Monday, April 14, 2008
Remembering a forgettable night in Salt Lake
I took the time to put some thoughts down over on a BigSoccer discussion thread, and thought I might share it here to.
The subject - D.C. United's horrible loss to the horrible Real Salt Lake on a horrible field.
Although the thread topic was "fire the coach", my contribution was more reflective of the meaninglessness of the MLS regular season, and offered the idea that coach Tom Soehn actually made a smart decision in not really going for the win - but rather wanting to see if the bench could win.
Here is/was my take (BTW, my BigSoccer handle is "chummer"):
I really felt while watching [the DC/RSL match Saturday] that [Coach] Soehn had literally punted this game on purpose. Not that they didn't want to win, but that they really didn't care if they won or not. This game was NEVER going to mean anything. It was depressing, disappointing, and even a little inspiring at the same time for me:
Depressing because we really looked bad - not a single player had a "good" game, and it just wasn't soccer. Any game with visible "throwball" lines is depressing for me, even the ManU v Arsenal match would be depressing played on turf with football lines. Pushing to build SSS is the best thing MLS ever did, and will go down in history as the BIGGEST reason the league survived the "early years" when historians look back in 40 years when we're bigger than Hockey and Baseball.
Disappointing because with all talk about our adding "depth", this game made it look like we were no better off than a crappy team like RSL that has a brand new front office and barely a candle to hold against our foreign recruiting relationships. Have we really invested all this effort only to have to rely on $17K/year reserve players?
A little Inspiring because I actually get a warm fuzzy thinking that Soehn basically stood up on the mountain top - literally - and screamed to the league
"I'm not going to waste my time trying to win every MLS regular season game because it's a meaningless endeavor that only keeps us from our primary goals. Teams that only have MLS Cup to play must take seriously what I cannot, because D.C. United has other major concerns. All we have to do in the MLS regular season is get results at RFK and then peak at playoff time."
The inspiration continues as I imagine him continuing with "The season is all about winning a couple of tournaments for us. We put our all into CCC and clearly could have advanced, while beating the so called "best" team in Mexico. We will now focus on SuperLiga and the Champions League, and winning at RFK so we can also then focus this Fall on the tournament that is MLS Cup playoffs. EVERYTHING ELSE between now and those tournaments is little more than training for us. As long as we win 9 games we'll be in the MLS Cup playoffs, so take your away games on a concrete field with throwball lines and shove it MLS."
If this thought process is even close to what TS was/is privately thinking, then we shouldn't fire him, we should enshrine him for knowing how to focus on what's really important. And who can blame the players for not thinking the same thing. You never like to see a professional "take a night off", but we did, and it was a good lesson, but it is in the past now and should be completely forgotten, as most of the regular season in the early months truly is forgettable.Labels: d.c. united, Real Salt Lake, Tom Soehn, Turf Fields
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
A re-Sounding victory for fans everywhere
You may or may not have been following the naming saga going on up in Seattle over their newly approved MLS franchise. The team will join the league this time next year after several years with a dominating USL-1 team named "Seattle Sounders". Well, with that team "put on hold" because it's owners were part of the group starting the MLS team, the fan base and brand for "Seattle Sounders" just happened to be ripe for use by the MLS startups desperate to get busy with their marketing efforts.
The team owners simply did not want to use the "Sounders" name, which I'm assuming was because they wanted to separate themselves from ever being confused as a 2nd-tier pro club in the USA. Big mistake guys!
Offering very uninspiring choices "Seattle FC", "Seattle Alliance", and "Seattle Republic", the 14,500 fans that voted mounted a write-in effort that would make Ralph Nadar so proud of his Green constituents in the upper northwest. So, "Seattle Sounders FC" it is. We'll see you in April 2009 boys, just don't take any of our D.C. United players in the expansion draft, and we might buy you a drink when you come to RFK for your first reSOUNDING defeat.Labels: d.c. united, MLS, Seattle Sounders FC
Friday, April 4, 2008
Has United bitten the hand that feeds them?
When I'm coaching, and need a way to pick a player or a team that gets first dibs on something for a drill, etc.. instead of telling someone to "pick a number between 1 and 10", I usually ask a question about a recent pro or college game on TV, and the first player to answer correctly "wins".
On Wednesday night, I asked a group of U13 girls if anyone could tell me the score from the D.C. United game from the night before. They had no idea, but I got an instantaneous chorus of good guesses, with one girl obviously guessing the correct 2-0 without any real clue.
So, I DQ'd everyone on the grounds of poor support of the black and red, and gave them a follow up question. The results disturbing, and it really made me think about the risk of such a high player turn over undoing all the work United has done "branding" themselves to thousands of kids they literally depend on attending each game.
My question was "name five current D.C. United players". The answers were not guesses, but they were disturbing, and should make Dan Giffin and Scott Miller pretty nervous -
Player - "Freddy Adu!"
Coach - "ahhh, nope."
Player - "umm, umm, umm, ohhh Gomez - Christian Gomez, ha hah!"
Coach - "NOPE"
Player - "WHAT?"
Coach - "They traded him"
Player, "WHY!!!, He's awesome. That was stupid."
Coach - "Sorry, don't take it out on me"
Player - "oo oo, Gros, that Josh guy with the cast"
Coach - "nope, he retired"
Player - "darnnit!"
Player - "I know, Eleco"
Coach - "nope, common guys you've got know someone."
Player - "I loved Eleco! What's going on?"
Player - "Why'd they get rid of Gomez? That was really dumb"
Coach - "sorry, but they got someone better instead"
Player "nu ahh, Gomez was the best, that's dumb"
Player - "Oh yeah... Perkins baby!!"
Coach, "nope, he went to Europe"
Player - "ahhhh!"
You get the point right? These girls rattled off more names of players than most youth players could, thanks no doubt to all the games I've taken them to over the years and my regular use of United Trivia in practices.
The fact that all the D.C. United players they had come to know were not gone, created an immediate backlash. DCU had finally taken root with youth players, only to turn them off by selling/trading/losing all the players they've worked so hard to "brand" all this time. All of us "adults" perfectly understand trying to bring in new players that are "supposed" to improve the team, but it sure must drive the marketing staff crazy! And if the team doesn't perform, there surely will be a lot of "see, I told you so" around the office staff water cooler at RFK.
I'll close with this, then ask your thoughts:
The player that LOVES Gomez so much asked - "What team did he go play for?"
Coach - "Denver"
Player - "When they play Denver, that's who I'm rooting for - GO DENVER!"
Coach - "ouch. I might have to cut you now"Labels: d.c. united
Networks should follow Title IX
Can you believe the US Women's Olympic Qualifying games won't be shown on TV? Unfortunately I do believe, and it's a real shame!
The BEST women's team in the world opens Olympic Qualifying tonight at 7:30 against Jamaica in Juarez, Mexico. They are the defending Olympic gold medalists, and tonight is the first step toward their title defense. Don't we deserve the opportunity to see our team earn their way to China in these qualifying games? Last month we all got to see the Men qualify. What do we have to do to get equal coverage for women's soccer here? How about a little Title IX enforcement for networks?
US Soccer's Match Tracker will have to do. Enjoy reading about the game in 2-minute increments :-(Labels: Olympics, U.S. Women
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Ronaldo's BEST performance?
Love or hate Manchester United, you have to applaud the performance of Cristiano Ronaldo this weekend. He scored possibly his best goal ever, then went on to assist on three others in the EPL leader's dismantling of a decent Aston Villa team. The Portuguese winger is widely believed to be a shoe-in for FIFA Player of the Year, and this latest performance is also being heralded as possibly his best ever. Good enough indeed to allow discussions in English pubs and press alike that he may nearing "George Best" greatness.
BTW, honorable mention to Wayne Rooney. Watch closely at the beginning of this highlight reel for the perfection with which he strikes his full volley. Have you ever seen a ball do that?
Enjoy:
The subject - D.C. United's horrible loss to the horrible Real Salt Lake on a horrible field.
Although the thread topic was "fire the coach", my contribution was more reflective of the meaninglessness of the MLS regular season, and offered the idea that coach Tom Soehn actually made a smart decision in not really going for the win - but rather wanting to see if the bench could win.
Here is/was my take (BTW, my BigSoccer handle is "chummer"):
I really felt while watching [the DC/RSL match Saturday] that [Coach] Soehn had literally punted this game on purpose. Not that they didn't want to win, but that they really didn't care if they won or not. This game was NEVER going to mean anything. It was depressing, disappointing, and even a little inspiring at the same time for me:
Depressing because we really looked bad - not a single player had a "good" game, and it just wasn't soccer. Any game with visible "throwball" lines is depressing for me, even the ManU v Arsenal match would be depressing played on turf with football lines. Pushing to build SSS is the best thing MLS ever did, and will go down in history as the BIGGEST reason the league survived the "early years" when historians look back in 40 years when we're bigger than Hockey and Baseball.
Disappointing because with all talk about our adding "depth", this game made it look like we were no better off than a crappy team like RSL that has a brand new front office and barely a candle to hold against our foreign recruiting relationships. Have we really invested all this effort only to have to rely on $17K/year reserve players?
A little Inspiring because I actually get a warm fuzzy thinking that Soehn basically stood up on the mountain top - literally - and screamed to the league
"I'm not going to waste my time trying to win every MLS regular season game because it's a meaningless endeavor that only keeps us from our primary goals. Teams that only have MLS Cup to play must take seriously what I cannot, because D.C. United has other major concerns. All we have to do in the MLS regular season is get results at RFK and then peak at playoff time."
The inspiration continues as I imagine him continuing with "The season is all about winning a couple of tournaments for us. We put our all into CCC and clearly could have advanced, while beating the so called "best" team in Mexico. We will now focus on SuperLiga and the Champions League, and winning at RFK so we can also then focus this Fall on the tournament that is MLS Cup playoffs. EVERYTHING ELSE between now and those tournaments is little more than training for us. As long as we win 9 games we'll be in the MLS Cup playoffs, so take your away games on a concrete field with throwball lines and shove it MLS."
If this thought process is even close to what TS was/is privately thinking, then we shouldn't fire him, we should enshrine him for knowing how to focus on what's really important. And who can blame the players for not thinking the same thing. You never like to see a professional "take a night off", but we did, and it was a good lesson, but it is in the past now and should be completely forgotten, as most of the regular season in the early months truly is forgettable.
Labels: d.c. united, Real Salt Lake, Tom Soehn, Turf Fields
You may or may not have been following the naming saga going on up in Seattle over their newly approved MLS franchise. The team will join the league this time next year after several years with a dominating USL-1 team named "Seattle Sounders". Well, with that team "put on hold" because it's owners were part of the group starting the MLS team, the fan base and brand for "Seattle Sounders" just happened to be ripe for use by the MLS startups desperate to get busy with their marketing efforts.
The team owners simply did not want to use the "Sounders" name, which I'm assuming was because they wanted to separate themselves from ever being confused as a 2nd-tier pro club in the USA. Big mistake guys!
Offering very uninspiring choices "Seattle FC", "Seattle Alliance", and "Seattle Republic", the 14,500 fans that voted mounted a write-in effort that would make Ralph Nadar so proud of his Green constituents in the upper northwest. So, "Seattle Sounders FC" it is. We'll see you in April 2009 boys, just don't take any of our D.C. United players in the expansion draft, and we might buy you a drink when you come to RFK for your first reSOUNDING defeat.
The team owners simply did not want to use the "Sounders" name, which I'm assuming was because they wanted to separate themselves from ever being confused as a 2nd-tier pro club in the USA. Big mistake guys!
Offering very uninspiring choices "Seattle FC", "Seattle Alliance", and "Seattle Republic", the 14,500 fans that voted mounted a write-in effort that would make Ralph Nadar so proud of his Green constituents in the upper northwest. So, "Seattle Sounders FC" it is. We'll see you in April 2009 boys, just don't take any of our D.C. United players in the expansion draft, and we might buy you a drink when you come to RFK for your first reSOUNDING defeat.
Labels: d.c. united, MLS, Seattle Sounders FC
Friday, April 4, 2008
Has United bitten the hand that feeds them?
When I'm coaching, and need a way to pick a player or a team that gets first dibs on something for a drill, etc.. instead of telling someone to "pick a number between 1 and 10", I usually ask a question about a recent pro or college game on TV, and the first player to answer correctly "wins".
On Wednesday night, I asked a group of U13 girls if anyone could tell me the score from the D.C. United game from the night before. They had no idea, but I got an instantaneous chorus of good guesses, with one girl obviously guessing the correct 2-0 without any real clue.
So, I DQ'd everyone on the grounds of poor support of the black and red, and gave them a follow up question. The results disturbing, and it really made me think about the risk of such a high player turn over undoing all the work United has done "branding" themselves to thousands of kids they literally depend on attending each game.
My question was "name five current D.C. United players". The answers were not guesses, but they were disturbing, and should make Dan Giffin and Scott Miller pretty nervous -
Player - "Freddy Adu!"
Coach - "ahhh, nope."
Player - "umm, umm, umm, ohhh Gomez - Christian Gomez, ha hah!"
Coach - "NOPE"
Player - "WHAT?"
Coach - "They traded him"
Player, "WHY!!!, He's awesome. That was stupid."
Coach - "Sorry, don't take it out on me"
Player - "oo oo, Gros, that Josh guy with the cast"
Coach - "nope, he retired"
Player - "darnnit!"
Player - "I know, Eleco"
Coach - "nope, common guys you've got know someone."
Player - "I loved Eleco! What's going on?"
Player - "Why'd they get rid of Gomez? That was really dumb"
Coach - "sorry, but they got someone better instead"
Player "nu ahh, Gomez was the best, that's dumb"
Player - "Oh yeah... Perkins baby!!"
Coach, "nope, he went to Europe"
Player - "ahhhh!"
You get the point right? These girls rattled off more names of players than most youth players could, thanks no doubt to all the games I've taken them to over the years and my regular use of United Trivia in practices.
The fact that all the D.C. United players they had come to know were not gone, created an immediate backlash. DCU had finally taken root with youth players, only to turn them off by selling/trading/losing all the players they've worked so hard to "brand" all this time. All of us "adults" perfectly understand trying to bring in new players that are "supposed" to improve the team, but it sure must drive the marketing staff crazy! And if the team doesn't perform, there surely will be a lot of "see, I told you so" around the office staff water cooler at RFK.
I'll close with this, then ask your thoughts:
The player that LOVES Gomez so much asked - "What team did he go play for?"
Coach - "Denver"
Player - "When they play Denver, that's who I'm rooting for - GO DENVER!"
Coach - "ouch. I might have to cut you now"Labels: d.c. united
Networks should follow Title IX
Can you believe the US Women's Olympic Qualifying games won't be shown on TV? Unfortunately I do believe, and it's a real shame!
The BEST women's team in the world opens Olympic Qualifying tonight at 7:30 against Jamaica in Juarez, Mexico. They are the defending Olympic gold medalists, and tonight is the first step toward their title defense. Don't we deserve the opportunity to see our team earn their way to China in these qualifying games? Last month we all got to see the Men qualify. What do we have to do to get equal coverage for women's soccer here? How about a little Title IX enforcement for networks?
US Soccer's Match Tracker will have to do. Enjoy reading about the game in 2-minute increments :-(Labels: Olympics, U.S. Women
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Ronaldo's BEST performance?
Love or hate Manchester United, you have to applaud the performance of Cristiano Ronaldo this weekend. He scored possibly his best goal ever, then went on to assist on three others in the EPL leader's dismantling of a decent Aston Villa team. The Portuguese winger is widely believed to be a shoe-in for FIFA Player of the Year, and this latest performance is also being heralded as possibly his best ever. Good enough indeed to allow discussions in English pubs and press alike that he may nearing "George Best" greatness.
BTW, honorable mention to Wayne Rooney. Watch closely at the beginning of this highlight reel for the perfection with which he strikes his full volley. Have you ever seen a ball do that?
Enjoy:
On Wednesday night, I asked a group of U13 girls if anyone could tell me the score from the D.C. United game from the night before. They had no idea, but I got an instantaneous chorus of good guesses, with one girl obviously guessing the correct 2-0 without any real clue.
So, I DQ'd everyone on the grounds of poor support of the black and red, and gave them a follow up question. The results disturbing, and it really made me think about the risk of such a high player turn over undoing all the work United has done "branding" themselves to thousands of kids they literally depend on attending each game.
My question was "name five current D.C. United players". The answers were not guesses, but they were disturbing, and should make Dan Giffin and Scott Miller pretty nervous -
Player - "Freddy Adu!"
Coach - "ahhh, nope."
Player - "umm, umm, umm, ohhh Gomez - Christian Gomez, ha hah!"
Coach - "NOPE"
Player - "WHAT?"
Coach - "They traded him"
Player, "WHY!!!, He's awesome. That was stupid."
Coach - "Sorry, don't take it out on me"
Player - "oo oo, Gros, that Josh guy with the cast"
Coach - "nope, he retired"
Player - "darnnit!"
Player - "I know, Eleco"
Coach - "nope, common guys you've got know someone."
Player - "I loved Eleco! What's going on?"
Player - "Why'd they get rid of Gomez? That was really dumb"
Coach - "sorry, but they got someone better instead"
Player "nu ahh, Gomez was the best, that's dumb"
Player - "Oh yeah... Perkins baby!!"
Coach, "nope, he went to Europe"
Player - "ahhhh!"
You get the point right? These girls rattled off more names of players than most youth players could, thanks no doubt to all the games I've taken them to over the years and my regular use of United Trivia in practices.
The fact that all the D.C. United players they had come to know were not gone, created an immediate backlash. DCU had finally taken root with youth players, only to turn them off by selling/trading/losing all the players they've worked so hard to "brand" all this time. All of us "adults" perfectly understand trying to bring in new players that are "supposed" to improve the team, but it sure must drive the marketing staff crazy! And if the team doesn't perform, there surely will be a lot of "see, I told you so" around the office staff water cooler at RFK.
I'll close with this, then ask your thoughts:
The player that LOVES Gomez so much asked - "What team did he go play for?"
Coach - "Denver"
Player - "When they play Denver, that's who I'm rooting for - GO DENVER!"
Coach - "ouch. I might have to cut you now"
Labels: d.c. united
Can you believe the US Women's Olympic Qualifying games won't be shown on TV? Unfortunately I do believe, and it's a real shame!
The BEST women's team in the world opens Olympic Qualifying tonight at 7:30 against Jamaica in Juarez, Mexico. They are the defending Olympic gold medalists, and tonight is the first step toward their title defense. Don't we deserve the opportunity to see our team earn their way to China in these qualifying games? Last month we all got to see the Men qualify. What do we have to do to get equal coverage for women's soccer here? How about a little Title IX enforcement for networks?
US Soccer's Match Tracker will have to do. Enjoy reading about the game in 2-minute increments :-(
The BEST women's team in the world opens Olympic Qualifying tonight at 7:30 against Jamaica in Juarez, Mexico. They are the defending Olympic gold medalists, and tonight is the first step toward their title defense. Don't we deserve the opportunity to see our team earn their way to China in these qualifying games? Last month we all got to see the Men qualify. What do we have to do to get equal coverage for women's soccer here? How about a little Title IX enforcement for networks?
US Soccer's Match Tracker will have to do. Enjoy reading about the game in 2-minute increments :-(
Labels: Olympics, U.S. Women
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Ronaldo's BEST performance?
Love or hate Manchester United, you have to applaud the performance of Cristiano Ronaldo this weekend. He scored possibly his best goal ever, then went on to assist on three others in the EPL leader's dismantling of a decent Aston Villa team. The Portuguese winger is widely believed to be a shoe-in for FIFA Player of the Year, and this latest performance is also being heralded as possibly his best ever. Good enough indeed to allow discussions in English pubs and press alike that he may nearing "George Best" greatness.
BTW, honorable mention to Wayne Rooney. Watch closely at the beginning of this highlight reel for the perfection with which he strikes his full volley. Have you ever seen a ball do that?
Enjoy:
BTW, honorable mention to Wayne Rooney. Watch closely at the beginning of this highlight reel for the perfection with which he strikes his full volley. Have you ever seen a ball do that?
Enjoy:
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