Kind a funny, actually.

I think the Yankee's exec needs to tone it down a bit.

Sounds like the Yankees guy is a crabby old man who is pissed because he can't sell tickets and his gazillion dollar team sucks. F the Yanks.

baseball is afraid of the world wide powerhouse that is soccer.... they will take any shot at downplaying the league...

also "We draw more people in a year than his entire league does in a year."

dumbest statement EVER.... of course this will happen.... they only play like a hundred some games a year in a league that is over a hundred years old... that was a DUMB cheap shot

I love how Levine is trying to come off like he's so superior to Garber and MLS. Because nothing says good business plan like dropping two bank bailouts on CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett. Or building a billion dollar ballpark in one of the worst areas of New York and asking for taxpayer money. Or turning your back on 80 years of history and the most historic venue in the history of American sports to cash in on luxury suites and in turn, pricing out your most loyal fans because being the most valuable sports franchise in America just isn't good enough. I love baseball, and as much as I hate the NY Yankees, I respect the history of the club. But this comes off as condescending and petty.

He is afraid of a real sport with real athletes not a lot of **** druggies

*fat a$$

I'm surprised that the consensus is everyone taking Garber's side. I think he's getting a bit of a free pass here all things considered. Levine definitely overreacted and showed some cracks, but Garber has a history of coming off as a pompous arse. And the fact that he had to later explain his comments does speak to the fact that they were poorly crafted.

As for Levine's comparison of numbers, he's not entirely off base here, 3.46m fans over 210 games (MLS) compared to 4.3m with 81 home games...

And before anyone starts banging on me, I HATE the Yankees, but Garber's a tool

QUOTE(#5):

Originally posted 12:25 PM ET  04.25 by TLVG: Free Diego!!!

I love how Levine is trying to come off like he's so superior to Garber and MLS. Because nothing says good business plan like dropping two bank bailouts on CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett. Or building a billion dollar ballpark in one of the worst areas of New York and asking for taxpayer money. Or turning your back on 80 years of history and the most historic venue in the history of American sports to cash in on luxury suites and in turn, pricing out your most loyal fans because being the most valuable sports franchise in America just isn't good enough. I love baseball, and as much as I hate the NY Yankees, I respect the history of the club. But this comes off as condescending and petty.

right on man.

plus, he's just pissed because his new stadium is a curse. instead of the yankees hitting HRs out of the park, it's the other teams.
and, you cant even see monument park from the field like at the old yankee stadium. thats just disrespectful. the ghosts of the babe, et al. are pissed, and gonna screw the yanks. i hate that team. and the mets for good measure.

I'm a Yankee fan, this hurts to read.

Another reason the Yankees blow.

Just how is Garber a "tool?" Seems like he is going a pretty good job to me. Perfect, nahhh, but tool? Heck no.

QUOTE(#8):

Originally posted 12:52 PM ET  04.25 by PootieTang: Fight Da Power

I'm surprised that the consensus is everyone taking Garber's side. I

You gotta remember, the vast majority of posters on here are soccer fans. Baseball for better or worse, is looked down upon. I think its more of a territorial, "mine is better than yours" thing.

QUOTE(#10):

Originally posted 01:15 PM ET  04.25 by D'A

I'm a Yankee fan, this hurts to read.

what part hurts? the part were the yankees still think theyre the top franchise in all of american pro sport leagues? or the fact that they spend the most money and still cant peice togeather a deep playoff run season?

QUOTE(#12):

Originally posted 01:27 PM ET  04.25 by TLVG: Free Diego!!!

You gotta remember, the vast majority of posters on here are soccer fans. Baseball for better or worse, is looked down upon. I think its more of a territorial, "mine is better than yours" thing.

That and the fact that every time someone from soccer has the audacity to question any of the big four leagues, they come out swinging hard!
God forbid anyone question the ethics and practices of 'real american sports'!
Why so defensive Levine? How about, "we have more attendance in a week than you have in a year", if you're gonna come up with clever remarks. Moron.
All you anti-soccer posters, I dare you to spout your fecal comments in Turkey, at a Galatasaray game or any other pro soccer country where you're outnumbered by real soccer fanatics.
You'd be as quiet as a church mouse so you don't get your heads split.

I'm glad Garbler took the high road and defined his comment. I'm not one his biggest fans but the guy does understand spin.

"Garbler"...funny. First i must disclaim that i'm not a baseball fan. I'm football all the way ...american and world. I hate when people in the states disparage football. Nobody goes after the big four...nobody talks shet about "american sports." Why the hate on football(i'm gonna stop calling it soccer...i'm putting my foot down ...not appeasing anyone, anymore)... are they scared? I have heard it all..."its not physical...its a game for sissys"...and none of these so called tough guys ever played the game. Yes, I'm talking about Jim Rome (i hate that turd and his pretentious goatie) and his followers. Did i mention i hate Jim Rome...what a tool.

Sounds like Randy Levine was trynna impress Hank Steinbrener. I could just Imagine Hank giving him the pompous hi-5. It's true though how Yankee Stadium and Citi field have larger empty sections. $3,000 seats for the lower section at a regular season game? That is ridiculous. What is it 81 home games? $243,000* just to watch them for 1 season. Who has $243,000 dollars to spend? Not everyone in New York is a CEO.

*The Yankees will not make the playoffs. Based on on-field preformance. Saving you $100,000 for playoff tickets...lol

Yea...Jim Rome is a punk. Talking all his junk.

QUOTE(#12):

Originally posted 01:27 PM ET  04.25 by TLVG: Free Diego!!!

You gotta remember, the vast majority of posters on here are soccer fans. Baseball for better or worse, is looked down upon. I think its more of a territorial, "mine is better than yours" thing.

I totally get that. And I defend MLS when I can do so in good conscience despite its many flaws. It's comical though for several reasons:

1) If it involved someone from within the soccer community taking a shot at Garber, this thread would be filled with "Right on, Garber is a dumb****" comments.

2) This EXACT thread is on the baseball board and SHOCKINGLY the sentiment is slightly different than you'll find here (though Yankee haters are taking the opportunity to get their shots in even if they don't like soccer).

3) If Garber truly had no intention of drawing attention to himself and the league, he could have spoken in general terms rather than trying to call out specific teams. He knew exactly what he was doing. Truth is, he wasn't trying to compare MLS to MLB at all if you heard the comments. He really was just speaking on the general sports landscape in this economy, and the comments were taken out of context, but again, he left himself open for this to happen. Should have known better.

This was a ridiculous comment by Yankees President. To put it to an understandable turn around its like if the president of say... Real Madrid said "o we have more fans in a month than the Spanish Basketball league has in a year". Moron, of course it would be true. I recommend he compares the MLB (a well aged and established league) the say the Premiere league or La Liga and not a young league like the MLS.

Pootie, the middle section of your point three seems to exonerate Garber, and I agree (in spite of the rest of your points which seem to lean otherwise). Levine is the one who is a pompous hothead reeling from the pressure of keeping the Yankees successful (monetarily). He took an arrogant swipe at a sport that he knows most people in America know little about, and what they do "know" they hear from the even more pompous goatee'd sportscaster. Baseball fans are just falling in lockstep with him on the MLB boards. Shoot from the hip, rather than look at the context with insight.