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A Happy Thanksgiving to all who have visited, posted and supported this website! Thank you and wishing you a wonderful day.
Lots of great soccer this weekend with Real Madrid and Barcelona playing which might just feature the return of Cristiano Ronaldo . Also don’t forget great Mexican league playoff action as well……………Check out my column in the Houston Chronicle on Saturday morning.
KROENKE BUYS MORE
For the second time this week Stan Kroenke has bought up more shares of Arsenal in England. He now inches closer to taking over the club.
He now has 29.9% with 30% the magic number for takeover. Now of course Kroenke owns the Colorado Rapids of MLS and deserves credit for helping to get the stadium built in Commerce City but the expected boom of real estate value and development has not ocurred not to mention the Rapids making little impact in Denver with a small fan base and little relevancy compared to his other professional teams the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche.
One deserves credit for buying MLS clubs and getting stadiums built but fans and the media have reached an impasse where now teams have to be analyzed for what they are really doing to grow the sport. Just building a stadium and exisiting is not enough and brings down the overall profile of the league.
If you support the Dynamo you should be concerned about empty seats in other markets.
It is also interesting in Denver as they have never had good newspaper coverage and even with Kroenke NBA and NHL ties the Rapids have always been an afterthought . Other markets of concern in MLS include Dallas, Kansas City, Columbus, New York…New York will get their initial excitment over an amazing facility in Harrison, New Jersey but for soccer to survive their vision, connection to community, marketing and promotion practices and on field product must be impactful.
Philadelphia need to be strong out of the blocks in their first season in 2010 to set the right standard. You only get one chance.
Don Garber spoke out to me on the my recent radio show about the Denver and Stan Kroenke situation. Go to the podcast at 790thesportsanimal.com, click Glenn Davis and listen to the Garber interview.
Clint Dempsey continues to score goals and had 2 against Blackburn in a 3-0 win today. Jozy Altidore started for Hull City in a 3-2 win over Everton and Tim Howard.
Always have loved the skill of Rodrigo Tello a Chilean. HE scored the lone goal for Beskitas in a 1-0 win at Old Trafford against Manchester United who rested a number of regulars in Champions League play.
What do you think of Philadelphia’s expansion draft list that by the way does not include a Dynamo player? So all of you worried about losing Mike Chabala or others can breathe a sigh of relief. The real question still remains around re-signing Stuart Holden which for me I believe is a long shot. Can the Dynamo come up with a compensation package close to what teams overseas can offer. Is the Scottish Premier League the place for Holden?
Abe Thompson and John Michael Hayden of the Dynamo were waived with Thompson being picked up by Real Salt Lake.
Here is who Philadelphia picked. Make note of the total salaries of this group of players that in 2009 was around $640,000. Four or five of these players made around the figure of $34,000. The Dynamo protected a number of younger players like Corey Ashe and Geoff Cameron who made a salary at around $34,000.
So much of these decisions come down to the overall salary cap issue. Teams who did not have a player along with the Dynamo included Toronto FC, Real Salt Lake, FC Dallas and KC.
Jordan Harvey (Colorado)
Andrew Jacobsen (DC)
Brad Knighton (NE)
Sebastien LeToux (Seattle)
Stefani Miglioranzi (LA)
Alejandro Moreno (Columbus)
Dave Myrie (Chicago)
Shea Salinas (SJ)
Shavar Thomas (Chivas USA)
Andrew Zimmermann (NY)
Only three players (Shavar Thomas, Alejandro Moreno, Sebastien LeToux) out of the above group made more than $100,000 last year.
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AND THE REPLACEMENT FOR MOVSYSIAN IS…Abe thompson?
And just think this guy actually came out of a college program (Furman) and played for 3 years. Yes, college isn’t the best place to develop but it shows that if you are talented and hungry enough you can make it.
Pulled straight from wewantrapidman.blogspot.com:
“Stan Kroenke bought this club in 2003. Without his money, there is no club. There is not enough money coming in from ticket sales to support the club significantly and there is still no club sponsorship. So, we have to largely rely on the owner for any investment in players. In truth, this doesn’t work. It’s his money and he can spend it how he wants but it is clear he is far more interested in Arsenal than he ever will be in the Rapids. After all, just a couple of days after the Rapids were eliminated from the playoffs, he was busy buying up more Arsenal shares. With Arsenal shares at something like $14,000 each, just think what a few hundred shares here and there could buy for the Rapids. A Designated Player perhaps? You could say the same about trimming a few zeros off Carmelo Anthony\’s salary as I am sure some of Kroenke’s worth goes into that too but it didn’t show much sensitivity to the Rapids’ plight to be so active on the Arsenal front moments after the elimination from the playoffs. As I say, it is his money and it his club but it is clear where the priorities are.
Money alone will not buy a successful team. Maybe a DP is not the right answer. But it is clear from the terrible decline of the team in the last several weeks of the season that there was no strength in depth once Clark, Smith et al were injured. Gary Smith’s frustration at the end of the Salt Lake game spoke volumes. The squad is not that far off from being a serious MLS challenger but it needs one or two exceptional players who will help take it to that level. Without financial investment, be it from a sponsor, or from the owner, it isn’t going to happen. I guess the club could receive some significant money by selling one of its more high profile players to Europe, such as Casey or Cummings, but, even replacing one of them with a top level player, wouldn\’t really add to the squad per se. Gary Smith needs reassurance he can go out and buy some high level guys or, I fear, he may be off to seek greener pastures. What price he may get an offer from Toronto where his friend, Chris Cummins, has just left the managerial position?
The other priority has to be improving the club’s profile within the city. Another example of insensitivity to the Rapids’ plight was CBS4 news on the Monday night after the Rapids were confirmed as missing the playoffs following New England’s victory over Columbus. Vic Lombardi, who claims to be a soccer fan, pontificated over how good the Denver sporting scene is right now with success for the Broncos, Rockies, Nuggets and Avalanche. Granted, the Rapids may never be up there with those teams in terms of following but that doesn’t really matter. The fact is there is an 18,000 seater stadium called DSG Park which can be full with the right ingredient on the pitch. That means at minimum 18,000 people the local media could cater to. There is an entrenched view on the part of the powers that be at local television companies and the Denver Post that soccer simply doesn’t matter. Who are they to say that? They should not be letting their personal preferences dictate which sports are important. Soccer is important to a lot of people and it is nothing short of outrageous that nearly all of them, Lionel Bienvenu excepted, consistently relegate it to nothing. Who are they catering to? Themselves or sports fans? I think we know the answer to that one. The media coverage has to improve despite all these obstacles. And it doesn’t have to be an MLS Cup winning team to improve such coverage. Are we only interested in teams if they win? I mean, would coverage of the Broncos have stopped if Josh McDaniels hadn’t had such a fairytale start to the season?”
It’s always interesting [and thought provoking] to see how the other half lives…
WHERE’S OUR STADIUM, HOUSTON ???
Christopher,
Thanks for the post and great information and your insight.
The blame can’t solely be placed on the media, accountability must also be placed on the organization and Kroenke, in fact most of this has to be put on the team.
To gain media attention takes a number of factors but they must be courted and the olive branch has to be extended.
Stadiums alone will not bring soccer fans in MLS.