What a joke. I figured I'd wait till closer to the game to cast my votes so as to better evaluate good play, and what do I get? A ballot that looks like it was (and it was) put together with little or no regard for actual play. Hell, several of the players listed either don't play for their teams, are hurt, or aren't even in the goddamn league anymore. That doesn't even include in the guys who are riding the pine or have absolutely no business being on the list (I'm looking at you Orlando Perez). For the All-Star game to have even a hint of credibility (it's a big stretch, I know), you've got to put the guys who are at least having a decent season on the list. Jesus tap-dancing Christ, I think there were five guys on the entire ballot who I cast a vote for (as opposed to the fifteen or so asked for). I just couldn't bring myself to vote just to fill out all the spots. I can think of more players off the top of my head right now who deserve to be on that list than are actually on the list. [/end rant]
It has become obvious that MLS is currently more interested in large international friendlies inside the league than they are with the All*Star game. I hope this is the last year for the all*star game. I agree it is silly and the league only does it because they think Americans need one.
Ahem, *cough* *cough*. The whole "All Star Game" thing is a joke. Get rid of it. Use the extra week saved to reduce fixture congestion for US national team (World Cup qualifiers, Gold Cup). AND/OR Use the extra weekend saved for primetime ABC telecast of US Open Cup final, 1 week after MLS Cup final instead.
1. Keep the All-Star game. I got nothing against it if it is done right. 2. Dump the All-Star game and make a bigger deal out of the US Open Cup. 3. Use the extra week to break up the season for aforementioned reasons. Do something.
The All Star Break is one of the worst American traditions. The only All Star Game I ever cared about was the MLB game, and that was before Interleague ruined its mystique.
It is exactly the same as the MLB ballot. What they do, is have teams submit a list of players before the season starts.
Regardless of the All-Star game and its status within the league, the US Open Cup HAS to be emphasized more. I love the USOC.
I agree, dump it and do one of three things: 1. Replace it with nothing, use the extra weekend to take time off during WC or international dates. 2. Use it to get the Open Cup on a Saturday, on ABC or ESPN2. 3. Use it as a common date to have the high profile friendlies, getting one on ABC and/or ESPN2 and one on FSC. So we would have LA Galaxy v Real Madrid, D.C. United v Chelsea, Chicago v AC Milan, etc. I'm fine with any of the above.
i'm sure ABC is dying to air a game that draws 5,000 people to it and even most soccer fans don't care about.
Why do you need to undersell yourself? If (and that's a big if) USSF and MLS worked more closely, if there are bigger sponsors on board for the US Open Cup, and if more and more MLS teams have their own stadiums, US Open Cup Final can be sold as a high profile match. It certainly needs to be. If not today, at least 5 years from now.
I never saw the point in all-star games at all. Well at least the MLS all-star game isn't a determining factor for home field advantage.
OK, but now in this digital age (I haven't seen a paper ballot) it takes just a couple of keystrokes to put Petke on Colorado and remove Cassio from consideration.
when more MLS teams ahve their own stadium when MLS teams care about the US Open Cup when US fans care about the US Open CUp when there are bigger sponsors gee, I hope we aren't holding our breath! do you really see all this happening in five years AND ABC suddenly caring about it? it needs to be built from the groundup for many, many years before it becomes something that deserves to be on national TV. it's not selling ourselves short .... it's exactly the opposite.
How about this. Don't create the ballot till just before it's time to start the poll. Once it is created, add (but don't remove) players who have just started to play particularly well. Not that though really.
I wasn't advocating adding players, just taking off those who were released, or making changes to the teams on the online poll. That is all. Thx, Jay!
Kill it. Whatever you do to snails... ...drown it in the pool. ...throw it in the street. ...poor salt on it. ...shoot be-be's at it (We were bored in high school). Just kill it. I still have nightmares of Landon with the sport bra.
When it's possible to market a meaningless friendly called MLS All Star game (which frankly I have no idea why it doesn't fit in the category : "game that draws 5,000 people to it and even most soccer fans don't care about."), and put it on primetime TV, you don't think it would be possible to market the US Open Cup final better? It's definitely a meaningful contest, culmination of an elimination tournament to play for significant hardware, as opposed to a stupid friendly in which 10 substitutions are allowed for each side, and hardly any player cares. Here is my proposal: Award the MLS Cup final and US Open Cup final to the same city. Having an SSS has a bigger incentive to showcase 2 Championship finals in the same stadium. This can be done today, and doesn't need to wait for 5 more years for more stadiums to open. Hold the US Open Cup final one week after MLS Cup final every year. Get rid of the MLS All Star game. Stop wasting money, such as money being paid to Fulham which is doing very little to develop the American sport. Put that money towards promoting US Open Cup instead. Use the big money paid to ABC for the All Star match for the cup final instead. Rework the MLS regular season calendar such that some of the redundant matchups are eliminated. What difference does it make to the regular season if Columbus Crew played against New England Revolution 2 times instead of 4? Ideally, some weekends should be kept free in the MLS season to be dedicated to US Open Cup matches instead. SUM should have ESPN2 televise a marquee match for that weekend instead. Paying big money to be on ABC for this stupid friendly, instead of using it to promote US Open Cup (and especially US Open Cup final) makes me really upset. What happens to the winner of the All Star match? With the cup final winner, there should be a spot in CONCACAF Champions' Cup (or ideally a merged competition of Copa Libertadores with CONCACAF Champions' Cup) at stake. I'm fully aware that there is a different body (USSF) involved in running US Open Cup, and MLS isn't responsible for their incompetence. But as far as an American fan is concerned, these are 2 heads of the same beast and need to work more closely together. This is where SUM needs to step up in using their money to promote a great competition. I hate to see the money going down the drain, bringing Zach Knight and Luis Boa Morte to Columbus, when the same money could be used for a meaningful competition which is being undersold. I would reword the title of this thread from "The Joke that is the MLS All-Star Ballot" to "The Joke that is the MLS All-Star Game".
I would award them to two different SSS. That way each one gets a "marquee" game sooner. It differentiates the two as well. The potential problem with this is that if a team makes the USOC final but misses the MLS playoffs, they're sitting idle for a month. That's not good. Ideally (in my world), there would be no playoffs and the USOC final would be the week after the end of the season, but since that's not happening anytime soon I think the current timing is fine, just move it to the Saturday.