Pitt79, FK (re: soccer)

[Sean Miller Fan]

Pitt soccer is at Maryland Saturday at 1. Not sure how far that is from you, but you may want to take that in. Maryland is a great program and Pitt is up and coming.

Also, I doubt either of you are big into CONCACAF Champions League but there are 2 huge 2nd legs on Tuesday. An MLS team has never won CCL in the modern era, has only made the finals a few times, and has only beaten a Mexican side in a 2 leg series a couple times.

Chivas take a 1-0 lead to New Jersey to face the Red Bulls at 8PM. 1 Chivas goal makes things near impossible for RBNY as they would need 3.

Toronto take a 3-1 lead to Azteca to face Club America at 10PM. America got a crucial away goal but with the 2 goal lead, TFC can bunker in and play for a 1-0 defeat to move on.

With a billion sports channels, its hard to believe that nobody bought the English-language TV rights. go90.com did buy the streaming rights. Cant believe FS1, FS2, beinSport, etc didn't want in. Those are 2 Mexican giants, a huge market American team, and a TFC team that some call the best MLS team ever (not to mention they have Bradley and Altidore).

Pitt79, I will watch these because I have an emotional connection. I root for MLS. Its the domestic league and I have a reason to root for them in competitions like these. If RBNY was playing Toronto in a regular season game, I would not set my calendar to watch it. Just no emotional connection

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Pitt soccer is at Maryland Saturday at 1. Not sure how far that is from you, but you may want to take that in. Maryland is a great program and Pitt is up and coming.

The only thing is, spring soccer is really not much of a priority for schools. The games are exhibitions and most teams treat them that way. But if you go there knowing you aren't going to see the same kind of intensity as you would for a fall game they can be entertaining. For instance the Pitt - Duquesne women's game a couple weekends ago ended up 5-4 Duquesne, and that was one fun game to watch.

 

[Pitt79]

Pitt soccer is at Maryland Saturday at 1. Not sure how far that is from you, but you may want to take that in. Maryland is a great program and Pitt is up and coming.

Probably 45 minutes from my house, But supposedly, expecting rain and temps in the 30s, possibly sleet. They may not even play it.

 

[Pitt79]

Also, I doubt either of you are big into CONCACAF Champions League but there are 2 huge 2nd legs on Tuesday. An MLS team has never won CCL in the modern era, has only made the finals a few times, and has only beaten a Mexican side in a 2 leg series a couple times.

Chivas take a 1-0 lead to New Jersey to face the Red Bulls at 8PM. 1 Chivas goal makes things near impossible for RBNY as they would need 3.

Toronto take a 3-1 lead to Azteca to face Club America at 10PM. America got a crucial away goal but with the 2 goal lead, TFC can bunker in and play for a 1-0 defeat to move on.

With a billion sports channels, its hard to believe that nobody bought the English-language TV rights. go90.com did buy the streaming rights. Cant believe FS1, FS2, beinSport, etc didn't want in. Those are 2 Mexican giants, a huge market American team, and a TFC team that some call the best MLS team ever (not to mention they have Bradley and Altidore).

Pitt79, I will watch these because I have an emotional connection. I root for MLS. Its the domestic league and I have a reason to root for them in competitions like these. If RBNY was playing Toronto in a regular season game, I would not set my calendar to watch it. Just no emotional connection

I've been watching these games too, but I noticed that the Spanish channel UNIVISION has 30 minute versions they show the day after, so I've been DVRing those. You're right, I can't believe that no English language channel shows those games, they could hype that up. Mexican teams aren't bad vvs. US teams, like Chivas or America, up against NYRB, Sounders, Toronto. the condensed version is better for me, I can't take the full 90 minutes of the Spanish chirping I can't understand, And the GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! With EVERY GOAL, it's just annoying! LOL. Honestly, it would make sense to broadcast at least the Final in English language on FS1, FS2 or BIEN, in the USA especially if an MLS team is in it. It is surprising they didn't hype this up a bit, like on FS1/2 or BIEN.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Also, I doubt either of you are big into CONCACAF Champions League but there are 2 huge 2nd legs on Tuesday. An MLS team has never won CCL in the modern era, has only made the finals a few times, and has only beaten a Mexican side in a 2 leg series a couple times.

Chivas take a 1-0 lead to New Jersey to face the Red Bulls at 8PM. 1 Chivas goal makes things near impossible for RBNY as they would need 3.

Toronto take a 3-1 lead to Azteca to face Club America at 10PM. America got a crucial away goal but with the 2 goal lead, TFC can bunker in and play for a 1-0 defeat to move on.

With a billion sports channels, its hard to believe that nobody bought the English-language TV rights. go90.com did buy the streaming rights. Cant believe FS1, FS2, beinSport, etc didn't want in. Those are 2 Mexican giants, a huge market American team, and a TFC team that some call the best MLS team ever (not to mention they have Bradley and Altidore).

Pitt79, I will watch these because I have an emotional connection. I root for MLS. Its the domestic league and I have a reason to root for them in competitions like these. If RBNY was playing Toronto in a regular season game, I would not set my calendar to watch it. Just no emotional connection

I've been watching these games too, but I noticed that the Spanish channel UNIVISION has 30 minute versions they show the day after, so I've been DVRing those. You're right, I can't believe that no English language channel shows those games, they could hype that up. Mexican teams aren't bad vvs. US teams, like Chivas or America, up against NYRB, Sounders, Toronto. the condensed version is better for me, I can't take the full 90 minutes of the Spanish chirping I can't understand, And the GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! With EVERY GOAL, it's just annoying! LOL. Honestly, it would make sense to broadcast at least the Final in English language on FS1, FS2 or BIEN, in the USA especially if an MLS team is in it. It is surprising they didn't hype this up a bit, like on FS1/2 or BIEN.

My guess is that CONCACAF was asking for an extreme amount of money for the US English TV rights. I am sure a lot of stations would love to air 2 prestigious Mexican clubs taking on 2 good MLS clubs but if the price is too high, they wont do it as a charity. Another reason to hate crooked@$$ CONCACAF.

 

[Pitt79]

My guess is that CONCACAF was asking for an extreme amount of money for the US English TV rights. I am sure a lot of stations would love to air 2 prestigious Mexican clubs taking on 2 good MLS clubs but if the price is too high, they wont do it as a charity. Another reason to hate crooked@$$ CONCACAF.

I guess, as a fan of soccer, living in the USA, TOP Mexican vs. TOP MLS clubs is appealing to me, I'd think many fans would want to see that, yet it's almost unknown that the thing even exists?

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

My guess is that CONCACAF was asking for an extreme amount of money for the US English TV rights. I am sure a lot of stations would love to air 2 prestigious Mexican clubs taking on 2 good MLS clubs but if the price is too high, they wont do it as a charity. Another reason to hate crooked@$$ CONCACAF.

I guess, as a fan of soccer, living in the USA, TOP Mexican vs. TOP MLS clubs is appealing to me, I'd think many fans would want to see that, yet it's almost unknown that the thing even exists?

Yea, even for soccer fans, I doubt most know about this. And its not just ANY Mexican clubs, its the 2 most storied. I honestly think that CONCACAF overpriced it and FS1 and others just said "pass."

 

[Pitt79]

Yea, even for soccer fans, I doubt most know about this. And its not just ANY Mexican clubs, its the 2 most storied. I honestly think that CONCACAF overpriced it and FS1 and others just said "pass."

The only reason I know about it is that I scan the TV listings for sports that I like and DVR stuff that interests me, and the nature of soccer is that often there's good stuff in the middle of a weekday, so I find stuff like the condensed replays of the CONCACAF CL and record it and watch it later. Last night I watched NYRB vs. Chivas (1 hour version), Chivas won 1-0, but Wright Philips had a great chance for NY and Chivas GK stuffed him. The night before I watched Toronto put a good beating on America 3-1 (half hour version), although on Americas one goal, the dude made an amazing move to score, also Altidore made a nice goal. Otherwise I wouldn't even know about it.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I honestly think that CONCACAF overpriced it and FS1 and others just said "pass."

I have no doubt that's what you think, and not surprisingly I have no doubt that isn't what happened at all.

Seriously, you think that the people running CONCACAF would rather get nothing at all than get even a small amount for the games? What actually happened is that they put the games out for bid, which is pretty much what they always do, and no one bid for the games. Because no one actually watched the games when they were on. Fox couldn't make any money on them when they had the contract, so they didn't bid this time. Neither did anyone else. The only people who put in a bid was the streaming service (I think Verizon's) that got the contract.

 

[mike412]

The first legs of the REAL Champions League were Tuesday and Wednesday, but if these were available, I would have watched them since they weren’t at the same time.

Speaking of the Champions League, no one else can beat Pep Guardiola’s team except for Juergen Klopp. The 3-0 win on Wednesday was his 6th in 13 matches against Man City since he took over at Liverpool. And, when Pep was at Bayern Munich, Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund teams gave them fits.

If anyone else saw my beloved Barça against Roma, that was as poor a match as they have played this season. Yet, they won 4-1 on two own goals, a 3m tap-in by CB Gerard Pique (who I give credit for running 100m to be part of the play) and a Luis Suarez goal off an abominable first touch by a Roma defender. With all of the good chances Roma squandered, it is not inconceivable to me that they could win the second leg 3-0 at home and win the tie.

 

[Pitt79]

The first legs of the REAL Champions League were Tuesday and Wednesday, but if these were available, I would have watched them since they weren’t at the same time.

That's YOU, I care about the DOMESTIC CL more, I only like one European team, Olyimpiacos, they where eliminated a long time ago, so I'd rather watch teams representing the USA/MLS... I don't care who's "the best" or "REAL''... Honestly how can you care about English or Spanish or German teams? I like Olympiacos because I'm of Greek descent, have family connections to them and have even attended one of their games in Athens, Greece, so I have the capacity to root for them, other European teams, just can't get excited to watch them-I'd rather watch INFERIOR QUALITY domestic teams. .

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I honestly think that CONCACAF overpriced it and FS1 and others just said "pass."

I have no doubt that's what you think, and not surprisingly I have no doubt that isn't what happened at all.

Seriously, you think that the people running CONCACAF would rather get nothing at all than get even a small amount for the games? What actually happened is that they put the games out for bid, which is pretty much what they always do, and no one bid for the games. Because no one actually watched the games when they were on. Fox couldn't make any money on them when they had the contract, so they didn't bid this time. Neither did anyone else. The only people who put in a bid was the streaming service (I think Verizon's) that got the contract.

CONCACAF put it out for a minimum bid and nobody took them up on it. Aren't we saying the same thing?

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

CONCACAF put it out for a minimum bid and nobody took them up on it. Aren't we saying the same thing?

You said they priced it too high so no one bid. I'm saying no one had any interest in bidding for it because they couldn't make money at any price.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

CONCACAF put it out for a minimum bid and nobody took them up on it. Aren't we saying the same thing?

You said they priced it too high so no one bid. I'm saying no one had any interest in bidding for it because they couldn't make money at any price.

The minimum bid was too high. I doubt the bid started at $1 or $10,000. I am sure if it started extremely low, many networks would have been interested. Fox Soccer used to televise this all the time. Then in the first year or 2 of FS1, they did. But not the last couple of years.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

The minimum bid was too high.

There is no such thing.

Fox Soccer used to televise this all the time.

The last time Fox had the rights the finals drew a television audience of around 150,000 people for the English language broadcast. Just how many people do you think are going to watch a a game between Tigres and Pachuca on one of the Fox channels when the game is also being broadcast elsewhere in Spanish? How many people this year would have watched the Fox broadcast if they had shown the America - Tauro quarterfinals games? Or even the Tigres - Toronto games? Or how about the round of 16 games between Motagua and Tijuana or Chivas and Cibao?

It's no coincidence that the games did get bidders and are shown on Spanish language channels. Because people actually watch the games on there. Nobody watched the games when they were on the Fox channels in English. And when no one watches the games they can't make any money, no matter how cheap the rights fees are. Geez, even BeIn, who is desperate for anyone to pay any attention to their channel, didn't make a bid.

 

[Pitt79]

Why don't they arrange to just show the MLS teams on English broadcast? That's all I'm interested in, I just want to see how they do anyways.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

The minimum bid was too high.

There is no such thing.

Fox Soccer used to televise this all the time.

The last time Fox had the rights the finals drew a television audience of around 150,000 people for the English language broadcast. Just how many people do you think are going to watch a a game between Tigres and Pachuca on one of the Fox channels when the game is also being broadcast elsewhere in Spanish? How many people this year would have watched the Fox broadcast if they had shown the America - Tauro quarterfinals games? Or even the Tigres - Toronto games? Or how about the round of 16 games between Motagua and Tijuana or Chivas and Cibao?

It's no coincidence that the games did get bidders and are shown on Spanish language channels. Because people actually watch the games on there. Nobody watched the games when they were on the Fox channels in English. And when no one watches the games they can't make any money, no matter how cheap the rights fees are. Geez, even BeIn, who is desperate for anyone to pay any attention to their channel, didn't make a bid.

The entire production is done by CONCACAF. If FS1 wanted to televise it, it would only need to provide announcers and it wouldn't even need to fly them to the venue as they could call the game from the studio as they often do for international games. So, if there is really no minimum bid, do you really think FS1 or NBCSN, ESPN, or beIN would not have bid $1? Of course there is a minimum bid. That is what CONCACAF does. Its why USMNT qualifiers in the past in Central America were not televised in English in the US. Games in Guatemala and Honduras and even a huge WCQ at Mexico about 2 cycles ago. Those federations were asking too much for the game and ESPN (who was the only one doing it at that time) said its too much so they were sold to a PPV provider. Yea, those federations are separate entities from CONCACAF, but even though its based in Miami, CONCACAF is heavily influenced by the Mexican/Central American soccer business model.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Pitt soccer is at Maryland Saturday at 1. Not sure how far that is from you, but you may want to take that in. Maryland is a great program and Pitt is up and coming.

Also, I doubt either of you are big into CONCACAF Champions League but there are 2 huge 2nd legs on Tuesday. An MLS team has never won CCL in the modern era, has only made the finals a few times, and has only beaten a Mexican side in a 2 leg series a couple times.

Chivas take a 1-0 lead to New Jersey to face the Red Bulls at 8PM. 1 Chivas goal makes things near impossible for RBNY as they would need 3.

Toronto take a 3-1 lead to Azteca to face Club America at 10PM. America got a crucial away goal but with the 2 goal lead, TFC can bunker in and play for a 1-0 defeat to move on.

With a billion sports channels, its hard to believe that nobody bought the English-language TV rights. go90.com did buy the streaming rights. Cant believe FS1, FS2, beinSport, etc didn't want in. Those are 2 Mexican giants, a huge market American team, and a TFC team that some call the best MLS team ever (not to mention they have Bradley and Altidore).

Pitt79, I will watch these because I have an emotional connection. I root for MLS. Its the domestic league and I have a reason to root for them in competitions like these. If RBNY was playing Toronto in a regular season game, I would not set my calendar to watch it. Just no emotional connection

Sorry SMF. I just saw this. I don’t always visit this board. Honestly I have no interest in either. I can’t get interested in pro Soccer in this hemisphere. Although Ibrahimovic had me captivated. I will follow Galaxy. As far as spring college Soccer, it’s like NFL pre season football. It’s simply a scrimmage made up of freshman, sophomores and juniors. I’ve never even gone to any of my own daughters spring games. However, my HS daughter is going through the recruiting process and it’s useful for her to go to the games just to see how the teams play. For example, Pitt women play WVU this Spring. It was either yesterday or next Sunday. If it’s next Sunday, we will try to go.

 

[pitt90seven]

i was all excited to go to the scrimmage on saturday. then wifey got tickets to take my boys to the marvel universe thing in bmore at the same time. dammit. anyone go?

 

[Pitt79]

Sorry I can’t get interested in pro Soccer in this hemisphere. .

So you're not into it for the experience, for the recreational nature of a night out at a live event?

 

[Pitt79]

I’ve never even gone to any of my own daughters spring games.

Really? You only go to her "meaningful" games? I go to all of my daughter's games, just because she's playing, period. Doesn't matter if anything is at stake. She's a team captain of a bad Class C high school soccer team (1-13), she actually has an offer to play for a community college team, if she decides to go to CC, which she is considering because she doesn't know what she wants to study yet. She got tired of travel, so this year, she's playing on a spring rec team, against mediocre competition, I CAN'T WAIT, I will not miss a game! I'm her biggest fan!

 

[Fk_Pitt]

So you're not into it for the experience, for the recreational nature of a night out at a live event?

Well you have the luxury of having a local pro team and a beautiful new stadium. We don’t have that locally here. The Pittsburgh Riverhounds are a glorified club team. I really have no affinity toward them. If we had an MLS franchise, I’d probably be into it. I will instead find myself at the Pitt complex quite often this Fall.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Really? You only go to her "meaningful" games? I go to all of my daughter's games, just because she's playing, period. Doesn't matter if anything is at stake. She's a team captain of a bad Class C high school soccer team (1-13), she actually has an offer to play for a community college team, if she decides to go to CC, which she is considering because she doesn't know what she wants to study yet. She got tired of travel, so this year, she's playing on a spring rec team, against mediocre competition, I CAN'T WAIT, I will not miss a game! I'm her biggest fan!

She’s injured...and 7 hours away. Lol. So it’s a bit different.

 

[Pitt79]

Well you have the luxury of having a local pro team and a beautiful new stadium. We don’t have that locally here. The Pittsburgh Riverhounds are a glorified club team. I really have no affinity toward them. If we had an MLS franchise, I’d probably be into it. I will instead find myself at the Pitt complex quite often this Fall.

I actually have only been to one DC United game ever- When Beckham debuted for LA Galaxy. I'd love to have a team like the Riverhounds in Baltimore. Actually I am part of a supporters group started by a high school coach I know, we go to Baltimore Blast and Baltimore FC games. Blast is indoor and FC is NPSL, a level lower than USL, but these guys HAVE FUN they bang drums and tailgate, love it! They are building up this group now, because supposedly next season, we might get a USL team. The point of it for me is HAVING FUN, not the quality of the soccer we are watching.

 

[Pitt79]

She’s injured...and 7 hours away. Lol. So it’s a bit different.

Oh, you don't live with her, she's in 11th grade like my daughter I guess?

My daughter is pretty good, but not at the level of being recruited for actual "money" scholarships. Like I said, a CC coach locally spoke to me on the phone about her, which, what the heck, it's something.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Oh, you don't live with her, she's in 11th grade like my daughter I guess?

My daughter is pretty good, but not at the level of being recruited for actual "money" scholarships. Like I said, a CC coach locally spoke to me on the phone about her, which, what the heck, it's something.

I have one playing in college. And one in HS

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

The entire production is done by CONCACAF. If FS1 wanted to televise it, it would only need to provide announcers and it wouldn't even need to fly them to the venue as they could call the game from the studio as they often do for international games. So, if there is really no minimum bid, do you really think FS1 or NBCSN, ESPN, or beIN would not have bid $1? Of course there is a minimum bid. That is what CONCACAF does. Its why USMNT qualifiers in the past in Central America were not televised in English in the US. Games in Guatemala and Honduras and even a huge WCQ at Mexico about 2 cycles ago. Those federations were asking too much for the game and ESPN (who was the only one doing it at that time) said its too much so they were sold to a PPV provider. Yea, those federations are separate entities from CONCACAF, but even though its based in Miami, CONCACAF is heavily influenced by the Mexican/Central American soccer business model.

Not surprisingly, you have absolutely no idea how World Cup qualifier games are bid out and why games end up on the channels that they do.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Sorry SMF. I just saw this. I don’t always visit this board. Honestly I have no interest in either. I can’t get interested in pro Soccer in this hemisphere. Although Ibrahimovic had me captivated. I will follow Galaxy. As far as spring college Soccer, it’s like NFL pre season football. It’s simply a scrimmage made up of freshman, sophomores and juniors. I’ve never even gone to any of my own daughters spring games. However, my HS daughter is going through the recruiting process and it’s useful for her to go to the games just to see how the teams play. For example, Pitt women play WVU this Spring. It was either yesterday or next Sunday. If it’s next Sunday, we will try to go.

The Pitt women play in Morgantown on Friday, the 13th. Duquesne was supposed to play them down there this past Saturday but it was cancelled/postponed due to the crappy weather.

 

[Pitt79]

Toronto beat Club America to reach the Finals, so there's one MLS team in vs. Chivas. I'd like to see this Final. I'll probably watch it on a Spanish feed, but it would be cool if an English language channel would pick it up.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Toronto beat Club America to reach the Finals, so there's one MLS team in vs. Chivas. I'd like to see this Final. I'll probably watch it on a Spanish feed, but it would be cool if an English language channel would pick it up.

I went to watch the replay on go90.com but as I scrolled down to watch the first game (Chivas vs NY), I scrolled too far or whatever and saw the final appear so so much for that. Yea, it'd be nice if somebody bought the rights to the final but that's probably less likely now without an American team.

 

[Pitt79]

I went to watch the replay on go90.com but as I scrolled down to watch the first game (Chivas vs NY), I scrolled too far or whatever and saw the final appear so so much for that. Yea, it'd be nice if somebody bought the rights to the final but that's probably less likely now without an American team.

True, but to me Toronto is part of the American league, so I still have interest.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

True, but to me Toronto is part of the American league, so I still have interest.

79,
Pitt women are at Navy on Sunday at 3pm if you’re looking for something to do.

 

[Pitt79]

79,
Pitt women are at Navy on Sunday at 3pm if you’re looking for something to do.

I'll be at the Yodzis FC game at 2:30 in Columbia, MD... my daughter's playing