Comments on A More Splendid Life: Fake Sigi: Paranoider Than I Thought

For the first time ever I clicked the 'next blog' ...

2010-03-04T06:17:35.478-05:00

For the first time ever I clicked the 'next blog' tab at the top of the blogger page, two clicks over and I reached your blog.

Really informative and interesting to have a look at. I also blog about Football from an Australian point of view... I'm a little more picture orientated though! Check it out :)

GMB

www.girlmeetsball.blogspot.com

Just because you can't accept that there is a gras...

2010-03-03T20:26:58.396-05:00

Just because you can't accept that there is a grassroots movement don't make it so.

Heard a rumor that www.soccerreform.us was being bashed in here - but I guess it's just being discounted.

No, there is no grassroots movement to have there ...

2010-02-27T09:41:17.299-05:00

No, there is no grassroots movement to have there be a traditional pro/rel system in North America. It's being floated by the people who are most vocal, and passionate, about the game at all levels, not just in their backyard.

Pro/Reg will make the league less financially stable from top to bottom because there will be multiple entities in multiple organizations based on their performance. Simple numbers mean there's more risk. Teams all over the country will be able to aspire to greatness in the top flight not simply by wining and dining Don Garber and paying a fee, but, by assembling a team befitting a championship run at their current level to hoist them into the top flight.

These are not bad things unless you live in a city where there is currently an MLS team which underachieves and/or has less than perfect footie business practices.

And, also... when the hell is there going to be a meaningful Cup competition in North America unless the lower divisions do get the kind of coverage that having a Kartik or "friend Brian" to muse on the future of leagues equally as important to the future of soccer in NA as MLS.

Voyageurs Cup, as flawed as it is, at least pays homage to the lineage of the game which MLS does so much to negate.

Don't forget about Tom Timmerman and Jeff Di Veron...

2010-02-26T15:33:32.584-05:00

Don't forget about Tom Timmerman and Jeff Di Veronica. But that's about it.

-FS

I, for one, welcome our new Canadian overlords. T...

2010-02-26T15:10:42.805-05:00

I, for one, welcome our new Canadian overlords.

That said, this made me chuckle:

"The very insistence of commentators to stay on top of the USL, NASL saga is the boldest example of this desire."

(This desire, apparently, being the open pyramid, pro/rel nonsense that isn't being held down by The Man so much as SIMPLE FREAKING ECONOMICS.)

But, no. The "commentators" who have stayed on top of the USL/NASL saga number, as I see it, about two:

1 - Kartik Krishnaiyer, who was in the pocket (and later, on the payroll) of one of the two entities.
2 - His buddy Brian from Minnesota.

That's it. That's the list. Pretty much.

It's safe to say that the USL/NASL/USSF2 sturm und drang over the winter was written about more this winter than almost anything that's ever gone on at the second division level since the days of "If you're not going to let Rochester in, why even HAVE an MLS?"

But that's largely because of the drama, the uncertainty, the systemic boredom of the MLS off-season and the need for bloggers to fill a vacuum.

It's certainly NOT because there's this grassroots movement (like that soccerreform.us bullshit moron) afoot to have a system with true movement up and down the pyramid like In The Rest Of The World (TM).

Richard, I'm not sure how you read my post as pa...

2010-02-26T14:15:44.434-05:00

Richard,

I'm not sure how you read my post as paranoid. I'm simply trying to put the issues with the Whitecaps residency program into the larger discussion Canadian bloggers have been having about MLS, and see if I can make some sense of it.

And certainly, buying back expensive Canadians is not the only way to success. But there've very few non-expensive Canadians, and I think it increases competitive pressure on TFC. Which I believe in turn fuels the desire for less restrictive rosters. Which will only get worse once Vancouver enters the league.

Also, I commented on Ben Knight's blog (and should probably comment on my own post) that MLS is notorious for tilting the playing field anyway toward certain teams. Outrage at LA and NY has been routine among other fans. So it's not like TFC is all that unique in getting special treatment.

-FS