Phenomenal What a treat… to sad we lost. What fans ! what passion ! from both, USA fans and Brazil fans.. When USA scored, explosion, of cheers I was amazed how many gringo’s and hispanics in S. Florida… celebrated We had a cheering explosion, but when the Brazilians scored, I though the Orange Bowl will collapse from… the atomic Brazilian goal celebration. The energy was building for 88 minutes 2 posts, and 2 disallowed goals… but when it came … kaboom Phenomenal night out… and we don’t have a MLS team.. Total shame… on MLS Nowhere do they have such a soccer culture market as here S. Florida.. one of the best markets by far
Cool rumor, but we need some better sources... I'm all for any of the above. It was a great game! I didn't expect such a large crowd, I went late thinking not many people would go but was I mistaken! Parking was a nightmare as it always is at to OB but the game was worth the headache. So close to vistory, I felt so cheated! But thats football at it's best. How can they say that South Florida doesn't have a market? They just didn't know how to do marketing. It's only a matter of time my friends, MLS will be back and I hope it's soon.
BulaJ Here you are a friend, outside… you are just like the rest of the Florida phobia hoards … slightly misinformed only by living here you would learn the potential … of S. Florida soccer market chichi.... it all starts with a rumor http://www.soflastrikers.com/forums/index.php?
Don't read too much into the large crowds at the Orange Bowl - Garber will dismiss it by saying that the majority were cheering for Brazil. He thinks only Americans would watch MLS (despite a glance around any MLS game proving that totally false). They're not going to admit their mistakes, folks. They would rather run the good ship MLS into the ground, before admitting mistakes.
Well, I was there and I must tell you the pro-America fans were a large part of the crowd. Most Brazilians I was around were cheering when the U.S. scored. They all ageed that if the Fusion were in Miami they would have gone to the games, of course, they say a Brazilian player always helps to keep them intrested...
''It hurts that we had such a good team in 2001 and not come away with anything,'' Mastroeni said. Mastroeni would not hesitate to return to South Florida if the league added a new franchise. Last week, MLS commissioner Don Garber had preliminary talks with city of Miami officials about awarding the area an expansion franchise by the end of the decade. ''The beauty of [South Florida] and the climate is ideal for great soccer,'' Mastroeni said. U.S. forward Landon Donovan also believes MLS has a void in South Florida. ''Most markets in MLS that have strong attendance have a strong Latino following,'' said Donovan, who plays for San Jose. ``There is no place in the U.S. that has a stronger Latino following than Miami.'' FusionFC
lol Here's my honest take... Both sides of this argument make good points... Horowitz is an idiot...he was the one in on the Marlins bull$hit run too, wasn't he? He just straight sucks running teams, marketing, building a loyal following....too dishonest and/or selfish... Yes, Miami has potential.... Also, 3 years was certainly not enough... and folding before the WC was stupid... and maybe (i think they should've) San Jose should have been folded... but I'm not gonna get into the attendence issue... And I think they should be/have been IN Miami... Can (general) you seperate Horwitz and the MLS? I think there are around 22-24 markets that soccer, specifically MLS, should definately be in (including Miami), but there have been issues here. More fans, not just the local loyal ones (that I applaud/ignore on different occasions) on here are/were needed... (Also, there's a time to be an @$$, but not to everyone around here and not in the tone given sometimes...) Hopefully an I/O steps up and builds that fan base...marketing and managing that team well. the Miami Fusion were my second favorite team...and I'd be a fan if they came back today (keeping the same name and colors, although pushed to third possibly by Cleveland)....
SE Florida has one chance... It doesn't matter why the Fusion folded. Was it the I/O, was it the lack of support, did Garber stab them in the back, was it the Bermuda Triangle? Obvioulsy there's support for pro soccer in South Florida. If half the people who post Fusion stuff on this board bought season tickets... IMHO, there's only one way to settle the argument and get Miami back on the expansion radar screens. Your only shot is to get an A league team and support the heck out of it, like in Rochester or Montreal. Talk the Atlanta Silverbacks into moving. They don't draw dick in Georgia. Average at least 10,000 for an A League team and there will be no doubt anout your worthiness for the 1st Division. In the meantime, all the websites, letter writing, postrings to Bigsoccer etc aren't going to get you anything but arthritis is your hands.
From what I understood, the original idea was to have it in Miami, but they city went overboard in the rent they were going to charge. I preferred Lockhart for many reasons. It's a soccer specific stadium. The seats were on top of the field, no blocked viewpoints and it was a stadium that you could expect fans to fill! Even with the Orange Bowl at 35,000 the other night, one half of the stadium was practially empty. And it WAS centrally located. It took me about 30 minutes to get from the OB to the Commerical Blvd exit up I-95, shorter than the time it took me to make it from Palm Beach county to Lockhart. If fans can't be bothered to drive 30-45 minutes from the north or south, they're lousy fans (barring those that don't have cars). Besides, once September hits, that stadium belongs to UM, which would create logistical nightmares for home games late in the season or playoffs. Regardless, if a new team came back, I'd be at either venue.
Interesting comments made about the demise of the Fusion. I honestly hope that someday MLS will return, maybe a foreign investor w/ the "cojones" to buck the MLS brass and put a team there. Now, one thing that might be a drawback is that, sure 37,000 went to the Brazil game, BUT ONLY 5,000 WENT TO THE COSTA RICA-US GAME!! What's up with that? that's the sort of thing that will make ppl hesitate to put a franchise back there.
I don't think that will concern intelligent people. They understand that meaningless games for best-loser won't be very attractive especially a few days after a big heart-breaking game. They understand that most people have a limited budged. They would also consider how the well (ish) advertized game got a big crowd, but the completely media-neglected game didn't.
An intelligent soccer fan would have realized that it was a game vs. a Concacaf rival arguably one of better squads eliminated in round robin play last year, they are coache by our former USMNT coach, and they would have been able to do the math to figure out that the US still had an outside shot at winning the tourney. 5,000!!!???
I understand what you are saying, but in my opinion it wasn't an attractive game. If this game would have been anywhere else the attendence would still have been low especially after seeing the Brazil game. The game vs Costa Rica pales by comparisson, It wasn't the world cup or a qualifier and none of the teams were at full strength.
Re: Re: Why the Fusion folded did not get your meaning ? no comprende ... what you are tryng to say FUSION2001 the best MLS team ever.... style and class in the sun, along with beers, and hooters... and warm ocean, and palm trees and LockhartSSS monkeys could of managed this area much better
There's no excuse for 5000 fans. I was interested in going but it's a few hours drive so I didn't but I still would expect more fans, it's our National Team. It was on a Saturday and there should have been at least 16000 there. I know this is Florida and Soccer is for girls, and it ain't "real" football and so on, so I guess that's what people feel about the US Team. Of course Miami does have some good support when some other teams are playing. I didn't see the Brazil game and it's good to know the US had a bit more support, but the last Gold Cup before that had awful US support, it felt like only 100 US fans there, at a time when the Fusion were still around.
are we still on tihs subject?? look, those who lived through it KNOW what it was.. those who werent here to witness will NEVER get it.. funny thing is, the mls is still as sorry as league as it was when the fusion/mutiny were in it.. all that talk of 'this will improve the league'.. blahblah.. still a joke in the soccer world.. lucky for me ive been back and forth in brasil and havent had so much as a chance to miss it.. got to see a third division (state championship) team vs a second tier team, and would you believe they made the mls look like ayso teams.. its amazing what passes for first division here.. guys, let it go, we were screwed, but do we really want to be a part of something that is going nowhere?????
Uh..., Convey, Howard, Friedel, McBride... yeah, the league is such a joke. Other players that Euro sides are looking at: Beasley, Armas, Carlos Ruiz. Do I need to go on? This league is absolutely not a joke. Management makes some questionable decisions, but... look at foreign investors coming in or looking to get in: Vergara, Club America, Real Madrid and other big clubs that see the potential in this league. Contraction produced a much, much better product. Top to bottom (save Dallas), MLS is better than the French League. That wasn't the case b4.
has mls improved since year one, absolutely.. is it a major world league?? not even close.. dont kid yourselves..
Nobody is saying that it is at the level of EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga or even the Dutch league. But when the 6th best goalie picks up and starts for ManU, that says something. When the 9th best team in MLS (LA Galaxy) with an anemic offense normally and non-existent w/o Carlos Ruiz, goes out and gives PSV a solid game w/o many of their striker (check out PSV's website and their account of the game), that says a lot. With Ruiz, they would have beaten Nacional and Munchen 1860. I would much rather watch DC play Chicago than Racing Santander play Oviedo in La Liga. Not every game in Euro is the caliber of Inter vs. Juventus, ManU vs. Arsenal. The big Euro leagues get relatively weak at the bottom of the pack, and they are top heavy.
http://www.soflastrikers.com/forums/index.php? Buritto is back MLS is not... regardless of how we look at the national footprint of this novice league MLS, and it's novice management, and the novice audience... sFlorida... was, still is, overall .. for pro league, and internationals ....a great market.. it is ... it was belonging for sure in a 12 team MLS no question about it, and it's legacy is part of the proof, and also todays attendance... and losses.. show it was a BIG mistake to contract the Fusion2001. next 2 teams on board... should be the Chivas franchise ... and the SFlorida Metro area franchise 5.2 mil people and growing WPBeachFtLauderdaleMiami. PaulA ...I will make no excuses for the 5.000 because it was a fair number... the Gold cup overall attendence...was a success, partially because over the few games we had we averaged close to 20 K, did actually better than the Razor the USA-Brazil was a A-Bomb of a game... tremendous ... fantastic with nothing to follow, and match the intensity.. According to the fifa site article 45.000 in attendance, which sounds right to me, with great USA following… and thousand of BrazilianFloridian kids cheer for the USA goal, and yes for Brazil to… was just a wonderful to experience… The Saturday game the follow up losers medals, was just a fart in the wind, for most astute fans… and even for the novice
I absolutely disagree. Do you not recall that Turkey advanced over CR on tiebreakers? The Ticos could have won their game over Turkey and nobody would have thought it was an unfair result. Check out other sections of this board and others; plenty of astute fans cared about the game. 5,000 is PA-THE-TIC.
Thought I'd just send a huge F U to you, Mr. uclacarlos. I drove to Miami for the Wednesday night game vs. Brazil and got back home at 4am after driving cross-state. That just wasn't going to happen for me again, even if the game vs. the Ticos was on a Saturday night. Our team was out of contention for the championship, so why waste the time and effort watching a couple of teams going 1/2 speed? Indeed, after Wednesday night's spectacle, the Saturday night game was the proverbial fart in the wind.