OT: MLS

RPI-Fan · 04-02-2005, 11:55 AM

Anybody here care about MLS?

I'm really into it, because with only 12 teams I am familiar with pretty much every player in the league; makes it more fun to watch, for me.

FYI, they are running a free preview of their DirectKick package, so you can catch any of four games tonight on that package if you have some kind of cable/satelitte deal.

~rpi-fan

SirFozzie · 04-02-2005, 11:58 AM

Go Revolution! Will be in the Fort for every Revs home game again this year

Pyser · 04-02-2005, 12:14 PM

was offered tix to the metrostars tonight. but mls + rain = no thanks for me.

TredWel · 04-02-2005, 01:06 PM

If it's on, and I don't have any EPL games on tape, I'll watch, but I'm not terribly excited about the opening of the season.

Eaglesfan27 · 04-02-2005, 01:34 PM

I'm looking forward to watching MLS today/tonight.

Desnudo · 04-02-2005, 01:46 PM

I'm more interested in the league now that Eddie Johnson has really come on, and I'm curious to see Freddy Adu develop. But I don't think I'll ever truely get into the league due to the lack of promotion/relegation.

st.cronin · 04-02-2005, 02:00 PM

I don't know much about Soccer but what does it mean when a team is prefixed with 'Real'?

Desnudo · 04-02-2005, 02:05 PM

I believe the "Real" term in the Spanish league references the fact that the team has official support from the monarchy. The Real Salt Lake team name means nothing, except as an homage to Real Madrid.

SirFozzie · 04-02-2005, 02:06 PM

It's a loan word from Spanish, meaning Royal.

(for example, Real Madrid, the big spanish team, had connections with Spanish Royalty).

MLS is trying to make their teams less American sounding (for example, the former Dallas Burn is FC Dallas now)

tanglewood · 04-02-2005, 02:38 PM

FYI, it's pronounced "Ray-al".

HomerJSimpson · 04-02-2005, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tanglewood

FYI, it's pronounced "Ray-al".

Ray-ally?

tanglewood · 04-02-2005, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomerJSimpson

Ray-ally?

Just trying to be helpfull. The last thing anyone would want to do would be to spout off on how they know that 'Real' comes from the Spanish tradition of royal clubs trying to sound worldly..... only to pronounce it wrong.

PilotMan · 04-02-2005, 02:51 PM

I am making an effort to follow it more than I have in the past. I am looking forward to the season, and I will even try to go to some USL Div II matches for our new hometown Cincinnati Kings. I think as the talent gets deeper, which it seems to be, that the competition and interest will continue to rise.

FBPro · 04-02-2005, 04:07 PM

I'm a fan, but since there isn't one in my area it is rather difficult.

SunDancer · 04-02-2005, 04:07 PM

What level do you think the MLS is at in compared to Europe? League One of England?

Where is Chivas from?

The MLS is getting better, but it's not anywheres close to the European leagues in technically and sound play. Donovan is smoking the pipe if he thinks it isn't.

Eaglesfan27 · 04-02-2005, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SunDancer

What level do you think the MLS is at in compared to Europe? League One of England?

Where is Chivas from?

The MLS is getting better, but it's not anywheres close to the European leagues in technically and sound play. Donovan is smoking the pipe if he thinks it isn't.

I think Marc has said he thinks it is comparable to English Championship Level play.

Personally, I haven't seen that much English Championship play, but that seems about right to me.

SunDancer · 04-02-2005, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I think Marc has said he thinks it is comparable to English Championship Level play.

Personally, I haven't seen that much English Championship play, but that seems about right to me.

Wow...I didn't expect it was that "Quality", but then I think the rising talent of our country is pumping in is starting to show. It just seem that we still lagged alittle bit in the technical skills, but it is better then it use to be. Like you, I haven't seen the EC play (just the big leagues).

condors · 04-02-2005, 06:16 PM

The league now is probally about that level. 6 years ago it wasn't as good. What i like is that it keeps getting better and better. There are players i truely enjoy watching. Ruiz is a dirty little guy but i get a kick out of him jumping with a defender elbowing him in the head,kneeing him in the groin, and then flopping on his back if he has no play and getting up screaming and making a motion of bringing out a card. I just heard this is the last year of his contract in the MLS. It will be a shame to see him go.(i am a Columbus Crew fan)

Mr. Wednesday · 04-02-2005, 06:45 PM

The pandering to the Eurosnobs annoys me, so I will continue to call it "real" (or, frequently, "fake" or "imitation").

PilotMan · 04-02-2005, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SunDancer

Where is Chivas from?

Chivas is a very popular Mexican League team. They played against the MLS all stars 2 years ago(?), for the all star game. Chivas USA is a new MLS squad that is owned by the same owner. They are based in LA, and play in the same arena that the LA Galaxy play. The idea is to tap into the large mexican poplulation base in the area and in the US as a whole. I hope that the fans of other cities get tired of listening to their already wide fan base and start screaming and creating a more involved with their teams during the match. I can see a pretty good upside for the MLS here. There are rumors of other popular mexican league teams wanting to do the same thing in the US.

CHEMICAL SOLDIER · 04-02-2005, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Chivas is a very popular Mexican League team. They played against the MLS all stars 2 years ago(?), for the all star game. Chivas USA is a new MLS squad that is owned by the same owner. They are based in LA, and play in the same arena that the LA Galaxy play. The idea is to tap into the large mexican poplulation base in the area and in the US as a whole. I hope that the fans of other cities get tired of listening to their already wide fan base and start screaming and creating a more involved with their teams during the match. I can see a pretty good upside for the MLS here. There are rumors of other popular mexican league teams wanting to do the same thing in the US.

It seemed from the highlites that htere werent that many people in th stands. Hopew it succeeds though. Oh! Does ESPN have MLS on full time now?

SunDancer · 04-02-2005, 09:04 PM

What the MetroStars matchup...Alot better then the DC-Chivas game technically. I got a much better feeling from that game. I hope the MLS comes to Rochester, which is just a hour down the freeway from me.

weinstein7 · 04-02-2005, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SunDancer

What the MetroStars matchup...Alot better then the DC-Chivas game technically. I got a much better feeling from that game. I hope the MLS comes to Rochester, which is just a hour down the freeway from me.

I wouldn't hold my breath on this one. The new stadium in Rochester, which is still years away from completion, is far smaller than the original plans, and is now most likely too small to host an MLS team. It's also in a crap part of town, instead of a great location across the street from the baseball stadium as they had originally planned. They really botched the whole thing, IMHO.

TurnerONU22 · 04-02-2005, 10:10 PM

Went to the Crew game tonight in the lovely Columbus weather (high 30's, rain/snow mix). The Crew played really well and seem to be complmenting their solid D with some good offense as Edson Buddle scored a couple and new pickup Razov scored one as well. I was impressed by the play of almost everyone on the team, Fraser still doesn't look as old as he is, Stetela will be a great player very soon, and Martino looked great as well. Hope the Crew can get deeper into the playoffs this year.

PilotMan · 04-02-2005, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHEMICAL SOLDIER

It seemed from the highlites that htere werent that many people in th stands. Hopew it succeeds though. Oh! Does ESPN have MLS on full time now?

The announced crowd of 18,493 was smaller than anticipated, about two-thirds of capacity. By contrast, last season's United-Los Angeles Galaxy game -- Freddy Adu's first in Southern California -- drew a sellout of 27,000.

Still a pretty good showing. I think that if they start winning that will improve. As far as ESPN goes I don't think so, but here is a link to the schedule page and it shows where the games are televised.

http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/mls/schedule/

General Mike · 04-02-2005, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Desnudo

I believe the "Real" term in the Spanish league references the fact that the team has official support from the monarchy. The Real Salt Lake team name means nothing, except as an homage to Real Madrid.

Actually, they are officially a sister club to Real Madrid. Their owner Dave Checketts mentioned it on WFAN the other day.

Jonathan Ezarik · 04-02-2005, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

MLS is trying to make their teams less American sounding (for example, the former Dallas Burn is FC Dallas now)

While I'm glad they got rid of the ridiculous Burn name, they should have named it Dallas FC. FC Dallas just sounds wrong. Now if they would just get rid of all the other stupid names. Columbus Crew? LA Galaxy? Just call them Columbus and Los Angeles.

I have a difficult time getting interested in this league. Players swap teams all the time for apparently no reason. There is no transfer market (since the MLS owns all the teams) and there is no promotion/relegation tension. How many teams are there now? Twelve? How many make the playoffs? Eight? What's the point of the regular season? Give me some drama, keep players on a team for more than one season so that I can start to identify players with teams, and then I will be excited when the season starts.

SunDancer · 04-02-2005, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by General Mike

Actually, they are officially a sister club to Real Madrid. Their owner Dave Checketts mentioned it on WFAN the other day.

Interesting fact. How are they officially a sister club?

Who owns Real Madrid?

Mr. Wednesday · 04-03-2005, 04:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonathan Ezarik

I have a difficult time getting interested in this league. Players swap teams all the time for apparently no reason.

As far as I know, they generally only change teams in trades. There's not a lot of cases of players being released by one club and picked up by another.

Quote:

There is no transfer market (since the MLS owns all the teams)

Transfer sales are highly unusual in American sports -- in fact, MLB for one has very specific rules about the amount of cash that may be involved in a player transaction for reasons of competitive equity -- with player movement primarily happening through trades and free agency. You will see trades happen in MLS, but due to the single entity structure there isn't the same kind of free agent market as in the more established sports.

Quote:

and there is no promotion/relegation tension. How many teams are there now? Twelve? How many make the playoffs? Eight? What's the point of the regular season?

Pro/rel is a sticky subject; I hold that it will never happen in an American league because owners have too much invested to be willing to assume the additional risk, and the club structure will never develop to recreate pro/rel from the ground up the way I assume it arose in Europe. A large number of teams make the playoffs in order to keep drama in games late in the season; it substitutes for relegation battles in this regard.

Desnudo · 04-03-2005, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonathan Ezarik

While I'm glad they got rid of the ridiculous Burn name, they should have named it Dallas FC. FC Dallas just sounds wrong. Now if they would just get rid of all the other stupid names. Columbus Crew? LA Galaxy? Just call them Columbus and Los Angeles.

I have a difficult time getting interested in this league. Players swap teams all the time for apparently no reason. There is no transfer market (since the MLS owns all the teams) and there is no promotion/relegation tension. How many teams are there now? Twelve? How many make the playoffs? Eight? What's the point of the regular season? Give me some drama, keep players on a team for more than one season so that I can start to identify players with teams, and then I will be excited when the season starts.

They should have named it Dallas SC, unless they're planning on playing in the Arena League at some point.

Karlifornia · 04-03-2005, 05:43 PM

So we have Real Madrid....do we have Chivas Regal?

SunDancer · 04-03-2005, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weinstein7

I wouldn't hold my breath on this one. The new stadium in Rochester, which is still years away from completion, is far smaller than the original plans, and is now most likely too small to host an MLS team. It's also in a crap part of town, instead of a great location across the street from the baseball stadium as they had originally planned. They really botched the whole thing, IMHO.

I can only dream.

Flame Eater · 04-03-2005, 06:17 PM

Did any of you see the RSL v Metrostars match last night? It ended in a 0-0 draw, but there were some very exciting moments.

The weather was the story of the match though! The wind was blowing so hard that passing was nearly impossible. Goal kicks were dying in mid-air and blowing back towards the goalie. It was probably one the most amazing "weather and sports" things I've ever seen.

General Mike · 04-03-2005, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SunDancer

Interesting fact. How are they officially a sister club?

Who owns Real Madrid?

the hell if I know, but read this:

http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/news/team_...=.jsp&team=slr

weinstein7 · 04-03-2005, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by General Mike

the hell if I know, but read this:

http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/news/team_...=.jsp&team=slr

Sounds to me like Checketts is talking out of his a$$.

Butter · 04-04-2005, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PilotMan

I am making an effort to follow it more than I have in the past. I am looking forward to the season, and I will even try to go to some USL Div II matches for our new hometown Cincinnati Kings. I think as the talent gets deeper, which it seems to be, that the competition and interest will continue to rise.

I know some friends that are planning to go to a few Kings games as well. I might try to make it to a game myself... but more likely will try to go to a Crew game when possible.

I watched their game Sat. night (actually taped it and watched it last night), and the crowd was held down by the weather, but they looked really good... or the Galaxy looked bad. But the Crew defense looked strong, and hopefully they can make a run like they did last year. Either way, now that I have Fox Soccer Channel I'm planning to start paying a lot more attention to MLS, and hope that the quality of play will continue to rise, because the Crew-Galaxy game was pretty entertaining.

ice4277 · 04-04-2005, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weinstein7

Sounds to me like Checketts is talking out of his a$$.

Yeah, wishful thinking on his part. He makes it sound as if it is a unique deal between the two clubs, but really, there are a number of clubs with the 'Real' prefix in Spain, so, it is not as big of a deal as it would seem.

As for the MLS itself, if there was a team in Detroit, I'm sure I would follow it much more closely, probably even get season tickets. As it stands currently, there isn't any real advantage for me to watch the MLS; I've been to more Champions League games in the last year than I have ever been to MLS games, so I don't feel any sort of connection with it. I can get just as many games from England, Spain, and Italy on television now, so that isn't a factor either. Maybe over the summer, but at this point, it holds little interest.

ISiddiqui · 04-04-2005, 02:59 PM

The "Real" in front of Salt Lake is just stupid. There is no deal with Real Madrid, but maybe it makes it sound better if there is. I mean the 'Real' stands for the royal mark (so to speak). Very strange in a country which has never had a royal family.

I'm interested to see what the MLS does this year. I used to be a Metrostars fan, but now I'll just root against that little bitch, Donovan

.

SirFozzie · 04-04-2005, 03:14 PM

Hey ISiddiqui, you never responded to my ping thread about your Newcastle boys

ISiddiqui · 04-04-2005, 03:34 PM

Ping thread?

Mr. Wednesday · 04-04-2005, 07:22 PM

See, if you call it "Real", then all the Eurosnobs nod and agree at what a nice Euro-sounding name you've got. Whereas if you call it "Royal", which would make more sense language-wise since they're not a Spain-focused club AFAIK, everybody would realize how stupid it is. It's just Eurosnobbery run amok.

ISiddiqui · 04-04-2005, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Wednesday

See, if you call it "Real", then all the Eurosnobs nod and agree at what a nice Euro-sounding name you've got.

Um... no. All the "Eurosnobs" think the name is an abomination. Just because a team has a European sounding name doesn't mean all the Europhiles will embrace it and say how amazing it is when it definetly doesn't fit.

There is a HUGE difference between "Real Salt Lake" and, say, "FC Dallas", which does make sense.

Jonathan Ezarik · 04-05-2005, 12:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Very strange in a country which has never had a royal family.

How dare you say that the Kennedy family is not royalty!

04-02-2005, 11:58 AM	#2
SirFozzie Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: The State of Insanity	Go Revolution! Will be in the Fort for every Revs home game again this year __________________ Check out Foz's New Video Game Site, An 8-bit Mind in an 8GB world! http://an8bitmind.com

04-02-2005, 01:06 PM	#4
TredWel High School Varsity Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Old Forge, PA	If it's on, and I don't have any EPL games on tape, I'll watch, but I'm not terribly excited about the opening of the season. __________________ There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people...religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin. - Linus Van Pelt

04-02-2005, 01:34 PM	#5
Eaglesfan27 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: New Jersey	I'm looking forward to watching MLS today/tonight. __________________ Retired GM of the eNFL 2007 Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles (19-0 record.) GM of the WOOF 2006 Doggie Bowl Champion Atlantic City Gamblers. GM of the IHOF 2019 and 2022 IHOF Bowl Champion Asheville Axemen. Last edited by Eaglesfan27 : 04-02-2005 at 01:34 PM.

04-02-2005, 02:06 PM	#9
SirFozzie Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: The State of Insanity	It's a loan word from Spanish, meaning Royal. (for example, Real Madrid, the big spanish team, had connections with Spanish Royalty). MLS is trying to make their teams less American sounding (for example, the former Dallas Burn is FC Dallas now) __________________ Check out Foz's New Video Game Site, An 8-bit Mind in an 8GB world! http://an8bitmind.com

04-02-2005, 02:51 PM	#13
PilotMan Head Coach Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Seven miles up	I am making an effort to follow it more than I have in the past. I am looking forward to the season, and I will even try to go to some USL Div II matches for our new hometown Cincinnati Kings. I think as the talent gets deeper, which it seems to be, that the competition and interest will continue to rise. __________________ He's just like if Snow White was competitive, horny, and capable of beating the shit out of anyone that called her Pops. Like Steam? Join the FOFC Steam group here: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/FOFConSteam

04-02-2005, 12:14 PM	#3
Pyser Pro Rookie Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Los Angeles	was offered tix to the metrostars tonight. but mls + rain = no thanks for me.

04-02-2005, 01:46 PM	#6
Desnudo Coordinator Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Here and There	I'm more interested in the league now that Eddie Johnson has really come on, and I'm curious to see Freddy Adu develop. But I don't think I'll ever truely get into the league due to the lack of promotion/relegation.

04-02-2005, 02:00 PM	#7
st.cronin General Manager Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: New Mexico	I don't know much about Soccer but what does it mean when a team is prefixed with 'Real'?

04-02-2005, 02:05 PM	#8
Desnudo Coordinator Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Here and There	I believe the "Real" term in the Spanish league references the fact that the team has official support from the monarchy. The Real Salt Lake team name means nothing, except as an homage to Real Madrid.

04-02-2005, 02:38 PM	#10
tanglewood College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2004	FYI, it's pronounced "Ray-al".

04-02-2005, 04:07 PM	#14
FBPro College Starter Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: SE	I'm a fan, but since there isn't one in my area it is rather difficult. __________________ GM RayCo Raiders-est. 2004-2012 Charter member of the IHOF-RayCo GM GM Tennessee Titans PFL 2011-2014 GM Tennessee Titans FOWL 2020-2025

04-02-2005, 04:07 PM	#15
SunDancer College Benchwarmer Join Date: Sep 2002	What level do you think the MLS is at in compared to Europe? League One of England? Where is Chivas from? The MLS is getting better, but it's not anywheres close to the European leagues in technically and sound play. Donovan is smoking the pipe if he thinks it isn't.

04-02-2005, 06:16 PM	#18
condors College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	The league now is probally about that level. 6 years ago it wasn't as good. What i like is that it keeps getting better and better. There are players i truely enjoy watching. Ruiz is a dirty little guy but i get a kick out of him jumping with a defender elbowing him in the head,kneeing him in the groin, and then flopping on his back if he has no play and getting up screaming and making a motion of bringing out a card. I just heard this is the last year of his contract in the MLS. It will be a shame to see him go.(i am a Columbus Crew fan)

04-02-2005, 06:45 PM	#19
Mr. Wednesday Pro Starter Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: South Bend, IN	The pandering to the Eurosnobs annoys me, so I will continue to call it "real" (or, frequently, "fake" or "imitation"). __________________ Hattrick - Brays Bayou FC (70854) / USA III.4 Hockey Arena - Houston Aeros / USA II.1 Thanks to my FOFC Hattrick supporters - Blackout, Brillig, kingfc22, RPI-fan, Rich1033, antbacker, One_to7, ur_land, KevinNU7, and TonyR (PM me if you support me and I've missed you)

04-02-2005, 09:04 PM	#22
SunDancer College Benchwarmer Join Date: Sep 2002	What the MetroStars matchup...Alot better then the DC-Chivas game technically. I got a much better feeling from that game. I hope the MLS comes to Rochester, which is just a hour down the freeway from me.

04-02-2005, 10:10 PM	#24
TurnerONU22 High School Varsity Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Ashville, OH	Went to the Crew game tonight in the lovely Columbus weather (high 30's, rain/snow mix). The Crew played really well and seem to be complmenting their solid D with some good offense as Edson Buddle scored a couple and new pickup Razov scored one as well. I was impressed by the play of almost everyone on the team, Fraser still doesn't look as old as he is, Stetela will be a great player very soon, and Martino looked great as well. Hope the Crew can get deeper into the playoffs this year.

04-03-2005, 05:43 PM	#31
Karlifornia Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: San Jose, CA	So we have Real Madrid....do we have Chivas Regal? __________________ Look into the mind of a crazy man (NSFW) http://www.whitepowerupdate.wordpress.com

04-03-2005, 06:17 PM	#33
Flame Eater H.S. Freshman Team Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Albany, NY	Did any of you see the RSL v Metrostars match last night? It ended in a 0-0 draw, but there were some very exciting moments. The weather was the story of the match though! The wind was blowing so hard that passing was nearly impossible. Goal kicks were dying in mid-air and blowing back towards the goalie. It was probably one the most amazing "weather and sports" things I've ever seen.

04-04-2005, 02:59 PM	#38
ISiddiqui Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Decatur, GA	The "Real" in front of Salt Lake is just stupid. There is no deal with Real Madrid, but maybe it makes it sound better if there is. I mean the 'Real' stands for the royal mark (so to speak). Very strange in a country which has never had a royal family. I'm interested to see what the MLS does this year. I used to be a Metrostars fan, but now I'll just root against that little bitch, Donovan . __________________ "A prayer for the wild at heart, kept in cages" -Tennessee Williams

04-04-2005, 03:14 PM	#39
SirFozzie Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: The State of Insanity	Hey ISiddiqui, you never responded to my ping thread about your Newcastle boys __________________ Check out Foz's New Video Game Site, An 8-bit Mind in an 8GB world! http://an8bitmind.com

04-04-2005, 03:34 PM	#40
ISiddiqui Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Decatur, GA	Ping thread? __________________ "A prayer for the wild at heart, kept in cages" -Tennessee Williams

04-04-2005, 07:22 PM	#41
Mr. Wednesday Pro Starter Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: South Bend, IN	See, if you call it "Real", then all the Eurosnobs nod and agree at what a nice Euro-sounding name you've got. Whereas if you call it "Royal", which would make more sense language-wise since they're not a Spain-focused club AFAIK, everybody would realize how stupid it is. It's just Eurosnobbery run amok. __________________ Hattrick - Brays Bayou FC (70854) / USA III.4 Hockey Arena - Houston Aeros / USA II.1 Thanks to my FOFC Hattrick supporters - Blackout, Brillig, kingfc22, RPI-fan, Rich1033, antbacker, One_to7, ur_land, KevinNU7, and TonyR (PM me if you support me and I've missed you)

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