to go along with that team in New Jersey. Cheers!

 

I think they meant "1980s", and should have said that the whole league collapsed

 

So, I take it you liked "Clash" better than "Earthquakes."

 

My interpretation of the spirit of the article and other supporters of bringing back the Cosmos, is to bring back the club in more than just name. It seems like they want to bring the prestige, the class and the reputation of the club name. I think when they imagine the new club, they are imagining the success and popularity and respect of the old club along with it.

I don't mind the name Cosmos itself, it's just the expectations there are behind the reasons for bringing back the name. Having a club named the Cosmos does not earn respect from anyone. If it does, it is not earned respect. I'd rather have MLS earn respect for the players it produces and the quality of the league itself as a whole.

 

I'm not a big fan of either name. Earthquakes has grown on me, but I wasn't a big fan of it in the first place. I prefer Quakes to the Clash, but any other name I'd prefer than Quakes!

New York Rythm. Yeah. That works!

 

And that will never, ever happen. Not in a million years.

Why? Easy. Because FIFA would never allow it.

Even if you could get players who were willing to join a team without league affiliation, USSF approval or FIFA approval, any team that agreed to play them would be fined and/or banned and any player who participated would become permanently ineligible for international competition.

FIFA holds all the cards here. This is a fantasyland proposal with no basis in rationality, possibility or sanity.

 

Dammit!!!
Okay, let me choke this one out...
I...agree...with...Giorgio...
************!!!
I've got the upmost respect for Pelé as a player. As a boy growing up and playing the game in the 70's in Cincinnati, his was the ONLY name I had in reference to soccer. His SI poster graced the wall of my bedroom. Now having said that...

The man is one of the worst businessmen on the planet. He could never work within the confines of MLS and single entity (the debate about this is for another thread). I just don't trust the man to handle money and power. Please don't let this Cosmos thing happen under his watch.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/1165823.stm

 

I smell an international incident in the making.

Sean

 

If you read the NY Times article today (Monday), the situation is very confusing.

It appears that Pele's group does not have the rights to the Cosmos name, but wants a New York (perhaps Shea Stadium-based) expansion team.

Pepe Pinton/Chinaglia/ChampionsWord(former Metros GM Charlie Stilitano-sp?) are working out an arrangement to put together a team, called the Cosmos, that would play in friendly matches only.

Pele's group has actually talked with MLS and AEG, according to the article, so it's possible to presume someone in Pele's group understands MLS' unique financial arrangements.

Chinaglia accusing someone else of only being in it for the money is hilarious. Mr Pot meet Mr Kettle.

Pele was Minister of Sport in Brazil for a while in the 1990s. I'm not making any statements about his effectiveness, but he probably does understand the bureaucratic process a little better now.

I tend to agree with Mr Archer in this case about who holds the cards.

Tony

 

How about the San Jose Quake......singular?

 

NOTE TO SELF: Cancel LDB's Oakland Stomper Barnstorming Tour. Goodsport's not into it.

http://server504.hypermart.net/thezone3/noak.html

 

Didn't Shep Messing come riding in on an elephant before the Stompers home opener?

Tony