Here are a few quick pics from the Sounders U.S. Open Cup Final. More to come. This editing thing is a little time consuming…
Category: Sports (Page 10 of 18)
Remember back to just before the 2009 MLS season started. There was a buzz around the Sounders. At first we weren’t sure what to expect. A sold out Thursday night opening match was electric. More games sold out. Tickets were impossible to come by. More seats opened up. More sell outs. Barcelona, Chelsea and the MLS Cup brought record crowds. It seemed that the team could do no wrong.
It was the perfect storm. A soccer enthusiastic public desired something positive to come from their city’s roster of not just losing, but atrocious, sports teams. That pent up demand, combined with a short supply of tickets, drove incredible buzz and success.
But perfect storms don’t last forever, and now the Sounders have to accept the bad that comes with the good of success. 2010 has been an interesting years for the guys in rave green. It’s a pretty interesting litany of environmental demand issues:
- Key injuries got the team off to a slow start.
- Spring optimism (which turned out to be very misguided) made the Mariners relevant for a brief period of time.
- The Barcelona and Chelsea games were replaced with Celtic and River Plate.
- The team’s European superstar was either whining, moping, in trouble with the front office, or hurt. We never really knew what it was – except he wasn’t drawing fans
So naturally demand fell. And that may have been fixable. But then at the same time, the Sounders faced a problem that no other American sports league has to face.
Supply rose.
The Sounders qualified for what’s called the Concacaf Champions League. Now this as marketed as the marquee invitation for North American and Central American teams. It’s a chance to compete in real matches against top talent from Mexico, Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, etc….But in reality, it’s a kind of weir tournament for anyone to get too attached to. You see, you qualify in 2009 to play preliminary games in 2010 to make a championship round in 2011. You could have literally turned over your entire roster between qualifying and playing in the finals.
But the other thing it did was add 4 new mid-week home games to the tail end of the season. And these games weren’t part of your season ticket package.
Now, factor in that the Sounders qualified for the U.S. Open Cup Final, and are hosting it. That adds another game, and a very exciting one at that. That’s extra game #5.
Now, just for fun, throw in that the Sounders promised a 3rd free “Friendly” to season ticket packages. Here comes Chivas from Mexico, to play a friendly at the most unfriendly time of the year – right before playoffs. Imagine the Huskies scheduling a practice game with Nebraska the week before the Apple Cup. Yeah – not much sense to it.
There are 15 games in the season, starting in Mid-March. Most of those are on weekends, so by the time August comes around, some fans are feeling a touch of soccer fatigue. A playoff race can reinvigorate the base and get them out to the games they bought a good 10 months ago.
But adding another 6 home games to the season – that’s 40% for you math majors – when kids are in school and youth leagues are firing up, is just an unfortunate turn of events. And that is why you saw 11,000 people last night. Even your most ardent supporters and look at the home calendar:
- 9/29: Meaningless CCL game
- 10/2: Important MLS game
- 10/5: Important US Open Final
- 10/12: Meaningless Friendly
- 10/15: Possibly important last MLS home game
- 10/19: Meaningless CCL game
So what’s the 2011 solution? Because if they win the U.S. Open Cup, they’ll qualify again for next year. And that schedule won’t change, so you’ll be in a similar bind. Here’s what I’d do:
- End the pre-season with a match vs Portland as a free ticket to season ticket holders.
- Reduce down to 1 mid-season friendly, but make it a good one.
- Let season ticket holders buy all 4 CCL matches for the cost of one game.
Now, there’s an economic issue with the CCL thing, in which the Sounders probably have to pay the CCL on every fan that enters the stadium. So, a 4 for 1 deal is going to cost them money. So they’d have to renegotiate some part of the concessions deal to make the money back. It’s not a perfect plan.
But the overall lesson is one of supply and demand. And once you lose scarcity, it’s hard to get it back. And the same people who wanted to go to the game they couldn’t go to, don’t want to go to the game that no one wants to go to. It’s a delicate balance. Interesting to see how they solve everything, now that a few land mines got thrown in their path.
Arizona is coming off one of its biggest wins in recent seasons, 34-27 against No. 9 Iowa.
The Wildcats were ranked for a few weeks last season, but before that it had been since 2000 that they last made the Top 25.
The last time they were ranked this highly in the regular season was 1998. Arizona finished that season No. 4 in the nation and was in the top 10 for the final six weeks of the season.
“Those are character-building drives,” UA coach Mike Stoops said late Saturday night. “Those are perception drives. Those are program drives.”
Bug Wright caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Nick Foles with 3 minutes 57 seconds remaining to give No. 24 UA a wild victory.
The Foles-to-Wright connection capped a 9-play, 72-yard drive and put an exclamation point on a game that included a blocked punt, a blocked extra-point attempt, a 100-yard kickoff return and two interceptions returned for touchdowns.
Fun little side note here to what is probably the most successful guerilla YouTube ad ever, Nike’s “Write the Future. Now, we’ve all seen the actual ad about a gajillion times. I’m not sure why I was interested in digging in here – probably because I figured they created all the audio in a studio. But it turns out the main theme from the spot (other than the use of Van Halen’s Hot for Teacher drum rift in the beginning) actually comes from a 1970’s Dutch band. The Dutch band were even the ones who had the yodeling. Check it out here.
“Honey, you’ll protect me if there’s a fly ball, right?”
“Absolutely dear.”
“OW!” You said you’d protect me!!!”
“Well not if it’s hit THAT hard…”
What? That’s a stupid headline. How could the U.S.A. possibly not qualify for a sport in which we have the premier talent in the world and won a gold medal in 2008? Ludicrous.
Or is it?
1) The 1st way for the U.S. to qualify for the 2012 Olympics is by winning the FIBA World Championship in August/September, aka the World Cup of Basketball. Seems doable, right? Well, they haven’t won this event since 1994, though they have earned 2 bronze medals since then. But the Redeem Team is live and well right? It’s a new era of commitment, yes? Well according to reports, that commitment does not extend all the way to Turkey, host country of this year’s tournament. Be it distance or safety concerns, the top USA players look to be choosing to sit this one out.
Ok, so we don’t win in Turkey. What’s next?
2) Well the next event is the FIBA America’s Tournament in 2011. This is a decidedly easier tourney, as the only real relevant power is Argentina, who the U.S. beat by 37 in the 2007 Finals. In fact, take away LeBron’s game high 31 points, and the U.S. still wins. HOWEVER, here comes the NBA lockout in 2011. USA Basketball is run by the NBA now. Lockout the players from club teams, they become ineligible for USA basketball as well. So, now the U.S. goes to the tourney with the best college team they can field.
Uh, oh. What’s next?
3) Well, there’s a last resort, as 3 teams can qualify in the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifier, designed as a last chance for the best of the worst to sneak in. This is how Greece, Croatia and Germany got into the 2008 Games. It runs July 2 – July 8, 2012, just before the Olympics. So, we would have to hope that the 2011-2012 lockout gets done before June 2012. Or that common sense prevails and USA Basketball lets the guys play either way.
Now, there’s another doomsday scenario. Say the USA does win next month and qualifies, but the lockout extends from fall 2011 all the way through summer 2012. Who plays then?
Who’s the big winner in the LeBron sweepstakes? No, I don’t mean what city – what YouTube video is getting the most views for it’s enterprising young artists? Any favorites?
News of the World
News of the World
Daily Mail
The Sun
(My friend Lisa is a Canadian who has lived in the UK since attending grad school in Manchester. She sends some notes from her adopted homeland as they prep for the World Cup.)
It all started out very innocently. A car flag waving on a black cab. The occasional overheard office discussion as to who would ‘make the team’. The arguments about why (or why not) to support England between the English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish.
Yesterday something changed. No fewer than six requests to join Work Cup pools ended up in my inbox. One even sponsored by the large American company that I work for. We even received an email letting us know that in all our offices the soccer (I mean football) games will be shown in the employee cafeteria for people to watch during their breaks. Good thing we have wireless in our building.
This morning as I looked out my apartment window to the big estate across, overnight all the balconies have been decorated with St. Georges cross flags and red and white balloons. Yes, World Cup fever is alive and well in London. It is though, a different vibe than what I experienced in Manchester in 2006. In the shadow of old Trafford, football fanaticism reached unbelievable highs (and lows) – and all in the name of Mother England. London is different. While talk of England’s ability to pull off a shocking victory dominate, in this multicultural city talk often turns to other countries – the Italians I work with curse Cappello ; the French avoid any discussions of a repeat performance by Thierry Henry of his infamous qualifying round ‘incident’; and the Brazilians push aside any claim that they have lost their groove.
Every pub, on every corner has a billboard proclaiming that they are showing all the World Cup games – beer specials and world cup ‘pies’ are on the menu. As the buzz builds to kick-off, anything is possible. The crowds are assembling, and the lager taps are at the ready. The South Africans are out in force blowing their Vuvuzela horns (a marching band styled group just walked by my office on Buckingham Palace Road – maybe they are off to entertain the queen who is in town).
The only thing missing this year is an official England World Cup song. My recommendation for those nostalgic for the cheesy cheers is definitely World in Motion by England New Order (yes, Manchester’s New Order) ….We’re playing for England (En-ger-land), we’re playing the song. We’re singing for England (En-ger-land), arrivederci its one on one….
Yes. I will be cheering for my adopted home….now where did I put my pint.
In 1988, Ken Griffey Jr and I had similar career goals. We both wanted to play Major League Baseball.
Now, while I was busy fighting for playing time at Interlake High School, Griffey was an 18 year old in San Bernadino and Vermont, already in the Mariners farm system. But still, at that point in time, there was still technically a “chance” that we’d play on the same field.
On April 10, 1989, my friend Cale and I bailed out of practice early to get to the Kingdome, parked ourselves in the 300 level, and watched Griffey play his first game in Seattle. He only got one hit that game, but it was his first career home run, in his first at bat. And still at that moment, I had a chance to play major league ball with Griffey.
Fast forward 21 years. June 2, 2010. Griffey retires.
So big sigh.
I knew this day would come.
Now at one point in time I could tell you every stat in baseball. But we all re-prioritize, and now I know the names of more senators than 3rd basemen. I have a better chance beating the stock market than winning a fantasy baseball league.
But Griffey’s retirement is symbolic. He’s the only player close to my age who I watched from his first to last day.
Now realistically, I knew by 1990 we weren’t going to ever play on the same baseball field. But now that I think about it, I guess have a new “realistic” goal. Hey Ken, we play softball every Tuesday night up at Kasch Park. We’d love to hear all the stories and thank you for all the memories. We have room for another outfielder….you can even play center.
Hey, there’s always a chance.