Justicebork
The King in the North
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2011
- Messages
- 3,244
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Can we clear the tags for this thread and start over?
Do you think our players are worse players than T&Ts low A/high B squad players?
Remember this was a nation with only 1 previous win in the Hex before last night.
The problem is bigger than just one game.
I think the problem is that it's even a question.
Do you think our players are worse players than T&Ts low A/high B squad players?
Remember this was a nation with only 1 previous win in the Hex before last night.
Do you think our players are worse players than T&Ts low A/high B squad players?
Remember this was a nation with only 1 previous win in the Hex before last night.
but the grown men wearing the shirts also deserve blame
So we're all aboard the Iceland bandwagon next summer, right?
I also have a sweet German soccer jacket and Germanic roots, so I'll be rooting for them as well. The Irish too if they find a way to sneak. Especially with Captain Seamus back at the helm.
Who do we like from South America now that Chile is out? Are we still cool with Columbia, or have they beat us enough recently that we're out on them.
Saw this on facebook:
I've been seeing a lot of rightfully angry folks calling for change in American soccer. That's awesome; we need it. I'd like to offer you even more people and organizations to be mad at. It's day 1 and we have a lot of housecleaning to do.
I want to make sure EVERY American soccer fan is on the same page about Soccer United Marketing (SUM). SUM, a for-profit entity, is referred to as "the marketing arm of Major League Soccer (MLS)", however they also are contracted to sell sponsorship and TV rights on behalf of not-for-profit US Soccer (USSF) - as well as marketing Mexican National Team games played in the US, among other things.
SUM is completely intertwined with MLS.
- Don Garber, commissioner of MLS, is also CEO of SUM.
- SUM and MLS share offices.
- This is SUM's website: http://www.sumworld.com - see where it leads!
- Ownership of MLS teams also have a stake in SUM.
SUM is completely intertwined with US Soccer.
- Sunil Gulati, president of USSF, has been (and could still be!) on the board of SUM. Gulati *could still own shares in SUM*.
- Don Garber, CEO of SUM, is head of the professional council of USSF's board of directors. USSF sanctions MLS. This literally means *Don Garber regulates his own league, and has an external profit motive for SUM and its billionaire investors*
- SUM sold the last TV deal for MLS to be packaged with US Soccer matches (men AND women's teams), so channels couldn't buy one without the other
- SUM sells the rights to US Soccer sponsorship and TV, taking a cut for itself before it sends payment to US Soccer.
- SUM's company slogan is "One sport. One company." American soccer fans will hopefully IMMEDIATELY recognize the similarity to USSF's slogan: "One nation. One team"
SUM was valued this year at $2 billion. https://www.forbes.com/…/major-league-soccers-most-valu…/2/…
There is a multiple billion dollar company woven through American soccer that we know next to nothing about - they effectively don't have a website. They have contracts with US Soccer that we have barely any details on (I've looked through USSF's financial statements). And, they are filtering revenues from our men and women's national teams and clubs soccer into billionaires' pockets. We have people in leadership of US Soccer who have an external profit motive and duty toward billionaire investors, as opposed to growing and regulating the game in a healthy way.
Keep this in mind when we look at the structure of club soccer in the US. How MLS, a single entity closed league with franchises for teams, has been given complete control which teams are allowed to join the highest tier of American soccer. How US Soccer does next to nothing to stop them. How MLS cries poor when it comes to paying players and that it can't have open competition and independent clubs. That it can't pay youth clubs training and solidarity payments when they develop players that become professional. When US Soccer can't seem to properly invest in the historic US Open Cup, a competition that gives visibility to lower league clubs not in MLS's ecosystem.
I'm not saying we have to hate MLS or US Soccer. I am saying we should all have a VERY healthy distrust for those currently in power and where their interests lie.