BearcatSA Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 I like this Beckerman. He's like Reggie Jackson: the straw that stirs the drink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmcmurph Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 quote:Originally posted by BearcatSA Big difference in the second half and overtime, however. Happy to see RSL win. Really happy to see Donovan sky his penalty. Beckham? That haircut makes him look like the bird that lost the cockfight. Yea it was like LA spent themselves and RSL just kept going like energizer bunnies. Hope RSL doesn't pull a NYRB and die next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearcatSA Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 quote:Originally posted by tmcmurph Yea it was like LA spent themselves and RSL just kept going like energizer bunnies. Hope RSL doesn't pull a NYRB and die next year. They seemed to have a lot more in their tank. Tough break for Johnson. It's pretty difficult to summon the energy when recovering from food poisoning. No champagne for you...just flat ginger ale! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFCRegina Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 That was a great game to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Young blood rises, starts to write its own story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 I won't gloat because Landycakes missed his penalty! I won't gloat because Landycakes missed his penalty! I won't gloat because Landycakes missed his penalty! I won't gloat because Landycakes missed his penalty! It's not working, I am gloating. Just when I was thinking that as much as I hate this guy and his stupid pre-shot ritual he never misses a penalty he misses a very important one and costs his team a championship. That Andy Williams also missed his makes the game that much sweeter. The positive, a very good game with a lot of excitement. The negative, it is really amateur to play a game like this in a neutral venue. First of all make the regular season mean something and give the higher placed team the home field advantage. Second there was no atmosphere and the majority of fans were wearing the colours of a team that wasn't even playing. Whatever extra money they made because of the QWest capacity they lost more than that in marketing opportunity. In fact, there were probably so many people at the game because MLS is new to Seattle this year and Beckham was playing. It does not market the league well to have potential fans watching the game on tv with the stadium atmosphere of a stadium comprised of neutral fans who don't really care about who wins. Plus the home team would get a ticket boost the following seasson from hosting the event especially if they win and especially in the smaller cities. The MLS final in a city like Columbus would be high profile and would have helped Columbus sell tickets had it been hosted there last year. That video of them presenting the Cup tonight with thousands of empty seats behind them (because all the people from Seattle had already left) is no way to market the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFCRegina Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 ^^^ +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoccMan Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Wow Grizzly I guess you did not enjoy that game eh. Look I agree with you it's always better to play a final game like that at the home stadium of one of the participants,however, there are logistical reasons why the game is played at a neutral site. The one main reason stadium avalaibility and having enough time to organize a final. Remember, when this league was formed no team played in their own soccer specific stadium,therefore, to try and find an open date at a stadium of one of the teams in the final in such a short amount of time was not as easy as it may look or trying to sell tickets in such a short span of time,especialy when you are not the number one tenant in your stadium. However, with about 10 soccer specific stadiums in the league now and more to come the league has already hinted that the MLS Cup will soon be played at the home of the higher seeded team that makes the final. In terms of atmosphere and overall game presentation I think the MLS Cup final came out pretty good it looked like a major event and I think the Seattle organization did a great job and the winner was soccer here in North America. I watched the game on TV with a few people that are not big soccer fans and even they thought the atmospere and the tv presentation was good and it had a big time game feel to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSoccerFan Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Grizz does make some good points. Obviously the stadium availability is an issue for some teams but the league is close to overcoming this. Would've been nice to have the game at HDC. Sprinkle in a few thousand RSL fans in a packed house and it's gold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuirtonPark Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Just to stir the pot a little, I compared the MLS Cup event to the rubbish shown yesterday morning on The Score, EPL's Stoke City and Portsmouth. The EPL game had missed passes, lack of quality, balls kicked out over the touch/end lines as players lacked a better idea on what to do, such that even the studio crew felt they should apologize. Underlined again that there are at least 2 EPL's, if not 3, and with big gaps in quality between the groups. I found the MLS Cup game to be entertaining and in doubt right to the end. Salt Lake raised their game a couple of levels for the occasion, especially as time went on and they realized they had a chance to win as LA tired. The 46k fans provided a "big game" setting and atmosphere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Rollins1555362254 Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 "The negative, it is really amateur to play a game like this in a neutral venue" YEAH! Just like the UEFA Champions League final!! Or the FA Cup final. Or the... I'd rather they play it at the top seed, but it's a bit pedantic, overly critical and lacking in perspective to call it "amateur” because it's played it at a neutral site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free kick Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 quote:Originally posted by MediaGuy "The negative, it is really amateur to play a game like this in a neutral venue" YEAH! Just like the UEFA Champions League final!! Or the FA Cup final. Or the... I'd rather they play it at the top seed, but it's a bit pedantic, overly critical and lacking in perspective to call it "amateur” because it's played it at a neutral site. Also, since the playoffs are akin to cup competetions, are the cup finals ever played at the home venue of one of the particpants? To my knowledge, NO they are not. if I am not mistaken, they are usually played at fixed venues like Millenium and stadium and Wembley. I a see and understand the argument made in favour of playing at the home of one of the participants. But the counter argument is that if the real final is be an event or become an event, neutral site makes sence. The league is still developing its product and the model of the super bowl and grey cup is the best one to follow as far a on match/one day events. Perhaps they should consider places like Las Vegas and New orleans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruud Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 glad to see the Canadian press cover Will so well in the finals as the lone Canadian. Uuugh, wait...no they didn't. Nary a mention of him, even though he was a starter the whole year...CBC, Globe etc...where are you? Did anyone hear anything else about the food poisoning? He did get a mention before the shootout saying that Real wouldn't have their same shootout lineup without Johnson out there. I hope he was out for the celebrations... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john tv Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 Guys this is baby stuff and you know what, babies do grow and this baby is one very great kid already.They all tried so hard and technically speaking the Salty guys have some great attacking skills.They were by far the better team and taking that crappy field into consideration their passing skills were very exciting.I enjoyed it very much and in fact the very first time watching the Cup final, did I not question myself wondering why I was watching this nor had this feeling ,let's get it over with.They were great efforts and great skills and a just ending.The other funny part was that I really had no favoured team.Just Donavan showed to be a real human being with all it's fault despite that higher level of skill.Taking penalties is so easy.Just kick that ball in the corner and don't telegraph the approach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john tv Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Ruud glad to see the Canadian press cover Will so well in the finals as the lone Canadian. Uuugh, wait...no they didn't. Nary a mention of him, even though he was a starter the whole year...CBC, Globe etc...where are you? Did anyone hear anything else about the food poisoning? He did get a mention before the shootout saying that Real wouldn't have their same shootout lineup without Johnson out there. I hope he was out for the celebrations... The announcers also forgot to mention that he was a Canadian and in fact said he was from an American college or University. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piltdownman Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 We talked to Will Johnson right after the match. He didn't look very good at all. He looked like he should be in bed. Felt bad for him as his teammates were out celebrating and he was all on his own looking like he was going to throw up. Really nice guy though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pulsar Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 Being at the game, i thought the atmosphere was fantastic. We were a group of about 25 Southsiders and 'Caps fans sandwiched in between a decent sized group of RSL supporters and the main contingent of the LAG supporters. Amongst all that were the Sounder supporters...songs were flying every which way from all groups. LA supporters started out strong and maintined an amazing atmosphere for about 60 min. a few suffles broke out and it was all RSL after that. All groups did a fantstic job with the atmosphere and it was exciting on the pitch as well. It certinaly beat the Tunisia - Ukraine game i was shafted with at the last world cup......great job Seattle and props to both the Galaxy and RSL. And to top it all off i got free parking 2 blocks from the stadium, got through the border without having to pay duty and all this positivity is making me sick...i think i have a corn dog stuffed in my overnight bag somewhere...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmcmurph Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 quote:Originally posted by john tv and taking that crappy field into consideration their passing skills were very exciting. On TV the field didn't look that bad. What were the problems? I noticed a lot of players cramping. I was wondering if they were going to put down the same stuff that Barcelona played on there. This is supposed to be the MLS showcase game and it was a very well played one. I hope from here on in they see the light that MLSE has and maybe next year Toronto can host the cup! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 quote:Originally posted by MediaGuy "The negative, it is really amateur to play a game like this in a neutral venue" YEAH! Just like the UEFA Champions League final!! Or the FA Cup final. Or the... I'd rather they play it at the top seed, but it's a bit pedantic, overly critical and lacking in perspective to call it "amateur” because it's played it at a neutral site. The Champions League and FA Cup final are the two biggest annual sporting events in Europe and it is ridiculous (actually I was going to write amateur but I wouldn't want to insult your journalistic professionalism ) to compare the MLS Championship final to them. While I don't agree with them being held in a neutral location either, the teams who qualify for them bring tens of thousands of fans (both those with tickets and those who watch at local bars), each team being alloted about one third of the stadium capacity. As an example, when Liverpool was in the CL final they were furious at only being given 17 000 tickets for their fans. Even the 1/3 of tickets reserved for neutral fans are taken up by people who mostly have feelings for or against the teams playing. The Grey Cup and Superbowl have also been mentioned and they are similar in that each team brings a large number of fans and these games are national events with intense interest. The MLS Championship by contrast is an event most American sports fans are not even aware is happening. Freekick, this is not a Cup competition, it is a league championship that is decided by a playoff and that is a big difference though again I prefer the final for both to be played in the stadium of a particpant club. And yes Soccman I did enjoy the game, it was one of the best MLS games I have seen. However, I would have enjoyed it a lot more if the stadium was full of LA fans cheering on their team with a large supporters section and opposing team supporters section as opposed to seeing (and not hearing) a stadium full of people from Seattle who didn't care who won. Now if you want to see amateur, look at the trophy presentation. I have never seen the Champions League, UEFA Cup, Grey Cup or Superbowl presented in a stadium where the majority of fans have already left. Its really a great marketing shot to see a trophy presentation with thousands of empty seats behind: Kind of reminds me of their 2008 trophy presentation pictured below: Incidentally, Garber met with representatives of the league supporter groups before the game and the first demand of the supporter groups was that the game not be played in a neutral location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 quote:Now if you want to see amateur, look at the trophy presentation. I have never seen the Champions League, UEFA Cup, Grey Cup or Superbowl presented in a stadium where the majority of fans have already left. Some scenes from the early days of European competition:- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeta Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 It's a one match winner take all final. Has to go to a pre-fixed location for all the odvious reasons. If it were a two match final make it home and away but otherwise I can't see it being handled otherwise. Of course, you don't need to have a set location at season kick-off. The playoffs are long enough that if the Cup Final were awarded to the Supporters Shield holders the teams would have lots of time to market tickets and the footie fans would have plenty of time to make travel arrangements. And with (practically) everyone being in their own venue scheduling conflicts shouldn't be a concern. So there you have it, you create the best opportunity for a non-neutral location to host the MLS Cup Final, reward the team which finishes 1st overall at the end of the season with an chance at home-field advantage all the way to The Double. If ever their was a carrot to finish top of table during the regular season that would be it. Nice to see MLS accepting the fact NFL owns Sunday in the US of A and there is nothing MLS can do about that. Do what's best for your broadcast and don't worry about NFL. Play your game, serve your niche and things will work out as best as they possible can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Grizzly Kind of reminds me of their 2008 trophy presentation pictured below: Those seats would have been just as empty in Columbus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piltdownman Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 MLS is reporting that they sold 46,000 tickets to the final. Thats over twice as big as most teams stadiums. And of the teams that do play in stadiums that big, I highly doubt Redbulls or the revs would get that many people if they were in the final and hosting. I was at the final and the supports summit. What was done extremely badly, and was a much discussed problem (with garber, event organizers), was the ticket allocation of the visiting fans. The LA fans had a small section in upper 117 and then scattered around in little groups all over the place. RSL had a corner in 203, the top of 214, and a massive group up on the upper deck not in sight of the camera. I understand that there is season ticket holders, but MLS/seattle should have reserved 104+105+106 for one club, and 112-113+114 for another, and simply moved the seattle season ticket holders. Maybe even give those people two for one tickets for the final for their trouble. Then when they awarded the trophy do it in front of those fan groups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 quote:Originally posted by piltdownman MLS is reporting that they sold 46,000 tickets to the final. Thats over twice as big as most teams stadiums. And of the teams that do play in stadiums that big, I highly doubt Redbulls or the revs would get that many people if they were in the final and hosting. Learn your MLS history, son. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MLS_Cup_2002 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piltdownman Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Grizzly Incidentally, Garber met with representatives of the league supporter groups before the game and the first demand of the supporter groups was that the game not be played in a neutral location. really? I was at that meeting, I admit very really hung over from the nigth before. And my notes say the questions were in order: 1) Why doesn't the League have unified rules for travelling supporters? (Meaning assigned sections, rules on what can be brought in, etc) 2) What is the league doing to improve their product? (TV, pitch quality, players) 3) Can we have away sections? 4) Can we follow the away calender? 5) Can we allow both Canadian and US players be domestic 6) Can we have an extra asian DP like the J-League 7) Why can't we have more DPS? and more local talent? 8) What is the league doing to promote supporters 9) Can every team have a salesperson that specializes in away tickets? 10) Can AA the offical airline of the MLS actually give fans a discount? 11) Can we get rid of "East" and "west" and just name the confrences? 12) Can we get more stuff in stores? 13) Can we have promotion and relegation? 14) Can we have sports bettering? 11) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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