I'll take a Gold Cup match this year, please. Seriously, we have some here from LA complaining about lack of matches. 18 of the 24 matches in Cali has been in the LA area. I can't complain too much because I live only 3 hours from Chicago and 3 hours from Columbus. Still it not like having matches in my backyard.
You're a little confused with your US geography. California is that long state on the west coast. LA is near the bottom, the Bay Area which San Jose is a part of, is in the upper half. Just for perspective LA is the second biggest media market in the country, the Bay Area is the fourth. Dude, you have it pretty sweet. Jun 06 09 Honduras Chicago, IL, USA (WCQ 10) Sep 10 08 W 3-0 TnT 11,452 Bridgeview, IL, USA (WCQ?10) Feb 11 09 W 2-0 Mexico 24,000 Columbus, OH, USA (WCQ 10) Sep 03 05 W 2-0 Mexico 24,685 Columbus, OH, USA (WCQ?06) Nov 17 04 D 1-1 Jamaica 9,088 Columbus, OH, USA (WCQ?06) Jun 13 04 W 3-0 Grenada 9,137 Columbus, OH, USA (WCQ?06) Feb 28 01 W 2-0 Mexico 24,624 Columbus, OH, USA (WCQ '02) Oct 11 00 D 0-0 Costa Rica 24,330 Columbus, OH, USA (WCQ '02) I have to drive twice as far - 6hrs - and I only get: Jun 15 08 W 8-0 Barbados 11,476 Carson, CA, USA (WCQ?10) And the people in Seattle .... See the problem?
Or cash cow. If you want to make money off of a crappy US/Japan friendly in February you're not going to put it in Columbus.
Yea, I figured you did but it opened the door for a snotty response that I couldn't resist. You're in a great spot or US soccer. I wonder what the optimal spot would be? Probably half way between Columbus and DC? Somewhere in West Virginia? It would be fun to figure that out. Would depend on how much weight you gave the Mexico game. BTW- It's considered quit the insult to tell somebody from up here that they're from LA.
Never had a qualifier near my hometown. Gold Cup semis and final? Yes, once. Only friendlies. If I want to catch a USMNT game that is somewhat close, it's Hartford, Gillette, RFK. Everywhere else, I have to fly.
Red Bull Arena is larger than at least four of the stadia that have been used for 2010 World Cup Qualifying (Columbus Crew Stadium, Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Rio Tinto and Toyota Park) as well as comparable in size to a fifth (Home Depot Center). Additionally, the new Meadowlands Stadium will be built by then which will be large enough to house any USMNT match and bigger than RFK, Soldier Field and LP field which were used this time around.
Hmm... last three years, Nine home games, fully one third of US home games in the state of California. Compared to 4 in Chicago and one in Cleveland (interestingly the last Columbus game was the 2005 Mexico WCQ) One each for Arizona, Connecticut, Tennessee, Florida, North Carolina, Colorado, New Jersey and DC. Two in Boston and three in Texas. Forgive me for not weeping for you.
It would be the only winning football Detroit would see for awhile, since their own "football" is so bad.
And that game was with about two months notice and it wasn't even on TV. 12,000 strong at Ford Field.
First, about Columbus: Before the summer of 2003, Columbus had the only Soccer Specific Stadium in the country. That's why we got a glut of national team matches before then. Including Mexico. So I don't want to hear any whining about games played in Columbus before the HDC was built. And guess what, fellas -- we're going to get it again in 2013. Get used to it now. Until Mexico wins there, it's our Azteca -- the place where the other team is doomed until proven otherwise. Yes, we've had Mexico three cycles running, but before this year's match, we didn't see the national team for three and a half years, since the last Mexico match. As far as the poorly attended matches in '04 against Grenada and Jamaica: I was at both of those matches, and the attendance was dreadful for both. Although the Jamaica game was in a 40-degree rain in November on a Wednesday night after the U.S. had already advanced. So I'm not going to rail on anyone for not attending a game against a weak, weak opponent, or for a game with no real intrigue. I mean, I'd travel to, say, Chicago for a qualifyer against Costa Rica, but for a friendly against Canada? Maybe not. I honestly don't know the REAL reason the qualifyers aren't going out west. I would assume the truth lies somewhere at the intersection of the reasons given earlier; mainly fan bases and travel time. But when the Mexico match was rumored to be in SLC, I said to our guys the exact same thing I'm going to say now: There are soccer fans all over the country, not just your neck of the woods. And there are many, many venues capable of holding these games. And until U.S. Soccer starts playing 20 matches a year on home soil, somebody's going to be left out in the cold. It can't be helped. And Oh, by the way: I know MLS and the USMNT are different entities, but The HDC's been open for six seasons. It's hosted MLS Cup in three of them. So it's not like the west coast is the Forgotten Land of Soccer.
You're right. I had that game in Foxborough. The Florida games should be: Mar 25 07 W 3-1 Ecuador 31,547 Tampa, FL Mar 13 04 D 1-1 Haiti 8,714 Miami, FL, USA Jul 26 03 W 3-2 Costa Rica 5,093 Miami, FL, USA (GC ?03) Jul 23 03 L 1-2 Brazil 35,211 Miami, FL, USA (GC ?03) Feb 08 03 L 0-1 Argentina 27,196 Miami, FL, USA Jan 18 03 W 4-0 Canada 6,549 Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA Feb 03 01 L 0-1 Colombia 14,169 Miami, FL, USA Feb 19 00 D 2-2 Colombia (1-2 PK) 32,972 Miami, FL, USA (GC 2000) Feb 16 00 W 1-0 Peru 36,004 Miami, FL, USA (GC 2000) Feb 12 00 W 3-0 Haiti 49,513 Miami, FL, USA (GC 2000)
Nice post - but ... .... we're not talking about a single city missing out on a single game here. We've had only 1 qualifier out of 26 for the ENTIRE West Coast. That's broken.