NO WC Final Round Qualifiers on the West Coast? That's a real bummer. Mexico @ Columbus T&T @ Nashville Honduras @ Chicago El Salvador @ Salt Lake Costa Rica @ Washington DC Thanks.
I guess Utah is geographically west... Don't know if Rio Tinto can match the Costa Rica game at Rice..great-big-pro-usa- crowd and we beat a better team in CR , than what EL Salvador will bring.. I think I am considering DC...I think Honduras at Soldier Field is a mistake, hope this game is not crucial- reminds me too much of Honduras a DC- pro crowd. Not sure how many Costa Ricans will head to DC...that could be a really crucial game for them, if you believe US and Mex will qualify first, CR having to play the last game on the road will be tough if they need those final points to qualify..
The Midwest is heartland of american soccer. Soccer on the west coast and in the south is dominated by latinos. USSF is just going by the numbers. If you guys on the west coast want to send a message go to Rio Tinto in full force.
Of the 20 guys on todays roster 10 were from California. 1 was from the Midwest. The Midwest isn't the "heartland" of American soccer. We could send a stronger message by boycotting US soccer merchandise. Sunil needs to stop looking at us just as a cash cow. We want meaningful games not crappy friendlies against the likes of China, Japan and Whales.
they coulda had the TNT game in LA i remember when we played tnt in the gold cup there were more US fans
Maybe its not worth the risk. Everybody has to make sacrifices in order for the group to be successful. Although why not T&T?
You've got an argument. I don't know about the demographics of the bay area, but Honduras at Stanford Stadium would have worked when it came to travel/availability/grass. The northwest would have also worked (minus the grass).
Hopefully Rio Tinto is as good as everybody says it is. I was just thinking besides HDC, it would be nice to do something in the Bay Area, Seattle, or even Portland.
It's "nice" to do something lots of places. Problems with west coast are noted -- no grass in Seattle, unsatisfactory stadia in Portland, Oakland, SF, recent and poorly attended matches in Carson. Although one can think of a suitable stadium (i.e., Stanford) while disregarding scheduling issues (e.g., does HON conflict with commencement?), one can also drum up myriad places that aren't getting the call that do NOT have those issues and which also aren't getting a game -- Glendale, Tampa, Hartford, Foxboro, Giants Stadium, the Linc, Charlotte, and two SSS stadia in Frisco and Commerce City. You want a qualifier? Pack Carson for Sweden.
This is probably true, so y'all can stop crying now. Face it, it's a big country. Only five home games for World Cup qualifying this year. I think they did a pretty good job of spreading them around. I'm planning on making the drive to Salt Lake myself. Was hoping for either Kansas City or Dallas but that's the way it goes.
it's too far to fly, or too many time zones or whatever, for our players from europe. maybe you can host an MLS all-star game???
That's what i'm thinking. You're already asking the guys to fly five timezones to the eastern USA, six to Chicago. It sucks you guys get the shaft, but it is what it is and there's not much to do about it.
exactly. think of it this way: most of our opponents have a shorter flight and few if any time zones (jet lag) to deal with. US Soccer does not want to make it even worse on them. That's why we played in Foxboro so often.
They don't host WCQs on the west coast because they might as well be home games for Mexico and any other Spanish-speaking country the USMNT plays. It will be 95% away team fans.
You don't think very well. Chicago and DC both had first rounders and drew poorly.* How is it "a pretty good job of spreading them around" if Chicago and DC get two games this cycle when other cities get none? *11K in Chicago and 20K in DC. We drew more for a meaningless friendly against China at Spartan and almost 40K for the meaningless friendly before that against Japan. You guys tell us to show up in RT to prove our worth? Chicago and DC didn't show up and they got the games.
WTF!?! Oakland Coliseum in a soccer configuration. RFK in soccer configuration ... So if Oakland is unsatisfactory, what does that make RFK with the giant baseball walls and the viewlines toward the pitchers mound at the corner of the 18yd box?