So after reading the "Good News?!?" thread, I have decided that I am 80% sure im screwing this franchise after the conclusion of this season.. It seems to me that Mr. Amanour is set on buying this team, having all-Iranian investors (think: All Iranian front office), and moving the team to San Francisco. Read the article, and it seems to be all he talks about; how good of a location that SF is, and how SSV has just been in talks with him, but he has other plans. Honestly, I thought this guy was going to be our savior and keep the team here in SJ, but I have strong second thoughts and now am wondering what is his real drive for buying this team. For those of you who are saying, "this guy is stupid. its only san francisco", this has already been debated and im off this teams fanbase if the team moves 50 miles, rebrands, or reshuffles a massive amount of players. It was nice supporting this team for the past 3 years though. (Well, if you want to count the other 5, it wasn't as nice.)
http://www.irankicks.com/cgi-bin/iknews/viewnews.cgi?newsid1094840979,67628, That's the reason why. He's the frontrunner to buy this club, and honestly i'd rather have a Mexican Club America in MLS than a persian Club Bombus FC.
OK, whatever. Would you be willing to relocate to San Antonio with the team instead? I would be ecstatic if a new stadium gets built in either San Jose, San Francisco, or Santa Clara; the core of the team is preserved, and the quality improved a little bit by adding 1-2 good players from Iran.
You think there is an AVAILABLE Iranian player better than the "sub/starters" we have now?! Whos going to be the first smartass to post an oversees first-division player to come play for SJ in MLS just because our owner is Iranian.. Any DECENT international player is going to want MONEY. DeRo/Ekelund are relatively cheap international players, and I wouldn't take ANY Iranian over those two. Remember, this league has a Salary Cap.. To be perfectly honest, I kind of hope that the new GM is somebody who knows MLS/AMERICAN soccer, and not an Iranian who knows "International" football.
The dude's lived in America for 27 years and hasn't rushed back. Something tells me he might not be an Ayatollah-supporting religious fanatic.
Amanpour has been a season ticket holder since 1996. If by now he doesn't understand how MLS works, I don't know who would. How did they make the Korean player Bo AVAILABLE for Galaxy? OK, so his move didn't turn out to be so good, but that's besides the point.
There might be. We don't really know, do we? Maybe someone that actually follows Iranian soccer can tell. Certainly their international team is of decent quality. I don't know about DeRo, but Ekelund has always been making close to max (at least 200,000 until this season).
The banner was hung twice....you're group obviously supported a move to SF and made it clear in the stands.
So, as i've stated in previous threads, I would not support a "San Francisco Earthquakes", and the banner wasn't mine. I protested putting it up, but its not MY group, so I dont get to say what goes. Bite me. And yeah, Ekelund took a significant pay cut to stay with the team.
What I read was this: It's a good thing that S.F. and Santa Clara are in the mix as it may finally wake up San Jose! (It better!). I don't think the main goal is to move the team, if possible. That being said, I'm not sure I'd be getting all of 5 season tix I pledged if the team moved to S.F., maybe just the "10-pack". ANY Bay Area location is better than Texass, though! Also, I don't care if we get players in from Timbuktu, as long as they're good, are team players and contribute.
IBleedTeal needs an enema. Relax. You might feel better. Your nativism rings as true as the upper crust WASP Bostonians that were appalled that the Irish would want to make something of themselves one hundred and fifty years ago. I read the IranKicks article, and my heart sings with the obvious pride and patriotism Amanpour's generation of Iranian immigrants ADDS to our national character and identity. It may be 124 years from now, but my guess is that I Bleed Teal's great-great grandchildren will be as happy to cheer for an Iranian-American-owned soccer team as today's Boston Celtic fans.
I wasn't so bothered by him wanting to move to SF (sorry, I live on the peninsula--SJ isn't exactly next door, but SC is my first choice) as I was about his Iran-centrism. I mean, sure, it's great he's Iranian and all and I'm happy for him, yeah yeah, but it smacks of racism when he proposes to sell stock of the team only to Iranians. BM, yeah, he has lived here 27 years, but he still says things like: And his "plan" for dealing with the foreign player limits... I have no problem with an Iranian-American owning the team, in fact, if Topper decided to buy the team, I wouldn't care, as long as it remained the [Somewhere in the Bay Area] Earthquakes, in every sense of the word. He should be looking for the best players, period, regardless of ethnic background.
He was giving the interview to an Iranian fan site for goodness sake, and so had to put an Iranian-centric spin on it. Like a politician, I wouldn't be surprised if he changes his tune when talking to the mainstream press.
I don't post very often. But man, you guys that are really concerned about the Iranian angle are wound a bit tight. The team stays in the area. We have owners who have knowlege of a fairly untapped market for player talent. They are passionate about the sport. They seem to have a pretty good head for business. I don't see a problem.
Persian or not, it's still the Quakes staying put. I have to say I don't want nor agree with them moving to SF, but the way I see it, (and correct me if I'm wrong), is the potential new owner(s) are looking at all of the Bay Area for their eventual new home, and SF is the city that is talking with them at the very moment. I don't think that means that SJ/SC has any less of a chance of hosting the team. However, if it's true that the new group will require little to no public $$$ to build the new stadium, Why look to SF? Keep the Quakes where they belong! I also have to say shame on the city of San Jose. This problem hasn't developed over-night. They should have addressed this issue several years ago, and avoided this mess we're in now.
I agree. I'm wondering if the anti-Iranian bias is coming out of the relations between the U.S. and Iran of the past 25 years, the Azizi episode in the first year of the reborn Quakes, or if it is a worry about foreign domination coming out of the Chivas-Club Americrap (thanks again, Lindsey) venture into MLS. Whatever, this guy Amanpour seems more like a savior than anyone of the others we've heard about. Again I'd like to thank SSV for working on these contacts.
Jesus Christ. He said "a couple." It's not quite like Chivas USA's stated (and Internet-exaggerated) plan, is it? I'm sure they will. And if they try to push an Iranian player who doesn't deserve to be here, I'll bet we fans will let him know. Don't take these loose comments so seriously until you see if/how they play out.