That's what they said.. The press releases.. I don't like the fact that it is overdue in that if they were taking him back to Germany, or selling him overseas (not likely IMHO), MLS and the Quakes would be in no hurry for the news to get out as they would fear it might cut down a bit on season ticket sales.. Just a thought.. I expect it will be good news for those who want him to stay and I would think that is most fans of MLS..
huh? i question this... i personally think most people on BS want him to go back, and most fans of mls probably don't even realize that he might be going anywhere
Re: Re: Weren't we supposed to hear about Donovan this week? I'm positive the vast majority of Quakes fans know that he might be going to Germany.
Well I would think that most would agree it would be better for the league if he stays here.. I don't think it would be the "disaster" for MLS that some have painted if he returns to Germany, and I think his being there will generate interest itself, but he does sell some tickets and gets much needed press for the league. Soccer opinion doesn't begin and end at BS.
i think it would be a disaster if mls retains him for another minute why? it's called de-evolving (the league and himself)... it's not a good characteristic to start, and i know the league is trying harder than tonya harding to prove it's the best at it his being here generates interest only in those that know who he is at the moment... the strange thing is, if he goes to germany he will continute to play and continue to generate interest... even in the general sports fan... cause guess what? ESPN and all other sports outlets have heard of the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Champion's League and EUFA Cup... if they hadn't, ESPN wouldn't have paid for rights to the Champion's League, something they do not do for MLS (something to think about) never said the soccer opinion ends or begins with BS, i do believe BS to be a good subset of the knowledgeable u.s. soccer crowd though
opinion... With Bayer slippin' and trippin' in the bottom half of the Bundesliga they'd be fools not to do whatever they can to utilize LD, at least until MLS season begins. That'll give him first team trial for a couple months, but hey, what do I know?
I think all your points are very valid and I don't disagree. The short term thinking of the league and most owners is that they would like him to stay from all I have heard and read. If he goes to Germany and actually gets to play regularly on the first team. I agree it will likely help more than hurt domestic soccer in the US.. On BS though, I think it is more a measure of the avid fan, by far, and not the majority of those who attend MLS at the current time.
fair enough kinda surprised you didn't mention my flubbing of uefa (kinda wishing you had actually, it's cracking me up right now )
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Weren't we supposed to hear about Donovan this week? sorry, twas merely a crack, but a crack with intent and the intent was that san jose is the worst attended team in the league... they came off a championship and had donovan, yet they were still the worst attended team (improved though, kudos for that) having landon is going to do nothing for putting butts in the seats, which is the most important source of revenue at this time what will do something for the quacks is having a pro-active front office, instead of one that is in constant turmoil... it appeared to be fixed at the start of this past season, but now we know that there are problems again as they quacks haven't secured their contract for first priority at their home field... the sharks and aeg aren't quite clicking in their efforts towards the quacks, and that kills (in a very bad way) trust me, i love landon's talent, i love every chance i have to watch him play... but the ways i reason refuse to believe that him in mls is the best option for him, mls or u.s. soccer (and i'll readily admit that i'm a fairly warped mind... both good and bad) people differ, and that's cool... but i like to stir the pot a bit to see different views (i think few would align with everything i say, but then again... most everyone thinks differently so that should be the case)
I'll just be glad when we don't have to shuttle players over to Europe just to pay the bills. After all, all our other sports in the US, besides pointyball,take the best from the world.Our league is just too young to do this yet. Until then I'll be happy with what we have, which isn't half bad.
Re: Re: Weren't we supposed to hear about Donovan this week? that's just it with the way soccer is established, no one league will ever become dominant, so every league will always be a feeder for all the other leagues meaning there really is no such thing as a feeder league
I guess I'm in the minority here. Jmeissen and I have gone point and counterpoint on this subject in other threads, but I am still unconvinced that a move to BL is best for MLS. Better for LD? Yeah, probably, but honestly I'm more interested in what he can do for the league than vica versa. I guess the main question for me is that assuming he does return to BL, who besides people on these boards or people who avidly follow Yanks Abroad are going to follow his progress. I know many of us are well acquainted with European Leagues and follow them on a routine basis, but what concerns me more is the potential fan base for MLS. Namely young players and the people here in the US who are familiar with the sport but who lack an affiliation with MLS. I'm of the belief that the league can benefit tremendously from the development of identifiable US stars who aspiring young players and potential fans of the sport can follow and have an interest in. I don't expect this approach to revolutionize the attendance or following of MLS overnight, but overtime I do believe it will payoff. I happen to agree that Donovan is by no means a magic bullet for this approach, but I do believe he represents a big step in this direction. Considering that both Mathis and Beasley have been quite vocal in their wishes to play overseas as soon as possible, I worry that MLS is at a crossroads in terms of setting itself up as a feeder league rather than a league that people will take seriously on it's own. If we lose Donovan, and then Mathis, Beasley, McBride and perhaps Wolff then you have to wonder just who will come in and take their place as players whom current and potential fans will want to follow. I know the conventional argument is that we are producing more talent than we ever have and these new young players may be in a position to take on marketable roles for the league, but then who takes their place when they look for greater money and glory overseas? The cycle of generating and identifying marketable talent can soon become unworkable for MLS since it will never be able to retain players long enough whom fans will identify with. It would be nice if the league could exist alone on marketing teams rather than players, but I think it's an unrealistic hope when you consider that the league also happens to be marketing a much maligned sport in the US. Having players who achieve a relatively high profile in MLS and thus provide young players and potential fans with someone to point to as proof that the sport is both entertaining and one in which success and a relative degree of fame can be had in a domestic league is critical for MLS. If on the other hand MLS constantly loses its most talented and marketable players to Europe then I can't imagine what it will use to attract potential fans to the domestic product. Like it or not, pro-sports in this country are grown primarily by generating fan interest in players and personalities, and this is an area in which MLS still has a lot of work to do. It's a bootstraps proposition and one that demands sacrifices to get there. While the league isn't in the drivers seat as far as LD is concerned I think that MLS fans in the US who also have an interest in the national team have to realize that in the long run MLS is the key to a better national team and the sacrifice to help MLS grow is to have players that we know are in a higher caliber stay home to raise the bar for the league. As I see it, LD is potentially just one step in a larger, long-term campaign for MLS to establish itself as more than just a more marketed version of the A-League. The argument that it will happen eventually is just putting off for tomorrow, what needs to be done now.
interesting points tejas... i simply think that trying to keep players is the kiss of death... it's incest and stagnates the player pool faster than the bubonic plague the fact that we are producing players faster than we can find roles for them is saying something, and yet we are barely touching the tip of the barrel in this country hell, we are starting to do something that i am incredibly impressed about... we are pulling in some very talented young foreigners... ruiz, vaca, garcia, o'brien etc. so that plus what we find here (in the states) should go a long ways towards becoming a good damn league... selling our quality players that have been here a couple of years will provide money to re-invest into the player pool be it through development or signing new or current players but i'm also an extremely pro-active kind of person, i feel that if the league stops for a second and doesn't push forward, that it's starting to hurt itself... and that will be compounded as time goes on moves not made now, aren't corrected when they are finally made... because it will have already slowed down development of the league and it's players... it's a gigantic dynamic entity that when slowed in one area multiplies all over the place, but much the same when moves are made... new talent is brought in that can develop with a league at a higher level than what it was at when the old talent first came in... meaning that player develops faster and farther and the league as a whole moves forward the level of play in mls isn't going to go down anytime soon, it's simply the rate at which it increases that i'm interested in i believe that the faster it rises, the better off our league is... the more talent, the more media, the more money, the more movement, etc. movement can't be helped, it's a must... the league is a living, breathing entity...
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Weren't we supposed to hear about Donovan this week? The RED HERK OF BIG SOCCER said: GO die IN a FIRE, quakfan.
Arme Zweiterkusen Maybe I'm a bit too concerned about this, but: Donovan wasn't the golden boy in '02 the way he was in '01 (obviously I'm talking about his play for the Earthquakes, he was exquisite in WC '02). I watched him when he came down to LA; he barely got his foot on the ball in either of those games. The Bundesliga is not the most hospitable place for Americans at the moment. It will be especially inhospitable for a young man who appears to be throwing a primadonna routine with his "I want to stay close to home" number. Did anyone read the Kicker article questioning his professionalism over this? His every miscue will be watched with glee by the country that invented schadenfreude. I'm honestly concerned more for the USMNT. I don't have faith in his ability to fend off criticism, and I think he's going to a) overplay and b) be on a very short leash, and he'll comeback a true headcase, of the Chuck Knoblauch variety (loss of faith in innate skills). Anything other than doing his best Superman impression will make life more difficult for the Tony Sannehs and Greg Berhalters. On the other hand, I'll be the first one singing his praises if he proves me wrong.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Weren't we supposed to hear about Donovan this week? red herk... sorry. its my duty as a smartass.
Re: Arme Zweiterkusen relax most every mls player that went to the world cup was absolutely drained towards the end of the year... if they hadn't already suffered an injury that had far more to do with donovan's play in mls than anything else kid can play, there's no question of that
It has to be more than one player. A fan base grows when the fans are familiar with and care about the players in the league and their area. Until the media becomes a real partner with the sport, we are going to be worried about the effects of things like the Landon deal when it shouldn't be a big worry. Every team in the first division in Argentina is in huge debt and they are forced to sell their best talent overseas. They are not worried that it will spell death to their league if it keeps up. Just a crisis they will get through with some pain. We are not near that stage yet (well established with the life of the country) and the death of NASL always weighs on fans of MLS. The relationship between the media and the sport in the US is very slowly improving but it has a long, long way to go as everyone here knows. Part of what each of us is able to do is to help that along, and there are many ways we can and many of us are trying. Letting the media know what we want more with letters to editors and e-mails and by our attendence at as many games as possible, Thanking the local media when they do something and complaining when they don't.. on and on. San Jose fans being sure to leave something to The United States Soccer Foundation in their wills before the big quake that is coming soon occurs. Treating friends to a match. The league can't all be on the shoulders of Uncle Phil and Landon but must the responsiblity of all who love the sport.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Weren't we supposed to hear about Donovan this week? How many games at Spartan Stadium have you attended in the past two years? The fact is, no matter how much you think its not true: Landon sells tickets in San Jose, and the Quakes (with our ***************ty, non-existant management) need him as much as anything. Losing Donovan would hurt attendence in what is already a bad situation. And what is all the "Quacks" crap? Jealous of a winning team or what?
Looks like we're gonna hear officially on Wednesday. And he's staying. See links over on News & Analysis board for more info.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Weren't we supposed to hear about Donovan this week? i've given the precise reason why i use the term "quacks"... hell, had you read it... you might have realised it is a shot at your management (whom you also threw a shot at, yourself) and you might want to rethink "winning team" when you can easily note that i am a fire fan (3 titles to 1, not to even mention a higher overall winning percantage all time... and probably more wins for us all time, despite being around 2 less years) and seriously, please wake up and realize that the truth of the matter is donovan (nor anyone else in mls) doesn't put butts in the seats... its the truth and is backed up
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Weren't we supposed to hear about Donovan this week? Quakes 2002 average home attendance for games Donovan played: 12,118 Quakes 2002 average home attendance for games Donovan missed: 7,602