Uh, guys? Don't you think they're gaining kind of fast?

That bit about Dallas not having a chance at the playoffs? Over. 3 more wins and they've got a shot. More than a shot. And with those games being San Jose, Colorado, and us, yeah, it's doable.

This is getting *far* too interesting for my liking.

More Media and MLS

Today's version of The Sweeper at Pitch Invasion on my critique of what the death of print media means for MLS:

Still, I’ll maintain my original piece identifies a two-pronged problem not solved by amateur or even semi-pro or team-run online coverage. Firstly, we still do not have a replacement for the loss of an independent reporter embedded with the team and travelling around with them — this can’t be done by bloggers unless a much stronger income model is developed and a team-funded replacement is obviously problematic. Newspapers’ near monopoly as an advertising outlet long allowed them to plough over-inflated advertising income to subsidise otherwise unsustainable reporting in all areas, but online media does not have the same luxury.

For my part, I think the base of that income model is out there, but we're just stating to see it applied.

Speaking of advertising revenue, Michael Moore recently rambled in a round about way that a European model where newspapers focus less on advertising revenue and more on subscriber revenue has helped those papers avoid the tight death spiral seen by their American counterparts. I'd also add that they seem to be more creative in the digital space as well (see also Fake Steve Jobs today), and don't yet have to deal with hemorrhaging classified ad revenue because of Craigslist.

Dunmore also notes that soccer still needs to reach the general sports fan, and that ESPN is taking the lead as the monolithic gateway to soccer. Last night on Twitter I commented that we're not going back to monolithic media, but I do think ESPN will be the large, broad gateway to the general fan, along the lines of what I pointed out to Richard Whittall a couple days ago.

Brian Dryfhout, your safe place is kind of a strange place

Yesterday we were introduced to Brian Dryfhout via his somewhat strangely produced interview with Chicago Red Star Michelle Wenino. The interview is on a site called Mouth Piece Sports, which purports to be a "safe place" for athletes.

Anyway, Dryfhout posted another interview today with Ella Masar of the Chicago Red Stars. The format was the same, including distorted/facebooky pictures, and there was what seems like the obligatory awesome answer:

BD: If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

EM: Hmmmmm probably the size of my head. Some, I mean a select few, could say its a bit larger than others, I just think i have more brain power than most!

By the way, nice job on the it's/its error, Brian. I know we all make typos, but you made that error three times in transcribing the interview.

Anyway, there's a whole bunch of these interviews, as the "Bantering with Brian" archive banner at the bottom of the page helpfully indicates.



As you might guess, following that banner link takes you to a pictorial archive of interviewees that are 100% female and about half of whom are shown in a state that could reasonably be described as "scantily clad." I didn't read through them all, but it looks like there's a few Lingerie Football League (which bills itself as "Real Fantasy Football") players, some cheerleaders, a few reporters, and even Ashley Force.

With most interviews having a question about dating, relationships, being the sexiest *blank* or pageant winner, and even the tamer interviews like those with Masar and Wenino having a selection of photographs that seemed designed to titillate, it's clear that these interviews are pure fantasy material. Which seems odd and incongruous coming from a "safe place" for athletes.

Similar to what I said in the comments of the Sirens of Soccer post, I certainly don't have a problem with the women themselves. And let's face it, nobody does objectification like Kickette. But I find it odd that a series of articles in a place that purports to let the athletes be themselves would go the route it does. And regular readers know that I think there's a different way these athletes can be portrayed and still be made to look human.

-FS

So Robert Warzycha calls me

And he's all like, Sigi, are you ready for the game on the weekend?

I'm like, Robert, what the hell happened last night against Saprissa? A goal in the last minute, and now you have to hoof the team down to Puerto Rico?

Yes, Robert says, it is true that this happened, but if I were you, I would only concern yourself with Saturday's game.

Oh, I say, why's that?

Because I would very much like to end your little expansion team. All these expansion teams, all these fans, not one of them can play the game well. It is time to make an example of someone. And I'm sorry to say, but that example will come against your USL-type team.

Come on Robert, I say, that's not exactly true.

Oh? he says, Perhaps you should read what they are saying about me after we destroyed the team that rejected you. They say I can't be killed. They say I drink blood. They say . . .

You dress as a bat?

No, they say my tactics are superior to yours and my substitution patterns are better. Who among us was able to get usable minutes out of Kevin Burns? Only me. Who among us has coached the same team to the best record in the league while having half the roster felled by injuries? Only me. Who among us has employed the tactics to achieve a roster of 23 unbeatable supermen, hard as steel, cold as ice, ruthless as a Russian prime minister? A team of players who are willing to, if I ask, die for each other on command?

The answer, as you know, is me.

Yeah, I say, well, I've got Kasey Keller, and he's a vampire so . . .

Ah, Robert says, the undead one. Trust me, we have ways of dealing with him.

And don't worry Sigi, it will be over by halftime. You will not have to wait long. Good luck. Ok? See you on Saturday.

*click*

Yeah, I'm not looking forward to this game.

MLS and Print Media

Consider this part two of the "Revenge of the Nerds" post. It was originally part of that piece, but got split out when I went in a different direction.

On the same day Whittall equated his blogging baptism with having a first period (his post is titled, "Are you there MLS? It's me, Richard"), Tom Dunmore over at Pitch Invasion lamented the shameful state of print coverage for his hometown Chicago Fire. The lamentations were then followed by Dunmore attempting to come up with some manner that the situation could be dealt with, short of opening fire with his AK-47 outside Tribune Tower.

As usual, I've got a lot of praise for the post, but also some reservations.

Tom's main contention is that because newspapers are dying and beat writers are going away (in some cases they never existed, but anyway), this is bad for MLS, which might be forced to hire its own beat writers to worse effect. Using the really bad situation in Chicago to illustrate what a disaster it's been since the Tribune stopped caring the Fire existed, Dunmore analyzes the options:

But the value of hiring your own beat reporter is severely undermined by the fact that the coverage is still not going to be in the daily metropolitan newspaper, and the obviously thorny issue of just how independently such an open shill could call out and report on his employer’s team honestly.

It becomes a chicken-and-egg question, but the better coverage of teams in Seattle, Toronto and DC by the local press is a major boon to each club.

While that may be true, I don't think the traditional media has ever been particularly kind to MLS, and the way forward is another model completely. In fact, Dunmore's post made me think of Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable by Clay Shirky. The whole thing is from beginning-to-end-awesome, and you should read it all, but I think this is the relevant bit:

And so it is today. When someone demands to know how we are going to replace newspapers, they are really demanding to be told that we are not living through a revolution. They are demanding to be told that old systems won’t break before new systems are in place. They are demanding to be told that ancient social bargains aren’t in peril, that core institutions will be spared, that new methods of spreading information will improve previous practice rather than upending it. They are demanding to be lied to.

There are fewer and fewer people who can convincingly tell such a lie.

Keep in mind the context of that quote is based around "saving" the newspapers, something Dunmore isn't exactly arguing for but is certainly concerned about. Tom knows the system is breaking, but he's still asking a question that as of today has no good answer - what will replace the newspaper?

(As a quick aside, and here's as good a place as any to say it, last week Deplorable Twaddle herself linked to a piece condemning people like Shirky for dismissing the publishing institutions of the past as accidents of history. The point is well taken, but I think holding up the institution of analog publishing as some kind of base human joy, a happy dance with gatekeepers, advertisers, and consumers, equalled only by the book itself 1) stretches things just a bit too far and 2) does nothing to change the fact that newspapers as we know them are dying. I also feel that Shirky views where we are today as far less perfect than the rebuttal implies. But go read it yourself, have fun.)

Not long ago Dan Loney joked to the effect that the prime beneficiaries of the internet were homosexuals, fetishists, and American soccer fans. The relevant kernel of truth in his joke is that the overwhelming amount of news, rumors, and information on MLS and the national teams gets traded on the internet. In a BigSoccer post from long ago (5000 points to the person who finds it!), Bill Archer commented on how print media mattered very little to MLS, that the old guard who ran newspapers would always be hostile to soccer, and if MLS was smart it would push its internet promotions as far as they would go.

I'm sure that there are more articles and research behind these two offhand statements, but I think on their own they establish a base truth that we're all aware of - the costs of print, the attitudes of editorial staff, and the current lack of an audience at the economically viable tipping point combine to stack the deck against analog soccer coverage in the United States unless it involves something we can't ignore like a World Cup. And with newspapers sinking below the surface as their revenues no longer cover their costs, soccer coverage is often going to be one of the first things thrown over the side with the steadily rising water.

What's ironic is that as the old guard moves on and new reporters step in, print soccer coverage is getting much better. In addition to the people Dunmore mentions, Shawn Mitchell and Michael Arace over at the Columbus Dispatch are doing phenomenal work. For the both of them, it's a mixture of newsprint and blogging, but they've brought enthusiastic voices to a medium that has known few.

When one looks at the internet, the light gets even brighter. The amount and variety of content is staggering, from TFC's Zerg army of bloggers, to Protoss 3rd Degree (particularly Buzz Carrick) doing amazing work down in Dallas. Almost every team except Chicago seems to have a strong online media arm of some form or another. Even MLSnet is a good source for stories of all kinds - game reports, quotes, follow-ups, etc. Guys like Craig Merz who are no longer in the Daily grind have ended up on the internets doing their thing (although mostly for much less money, but I won't touch that today), effectively giving MLS a de facto group of beat reporters right now.

It sounds like there is a major problem in Chicago - that much is clear from Dunmore's abject sorrow and anger and even the team's puzzling gate numbers. Bill Quigley's serious health issues have undoubtedly contributed to the lack of coverage. But when you've got everything from Creepy Jose videotaping my team's practices to fan sites like the DCCenters to quality team blogs like Hillcrest Road, the situation is much less grim on a league-wide basis than Tom paints it.

Particularly since MLS has never been able to rely on beat coverage like baseball has, the relative damage of these papers going under is much less to MLS. It certainly doesn't threaten the league's survival in the long run. One could make a good argument that the papers could have been so awesome for soccer's next generation if only they'd lived, but we have to work with what reality gives us.

-FS

Blog Death Watch: Jeff Bull

Jeff Bull has called it quits (again) over at BigSoccer:

Good luck to all y’all and all your teams. I’m done, the Carey Talley Fan Club is closed, and the minutes from the final meeting duly recorded.

And to answer a question that might come into any of several brains, yes, I am this neurotic in real life.

I never really got into his stuff - really strange. But you can't say he wasn't original.

I had no idea this existed

Mouthpiece Sports:

MOUTHPIECESPORTS is a safe place for athletes to speak directly to their fans without the interruption of editing or twisting their words. We bring you the athletes like you've never seen them before -- off the field, off the court, when they're just like you and me.

That's until Fake Sigi gets a hold of their words and makes it look like they said the exact opposite of what they did say. I've got no remorse over here. But seriously, does anyone else see what a great idea that is? Let the athletes say whatever's on their minds, away from the cliched safety of the locker room, and awesome is bound to result.

Anyway, I ended up there because Peter Wilt posted a link on twitter to a Michelle Wenino interview. I wasn't expecting much initially but it actually turns out to be pretty ghetto fabulous. The questions and answers themselves are as bubble-gum as interviews go:

BD: Many soccer players deal with long-distance relationships. Do you have any advice or tips on keeping a long-distance relationship strong?


MW: The best way to keep a long distance relationship going strong is to keep in contact as much as you can whether it be with a significant other, family, or friend.

But what really takes it to another level are the Facebook-esque pictures fused with standard journalistic shots in a GIMP-tastic, sometimes distorted, binge of overindulgence.

And yeah, that last picture is an uncropped version of the bottom right image in the first collage.

I'll also pause for a moment and comment on the fact that photos of people like Wenino are exactly the reason that I'm a pseudonymous blogger. WPS players, don't let your father pick any roses on his way past my place.

And no, that doesn't mean I'm luring people to my magical forest castle so they have to trade their young daughters for freedom. I'm just saying, remember Meat Loaf in that music video? Yeah.

Anyway, to all you print and photo journalists out there? This interview is the future of your profession. Mwa. Good luck out there.

-FS

Mexico Withdraws World Cup Bid

Via Bill Archer, Mexico has withdrawn its bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup:

This is indeed sad news for CONCACAF Supremo Jack Warner, for whom a Mexico tournament would allow him to use his influence in the region, combined with his longstanding contacts in Mexican media along with his well known penchant to steal anything that's not nailed down to make one final big dump into his IRA.

This development is nothing but win for the USA bid. More details for how the withdrawal played out will surely be known, but let's be frank - Jack Warner will probably still make a killing if the World Cup gets put in the USA.

TFC COO - MLS Quality of Play to Improve Slowly

Via BigSoccer, Tom Anselmi touched on the growth prospects of MLS in a radio interview. Of interest to my salary cap readers, he's pretty happy with the current level of play in MLS, and he sees it rising slowly over the course of 10-15 years, although not to a Top 3 level. He also talked about needing to continue to control costs.

That's in line with what I've been saying here. We won't see massive changes in player salaries in the next collective bargaining agreement.

Rethinking the MLS Cup Final Location

I agree there's got to be a better way to do this. How stupid was it to send Columbus and New York fans all the way across the continent on a week's notice last year?

For me, I'd like to see it still be one game at the higher seed's venue on a weekend. Home and home on Wednesdays? It's an interesting suggestion, but you just doubled the logistical nightmare that arises anyway when you don't know where the final will be. Of course baseball's never had a problem with that, right?

This year won't matter, since if we make the playoffs we're going all the way. All the way home.

Revenge of the Nerds

I didn't expect the Richard Whittall post to get the play it did, engendering considerable traffic, a long response from Whittall, and a wildly entertaining BA Duane & Bill Archer blood feud in the comments. It was like unlocking a secret area in a video game.

Naturally, I was interested in the response to my handiwork. Duane still seems to think I engage in "frat-boy antics", while Whittall described me as a pedantic, stubborn nerd. Some aspects of these characterizations are mutually exclusive; others perhaps are not.

I spent some time wondering whether it mattered how much Whittall was equating Fake Sigi with what allegedly results from soccer being a niche sport in America with little print media coverage:

Therefore it's left to a sizable army of internet nerds to fill in the gaps; because it's essentially a free-for-all (lord knows I have no journalistic credentials whatsoever), writers closest and most dedicated to the source tend to hog the mic stand. And, unlike mainstream media outlets, they're only beholden to write about the sport for themselves and fellow NA football enthusiasts who'll share a link or two.

Which is generally a very good thing. The problem—and excuse me while I borrow a few terms from my dusty and yellowing philosophy degree—is that dedicated N. American soccer pedants often confuse positivist claims with normative ones. I challenge you to find someone as aware of the current single entity system and the various issues involving the infeasibility of loosening cap restrictions in MLS as Fake Sigi. But does that intractability therefore mean the notion of changing salary caps should be a priori dismissed completely out hand? Does it dictate the worthiness of the notion on its own merits?
. . .
And you're not going to attract anyone new by persisting with an online dick-measuring competition about who can better remember average attendances from NASL's 1984 season.

It's is a criticism of not placing enough value on personal experience, of perhaps being a bit too reductionist in our outcomes, of not listening to others and repeating the same, tired old arguments. The most damning accusation is that of dick check competitions. I hope to God I've made my stance clear on that issue.

Ultimately, I decided it didn't matter since that's not the way I run things over here. And besides, Whittall's argument about nerds controlling the debate has two major problems.

First, while it's true that analog print coverage has been touch and go for soccer in America, that gap is first filled by behemoth institutions like Soccernet, ESPN (always), Football365, MLSNet, and BigSoccer (which an institution with semi-pro bloggers and random people); then by journalists like Ives, Steve Goff, Jack Bell, Beau Dure, and Glenn Davis; then by semi-pro sites like 3rd Degree, du Nord, Pitch Invasion, The Offside, and Goal.com; and then you get down to people like me. In that environment, it can hardly be claimed that pedantic nerds are hogging the mic - they're still trying to get a hold of it.

Second, a large body of print coverage in other American sports hasn't exactly prevented them from getting messed up by pedantic nerds. So even if "pendants" were unusually active participants in the soccer debate, it's hardly without precedent in more mainstream sports.

The point is that the niche free-for-all Whittall describes doesn't exist. Any influence me or people like me have over the debate is based soley on the merits of our arguments or work, not on filling an imaginary void left by old school beat writers and columnists.

Then there's Whittall's call for new voices:

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's not always a good idea to leave the pedants to define the terms of the debate about the future of soccer in North America. Sometimes a bit of distance, the cry of a few outside voices, can bring fresh and much-needed perspectives to the debate.

What this apparently means is to put out a call for anecdotes of readers' experiences "outside of the endless technical debates that dominate the journalistic spectra," changing the debate to exclude pedantic people like Fake Sigi who have learned too much about the inner workings of MLS.

Richard, if you want to opt out of Fake Sigi Land, that's fine. I can unsubscribe from your RSS feed, I'll even toss an anecdote your way out of kindness. I'm not against new voices. But when your desire for "inclusion" is apparently influenced by an over-generalized view of what MLS fans are and what should be done with them:

[European games on American TV] might also help wrest MLS from MLS fans, those insular nerds who do things like blame Beckham for responding to familial insults and hurl beer cups at linesman before going home to flood the internet with false Designated Player rumours. A fresh, young, American audience knowledgeable about football and not willing to wait for Garber to slop his league through ill-advised franchises in small soup midwest cities playing football on covered gridirons can only be good for North American club soccer.

Then I think I'm well within my rights to say you are totally off base. You can't grow a league by bad-mouthing the biggest supporter demographic as you build an aspirational one, nevermind that your definition of the core group also has serious problems. And if you're going to advocate for the sorts of sweeping change you seem to support, an outside view is fine, but it needs to be precise and accurately stated. Otherwise we end up back here.

For me personally, I'm under no illusions that what I do appeals first and foremost to those who are already American soccer fans (except for maybe this post). But having a small following of fans and bloggers is how I reach a wider audience, because that audience is counting on those readers to pass along what they consider relevant. And that wider audience will pass along things it likes to those who have only a tangential interest in the matter at hand. Done consistently well, niche audiences in niche interests can grow quite large. A strong core and buzz attracts those who might not be interested otherwise.

Anyway, good luck with your anecdotal experiment - I hope it works out even though I think you've got it exactly backwards. Just remember that when you quote wikipedia, there's no such thing as the North American soccer pyramid. Or is it too pedantic to point that out?

Fake Sigi out.

Who says Crew fans are apathetic?

Via Studio 79:

Sigh . . . I don't even want to write about this

Anyway, next year's home openers are out, and for the third year in a row, Toronto gets to go down to Columbus. And it's a big deal, because Toronto fans don't want to go, and the Crew fans don't want them there and Columbus is great and all but really it sucks and we're not rivals anyway but your front office wants us to play you and it's this bizarre dance of teacher teacher she touched me first, no, she did she did.

How did we even get here? Why are these teams the ones always causing a commotion on the playground? How - you say you don't have a rivalry and you're trolling each other's BigSoccer forums, for christ sake! Ben Knight, you too! You too!

For fuck's . . . it's like watching two teenagers who are madly in love loudly proclaim how much they hate each other and wish the other would die, and do cruel things to get each other's attention.

If you all don't get your acts together, I swear to god I'm going to post that Duane Rollins/Bill Archer fan fic piece that I have filed away in the back of my hard drive. And yes, it has a shower scene.

Up and Down

So, no points in New England. It happens. Everyone got all excited when we went ahead, but when you're relying on world class goals (and damn, that was amazing), you're going to come up short.

As for the Revs, I can't see New England going very far in the playoffs, especially if Ralston's badly injured. We'll see how they do against the Crew, but this was not a side with a lot of skill left. It goes without saying they miss Taylor Twellman badly.

Keller actually had stuff to do, and wasn't bad. I did think the handball call that lead to the penalty was a little harsh. Gonzalez knew he messed up - I don't know. And was Joseph offside on their second goal? Maybe. Really, though, any points we would have left here with would have been total bonus. We really messed up our season with results against teams like San Jose. So, it sucks losing points right at the death, points we badly, badly need, but I'm not going to wish for what might have been - even though, with three games left, one in Crew Stadium, it's not looking good.

So next week we maybe get a point. Maybe. I'm not optimistic. The only thing we've got going for us is that we're coming in at the tail end of the Crew's play-a-game-every-other-night-for-a-month-stretch.

On the down side, did you see how LA got taken apart last night? With half the Crew's starting side on the bench or in street clothes? That hit on Donavan by Hejduk early in the game was brutal - not dirty, just devastating. And Landon was out of the game the rest of the night.

The Crew is physical. Scarily physical. Let's say you're a defender, and you spend the game dealing with Steven Lenhart and Alejandro Moreno. Then there's a corner kick with Eric Brunner and Chad Marshall coming up, who do you defend? And now the Crew can bring in Emilio Renteria to further pummel you into submission or Emmanuel Ekpo or Robbie Rogers to run around you, and meanwhile, the midfield is full of Danny O'Rourke, Brian Carrol and Adam Moffat. Jesus.

If there's a team in MLS besides Houston built for multiple competitions, this is it. Warzycha after the game:

"We don't have a reserve team. We have 23 guys. You saw that today. Everybody on this team is contributing. We have a very deep squad. I can play anybody on this team."

Evil. Evil is what it is. One point of concern would be goal keeper. Andy Gruenebaum, the Crew's able backup, is lost for the season due to hip surgery. Will Hesmer was very visibly having groin problems last night. Kenny Schoeni is the only other option.

On the other hand, with the absurdity that took place in Chicago last night, the Crew might be able to make it to MLS Cup with Shep Messing in goal. Chicago looked lost most of the game and almost totally blew it. First Toronto goal? Awful defending. Second Toronto goal? Barrett's running down the field with three defenders three yards behind him.

You can't blame Toronto for the second goal they gave up considering the limitations of their team, but that own goal by Nick Garcia was a complete and total howler. If you haven't seen it, watch it - you won't be able to stop laughing unless you're a TFC fan. I feel bad for Garcia, but he is the weakest link on a shaky, shaky defense.

Meanwhile, everybody in the league should thank their luck stars Dallas is pretty much eliminated from the playoffs. Good lord, another 3 spot.

Can someone please tell Colorado that they actually need to get a win or two to make the playoffs? Maybe Dallas or Columbus could show them how it's done?

And finally, the awesome - New York gets a point on the road at Chivas in the dying minutes, only their second point on the road all year. I don't know how much it helps us right now, but it was still nice to see. Since Osorio stepped down in August, New York is a decidedly respectable 2-1-2. Makes you wonder just how much the players quit under Juan Carlos and when exactly that happened.

This weekend's games

Big weekend with lots of playoff implications. First up, us and New England. Basically, nobody expects us to win this game, not even me. Everyone on the team has spent the week bitching about having to fly to Boston - never mind that they already played us in Seattle. So you know our heads are in the right places.

And by the way - you're god damned right I'm first in the pecking order.

The Galaxy visit the Crew sans Beckham. LA should have a good crack at this game even though Beckham won't be playing for some mysterious non-injury reason. The Crew rested a lot of regulars in their midweek Champion's League loss to Cruz Azul, but at some point, missing Chad Marshall for this stretch of games is going to hurt them. A lot people think this is an MLS Cup preview, but honestly, there's no way LA or Houston is getting past us if we make the playoffs.

Toronto at Chicago pits a team that can't get its act togther at home against a team that just can't get its act together. I think Chicago's going to be hot after blowing a two goal lead to the Crew last week, so I think they'll come out with a little more fire, if you will.

RSL at Dallas? Snooze. Watch Hyndman's side hang 10 on the Mormons or something ridiculous like that.

New York at Chivas? Survey says, 99% for three points to Chivas.

Colorado in Kansas City should be interesting. How about another loss in the last ten minutes for KC? I think that could happen.

Finally, DC gets San Jose at home on the weekend, who are coming off of back to back ties against Colorado. Three points to DC all the way.

You know, you can only delude yourself for so long. It's going to be a bitch for us to make the playoffs.

Well, that's disappointing

This weekend's clash of the titans at Crew Stadium got a little duller, as it's been announced David Beckham will not be playing:

"It was injury-related," Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said. "It was a 50-50 thing coming in. We decided to use better judgement and give him this game off. I don't expect (Beckham to play) unless a miracle occurs," Arena said. "I've never experienced (a miracle)."

"He's missed about 18 to 20 games for us this year so it's not the end of the world."

Given LA's terrible record in Columbus, Arena will need all the help he can get.

Speaking of Buzz and 3rd Degree

Did you catch that phenomenal interview he did with FC Dallas Captain Pablo Ricchetti? So much is striking about the piece, from Carrick's non-intrusive, open-ended questions, the player's brutally honest and heartfelt answers, to Carrick's commentary at the end.

How are you feeling?
“I could use some happiness. I don’t know [where it went]. Hopefully, [I can find it]. I have to.”
. . .
What is your mind set at this point?
“I’m sad. I love the game but I’m not enjoying it. I love to play but I’m not enjoying it. I come here and practice but don’t enjoy what I’m doing. The sad part is that I love the game. I told some friends yesterday that the most difficult part is to be happy with your family. My kids are healthy, in school and doing well. My family in Argentina is good. Everything is going perfectly in my life besides soccer and that’s too bad. That’s supposed to be the easy part. I love the game and am doing the job that I live. That is the sad part, not enjoying what I love.”

It's something that anyone who's been in that place can identify with.

And like Buzz says, it looks like Hyndman is getting close to a totally clean house. I'm guessing he'll be back next year.

BallHype Rank Ain't Nothin' But a Number

But how the hell did this happen?



Above 3rd Degree, really? I lols. See you cats on the way back down.

Anyway, much love to those aiding The Fake One's quest for absolute world domination.

This is more like it

New post from Richard Whittall this morning that is an altogether better effort than what lead to my takedown yesterday.

I think we can all agree that the bizarre world of North American soccer, from the Hexagonal to the USL Premier Development league, is a niche interest pretty much completely absent in any meaningful way from mainstream print media in North America. Therefore it's left to a sizable army of internet nerds to fill in the gaps; because it's essentially a free-for-all (lord knows I have no journalistic credentials whatsoever), writers closest and most dedicated to the source tend to hog the mic stand. And, unlike mainstream media outlets, they're only beholden to write about the sport for themselves and fellow NA football enthusiasts who'll share a link or two.

I have some pretty strong feelings about what Whittall's saying in this piece, but they'll have to wait for the moment.

Stay Classy, MLS

Who's your next advertising partner, Evony?

The sound of me saying we have no chance

Honestly, I was so damn tired, I didn't even try to spin it like this game in New England was the game where we secure a spot in the playoffs.

"They have been able to stay very consistent in that back four of [Steve] Ralston and [Jay] Heaps on the outside and [Darrius] Barnes and [Emmanuel] Osei in the middle. They have probably played the last seven games together in that formation. So they have really solidified that part of the team along with [Matt] Reis in goal. Shalrie Joseph is there. [Jeff] Larentowicz is there. [Steve] Ralston is back out there. With the exception of [Taylor] Twellman, they have everybody they didn't have in the beginning of the year. When they played us earlier, they came out and they came away with a win. But they were just forming that back unit at that point. So it's going to be difficult for us at their place because it is always difficult away from home. But we also feel confident that we can play well."

Yeah, of course I'm confident we can "play well". Relative to what, though, a USL-2 side? Wilmington Hammerheads, we are better than you.

But the real problem is that no matter how well you play against New England, they always make you look like crap. It's what they do. Pack the defensive third with a hundred guys, fuck you up with Shalrie Joseph, and spring 1 random dude on the counter to get the game's only goal. I talk about this every time we play them, because frankly, I hate it. I hate it so much. It's not like my teams play ostentatiously beautiful soccer anyway, but games with New England make it look like I couldn't strategize my way out of a Saturday morning over-30 co-ed league. That is, unless you catch them already broken and beaten before they get to you and Schelotto is looking to kill.

I don't know. Boston's nice. Maybe I'll head up to Kittery after we lose by a lone goal or tie with none. Even if we win, I'm sure I'll need to reflect on whether or not my life is worth living after I watch us stumble around the field like we've never seen a soccer ball in our lives. I already told Keller to fire up the blog machine and crank out one of his form posts so it can go live really soon after the game.

The *only* thing we have going for us (other than Colorado going, "Playoffs? Meh" the last two games against the Smurfs) is that the Revs have not played well lately, losing to Kansas City (4-2! - at home!) and at Chivas, before tying in Giants Stadium last week. So, this is not a robust side, but September is usually about the time Nicol and Mariner turn on the hair dryers. Gimp your way through the regular season, then BAM, guerilla hand-to-hand tactics when they least expect it.

I'm serious, that team will not die. Christ, they're three points behind Chivas, and with two games in hand on almost everyone else.

And let's not forget the travel plans. Not only do we have to fly out to the east coast (again), but Drew Carey AND Joe Roth are flying out with us for the game.

Yeah.

They are.

I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to it.

Oh, one more thing? If you're opening up more seating in Quest Field, you might want to make sure this weekend's game is blacked out in Seattle so all those fans on the season ticket waiting list don't cancel, or worse, gouge their own eyes out with their digital cable plans.

Anyway, up the Sounders, or whatever it is the fans are saying these days.

Fake Sigi out.

Richard Whittall - stupider than I thought

Maybe it *is* the socialist fluoride up in the Canadian water system that does this to their writers up there - I don't know. Richard Whittall, the chap from the Pitch Invasion cartel who linked up a few readers to the salary cap debate (respect, etc.) apparently lives in Toronto and has his own blog. In his words, he "was the Runner-up in the 2008 Guardian Big Blogger Competition, and was nominated for Best Premier League blog by EPL Talk, so he's kind of a big deal."

Yeah, I'd ixnay the EPL Talk thing.

Anyway, I haven't read through all of Mr. Big Deal's archives, but yesterday he posted a strange piece speculating if TFC was a real club due to their awful road record:

It's the road that's the problem.

Oh, they don't always play terribly on the road necessarily. It's just they can't win. Or draw even. A punishing mid-summer North American travel tour gets blamed. The lack of away fans in MLS (although Toronto always manages to produce a few at every game) is a concern. Some point to poor finishing from an admittedly mediocre collection of strikers. The team tries everything, but the problem persists.

For three years.

Well, I'd just like to point out that they don't set the world on fire at home, either. This year TFC ranks a middling tied for 6th in points won at home, but just 9th in home goal differential and is tied for 10th on goals scored. Put another way, visiting teams are taking points at BMO at three times the rate they are at Crew Stadium. And the higher ranking in points won is explained by having one of the worst teams in MLS history on the docket twice this summer, and 5 other teams having played fewer games at home thus far.

As for the road, if you look at the standings, Toronto's bad but still tied for 8th in losses and points on the road, and tied for 9th in goal differential. Which is actually better than where they stand in the playoff hunt today.

So, honestly? TFC just isn't that good home or away.

But Whittall really takes the stupid-drive into hyperspace with his exploration into the psyche of MLS players:

Most MLS clubs play to half empty stadiums filled with indifferent soccer moms. Some teams that don't even have that win MLS Cups. It might be annoying as hell to the Toronto or Seattle fan that the Columbus Crew are champions with their pitiful attendance records, but playing to an indifferent fan base in a quarter-full ground will do wonders in helping players learn to rely on themselves for confidence on the pitch. It forces you to turn away from the hype of home advantage and the hope, as Danny Dichio so often said, that the crowd will "suck the ball in the net."

Starting with the attendance/game day experience smack - dude, you've been reading too much Duane. Have you heard of the Nordecke? Are you aware that the Crew will probably out-draw Chicago this year?

As for the TFC players learning to rely on themselves, what? They really expect the crowd that doesn't care about soccer to win them games? And indifferent fans will free them of dependance on the sloth-like collective?

If that's really the case, TFC should just withdraw its application for the playoffs right now. And we can all put a little blue dot next to the club like they do in Trophy Manager.

Even allowing partial credit for realizing that everyone up there is blinded by the attendance hype machine, in Whittall's post we have a dumb question followed by an incorrect premise, followed by a fantasyland conclusion supported by wildly innaccurate message board smack. Even if his disclaimer at the beginning is true:

A warning to the pedant; this is about as unscientific as football analysis gets.

Soccer analysis also doesn't get much stupider.

Fake Sigi out.

College Football Hall of Fame Considering Relocation

Somewhat related to yesterday's post on the National Soccer Hall of Fame closing is the news that the College Football Hall of Fame might be relocating again (via Ideological Twaddle):

Prior to its residence in South Bend, the hall of fame was located in Cincinnati. But apparently, foot traffic was lacking in Indiana.

The article reports that Dallas and Atlanta are vying for the hall, with Atlanta having the edge.

USA Pro Soccer Free Agency? Inconceivable!

MLS fans looking in the direction of WPS this week might find themselves surprised at the impending free agency period. Players who have been waived by teams are free to sign with any other team for the upcoming season, and many players are playing abroad in the off season.

Among the reasons for this is that apparently WPS is not a strict single-entity league. Documentation I've found on the league structure is not exactly forthcoming as to the precise business arrangement. Nor do the roster rules say anything about free agency. To be fair, I didn't dig super deep, and I'd be interested to hear what else is out there from those who know more.

To be clear, MLS players can sign with any other team in a separate league, just not within MLS.

Another question is whether the WPS players will unionize this year. I would be surprised if they didn't, but at the same time, it seems like the league has been pretty fair with the players thus far (feel free to correct me, any aggrieved WPS veterans). The standard contract used last year guaranteed US National Team players a minimum salary of $40,000. All players under the contract received one-year injury protection, right of refusal on marketing involving their image, and a licensing deal guaranteeing a percentage cut of that marketing. Players are of course free to negotiate a better deal with teams.

I'm not sure the WPS players have anymore leverage than their MLS brethren, nor do they seem to have an advantage on the guaranteed contract front. At the same time, it looks like WPS has taken a softer line with their players. Whether on not that results in better relations with the inevitable players union remains to be seen.

Stay Classy, Crew Fans

You guys really are idiots, aren't you?



Also via BigSoccer.

Soccernet is the most popular soccer site?

Really? It's about the last place I'll go for news or commentary on my own accord. Among other sites being faster/better, the page layout is just about as unusable as it gets.

The Telegraph Snubs Fake Sigi

A travesty. (via Kickette}

On the Soccer Hall of Fame Closing

Surprisingly little has been written about the National Soccer Hall of Fame closing its doors to the public, although Michael Lewis is sad and Dan Loney thinks the United States Soccer Federation should take the blame. There have also been wild proposals on BigSoccer to move the Hall to New York's new stadium or some such place.

Although it's hard to read the tea leaves in terms of what the closing means, I'm cautiously optimistic that the Hall will emerge on stronger financial footing. I also think the odds are very strong that it will remain in Oneonta.

There's no question that the Hall has needed to restructure its financials for some time. Taking the annual attendance of 17,000 people, the hall earns less than $200,000 a year from people coming through the turnstiles. That means more than 80% of the budget falls on the sponsors, individual donors, special events like the annual induction ceremony and high school soccer, and even the state of New York. That percentage seems high, and it's clear that all sources of revenue have taken a hit this year. Given the lower summer revenues, I suspect there was little financial incentive to remain open through the winter.

So far the few proposals the Hall has floated out there include going to a seasonal schedule (although this *will* remove it from the traditional European schedule), having the induction ceremony in a more populated area (similar to what the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has done), and having traveling exhibits in partnership with sponsors in addition to its central location. The Hall has made clear it wants to free up money to refresh its current exhibits and insure long-term viability. In terms of pulling up stakes, moving to a new city, disposing of the old building, I just don't see how that's realistic considering the amount of investment the Hall has on that property. The deal would have to be really sweet to cover the losses, and in this economy, that will be hard to come by.

It's worth comparing what's going on in Oneonta to some of the other Halls around the country. The NASCAR Hall of Fame (really, do we need one?) is pressing ahead with a nine-figure building and outrageous attendance projections despite not filling all their sponsor slots:

"We're still working on the budget," said Kelley, who anticipates a full-time staff of 25 to 30 employees and 15 to 20 additional part-timers.

"There are just some more areas where we need more specifics. Toward the latter part of this year or early next year, we will have more specific revenue and expense streams. Insurance on the building, insurance on artifacts, maintenance, paper towels, toilet paper, we're continually refining the numbers."

I know NASCAR is popular, but these people seem to have little connection to reality or a sound business plan.

Then there's the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, which was in dire straits earlier this year, but pulled out of the nosedive in part thanks to the good fortune of inducting Michael Jordan:

The possibility of bankruptcy was also mentioned. Later, Doleva said the darker scenarios were broached only as worst-case scenarios. The primary goal, he explained, was to recapitalize the hall of fame's $3.5 million debt load over 20 to 30 years.

"That still needs to be done," Doleva said earlier this month as the hall prepares to welcome what some consider its most historic class of honorees, including Michael Jordan.

The hall of fame has been negotiating with federal, state and private lenders toward that goal, according to Doleva. "We are hopeful of completing that within the next few months," he said.

It is seeking a restructured loan, not grants, Doleva detailed.

So as Hall of Fames go, Oneonta is not alone in its struggles. The fact that it will survive and continue on with next year's induction is good news. The Hall appears to have the backing of its sponsors, an absolute necessity in any restructuring plan. To me the main danger is that it will become over-dependent on commercial sponsors, and I hope the Hall will find a way to balance those interests with its educational, nonprofit mission.

Overall, as soccer grows, Oneonta's place in the sport will grow correspondingly, but for now all interested observers can do is wait to see what happens. Here's hoping that the Hall will continue to be transparent and open about it's restructuring plans. If there's no news by the end of January, then we can really start to worry about the Hall's future.

Fake Sigi out.

Groundhog Day

Yes, Kasey, it is.

Former MLS Trainer at Everton

Via du Nord, an article on ESPNet regarding David Moyes' American style conditioning regime:

Moyes believes that being the first English team to adopt such methods will prove beneficial.

"At first I thought the work they did was more inclined towards American-style sports," he said. "But they are very deeply involved with the German FA, and they are now much more into soccer.

"We are the first club in the Premier League to introduce this approach, and the approach is that little bit different, but the players enjoy the workouts and regimes because I think they like to see change and progression.

"Scott and Steve provide and compile information and knowledge on strength and power in a whole range of ways -- basically we are talking biomechanics."

One of the trainers mentioned, Steve Tashjian, most recently spent three years with the Columbus Crew.

Yesterday's Penalty & Foul on Blanco

A lot of people, particularly Chicago Fire fans, are asking what exactly referee Mark Geiger saw when he awarded the penalty that lead to the Columbus Crew tying the game and leaving Chicago with a sort-of-deserved point. At full speed, the replay looks very much like Steven Lenhart kung-fu kicking Wilman Conde. But after looking at the video several times, I'm thinking that this is what Geiger saw:



Conde coming in with his foot straight out, with Lenhart facing away at the time of contact and appearing to get totally cleaned out on the play. I think Conde was pretty stupid to come in to the challenge like that, particularly since Geiger was behind Lenhart looking directly at Conde. Showing the bottom of your cleats to the referee when you challenge for a ball in the penalty box is not a good plan for avoiding penalty kicks. Denis Hamlett and Jon Busch can complain all they want, but at the end of the day, the call isn't as terrible as it appears.

Regarding Padula's foul on Blanco (1:15 in the highlights), there's no question it was a deserved yellow - late, no ball, from behind. As for it being a straight red, Padula left his cleats out of the challenge and it was only the 7th minute so the argument is not as clear.

We'll probably see Geiger on the field again without much debate at the USSF.

Welcome Readers of the Huffington Post

I honor the place where my ridiculous headline, an overly broad blog aggregator and your curiosity lead you to an esoteric discussion on the MLS salary cap.

Another Salary Cap Proposal

Peter C over at the hyperbole-tastic MLS Talk wants to see an annual player wage increase of $19-$48 million in the next MLS collective bargaining agreement. While I give Mr. C credit for being aware of the maths, I still think those numbers are too high.

He's also got a bunch of other proposals, like adding in the second designated player slot per team, unlimited funds to youth development, minimum (guaranteed?) wage of $40k, more international slots per team (10) and a prize money split more favorable to the players.

You know, on Fantasy Island MLS I suppose getting all these things is possible, but can anyone tell me how the players have enough leverage to get more than half of one of those proposals implemented in the real world? I'm not sure I see it.

Gettin' blessed by Joe Biden from Space

Richard Whittall over at Pitch Invasion draws an interesting conclusion from the salary cap debate that's been going on, characterizing yours truly, among others, as American Exceptionalists:

For the former group—let’s call them MLS Exceptionalists (includes Dan Loney, Fake Sigi and Bill Archer)—MLS should be the embodiment of an exceptional American Soccer identity.
. . .
The latter group—let’s call them Northern Internationalists (prominently including but not limited to Duane Rollins and Ben Knight)—believes MLS will not maintain sustainable growth unless something is done to loosen or eliminate wage restrictions in order to attract better players and, in turn, bigger crowds.

Yeah, we the promised land, a sacred place, gettin' blessed by Joe Biden from space.



The problem for Whittall is that it's not the nicotine that kills, it's the smoke.

I think the debate is better characterized as next year's collective bargaining negotiations playing out among basement bound nerds and noble defenders of the MLS way of life. The "internationalists" in particular seem to be making whatever argument they can to get the players more money, while I'm trying to point out those demands are unrealistic in light of the current wage structure. Management vs. labor, if you will.

Regarding Bill and Dan, their arguments are nuanced enough that I'm not going to try lumping them into a stance on this issue in few sentences. I'd like to think Whitall goes much too far in attributing promotion/relegation to Ben and Duane - although hell, you never know what's going to come out of BA's mouth. And yeah, BA Duane was in fact stupidly arguing for moving to a winter schedule:

If some levels of the game moved away from playing their season over the summer would that, in turn, eventually get people used to watching the game through the winter? Down the line -- way, way, way down the line -- enough people might be willing to turn out to watch a MLS game in winter and you could finally align the league with the rest of the world (which is important not because that's how they do it in Europe. Rather because currently playing through the summer forces us to do things like play games during the Gold Cup).

At least he admitted he was stupid in the post title. For what it's worth, Sweden and Russia play the same schedule as MLS (mid-March through October/November) for the same reason - the weather. As far as I'm concerned, that consideration outweighs vanity competitions like the Gold Cup or Confederations cup any day.

Then there's this from Whittall:

But as more and more franchises enter the fray in strong markets with younger, urban football fans—Philadelphia, Montreal, Portland—the Exceptionalists may find themselves further entrenched. Watch for the debate to intensify in the years to come…

Go back and read what Nick Sakiewicz had to say to Bill. Read what Ben said about TFC's owners loving the current financial restrictions. The new owners coming into the league don't want to loosen the pursestrings. Quite frankly, it doesn't matter what young urban fans think (as though the original MLS teams had none) because they're coming to games anyway and the owners are making money. I think Division I college football is more likely to adopt a playoff scheme than MLS is to do away with single entity.

The salary cap is going to go up. Not a whole lot after this round of collective bargaining. In some instances, yeah, you need to spend money to make money, but MLS is spending plenty right now and getting heavy subsidies from Soccer United Marketing - it doesn't need to spend more. And I think "internationalists" are going to be very sad to see the single entity model continue year after year so long as it continues to provide stability to the league. This isn't the NFL where owning a team gives you a license to print money.

Finally, there's this foolishness:

The San Jose Earthquakes reveal the design for the new stadium. Don’t tell the MLS Exceptionalists, but the photo captions reads “The new stadium will bring the feel of a European soccer facility to San Jose.”

WTF is this about? MLS stadiums have had "European Flair" since Crew Stadium was compared to Leverkusen's ground. As far as I'm concerned, every new MLS stadium should be cantilevered the fuck out like it's 1975 in Sheffield.

So there you go Richard. You can be Lady Gaga, I can be T-Pain, we can be bringing on the boogie, dropping rhymes like rain.

Fake Sigi out.

Thoughts over oatmeal

Regarding what happened yesterday? I'm over it. Done. New day. Time to end suckers.

At least RSL and TFC lost last night. Thank god. The only bad part was having to listen to Glenn Davis be a smarmy tool throughout the Houston game. As for Houston and Kinnear? That's a team slowly dying inside:

A visibly frustrated Dominic Kinnear could be seen on the bench and the Dynamo continued to make poor decisions on the ball, lacked movement and generally played direct.
...
This was the most frustrated I have seen Brian Ching in his career and I have always admired his ability to walk away from tackles and the physical treatment he has received.

Something's going on with Ching, as he should have been sent off *last* week at Crew stadium for scything down Eric Brunner from behind, and then complained long and loud about Alejandro Moreno diving. As for me, I think he's a petulant douche.

Anyway, Houston gave up a goal to a 10-man side, and looked confused for large portions of the game. They better hope they don't meet us in the playoffs.

As for Dallas/KC, at least KC can still pretend they have a shot at the playoffs.

Chicago has to like their chances today against the Crew - at home with Chad Marshall out injured. Unfortunately for the Fire, even if they win the Crew still has a game in hand on them. Both games between these teams this year have ended in ties, so I think we'll see a winner today. Given that McBride is back and doesn't have to deal with Marshall, I'm going to give the edge to Chicago, but this is really too close to call. On a related note, the NYT had a nice run down of the Crew's season yesterday.

Are. You. Kidding. Me?

Some games you win. Some games you lose. Some games you lose when you should have won, and visa versa. And some games, like today's game between us and Chivas, are games when you should hide in an ally and lie in wait. And when the other team walks by, you knock it out with chroloform, throw it in the trunk of your car, drive it into the mountains, and leave it where nobody will ever, ever find it. And instead you walk right on by, only to have them take your seat on the bus later that afternoon.

I mean, how did we not win by 5 clear goals. I can only imagine the stupid blog post Keller's going to put up. "I was awesome (ed. - YOU HAD NOTHING TO DO!!!) and our strikers blah blah blah."

You know, the day started out dumb. I woke up early in Manhattan Beach and took the private jet to Seattle. Except now Roth and me and Drew Carey are plane-pooling to the damn games (they wanted to do it every day to practice, but I told them hell no, I'd rather stay at my brother's house). So I get to the airport at like 5:00am, and Carey's late. Finally he gets there, and he's got the damn Open Cup trophy. You all saw this:



But what you didn't see is that Carey's apparently been sleeping with the damn thing for the last week. So, I kid you not, it's all tarnished and crusty, it smells like beer, and Carey looks like a total slob. And we get on the plane, and I'm sitting three rows away, with headphones on, but oh, no, that doesn't stop Drew. It's 6 in the morning, I'm trying to go over game plans, and he's telling me about how he's taking the Open Cup to every bar in LA and taunting Galaxy fans with it when he finds them. I'm like, isn't that dangerous? And he's like, nah, it's cool, I've got body guards, so it's fine. I'm like, you let your body guards kick the shit out of the people you taunt? And he's like, yeah. And I'm like, you're a total douchebag. Yeah, isn't it great? he says. We're Open Cup champions!

So that's how the day started. And it's an early game, so none of the players, I mean none of them are really with it. Ljungberg comes in looking like he rolled out of bed, and Montero came right from his stylist. Fucking Tyrone Marshall comes in wearing a wig of dreadlocks. And Keller's still got his vampire cape.

So I walk on the field and they're playing James Brown, I'm like are you kidding me? Fuck this. I'm angry, fuming at this point.

And then the game starts. And you know how in baseball movies it gets all quiet and you can't hear the crowd, and everything is in slow motion? Well it gets like that, and we're out there flubbing chances, Chivas is thugging their way around the pitch, and Zak Thornton starts to look like a superstar.

Jon Busch is one thing, but Thornton? No. No. His career ended years ago, and nobody told him. He's the guy with the red stapler. And he was hurt this week! Everyone's raving about that first stop, but do you honestly think he was going for that ball? Luck. Pure luck. He made himself big (ed - joke omitted) and the ball happened to bounce off.

All the rest? Poor finishing. Abysmal finishing. Watch the highlights. Every chance they have burbles harmlessly out, and Keller's there. Our chances? Thornton's at our mercy and we send it into the stands, or choke, or are offside, or botch it, or whatever.

And then Classy Preki's side pulls this:



Everyone's like, oh, he didn't mean it, Montero made a meal, but how in the hell do you play soccer for a living and go in with a boot that high? I mean, sure, it's everyone's fantasy to do this to Montero, so from that point of view I guess Saragosa goes off a happy man. Still, did he really think that was going to be ok?

And then we pepper the goal, don't score, the fans boo, and I'm left talking about how they bunkered and there's cellophane on the fucking HOME GOAL POSTS.

This one hurts. It really does. Maybe it's karma for coming away with two wins in the District, but damn if we didn't need three points from this game. We could have gotten them and life *still* wouldn't have been easy. Now we're really sweating.

I don't know. Playoffs? I don't know. It's days like this that just . . . you know, you've found what you love in life, and you work. You work hard. And you think you're good. You know you're the best. And you prepare your team as best you can. And then they come out, play as hard as they can, get chances, flub them, and you're hanging by a string. So you wonder if this is what you're supposed to be doing after all, and you think about that girl you dated when you were younger, your first long term relationship, and it didn't work out, you know it wasn't meant to, but you wonder what she's up to. And you google her and she's got a great family, career, kids that are successful, the whole bit, and there's a little part back in your brain that wonders, for all the good you do, for all the family you have and love, for all the cold metal trophies you win, if you didn't just fuck it all up for yourself back when you had a chance to do good. That's what days like today do to you.

I don't know. That's what sleep is for - it all goes away and tomorrow's another day.

The Salary Cap and Parity

Yesterday Ben Knight tried to move the soft cap debate forward (we'll call it a salary cap debate at this point) and for some reason looks in my direction to provide rational discourse. And Dan Loney. Yeah. Did you read the part in his last column where Loney talked about using nerve gas on the promotion/relegation supporters?

The net result of Dan, Bill and yours truly spraying varying amounts of ordinance in a variety of directions was this:

1) The soft cappers are back pedaling on the $10mm number per team - everyone agrees that it is too high after having the numbers look them square in the face.
2) Duane admitted in the comment thread to Bill's post that what he really fears is that Toronto's attendance will go down without victories. Therefore something must be done to bring their massive gate receipts to bear on the rest of the league.
3) Loney pointed out that there have always been ways around the cap as it is, and that no matter how high you raise it the rank and file MLS players won't see that money.
4) Knight throws out some more suggestions - eliminating the DP cap hit, raise salaries for rookies, or give each team a second DP (without the cap hit).

Knight also reiterated that he wants to lower the amount of parity in MLS:

I see a disconnect in my argument now. I was hoping the salary jumps would be discretionary, on a team-by-team basis, as they are in the current Designated Player arrangement. Clearly, it’s not that simple, and the idea needs some tinkering.

The idea here is to try to end this endless parity. We’re not talking about enough cash to eliminate most teams from any chance of winning before the season starts. I deplore that everywhere else in the world. I certainly don’t want to see it in MLS.

But we’re losing a lot of drama. This league needs a powerhouse team (or two, or three) everyone else can get angry about. The L.A. Galaxy would be there right now if landing David Beckham had translated into winning back-to-back MLS Cups.

So let's start by taking a look at the concept of parity. It's not helpful to think of parity as a boolean, either existing or not. Parity is better described as an axis, with teams distributed along that axis according to their skill. The parity band is easy to conceptualize because we implicitly think of it every time we look at the standings. If we want to get really tricky we could even plot teams out on a Cartesian coordinate system, with one axis corresponding to position in the table, and one axis corresponding to revenue or brand strength.

Every sports league has a parity band - if the band is too narrow, the perception is that "there are no good teams" but if the band is too wide, then the league becomes uninteresting as certain teams always win and certain teams always lose.

I'm already on record as saying that I think the current parity band in MLS is almost perfect. Some teams tend to win, some tend to lose, but there's plenty of opportunity for smartly run teams to win the Shield and MLS Cup. At the same time, teams like LA and New York have been given behind the scenes advantages since the league began. Personally, I think those need to end.

In terms of a powerhouse team people can get angry about, I think the Columbus Crew are doing a fantastic job in that role this season. Duane even argued they should be moved! And you know what? DC, Chicago, and even New England on their day are total and complete assholes. If you really want to read about the slippery definition of a super club, and why or why not MLS should have them, I point you at this thread, but I honestly don't have the energy to raise the intellectual level of that discussion beyond saying I think things are fine the way they are.

Widening the parity band is a solution in search of a problem. As Bill Archer points out, most of the people pushing a widening of that band are fans in bigger markets frustrated by their own sense of self-important grandeur, which immediately compromises their contention that "it's for the good of the league". The self interest in trying to rig MLS so teams with bigger gate receipts can dominate is transparently obvious. Ben claims in the comments to Bill's post that the idea "walks the streets of every MLS town" but to me that's a gross mischaracterization of a nutter like pc4th filling a couple BigSoccer threads with nonsense.

I'm not against raising the salary cap or increasing rosters. I think both should happen at some point, but that growth will in all likelihood be conservative. The only thing raising the cap will do is create wage inflation across the board, and MLS is still at a point where it is extremely concerned about controlling costs. If the new CBA agreement had bigger rosters, two new teams, and a $500,000 cap increase with the DP rule in place, that's an annual increase in salaries of $11 million (about 25-33% of the current spending on players), not including what gets spent on DPs. In my mind that's plenty big, and looking at that number, I'd be amazed if the owners went along with that.

Regarding the argument that fans of teams that draw well will be unhappy that their clubs can't spend with abandon, all the league needs to do is point at the DP rule - a team can even trade for two of those players! Someone pointed out on BigSoccer that LA didn't suck because they had three max salary guys, they sucked because one of those guys played terrible, another just ok, and the rest of the team was awful. And let's face it, with a team like TFC acquiring so many draft picks and allocations in their short existence, it's hard to argue that MLS isn't doing everything it can to get a decent team up there as it is, salary cap be damned.

Quite frankly, the fact that Toronto and Seattle have no problems drawing fans with mediocre teams is a great argument *against* letting those teams put a larger percentage of their revenues toward player salaries. Why should the league piss that money away on aging foreigners when it could be reinvested in league infrastructure and used to recoup some of the massive costs incurred by the guys who started the league up, especially when things are going great at the gate the way it is? Single entity or not, those are the last teams that the rules should be tweaked to favor.

Fake Sigi out.

MLS Growth Strategy is Working

Remember when I talked about the MLS strategy to win over its three target demographics? Yeah, Sean Michelle reported in the Columbus Dispatch today that the strategy is working:

Tailgaiting outside of Crew Stadium, Matt Beaven resembled a typical American soccer dad as he rounded up his kids an hour before a recent match.

A close inspection of the shirts worn by his two sons, however, reflected the circuitous route the Beavens have taken to reach Major League Soccer. Nicholas, 9, donned a red Manchester United jersey, while Connor, 6, was draped in a striped FC Barcelona jersey.

The Beavens, of Akron, formed an interest in soccer watching the 2006 World Cup before finding the English Premier League on Fox Soccer Channel.

"I just found myself watching more and more games and appreciating the skill and the level of difficulty," Beavens said. "I grew up watching football, basketball and baseball. Now, I'm in an EPL fantasy league."

In July, Beaven took his sons to Baltimore and sat among 71,000 fans to witness European club titans Chelsea and AC Milan play a friendly. They left the stadium wanting to see more live soccer.

"The kids loved it and since that night they have been looking forward to (their first) Crew game," Beaven said.

As for increasing the salary cap to get more talent:

The league's talent pool and quality of play have improved dramatically since its inception. But it's unlikely MLS will level the playing field with the deep-pocketed, tradition-rich European leagues.

"I don't think the logical solution is spending $200 million to bring Kaka and his buddies here," Downs said. "I don't know that (disparity) will change in our lifetime."

Sorry softcappers.

And Garber spells out the SUM strategy as directly as he can:

Most MLS teams are not profitable. SUM is, and the revenues it generates help keep the league running and continue its crusade to convert American soccer fans into Major League Soccer fans.

"None of that money gets put back into the pockets of (MLS) ownership," Garber said. "SUM provides us with resources to continue to invest in MLS. The fan base that is connected more with the international game and less with MLS, it (helps us) understand what to do to convert that market's interest into MLS.

"That is the end game. It is a vehicle to grow MLS. If SUM is successful but MLS fails, SUM will be deemed a failure."

The path to MLS success is not through massively increasing outlays on player salaries. It's through things like this.

Edit: Also read the take on the USA World Cup bid. Good stuff from Michelle.

Wilt Moving on from Chicago Red Stars?

Over at Women's Soccer USA, Jen Striker reports that Peter Wilt is out at Chicago Red Stars. It was pretty obvious from his ESPN Soccernet interview that he was looking to go somewhere else, but I was a bit surprised at how Striker characterized the departure:

According to Chicago sources, Marcia McDermott has completed her boardroom takeover of the Red Stars by forcing out Peter Wilt and assuming his position in the organization.

I've been told that in fact Wilt hasn't been "forced out," and that he has a good relationship with McDermott. While it's true McDermott would move into a bigger role if Wilt left, I hear that he thinks highly of her abilities and is a proponent of her assuming more control.

You can't kill what's already dead

Late last night Dan Loney lobbed a nuclear bomb in the direction of those who want a larger salary cap, no more single entity, and promotion and relegation. MLS 2010 - Zombie Holocaust:

. . . suffice to say that "Raise the salary cap!" is the "Unleash Chiang Kai-shek!" for the MLS generation.
. . .
You know what a non-single entity MLS would look like at this point? Every other American sports league.
. . .
What is important is, the only language promotion and relegation supporters understand is violence.

The problem, as Dan alludes to, is that you can't kill what's already dead. And there's people out there like Ted Westervelt who are more human than human. See, Ted's started a little non-profit organization called SoccerReform.us which is "leading the fight for the adoption of an unlimited, accessible open league system for US club soccer featuring promotion, relegation and independent, fully autonomous clubs." I can't post all of Ted's utopian vision for the future of USA league soccer in the year 2013, but I also can't look away:

It’s a clear 65 degree spring evening in Brooklyn, and a capacity crowd is streaming into Lee Allen Field, a sparkling new neighborhood stadium in the borough. The mood is jubilant. Recently promoted Brooklyn FC fought a thrilling promotion battle from USL-1 and is one of three promoted teams that brought top division US Club soccer to 20 teams.

Their opponent, Red Bull New York, also have room to cheer. Finally freed from the restrictive salary caps, player allocation rules, and diminutive squad sizes mandated by the MLS in the franchise era – they sparkle with foreign and domestic talent, all whilst keeping on the majority of the squad from the 2012 season. The game is being broadcast live on network television, and camera placements and production staff have doubled from the 2012 MLS Cup. Of course, Spike Lee and Woody Allen are here. Despite being coined the “Odd Couple of Soccer” by the Daily News, the original investors in the Brooklyn club and engineered Brooklyn’s meteoric rise from USL-2 to MLS – in just two short years. Of course, Spike also designed their kits.

It gets even better, with visions of the USL doubling in size, attendance tripling, USL stadiums matching those in MLS, a breezy 3-3 draw where everyone goes home happy, and unlimited potential for all clubs. He's also got a letter to the president asking him to unilaterally intervene and nationalize/free the US soccer "pyramid," and tips on how to argue for promotion and relegation with other people. It comes off as the rantings of a mad man, yet this is the sort of unhinged crazy that bloggers like BA Duane and Ben Knight are lining up behind.

The reality is that grassroots clubs have had over a hundred years to spring up and wrest the top division mantle from any number of leagues that just couldn't cut it, and that hasn't happened. Soccer didn't develop in the USA like it did in other countries, and a top professional league is not going to get the massive influx of capital it needs to make it without the current structure of MLS. Remember what Nick Sakiewicz said to Bill?

"I don't ever recall single entity being discussed as a temporary measure or an experiment.

In fact single entity was created for the long haul. It has served the League well and frankly one of the main reasons the League is beginning to flourish today. It has allowed the League and individual teams to manage their business in a steady and reliable way without the extreme volatility that other sports leagues have to deal with. Keeping control of expenses and aggregating marketing rights has been a big benefit of single entity and those benefits have allowed us to grow the League.
. . .
It's interesting because when I speak to foreign clubs be it in Europe or South America they are all impressed with the single entity structure and hope their own leagues could get closer to the benefits of single entity. There have been too many good things that have come from the single entity structure that I can't see a time MLS would abandon it.

That should be the end of it, right? Right. As it is, the only way to destroy zombies is to turn them on each other, which is why we should draw the attention of the soft cappers and relegation mongers to stuff like this (via MLS Daily):

T.J. procrastinates and has to create an irrigation project in one night on an episode of "Recess." The Blue Barracudas ran out of Pendants and lost on "The Legends of the Hidden Temple." That nasally voiced guy shows that the Shamwow really does pick up 50 percent of the cola. What do these things have in common, other than the fact that they are all guilty pleasures? They are all things I'd rather watch than Major League Soccer.

Maybe Kristina at The Offside: Columbus can engage on that issue.

Fake Sigi out.

The Short(er) version

Melissa over at The Offside's WPS blog summarizes my last bit of ideological twaddle for those of you who don't want to slog through it all. Better yet she's dubbed me "the fake one." Sweet. Now I can hang out with the Professor and not feel lame. Dan Loney, you nicknameless bastard, I can see you turning green with envy. Or maybe swine flu.

Anyway Melissa, thanks for saying what I said in about 1% of the words. I honor the place where our open source software techniques take over the world.

Is there an MLS team with more swagger than the Columbus Crew?

I don't think so. Last night they became the first MLS team to beat Deportivo Saprissa on the road in the CONCACAF Champions League. It was a gutsy match where the Crew left 5 regulars at home - Chad Marshall (injury), Eric Brunner (discipline), Alejandro Moreno (rest), Frank Hejduk (rest?), Gina Padula (illness) - and Schelotto was parked on the bench. People always talk about how thin MLS rosters are, but Warzycha's main problem has been how to get playing time for everyone. It probably won't be like this for much longer, but right now the Crew are stacked.

As an aside, the game in Chicago this weekend will be a vital test for seeing if Schelotto can reintegrate himself into the team's attack. He looked somewhat out of touch against Houston, and we've seen much better from him in the past.

But that didn't effect his confidence as a player or his view of how good the Crew are. After Sunday's game against Houston, the Dynamo to a man were complaining about the loss. From Kinnear on down, they saw the Crew diving, cheating, and being heartless bastards. Brian Ching was the most petulant:

"[Alejandro Moreno's] diving all over the field and he did the same thing when he played for us," Ching said. "We know that coming in. It's part of the game. We carried the better of the play. It wasn't a great game. We definitely didn't deserve to lose that game and they didn't deserve to win it."

And what did the Crew have to say in response? Suck it up, delicate flowers. And by the way, we're better than you. Frankie Hejduk:

"That's what teams are going to say when they lose. They make excuses and say anything they can. They're angry that they lost. The better team on the field won tonight. When you lose you're never happy. I would have said the same thing if it had happened to us in Houston. It was a hard fought game by both teams. I thought it was a great game. There were hard tackles, both teams were battling. We came out aggressive. They started throwing numbers in the second half because we had the score.

"They were falling around, too. They were getting just as many calls as we were. It was evenly called. I don't care. They can say it all day long. We're walking out of here with three points and that's all that matters."

Schelotto:

"We are the best team. The second-best team is Houston. We have 42 points. They have 40," said Schelotto, who reportedly had a brief exchange with Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear in the tunnel leading to the locker rooms afterward.

The topic of diving likely came up.

"We won. That is more important, not what is said by the Houston coach," Schelotto said. "It's his problem, not my problem. We played very good, better than them and we won."

And there was more the next day. Moreno:

"All they have to do is see the replay and really concern themselves more with talking to their defender about pulling somebody down in the box," he said. "To be honest, I don't guess they complained too much how I played the game for Houston."
. . .
Moreno said he was not surprised that Ching made those remarks about him but that it was a "non-issue."

"I have a lot of friends on that team and a lot of people I care about on that team and for the most part I enjoyed my time there with Houston," Moreno said. "I'd rather take the high road on this and not really have to respond to comments that go no further having lost the game."

And coach Robert Warzycha finished off Geoff Cameron (who surrendered the winning penalty kick) and Kinnear:

Cameron claimed Moreno and teammate Guillermo Barros Schelotto are classic divers and the ones who should have been punished while Kinnear and Schelotto had words near the locker rooms after the match.

"That's a comment, whether it's from a coach or player, that they should never say that. That's bad talking about somebody else. They have to look first at their own game," Warzycha said. "I know it is difficult to lose but you have to have some class."

He was quick to defend Schelotto and Moreno.

"They play the game the way it's supposed to be played," he said. "If you've ever played soccer, and Dominic played soccer and Cameron is playing now, you know that sometimes if you feel someone's hand on the back you're going to fall, hoping to get a call. That's part of the game but that's not diving. It's the other player doing something that is not legal. That's why he's penalized."

I know it's difficult to lose, but you have to have some class.

If these two teams meet in MLS Cup, it's either going to be a foul fest or the most amazing final we could hope for.