Why MLS is praying Chicago wins it all

2009-10-22T15:24:23-04:00

2008-11-06T10:50:32-05:00

2008-11-06T11:25:32-05:00

2009-02-05T12:51:45-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/604/891/thumb/061011_munson_vmed_9p.widec.jpg 41 VA

yanksyanksyanksss

Fredericksburg 605531

29 These morons wouldn't feel the need to attack soccer if they didn't feel threatened. Aww little inferiority/superiority complex going on simpletons?? 4228421

2008-11-15T00:44:19-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/607/538/thumb/crew-logo-yellow-scarf-thumb.jpg 2 OH

michaelcoyote

Columbus 608178

28 Hey Freedman.. The Crew win too... Just like last night.. Srry to screw up your brilliant plan of ignoring the obvious. 3345942

2008-11-09T23:02:44-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/467/27/thumb/jose-mourinho.gif 146 NY

Be Champions 315

Dewitt 46967

27 Well a team has already failed in Miami. Also the Latin American population in Miami is Cuban and they tend to like baseball. Also Miami is just a horrible sports town in general. No team draws well. 3292394

2008-11-09T05:03:02-05:00

ellabulldog

Geneva 603882

26 I'm a former Fire season ticket holder. Blanco is over rated. He is a washed up player past his prime. Reminds me of Valderamma from years back. Sure he has the skill to pass when given space but no defense at all and can't run at defenders. Putting has beens like Frankowski or Blanco "and even McBride is old" is a marketing gimmick that doesn't work on those of us that know true soccer skill. Beasley, Bocanagra and Ralph are in Europe and have yet to be replaced with similar talent and the Fire got nothing in return. Sign someone like Diego to play center midfield. The MLS will lose out if they market based on ethnicity and not skill. Detroit signs Russians because they are good hockey players, not to get Russian fans in the stands. 3287184

2008-11-08T11:11:01-05:00

Woodrovski

No City 603159

25 The reason soccer will nver be as popular in the USA is that too many Americans think that if the USA isn't the best in it then they could care less. Baseball, Football and Basketball is only in the USA so they will always be technically "World Champion" Which is stupid becasue the "world" isnt playing against them. Hockey is a Canadian sport so that is why it isnt as popular. Until the USA wins the World Cup, most Americans won't pay attention. It's really too bad of the USA bad attitude that they are missing the best sport in the world. 3281771

2008-11-08T06:43:05-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/596/536/thumb/Galaxy_logo.png 23 CA

GalaxyMan08

Pasadena 597176

24 Soccer's success is going to be difficult, but in the end, the league will get to where it wants to be. In terms of how popular it can get, time will tell. 3281325

2008-11-07T12:55:35-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/531/098/thumb/Fire.jpg 537 IL

rhussmann

Chicago 531538

23 Another comment about last nights game. Looking back on some matches I was at even back at Soldier Field around five years ago- I noticed a large portion of the crowd were probably around the age of 7-9. This made sense considering the family environment the Fire tried to put on for the kids- and of course the popularity of soccer for these kids. Looking back at the crowd last night- I noticed that while those 7-9 year olds are still there, many of who I saw sitting around were teenagers and seemed knowlegable about the game- and were interested in the actual play on the field. I think AYSO's development, as well as these kids having quality matches to watch more and more in person and on TV are a good thing, and with attendance figures rising more and more every year- I think soccer/futbol is here to stay, and will in fact some day be popular amongst many. 3274536

2008-11-07T12:48:18-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/531/098/thumb/Fire.jpg 537 IL

rhussmann

Chicago 531538

22 I, being a jaded Fire fan of course hope the Fire can continue to play well. I was at the match last night (Section 114- next to The Section 8 crazies) and was impressed at the fact that despite the rain, despite the dropping temperatures, and despite the Thursday night time-slot- there were over 17,000 there to watch a good quality side dominate a very entertaining match. This team really has it all- and it would be a great story for them to win it all this year! 3274378

2008-11-07T08:39:41-05:00

aeronaut

Chicago 193369

21 The question for MLS is not whether people reading this message board have heard of it, but rather whether the kids of today have heard of it. AYSO is bringing the game to America's youth, and they will determine whether MLS is a flash in the pan or a long term success story. People today look back at stories about George Halas and the Decatur Staleys in the '20's; I suspect that football had it's critics back then too. Now it dominates the US sports landscape. Everywhere else in the world, soccer is king. And with something like 3 million kids playing, the stage is set. Another interesting tidbit is that in MLS, players aren't under contract with a team, they have a contract with the league, and are assigned to a team. Sure, there's some allowance for preferences, such as when Freddy Adu came up and wanted to play in DC where he lived, or Brian McBride's wanting to play for his hometown team, the Fire. But there won't be free agents like in the major sports. This model was set up to keep the league economically sound, and has worked for the most part. When revenues increase to the point that MLS teams could consider getting top players from South America or Europe to come here (and before the twilight of their careers,) I'm sure they will. Perhaps Freddie Ljungberg is the start of that trend, we'll see. Bottom line, the market will decide. 3270709

2008-11-07T07:47:48-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/153/59/thumb/MrFish.jpg 5 NJ

Mr. Fish

West Orange 15379

20 Having to defend the league and sport in every soccer post is tiresome. The league is thriving, adding four teams in the next four years, and is earning more respect each passing season. MLS has nothing to apologize for. Nothing. It would be great for a well-supported team like Chicago to win. That said, Columbus' emergence this season has been terrific to watch. I'm hoping the Crew, who have yet to win the MLS Cup, will beat Houston in a well-played entertaining final. 3270564

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/blanco-fire.jpg" alt="Blanco-fire" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">A title for Cuauhtémoc Blanco and the Fire would help MLS. </div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Brian Kersey/Getty Images</div> </div> When you're trying hard to impress people, it's usually the last impression -- not the first -- they remember. No one recalls your firm handshake and charming smile if you start insulting the wait staff. To the casual fan of soccer in America -- the demographic Major League Soccer supposedly covets in this new era of David Beckham, Red Bull Arena and Drew Carey -- it's sure looking like America's league is in bad shape as we approach the end of the 2008 season. Sure, we could point to all the signs that MLS is on the up. But for Joe the SportsCenter junkie, there are probably only two sad conclusions he is reaching: 1) The Beckham experiment is ending in disaster, and 2) MLS playoff games apparently draw barely more than 5,000 fans. Now obviously it's not that black and white and things aren't this dire. But there's certainly a sour taste in the mouth of those who want soccer to succeed here. That's why, behind closed doors in their seventh-floor suite in Midtown Manhattan, the league suits are cheering for the Chicago Fire so loudly, they're going hoarse. And if the Fire somehow fall short of winning MLS Cup later this month, it'll be another colossal failure on the league's part -- at least in the court of public opinion. This is no knock on the two-time defending champion Houston Dynamo. But let's put it this way: MLS can't sell the Dynamo the way it can the Fire. With Beckham and the Galaxy missing the playoffs for a third straight year, a Chicago title is the league's next-best scenario. Arguably a bigger success story in the league's designated-player era is Cuauhtémoc Blanco, the Fire's polarizing playmaker and a Mexican legend who brings the league millions of pairs of Latino eyes. If Beckham can't win a trophy, Blanco is the next best thing, if not better. Blanco is an icon, a World Cup veteran and probably the only active Mexican player in the world who can draw anywhere near the amount of interest Beckham can. That alone will be vindication if Becks never returns from his Italian adventure. But there's more: Unlike the pathetic Galaxy, the Fire win. They play dynamic, exciting soccer -- the attacking trio of Blanco, Brian McBride and Chris Rolfe may be the most aesthetically pleasing in MLS. And the Fire also have a lot less off-the-field drama to detract from winning games, as well as a roster full of characters you can get behind. Blanco's supporting cast includes six current or former U.S. national-team players, such as McBride, Rolfe and Justin Mapp. There's a Latin-born head coach in Dennis Hamlett, and five other Latino players on the squad such as Guatemalan Marco Pappa and Colombian beast Wilman Conde. There's Poland native Tomasz Frankowski to appeal to Chicago's monstrous Polish population. And there are two African-born, U.S.-schooled gamers in Bakary Soumare and Patrick Nyarko, both the epitome of immigrants living the American dream. Foreign stars. Homegrown heroes. An ethnically diverse roster and fan base that mirrors America. A winning team. For all those reasons, it's the Fire -- not the Dallas Cowboys -- who truly are America's Team. "We're a strong group of players and we're very tight-knit," says McBride, who returned to MLS in midseason after closing a nine-year run in England. "For us to win [MLS Cup] would be huge, for ourselves and for this city. I'm hopeful that it's going to happen, but there's still a lot of work to be done." If Chicago doesn't blow it during the playoffs and can carry home the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy on Nov. 23, that'll go a long way toward healing what's ailing MLS right now. It'd also mean Blanco & Co. will be playing all over Latin America next year as one of MLS' representatives in the CONCACAF Champions League, a marketing coup and huge growth opportunity for the league. (Blanco leading an American team into Mexican stadiums? ¡Qué rico!) But in the end, success for the Fire would show MLS' big-time aspirations are not a failure waiting to happen, as many of the haters have predicted. It would show the league is far more than the Beckham Show. It would prove a major-market team, with big-time players, can represent the best of American soccer. I'll say it again: I've got nothing against the Houston Dynamo. But I want MLS to keep growing and I want this foul stench out of the air. And that's why I, just like the suits on Fifth Avenue, am pulling hard for the Fire to go all the way. 20906 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/459/8/thumb/freedman_jonah.jpg 14 CA

Jonah Freedman

San Francisco 4618