SI: Q&A With Don Garber (w/part about MLSsoccer.com)

Discussion in 'MLS: News & Analysis' started by tk421, Apr 12, 2010.

  1. tk421

    tk421 Member

    Aug 11, 2007
    New York, NY
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    1 person likes this.
  2. Sounders78

    Sounders78 Member+

    Apr 20, 2009
    Olympia
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    Good article. I like that he recognizes the website fiasco and is seemingly honest about it.
     
  3. Roehl Sybing

    Roehl Sybing Guest

    Jesus.

    Don't sugar coat it, the guy can take it. :D
     
  4. Simster

    Simster Member

    May 16, 2002
    London
    Club:
    Brighton & Hove Albion FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Would have been nice to get some info on where MLS is with Montreal expansion. :(
     
  5. Etienne_72772

    Etienne_72772 Member+

    Oct 14, 1999
    Great interview with Don. He simply says all the right things, doesn't he? I can't say how glad I am that he came aboard 12 years ago, and moreso today.
     
  6. dncm

    dncm Member+

    Apr 22, 2003
    Boston
    http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/grant_wahl/11/19/garber.qa/1.html

    SI.com: Next year, MLS has announced that every team will play each other twice in a 30-game regular season. The conference affiliations have already been rendered useless by New York and Salt Lake winning the opposite conference titles the past two years. Why not just drop the conference affiliations altogether and have a 16-team table next year?

    Garber: If there's one consistent question I get from every reporter and fan, it's the single table. But then we don't have the two games like we had last week. You can't have a playoff where you're crowning a real conference champion and have the ability for a team to celebrate winning that trophy -- in my opinion -- unless you have conferences which are traditionally a big part of American sports.

    Seeing [Real Salt Lake's] Kyle Beckerman standing on that stage with the two owners on the field nearly teary-eyed and taking that trophy back to Salt Lake and having a celebration is a good moment. The league needs good moments. We need to have those special times where teams can celebrate even if they don't win the final. Conferences give us the ability to do that. We now have six championships that our teams can win: the U.S. Open Cup, the MLS Cup, the CONCACAF Champions League, the Western Conference, the Eastern Conference and SuperLiga.

    SI.com: So it's all about giving a trophy?

    Garber: It's not about giving a trophy. It's about that memorable moment that will always be a part of their history. Also, we're still at the point where we're trying to create rivalries. The best way to create rivalries is to have memorable competition among regional teams. I will assure you that when I'm bounced out as commissioner, which will happen inevitably at some point, the new commissioner will come in and get rid of the conferences just like I got rid of the shootout and other things. This is clearly "a Don thing."


    I keed, I keed :)
     
  7. Chris '66

    Chris '66 New Member

    Aug 9, 2007
    Brooklyn, NY
    With expansion coming and MLS's stated desire to keep a 30 game schedule into 2011 and beyond, Garber's thinking on keeping conferences is logical, especially with a twenty team league coming within the next say five years (or less?).

    However, I would have asked him this question:

    "2010 is and will be the only season in which you will have the totally balanced schedule. The current playoff system gives automatic postseason slots to the first two teams per conf with the other six being wildcards regardless of conf. What happens if say one conf is totally lame and the top two clubs are actually 9 and 10 overall? Would you announce an executive decision and change the format to prevent an obvious embarrisment to occur? Or has this privately been established in advance among the owners? Or are you just praying that Red Bull, Columbus, LA and Houston kick ass all season?"
     
  8. monster

    monster Member

    Oct 19, 1999
    Hanover, PA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Christ on a bike.
     
  9. tab5g

    tab5g Member+

    May 17, 2002
    sure, he's talking about the website specifically, but it could almost be read as if he was making an overall statement about the league (and/or its ability to compete/succeed in something like the CCL, for example).
     
  10. Hed7181

    Hed7181 Member

    Jul 1, 2003
    VA Beach, VA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Do we know who he is talking about? Did Greg Lalas get canned or someone down the line that was actually responsible for the coding and what-not? Either way, very tough words from The Don.

    ...

    Ah, if I just would've read the whole thing...

    Seriously, Don Garber is a great leader. He should be studied in business schools across the country. Just my opinion
     
  11. joehooligan0303

    joehooligan0303 Member+

    Dec 16, 2001
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The thing that bothers me the most as a web developer is this statement
    If the site was truly beta tested I am not sure how this is possible. Something had to change or something wasn't tested for properly. A bug can't just create itself 5 minutes after launch. Yes things do happen sometimes right after a launch of a new website, but it always comes down to improper testing. Again a program bug isn't a living thing. It is completely unacceptable if they were developing something this big and complex and it all falls back to 1 guy. That is just improper planning. It pisses me off for him to be putting all the blame on a single person. The average person will accept this because they know nothing about web/software development, but it just doesn't work this way.

    They weren't prepared...plain and simple. Yes crap happens, but they didn't test properly.

    Don, it just isn't right for you to try to pass it off this way to the fans. You need to be a man and tell the truth.

    Edit: Also, guys don't let Don fool you. There was much much more wrong with the website besides this "single programming glitch". There are hundreds of simple CSS (design) bugs throughout the entire website. These can have nothing to do with the code that was written to bring in data/stats.
     
    1 person likes this.
  12. BSGuy321

    BSGuy321 Member

    Sep 2, 2008
    One thing about the new site that I like is that there seems to be more journalistic freedom.

    An article criticizing the referee in the DC United game is something I'm not sure we would have seen with the old setup.

    Less censorship gives the league more legitimacy.
     
  13. tab5g

    tab5g Member+

    May 17, 2002
    there were regularly post-match ref assessments posted on (or linked from) the previous mlsnet.com site.
     
  14. SYoshonis

    SYoshonis Member+

    Jun 8, 2000
    Lafayette, Louisiana
    Club:
    Michigan Bucks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Only if you want to read it that way. Of course, in order to do so, you'd have to disregard just about everything else he says, in this interview and every other. Anyone who concludes that he's "terribly frustrated, embarrassed, angry, and can say only to our fans: I apologize for where we are today" about the league as a whole is simply making stuff up.
     
  15. soccercptn

    soccercptn New Member

    Aug 9, 2000
    Plano
    As a Development Manager, I would have to say that everything I hear from MLS about the website is just standard stuff that happens when a company ventures into the website development world after not really having done it previously - they underestimate test resources needed in order to guarantee a proper launch and then they have problems coming to terms with proper resolution of issues when bugs are naturally found.

    IMHO, the difficulty of what they were embarking upon wasn't properly communicated to the upper management team.
     
  16. tab5g

    tab5g Member+

    May 17, 2002
    sure.

    it would be a stretch to read it that way.

    but some people do feel that Garber should be frustrated and angry by the MLS soccer product (as well), and not just the recent/current roll-out of the new website for the league.

    the thought and planning that MLS put into their new website seems not all that different than their (limited) approach to (and concern about results in) a real competition like the CCL.

    but yes, as a business MLS/SUM are doing well, and Garber should be content with his work as commish. (and it certainly is nobody's fault that it makes more business sense -- relative to the investment/return that is involved with the CCL participation -- for a team like DC United to devote energy and resources to money-making friendly ventures like matches v RM or ACM or a Concacaf NT.)
     
  17. tab5g

    tab5g Member+

    May 17, 2002
    other (non-website) areas of interest:

    It is interesting that Garber realizes "There aren't many players who can do that" (i.e. be effective and completely do what a DP could/should do -- "drive quality on the field and create business value off the field"), yet at the same time, MLS has expanded the DP rule to allow the teams the ability to try to find and sign more players for those DP roles.

    Good to see some "club autonomy" here (in terms of deciding on sales/out-going transfers), but it is interesting that there's still that qualifier of "The league has to approve it" while recognizing that it (a potential sale of a player like Donovan -- is it because he is now a DP?) is a club decision first and foremost.
     
  18. SYoshonis

    SYoshonis Member+

    Jun 8, 2000
    Lafayette, Louisiana
    Club:
    Michigan Bucks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Oh, no question. But, some people will feel that no matter what he does or says, or how the league progresses. If they think that he's talking about anything but the website in that statement, they're completely ignorant, willful or otherwise, of the context of the statement, and are just grasping at straws.

    Now, THAT's a stretch, based on your opinion of what's a "real" competition. That opinion is valid but certainly arguable, especially from the perspective of league business considerations.

    There is a case to be made that, from a cold-hearted business standpoint, the CCL is worthy of less attention and emphasis than the league itself, and even SuperLiga. That's not the same thing as a good-faith effort to launch the best website they can, and failing in that launch.

    There's a difference between a clear f***-up and a difference of opinion. That latter is just a f***-up if you assume that your opinion is something other than just your opinion.
     
    1 person likes this.
  19. joehooligan0303

    joehooligan0303 Member+

    Dec 16, 2001
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Any monkey would have been able to tell after 1 minute of testing the site that it wasn't ready for launch. I just don't like the league commissioner trying to pass all the blame on one guy. Extremely unprofessional and cannot be true.
     
  20. Simster

    Simster Member

    May 16, 2002
    London
    Club:
    Brighton & Hove Albion FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Yeah, outrageous. :rolleyes:
     
  21. camilos

    camilos Member

    Feb 13, 2007
    Montreal
    So according to Don, one programmer developed the whole webapp. Most large web applications (mls is a webapp not just a simple website) require a whole team to develop ; programmers, designers, QA, project managers, analysts, DataBase admins.

    If they did hire one programmer, this is the end result. You get what you paid for. Don't blame the programmer for your cheapness.
     
  22. tab5g

    tab5g Member+

    May 17, 2002
    sure. everyone will have an opinion of what is a "real" competition, but personally I do put some weight in the CCL being a Concacaf and Fifa competition of some (or potentially an awful lot of) importance.

    "from the perspective of league business considerations" it is easy to see that the CCL (at this point) isn't high on MLS's "to-do and do well for success" list (nor was the website). certainly, MLS was committed to reaching/maintaining labor peace this off-season (which they did) so they didn't devote a lot of resources or energy to creating a bug-free and completely functioning new live website as the season kicked-off.

    completely agree.

    and the CCL also gets less attention and emphasis (apparently) than a lot of friendly matches that are set up (as both money-making ventures and distractions for the clubs and league).

    a "good-faith effort" is the term that is up for debate, I suppose.

    questioning the league's efforts (in any on-field or off-field enterprise) is a fair stance, imo.

    launching "the best website they can" or "being the best league they can" is where they're going to be open to criticism -- justly or unjustly.

    and certainly fans' (or potential fans') "opinions" on how/what the league "is doing" do go some ways toward determining how successful the league is or can be. in the long run, the customer is always right. (not that there's any real agreement among all the soccer consumers in the US on how "MLS is doing.")
     
  23. tab5g

    tab5g Member+

    May 17, 2002
    an MLS issue of cheap rosters and/or limited roster sizes, huh?
     
  24. CACuzcatlan

    CACuzcatlan Member

    Jun 11, 2007
    San Francisco, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Its probably just Don talking. That site had to require a team to build. There's probably a link to the company that built it somehwere on the site if you dig deep enough.
     
  25. monster

    monster Member

    Oct 19, 1999
    Hanover, PA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    So you think it's outragous that an in-depth interview which touches on subjects we have never heard him touch on in such detail does not include an update on a topc which has been in the news as recently as two weeks ago?

    Give me a ********ing break and Google the topic. There have been updates. I'm sorry Grant didn't contact you personally for questions and Don didn't break in to make sure you were taken care of.
     

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