Dustin, please copy and paste that post to every soccer message board on the web. And, thank you for allowing me to never have to write another single word on the subject ever again.
How do we know you're not working for Mr. Vergara? How do we know you're not in on the whole thing? How do we know you're not just trying to throw us off the scent? Damn you Goat-men, I say! We are proud Americans and we won't be so easily tricked, even if we couldn't find Guadala-whatever on a map if our lives depended on it!
lol! dude, you made me spit carbonated water through my nose from laughing so hard. it's stuff like this that keeps me coming back to BS, and may well get me fired (for being offtask)! as to the chivas thing...hype is only a good thing...there is no bad publicity...ask madonna. everyone all hatin' cause MLS may or may not bend the rules for aquisitions/si's/youth i's ect. for chivas usa... as if there ever were any rules anyway! damn you goatmen would make an awes sig... if i knew how to do it!
None of you is going to be abandoning the league if Chivas comes in. You'll get used to it so fast it won't even be funny. And you'll secretly enjoy having them around to "hate."
El Jefe. Don't forget this now gives the Viagras an out. After MLS tells them they must abide by the rules, they can go back to the same Hispanic media and complain that their intentions was to have an all-Latino Chivas, but 'they' wouldn't let us. Lastly, it is never a good idea to negotiate through the media.
Be that as it may, perhaps Vergara should be commended for using the media at all. God knows MLS never does. They don't even know what "media" is.
Ah Ha I think that this also a likely scenario. Goatman probably never really wanted in MLS unless he could get a really really good deal. It all made great hype around allstar time and Goatman is still enjoying the attention. Now that the announcement has been made he will continue to up his demands until they are either so ridiculously favorable that he can't back out or just back out and claim "they wouldn't let us in". MLS has a bit of a stake now that they have apparently committed to the project, this gives goatman some leverage, particularly if goatman really doesn't care if it happens or not. I also see this happen frequently: 1. entrepreneurs meet and realize that they are kindred spirits. 2. entrepreneurs agree "lets do bidness together". 3. Plans to do bidness are formulated and the entrpreneurs realize they don't like to have partners (a.k.a. they hate to share power, money, attention... a trait common with successful entrepreneurs). 4. deal collapses "because lawyers couldn't work it out" or " the deal wasn't going to be what I thought that we had agreed to." Just an idea.
Re: Ah Ha You might have a point. As my Guadalajara friend told me the other night, Vergara is a marketing wizard who believes that feeding the "media" the right wording will make you reap tons and tons of FREE PUBLICITY... That's the key word: Publicity you wouldn't be able to buy otherwise. He was probably not serious about getting Atletico de Madrid. But for two months all Spanish media were talking about Jorge Vergara and Spain knew he was a "Mexican billionaire owner of Omnilife (herbal products manufactured after the American Herbalife pyramid. Distributors hiring distributors ad infinitum, etc...) Having said that, my friend tells me that Vergara is truly confident that Chivas USA will be a good investment. He is convinced that soccer will eventually attract media attention and that American players sooner or later will compete with the world’s best. In the meantime, Vergara is getting lots of publicity in the U.S. and Mexico. (How many words have been written in Bigsoccer about the man nobody knew few months back?) And that's the key: FREE ADVERTISING AND PUBLICITY.... As my Guadalajara friend says: WHO CAN ARGUE WITH THAT?
Re: Re: Ah Ha Caught off my filling... Brad Friedel was not one of the top 3 US players over the last year. Nanu. Nanu. The US Open Cup Final needed to be in a BIG venue - like Giants Stadium. On a Wednesday, with brightly painted football markings on fake turf. Nanu. Nanu. Soccer for the suburbs. Nanu. Nanu. WUSA didn't need to work together with MLS from day 1. Nanu. Nanu. The Men's National Team should hold as many matches in Foxboro as possible. The more the merrier. Who cares that Kansas City draws better? Or that many other cities hunger for the nats? Nanu. Nanu. The USSF should not strive to make look CONCACAF look comparatively dumb. Nanu. Nanu. Strangers buying MLS clubs scare us very much. Nanu. Nanu. We don't care for too much competition. American Soccer should be reserved for suburban folks. Mexicans, Blacks, etc., are all okay - as long as they are suburban. Nanu. Nanu. Stop looking at us. Nanu. Nanu.
I have no problems with Chivas as long as : 1.All rules are uniform throughout the league. 2. We can somehow make Vergara commit/sign papers not to pull out of MLS for at least 5 years....I am afraid that due to his other soccer interests (Sapprissa, Chivas in Mexico, and possibly Atletico Madrid) he might be pressured into unceremoniously dumping MLS in favor of more short term profitable ideas, which might make MLS look bad just when we are turning the corner...OTOH i think after 5 years, with the new stadiums (please God) and scheduling powers we can overcome many obstacles,which we might not be able to right now, or in 1 or 2 years
BRAD FRIEDEL WAS NOT ELIGIBLE FOR THE AWARD! The award was for US National Team play in 2003 and US National Team play ONLY. Only players with at least 3 caps in 2003 were eligible. Brad Friedel did not play for the US National Team this year. Jeebus, how many freakin' times does certain freakin' ground have to be freakin' covered...
I love the way you set up the scenario here: people who think you're wromg are eligible to compete in the old SNL context skit: "Nerd, Geek or Dweeb?" Nice. That way, there's your side and there's the social misfiit side. MLS has always "gotten it". Everybody "gets it". I know you think this is some sort of dep, revealed wisdom you alone are privy to due to your superior intellect, but the equation: "More tickets sold equals more money for the league" you don't have to wangle out of John Nash at Princeton. Even Liberal Arts majors can comprehend it. Sorry. REALLY??? Jumpin Jehosephat!!! See, I thought this was about attracting the Basset Hound demo, and maybe a bow towards the Eskimos. (Slaps forehead) Thanks for the incredible insight into the leagues' motivations. Marketing certainly needs more people like you. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: WE HAVE A WINNER> PLEASE HOLD YOUR TICKETS. I can't believe you took this long to abandon trying to make a rational point and go straight for namecalling. Conjuring up a motive and then attaching an ugly name to it. Even better then the "you live in your mom's basement and wear a USS Enterprise badge". "Perfect" in what way, exactly? You get so preoccupied with putting everybody down that you forget to explain what you're talking about. So then let's mix a metaphor and follow it with platitudes without, again, explaining how this will happen. We feel the same way here, believe me. Oh, so THIS is what you're talking about? All the namecalling and putdowns and then your real point is to hold a series of events encouraging people to come and hate people of another ethnicity? Get 10,000 Anglos and 10,000 Mexicanos in a confined space, sell them beer and then make them angry at each other? Brilliant, lad, just brilliant. Sportscenter will just LOVE the highlights. No, what you're describing here is more like "bringing racial tension into the league for money" Kind of a different thing. Why? Are you an Emrgency Physician? So after making the barest of points you get scared and revert back to calling people names. Wonderful technique. Does the "I'm right and you're a freak" strategy win a lot of debates out where you live? Look, I'm sick to death of guys who couldn't sell a case of beer on a troop ship wanking on endlessly about how MLS hasn't effectively "marketed" to Hispanics. I'd really like one of you budding Mad Ave geniuses to explain what it is you think they should have done differently. The plain fact (pay attention now - I've never been to a Star Trek Convention with all those people from USSF you claim are there) is this: THE HISPANIC MARKET HAS PROVEN IMPERVIOUS TO MARKETING AIMED AT THEM. They consider MLS to be inferior, American, third rate soccer. They're no different in any way from the thousands and thousands of ethnically European American "Soccer snobs" who will pay $75 a seat to see ManU's "Dash for Cash" tour '03 but wouldn't go across the street to see MLS. Here's a concept for you, Mr "Everybody is a racist": Find a way to appeal to ALL the "soccer snobs" in the US and you'll scoop up the Mexican immigrants too. Along with the Hondurans, the Costa Ricans and the reat of the Hispanics who won't give a fig about Chivas anyway. Put another way, instead of viewing them like a bunch of foreigners that need to be catered to, why don't you just think of them as soccer fans? Instead of calling other people "racists" I think it's YOU who need to look at your preconceptions here. This strategy is narrow, shortsighted and smacks of desperation. And all of your namecalling and aspersions won't change that.
Re: Re: The Brilliance of bringing in the Chivas Flat out wrong. Not impervious at all. Read today's Dallas Morning News article, which explains that up to 40% of Dallas' customers were latino before the Southlake move. Go to a Galaxy game and look at the crowds' makeup. Read Spanish-language coverage directed at Guatemalans and Salvadorans. The Galaxy sometimes get more coverage there than the do in the LA Times... So what are you talking about? Portions of the latino market have responded. Just not, in large part, Mexican-Americans. And, indeed, no one has really responded to the big-name signing strategy.... He said "We can talk all the racist thoughts of how this is wrong... just check the threads around here on the topic of a Chivas USA." To me, it's unclear what kind of racism he's talking about (Vergara's or the posters'), but it's even more of a leap to assume he was saying "Everybody's a racist". You seem a little quick to play that card. My advice: let's just respond to what we write-- and not try in fit them into your "talking points", ok? Well, we've already seen that the latino market can't be painted with one big brush. I think it might also be difficult to satisfy all soccer snobs in the same manner. It's good marketing to finetune your efforts to specific communities. And as long as no laws end up being broken, I see no problem with MLS continuing its marketing to latinos. This strategy is ultimately inclusive, forward-thinking and a sign that the league is getting somewhere.
el jefe post that was pretty articumalate! As usual, I agree w/ KP: Latinos are represented heavily at HDC and decently represented at SJ games (the 4 that I've been to, anyway). And up until recently, La Opinion gave the Galaxy more coverage than LA Times. Fortunately LA Times has decent coverage of soccer (zero MFL, but they occasionally print Bundesliga standings in a city w/ over 5 million Mexicans, but I digress...) It could and should be better. i wish I had the breakdown of % of Mexicans at LA Galaxy games their first year. i know there were more %wise than now. Many ppl gave MLS a shot, but haven't come back, including whites, Latinos, Euros, etc. Of the 30 most footie crazy acquaintances I have, only about 4 have never been to an MLS game. Most haven't been in about 3+ years. the challenge will be to get them into the parks. This is where Chivas comes in: it's a renewal of that 1st year "curiousity" factor geared at a key demographic that is absolutely not hopeless. We'll continue to chop away at the footie snobs.