Zathras

NASL (Division 2) championship. The NSC Minnesota Stars (my local team) went down to Florida and won the championship on Saturday. I went, along with about 25 other fans from here. (It's about 1700 miles.) PS, yes it was a playoff format. I agree that a league format is a better judge of who was the best team over the course of the season, however the excitement inherent in a playoff format is wonderful too

Campeones, campeones ole ole ole!

there's a radio link on firstrow, not sure how good it will be yet Damn. Worked for a bit then cut out telling me to go to bbc.co.uk/whereilive.

Anyone willing to do a thingee like a few weeks ago for those of us without a radio handy?

(I know this is sort of hijacking the original thread, but it's not worth starting a new one, and the Other Games thread is just too long) We're taking a 3-1 lead into the second leg of the final. Best atmosphere at a match in aaaaages. I'll be flying down to Fort Lauderdale for the final. Spending as much time travelling as in town, but should be fun, nonetheless.

While I agree it's not a good idea, just looking at the way teams in the US are run in closed leagues shows that you can very easily make a profit off of a shitty team which finishes dead last for 20 years running if you don't have to worry about relegation. But they don't have the massive outgoings on wages that the EPL clubs have. Most of the MLS players (apart from the designated players) are on lower championship-league 1 wages. Most MLS players are WELL below even those wages. I was talking more about MLB, where the league minimum salary is $414,000. On a roster of 25. After looking at the way the players unions of the NFL and NBA have nearly led to the demise of both their leagues seasons (NBA's still could be) I think the players over there get too much, much worse situation than the Premier League imo You will get no argument from me, but those teams also all make massive profits. It's hardly out of line for the players to ask for a larger share of what the owners are getting.

While I agree it's not a good idea, just looking at the way teams in the US are run in closed leagues shows that you can very easily make a profit off of a shitty team which finishes dead last for 20 years running if you don't have to worry about relegation. But they don't have the massive outgoings on wages that the EPL clubs have. Most of the MLS players (apart from the designated players) are on lower championship-league 1 wages. Most MLS players are WELL below even those wages. I was talking more about MLB, where the league minimum salary is $414,000. On a roster of 25.

While I agree it's not a good idea, just looking at the way teams in the US are run in closed leagues shows that you can very easily make a profit off of a shitty team which finishes dead last for 20 years running if you don't have to worry about relegation.

A playoff for a championship, sure, and I'm sure owners of lower division teams would be happy to hit the big time. Selling the owners on the teams potentially relegated is another matter.

Wheelock is a twit. Americans get promotion/relegation. Hell, it's the idee fixe of the vast majority of the fans over here. Half of them are convinced it's the way to solve all of our problems. Even the owners get it. The thing that they ALSO get, though, is that in MLS, where the investors pay $40 million for the right to have an expansion team, built from scratch, they aren't keen to risk that huge franchise fee since first year teams are rarely any good. Doesn't make as much of a difference in a league where the teams are all old and established. I also don't see how it ultimately benefits a team like Liverpool, Arsenal or Manchester United, who are the big American-owned teams. They aren't in danger of relegation, and those owners know well enough that if they stop winning, the money isn't going to flow so freely. I just don't see the benefit of more predictable gates as being worthwhile to them. Far more likely it's the lower end clubs who are yo-yoing a bit too much for financial stability. How far do you think MLS is from Introducing promotion and relegation? Think it will ever happen? The league is currently at 18 teams and is planning to add two more and then stop for a while. I can't see it happening any time soon. Garber (MLS Commissioner) has gone on record as being committed to the playoff structure, which just makes sense in the US, even if the "hard core" fans will still try to pump up the Supporters' Shield (League Championship.) So long as they continue with the playoff structure and the split conferences, I don't see anything like Promotion and relegation happening. What is slightly more conceivable would be a situation where you end up with a dual-tiered MLS with 30-40 teams, but I don't really think that's very likely. I'm not sure a system like Baseball has with minor-league feeder teams would develop, but there are certainly a few markets where there's significant support for the sport, but not really enough to support an MLS club. St. Louis, Atlanta, Perhaps one in Florida. If the league wants to expand into those markets, then they'd have to create some smaller-budgeted alternative, but again, I don't see that happening within the next 10 years or more. Still, you never know. There are three Canadian teams in the league next year, but the Canadian Federation is trying to come up with a model for a Division 2 league. I can't see that being sustainable without Montreal, Vancouver or Toronto in it, but perhaps combining places like Calgary, Minnesota, Atlanta, and St. Louis you could get enough sustainable markets, but the travel costs would be enormous. The geography is just too great for it to work, IMO. I think it all comes down to money. Once expansion stops, if the owners want to try to continue to expand, perhaps they'll try to use that "second division" as a place for new owners to come in, and try to prove their ability to sell tickets before hitting the big time. Since they'd have by then established the previously existing teams, they might be more open to allowing new teams and new markets as a result, but I doubt it.

Wheelock is a twit. Americans get promotion/relegation. Hell, it's the idee fixe of the vast majority of the fans over here. Half of them are convinced it's the way to solve all of our problems. Even the owners get it. The thing that they ALSO get, though, is that in MLS, where the investors pay $40 million for the right to have an expansion team, built from scratch, they aren't keen to risk that huge franchise fee since first year teams are rarely any good. Doesn't make as much of a difference in a league where the teams are all old and established. I also don't see how it ultimately benefits a team like Liverpool, Arsenal or Manchester United, who are the big American-owned teams. They aren't in danger of relegation, and those owners know well enough that if they stop winning, the money isn't going to flow so freely. I just don't see the benefit of more predictable gates as being worthwhile to them. Far more likely it's the lower end clubs who are yo-yoing a bit too much for financial stability.

FUCK YEAH! Our Stars are in the finals! Saturday first leg at home, following weekend in Fort Lauderdale. Booking my flights tomorrow!

I FOUND THE FUCKING THING!

IYAM the best thing about this opening part of the season is that we won't be as easily dragged into a relegation fight when the inevitable late season collapse due to a small squad happens. Our best opening in recent memory was a year in which we dropped in free-fall at the end of the season to finish 13th. Getting points is good, but even if we have some truly promising players, the season is a long grueling process in which this squad's size will likely be found to be a weakness. Enjoy it while it lasts, and be thankful for it when we're not winning.

I'm afraid that's not true, the world's largest youth football tournament is Gothia Cup, played here in Gothenburg every summer. The Schwan's USA Cup has been consistently cited as the "Largest youth soccer tournament in the Western Hemisphere;" my apologies for misremembering.

At $200 I'm grabbing one. I wouldn't pay for 3G if I had the option, and I can't imagine using a tablet to take pictures. (A front facing small camera for conferencing is another question, though.) To me a 7" tablet is about the right size, because I have tried using an iPad for production and it just isn't a production device. Great for consumption but not for productivity. It's a fantastic price, which is basically all I was waiting for in order to get something like this. I almost bought the 5" Samsung thing for $170 a few weeks ago. Glad I didn't now. The price drops on the other Kindles is fairly incredible also. I really like my 3rd generation Kindle, and don't intend to "upgrade" but I might get my wife one of the new ones for $100.

We have the largest Youth soccer tournament in the world near here (USA Cup) and a few years ago I reffed a couple of games. After the match was over I put on an old NUFC away shirt and had a guy in a Sunderland kit come up and ask me about it, telling me he was from Sunderland. I had to bite my tongue to keep from telling him I could tell by the fact he had two teeth.

Where's 'here' for you, Zathras? And are you still bored and a bit down? Minnesota. And if you'd actually read the thread through, you'd see that I am no longer down, but still rather bored.

Bastard app not available in the US.

All the time. Not even close to ManYoo or some of the other big clubs from around Europe (Barca, Real, Milan, Inter etc) but probably more NUFC fans around here than any English club other than Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool or Chelsea. And I'd say pretty close to both of the London clubs overall, Arsenal and Chelsea just haven't been seeming to draw lately.

Pointyball is a more worthless waste of time than test cricket.

I do. Depending on where you want to stay/plan transportation, you could get a relatively cheap hotel rate, and given that MSP is still sort of a hub for Delta, there are plenty of flights. With Southwest now flying into MSP, rates are down a bit, although air travel rates in general are soaring. Booking well in advance, I'm guessing going from Gatwick to MSP you could probably get a round trip flight with a stop for less than $1000 US. (A quick Expedia search gave me a round trip for $700.) There's pretty good public transport to the Vikings, Gophers, Wolves and Twins stadia, but the Wild's is a little tougher. Doable, but less ideal. Hotels could run you anywhere from $40-120 per night depending on where and how nice a place you want. It certainly could be done very cheaply. Time the trip well and you ought to be able to see the Twins, Gopher (american) football and the Vikings, or the Vikings, Wild and Wolves. If you make it a summer trip, I'll take you to a US division 2 soccer game, and you'll get to experience the jackassery of 30-40 "real" football fans in a stadium of around 2,500 people looking at us like we're mad. Feel free to PM me if you want delve into real details of scheduling/planning etc. PS: Here's me with Captain Altman (I painted the banner)

Brilliant.

Since i haven't been to a game since Shearer scored THAT volley against Everton (haven't even been in the UK since then, sadly) I don't know if there are any songs for Colo at the moment. But here's one that we sing for my local team's captain, Kyle Altman. To the tune of the Human League's "Don't you want me baby" Captain Coloccini! Coloccini Whoa-oh-oh-oh! Coloccini baby! Coloccini Whoa-oh-oh-oh! Take it for what it's worth.

Colo!