Feel free to megre as need be. This just posted from Andrea Canales on ESPN's Soccernet: Houston, We Have A Problem: Players Unhappy
And we would love nothing more. I think we, the fans would be among the first to welcome them home. However, is it unrealistic that a lot of the guys would get to come back to San Jose? I hate seeing how much this affects the guys. They are going to be distracted, having to adjust playing on field turf in hot humid weather. They are going to be thinking of their wives and families. A lot of the guys' wives are going to be staying in the Bay for awhile, while the guys are going to be in Houston. These are not ideal playing conditions for any player. But I think we know we will always be silently rooting for the guys. They will always have a home and loyal fanbase waiting for them.
Ismitje, thanks for that link. I had no doubt that this was the way the team felt about this nightmare. Gawd, I thought I was done with the tears. I just hope our guys know how much SSV and the rest of the fans fought for them. We want them back. They want to come back. We have work to do to make that happen. Pawns. The players and us fans. Pawns. Yea, big business fargin' wins while real people's lives are destroyed.
Not too surprising that the players are obviously upset. The expressions did show on Friday, but given they're professionals the best they can do is play and try to yield results in a 90 minute frame. It's not their fault since they can only produce results. Blame it on the bigwigs at AEG and so forth.
I wouldn't be happy either if I was a player. Who can blame them. No professional athlete likes to move from city to city, especially MLS players that usually are doing something else for income besides playing soccer. Almost all of these guys cannot retire millionaires after they are done in the MLS. I think once the players get to Houston they will like it. They will certainly get a lot more bang for their buck and that can go a long way on a low MLS salary. If you make $100,000 in San Jose, California you need to make $64,425 living in Houston with same standard of living ( http://www.homefair.com/homefair/se...0&fromCity=0668000&toCity=4835000&ownrent=own) It will take some getting adjusting to but hopefully these guys are professionals and understand that their professional careers do not last long and they have to take advantage of them. I hope that the Houston MLS franchise assigns each one of the players and coaches someone who can help them with their move and give some advise on where to live. Houston is actually one of the best kept secrets in America. You either love it or hate it. Most people that hate don't even live here. It is a very diverse city with a lot of stuff to do and your dollar will go a long way.
I agree completely..Before they only had to worry about moving which really didn't hurt their play.Now they are worrying about something more important, their families. That would affect most players play..
I think that most of the players are on the same page as you all. They feel like they got the bad end of the stick and it's really tearing at them inside.
I have been to Houston. I have relatives in Houston. Houston does NOT compare to the Bay Area in any way. Not even close.
Great! After living in the sticks for all these years, I'm sure they will find no end of amusements in Houston. Rodeos, monster truck racing, and shopping at Neiman Marcus. (Never mind, forget NM--still can't afford that.) I'm excited to hear they will be able to buy real homes for under $500k (right?)...but paying $1000/month to air condition them may eat up those savings pretty fast. Plus...they'll still be in Texas.
Of course, knowing AEG, they will probably dock all the players salaries 33% to adjust for the cost of living. - Holly Ward
The only thing good about Texas is, wait there isn't anything good about Texas. The Bay Area beats any part of Texas by a million miles.
Typical stereotypes of Texas. Please let me know where the nearest Neiman Marcus is and where the latest monster truck race is going to be. I will have to get off the forum in little while to tend to my horses, cattle and oil rig in my backyard. You guys would be envious if you were able to see the standard of living here in Houston. I bet if you ask the players how they like Houston after a year I am sure they will miss California but I am sure they will see a lot of benefits living here in Houston. If you want to check out some of things that are available to do in Houston please take a look: http://www.hereishouston.com/articles/article_02.html
Who are you kidding? I've been to houston and i'm sure the players will enjoy a huge, dirty industrial city with sky-high crime and areas where the police fear to go. Houston is a toilet that God forgot to flush.
Agree. While we've been bummed out for the effect losing the team will have here, Chingy really brought some attention to how screwed the lads are right now. I agree with whoever said they hoped the league would offer some assistance to all the players in coping with the logistics of the move. However, I wouldn't count on it, as the dark forces have royally screwed everyone up so much so far. But I wish the team the best, so I hope the powers that be clue in to what Brian just said there.
this is a primary reason why i hate everyone of those bastards that had to do with moving the team every ********ing one of them! tell me, how many families are the ********ing up!?
Houston has pretty friendly people. Remember, we were the city who accepted all of the refugees from New Orleans when nobody else wanted them. I will try to contact Oliver Luck or the mayor and let them know about this article and I am sure there will be people who step up on a volunteer basis and help these guys out.
That would be great if you do that. MLS soccer is generally not yet a lucrative profession, and most of the guys do other things to subsidize the income to make it work. So, when the owners ripped the guys out of their sockets, they screwed up their families and family finances hugely. Guys typically run local soccer camps, have working spouses, have local soccer equipment shops, etc etc etc, that all just got demolished. So anything you could do to help the guys would truly be great. And I appreciate what Houston did for the Katrina refuges, and agree with what you said. In general, ALL Texans' stock went up for me when I saw what they did for those people.
I am actually contacting one of my friends that helps a lot of the professional athletes transition down here in Houston. He knows Oliver Luck (President, Houston MLS) and I am sure can contact him and find out how to coordinate this.
I gotta give props to Senyor Truth: dude, you've taken some hefty licks in stride. Ppl here are not really interested in being "fair" to Houston; the wound is still quite fresh. I'm sure there might be more, but just consider the moment. cheers to all!
I am a Houston resident and have been here since 1977. I understand how it feels to get your team taken from you. I followed the Houston Oilers since I was a boy in 1977 all the way until 1996. Bud Adams (Houston Oilers owner) threatened to move the team if he did not get a new stadium. The team was terrible in 96 and the fans did not really care. They had a rally at city hall and 10 people showed up. Bud didn't get his stadium so he moved the team to Tennessee in '97. The people of Houston hated Bud Adams (and some still do). Every time Tennesee played I despised them winning games and looking successful. Many of the faithful fans became Titans fans but most became very bitter toward Bud Adams. We had to wait until 2002 to get the Houston Texans. It was unbelieveable how pumped the city was to get a new team. We got a new stadium (Reliant Stadium) which is a state of the art stadium even by today's standards. I went to the first inaugural game against the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football and the atmosphere was absolutely electric. My kid actually was crying it was so loud. They have sold out every game since 2002 (This is a bad year and the team is terrible). The only down side we have in Houston is we have an expansion franchise and have not had a winning season since the beginning of the franchise. The wait was worth it but I felt the same way and Quake fans I bet you will not get over this until you get your new team. I hope you get that SSS stadium and I hope the city of San Jose (city council and the mayor) understands what they will be missing. 2007 will be here before you know it.