OT: Zlatan’s MLS debut

[Pitt79]

Yes. If they had a chance of promotion, then it would create an emotional connection for me because my goal as a fan would be to see them get promoted. I would have something to root for. In USL, I don't have anything to root for so I don't care. If they win USL, I dont care.

OK, I guess? That makes absolutely no sense to me, but that's how you feel about it. Baltimore Blast are decidedly a minor league entity, they can't ever be anything more, but I get a lot of joy when they win the MASL Championship, to me it's like the Steelers or Pens winning their titles at this point, I've bought in, I'm a fan, I CARE about the MASL crown- I watched MASL playoffs over the NCAA tournament, because I care more about the Blast in the MASL than non-Pitt CBB. if we get a USL team here, I'll have something to root for.... WINNING THE USL. I respect your opinion, even if I don't understand it?
I guess it's like you can't have emotion with less than major league level stakes?

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

Like how? What are you even talking about? Like giving the teams cheesy nicknames?

It’s not the cheesy nicknames, it’s what the cheesy nicknames represent in the macro that’s the problem.

Look, for American soccer to take the next step forward into international relevancy, the answer is very obvious. We need to do a better job of attracting our best young athletes to the sport. That means casting a wider net then we have to this point. I think trying to co-opt other cultures works directly against that aim.

Most American children do not grow up dreaming of being the next Christiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi; rather they grow up dreaming of being the next LeBron James or Antonio Brown. Those are the people you need to go after.

Rather than insisting that they all learn how things are done in Europe, why don’t we develop our own culture here?

That means our own signature style of play, our own sports league structure, our own everything.

There are far too many Landon’s and Wyatt’s and Connor’s playing soccer and not enough DeAndre’s, LaMichael’s and Dion’s. Until that changes, the sport will be stuck pretty much where it is in the US. I think the way to change that is by making soccer cool here and by offering the world something that is uniquely American, not something that’s a cheap derivative of how everyone else does it everywhere else.

 

[Pitt79]

Rather than insisting that they all learn how things are done in Europe, why don’t we develop our own culture here?

We have our own, un-Euro like soccer culture here and most will say that's why we aren't as good.

 

[Pitt79]

There are far too many Landon’s and Wyatt’s and Connor’s playing soccer and not enough DeAndre’s, LaMichael’s and Dion’s. Until that changes, the sport will be stuck pretty much where it is in the US. I think the way to change that is by making soccer cool here and by offering the world something that is uniquely American, not something that’s a cheap derivative of how everyone else does it everywhere else.

There's no guarantee that the DeAndre’s, LaMichael’s and Dion’s will displace the Landon’s and Wyatt’s and Connor’s playing soccer. Where I live a huge number of the best minority athletes choose soccer over football or basketball and they don't automatically displace the white kids.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

There are far too many Landon’s and Wyatt’s and Connor’s playing soccer and not enough DeAndre’s, LaMichael’s and Dion’s. Until that changes, the sport will be stuck pretty much where it is in the US. I think the way to change that is by making soccer cool here and by offering the world something that is uniquely American, not something that’s a cheap derivative of how everyone else does it everywhere else.

There's no guarantee that the DeAndre’s, LaMichael’s and Dion’s will displace the Landon’s and Wyatt’s and Connor’s playing soccer. Where I live a huge number of the best minority athletes choose soccer over football or basketball and they don't automatically displace the white kids.

I would actually like to live in Pitt79's soccer fantasyland town.

 

[Pitt79]

I would actually like to live in Pitt79's soccer fantasyland town.

Fantasyland is thinking that it's 100% certain, that LeBron would be leading the USA to the World Cup Title in Moscow if he had played soccer from age 6, and Fantasyland is thinking that it's 100% certain, that LeBron would be an All-Pro WR leading the Browns to the Super Bowl with 150 catches per year had he only chosen football, maybe he would be on the Browns, but maybe practice squad or maybe he washed out and couldn't crack the lineup at tOSU... IDEAS LIKE THOSE-THAT IT'S A GIVEN- ARE TRUE FANTASY LAND! PRETTY MUCH STUPIDITY.

Not saying it isn't possible that SOME, SOME % of NFL or NBA players MIGHT have been successful soccer players if they had tried since age 6, Maybe AB would have been on the USMNT, or All-MAC at Central Michigan and a year or two in the USL, Maybe LeBron might of been on the USMNT or maybe backup GK for Columbus Crew for 2-3 years, SORRY this stuff isn't as cut and dried as you think. Being great at one sport doesn't guarantee success ACROSS THE BOARD in all sports.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

US Soccer Fan: “Hey, do you see the 37-year-old guy over there? You should’ve seen him when he was 25 or 30. Boy, was he a player then.”

Actually you could have just watched him last season when he was playing with probably the biggest club in the world and he "only" scored 11 more goals than his highest scoring teammate, and "only" 17 more goals when you count all competitions, even though he missed the last month of the season injured.

There certainly are good examples (although they are becoming fewer and fewer as time goes on) of over the hill guys coming to MLS for one last paycheck, but I'm not sure that the guy who was the 7th leading scorer last season in perhaps the best league in the world is one of those examples.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I get what you are saying but I think what MLS needs to grow their brand is to create interest in many more American cities.

Good point. That's why there are 108 NFL franchises and another 74 in NFL2 doing all they can to get promoted to the big time.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I get what you are saying but I think what MLS needs to grow their brand is to create interest in many more American cities.

Good point. That's why there are 108 NFL franchises and another 74 in NFL2 doing all they can to get promoted to the big time.

Football, baseball, and basketball don't need teams in every major city. They are national sports. People in Nashville watch the NBA. People in Oklahoma City watch the NFL and people in Charlotte watch MLB. Nobody is watching MLS or NHL in cities that don't have a team. The NHL can't expand too much because hockey is only played at a high level in a few countries so the talent pool is limited. Soccer has an infinite supply of MLS-level players

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Soccer has an infinite supply of MLS-level players

Not in this country they don't.

And I wonder if anyone else gets the irony about you bitching because you think that the US National team is hurt by too many CONCACAF players in MLS while at the same time thinking that a strategy that would up the number of foreign players in the league by a huge margin is a good idea.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Soccer has an infinite supply of MLS-level players

Not in this country they don't.

And I wonder if anyone else gets the irony about you bitching because you think that the US National team is hurt by too many CONCACAF players in MLS while at the same time thinking that a strategy that would up the number of foreign players in the league by a huge margin is a good idea.

Not yet in the US, right. However, most MLS teams start their 8 foreign players plus 3 Americans so the number of Americans actually getting regular playing time is already pretty small. More teams allow more Americans to play and more fully-funded academies to help youth grow into pros.

Whether or not there is this massive expansion that I suggest, I still feel like MLS should concentrate on brining in Europeans and South Americans and not CONCACAF players

 

[Pitt79]

Not in this country they don't.

And I wonder if anyone else gets the irony about you bitching because you think that the US National team is hurt by too many CONCACAF players in MLS while at the same time thinking that a strategy that would up the number of foreign players in the league by a huge margin is a good idea.

Personally, I think that the MLS should do whatever it can to create as much fan entertainment and excitement as possible. The purpose of MLS is entertainment for soccer fans inside the USA, and NOT whatever is best for the USMNT.