Why on earth is the MNT going to play their newly announced match against Wales in that pinball stadium in San Jose? That's not an appropriate setting for an international - especially one that really promises to be a good matchup. There's got to be a better venue available!
doubleheader ? and a way to pump up the attendance figure for SJ , preassure from SJ to give them something , I don't know why else, I would love to see the Nats at Giants Stadium
Probably to pacify the people in that area so they can't complain when important matches are played elsewhere.
It is nice to spread the national team around the nation, and not always play in Columbus/RFK/Foxboro. Although I support the idea of playing the important games (World Cup qualifiers) in stadiums where we can get a home field advantage and in stadiums where we can get our Europeans more easily, so I'm not too bitter about the fact that the closest WCQ to San Jose in the last cycle was the Costa Rica game in Kansas City. That said, the last time the US Men played in the Bay Area was the friendly against China in the NetAss Coliseum in Oakland in January 2001. Attendance was under 9K? Don't be expecting any miracles here. And there are cities which have not had a game in a much longer time, like Dallas and Chicago. So I'm just glad that they're throwing us a bone, and I don't expect to see them in the Bay Area again for a few years. Oh yeah, the game is not currently a doubleheader. I'm hoping that they can reschedule a Quakes game to take place that day so we can have a doubleheader, but I don't think it will happen.
I can't imagine that's the reason .... has anybody heard any complaints? i think what it comes down to is the national team is, and should be, playing games all over the nation. soccer isn't just an east-coast thing.
I'm wondering this myself. Dallas hasn't had a game in who knows how long. And there's no way you can say the cotton bowl is a bad place to play one. i don't get the rationing behind playing at SJ at all but if someone can come up with a reasonable conspiracy theory on it i'm likely to believe it.
It happened the same way every other match happens. It's the result of negotiations between the Earthquakes, who wanted to host and promote a match, Spartan Shops, which runs the stadium, the USSF, which wanted its team to play a match, ESPN, which had a timeslot available on ESPN2 to show the match, and the Welsh FA, who were willing to come over and be the opponent.
That sounds right. I think I also read somewhere that a higher percentage of the Welsh people in San Jose speak Welsh fluently than the people living in Wales. Remember, it's the percentage -- it's not saying there are more fluent Welsh speakers in San Jose than Wales.
Quick look over the past few games in the Bay Area: Jan 2001 US v China -- 8901 Nov 1998 US v Australia -- 15074 May 1998 US v Macedonia -- 23861 And yes, they are a National team, so rotation is good. Excluding an area from games won't help the support. I'm also a fan of the National Team playing in MLS test markets. If the Quakes don't pull off a doubleheader with this match, I'll be disappointed (though not completely surprised.)
To be fair, that game was played in the rain after a down pour that really screwed up the Bay Area. I was going to take BART to the game, but a station flooeded and the system was closed down. If the weather didn't interfere, the game would have had a much larger crowd. I expect the Spartan game to be a sell out (about 27,000).
Don't get me wrong. I am fully supportive of rotating the matches around the country and fully support a game in the Bay area. My question is with the use of Spartan Stadium. As a Chicagoan, the last thing I would want is a MNT match to be played at Cardinal Stadium in Naperville. It would be a joke. However, when Soldier Field is ready this fall, that should be a great venue for an international. I would think the USSF would want a larger field. Possible Bay Area sites: Network in Oakland, PacBell in San Francisco, and 3Com in SF. I know the Quakes are all for Spartan Stadium. I'm just perplexed as to why USSF would see this as a suitable site.
East coast, west coast, hell stop with the whining. When was the last time they played a national team game in Nebraska ? IF that ever happens, you'll know soccer has arrived !
Well, Pac Bell or Oakland would make sense--but it's baseball season. And Candlestick--um, excuse me, 3Comm--sucks. Standford was a possiblity, but if you want to give the bay Area a game in May, then Spartan is a reasonable option.
Stanford isn't the best location for a match, with the running track around the field, plus a little extra space, the seats are too damn far from the action. Not to mention the beches are built right on top of each other, packing people in like sardines.Pac Bell and the colisium are right out as the basebore teams have those and we would have to kiss ass to work out a deal with them because they don't want their fields torn up Spartan is the logical choice and is overdue for a USMNT game. Also, the pitch is within FIFA regulations, so quit your bitching
Bitch? Not I! I'm a Quake season ticket holder forced to make that 100 mile round trip for every game--if I bitch about Spartan it's because I wish it was about 25 miles closer to my house!
It won't be a doubleheader. The Quakes already sent a letter to season-ticket holders offering tickets and saying that it won't be included in the season-ticket package. A doubleheader would be included in the season tickets.
Of course, of the stadiums in the Bay Area IMO Stanford is the one that most looks like a soccer stadium, though of course it was built with the gridiron ball in mind... Yes there is the matter of the track. I do like Spartan because you're on top of the action. But a lot of European stadiums also have tracks, and there appears, in many cases, to be much more space separating fans from the field. At Stanford Stadium, the outermost lane of the track is right next to the fence at the bottom of the seating sections. Only a small aisle separates the first row from that fence. I went with my brother (a Stanford grad student) to a few football games at the stadium, and I don't really mind the sardine can seating, but that's just me. I am glad that there is a USMNT game in the Bay Area, period.
Hmm... I do believe there are a few Sacramento-area diehards that make a 240-mile round trip to games. I was not nor am a season ticket holder, but I did make a few matches last year. Now that I am living in the Monterey area, I'll be making to a few more games because I only have a 120-mile round trip. What puzzles me is how the handful of Sac-area Sharks season-ticket holders are able to pull it off...
The field at Spartan Stadium is too narrow. That's why having a national team game there is a waste of everyone's time, an insult to our opponents and fans and further confirmation that the USSF can turn anything into a major league schlamazel. Don't go trying to turn this into an East Coast-West Coast thing. The field at Spartan is a joke. Fim do papo.
Hey, if you guys can come up with a 75 yard wide pitch (not some rinky dink 65 yarder that FIFA deems suitable for rinky dink games and not full internationals) I say go ahead and host this game. And, by the way, I'm about to send a message to the Taffy FA telling them that they've committed to a game on a crap field. What matters to me most is enhancing the image of American soccer and not placating a bunch of clowns in the Bay Area. I also wouldn't mind seeing A MEANINGFUL, QUALITY MATCH. You can kiss that good bye. We're calling Wales over so they can play on a crap field just so they can do a bit of regional PR work for us. Great. That will do just wonders for the profile of US soccer. What a joke.
www.faw.org.uk Please let the fine folks at the FAW know that we American soccer fans are committed to fair play and believe in properly accommoditing our guests. Let them know that we are not easily conned, that we will share their inevitable frustration and outrage at the substandard conditions and that we are not all a bunch of software putzes looking for a good excuse to serve up chicken tarragon in a parking lot while listening to Dave Matthews and marvelling at the complexity of the latest microwbrew. I've sent my message. They'll appreciate others.