Major League Soccer

the broadcasting teams are indeed bad and they are rotated, so you wind up having broadcasters that don't know the teams they're announcing as well, and if you find a pairing you like, it might be three or more matches before you get it again.

I'm nearly certain they're calling the games remotely, at least some of the time if not all.

In completely ideal conditions it's at least an hour drive for me to go to Fire games now, and though I made that kind of drive all the time when I lived in the city and the stadium was in the suburbs, with the games happening at Solider Field it's an absolute shitshow getting in and out. The fact that it's an NFL stadium right in the middle of downtown makes it a target, so security is nuts. Despite being right in the middle of everything, public transit, especially the train, doesn't stop at the stadium, you're looking at a 20-30 minute walk to get to the nearest stop. It's also huge, mostly empty, expensive (parking is ridiculous) and did I mention security is nuts? Like, big-dudes-with-guns-roid-raging-at-tailgaters nuts? The fun, quasi-DIY atmosphere of their old stadium is pretty much gone.

A lot of my friends have stopped going for these reasons, if not the fact that the team has been mostly garbage for more than a decade. Also I guess we got old, can't day drink at the tailgate and sing the whole game before riding a bar-sponsored bus back to the city any more, lolz.

The other way I know I'm old is all the newjack supporters are annoying as hell.

I'm nearly certain they're calling the games remotely, at least some of the time if not all.

― underminer of twenty years of excellent contribution to this borad (dan m), Friday, March 8, 2024 1:48 PM bookmarkflaglink

wouldn't surprise me, given how often I scream at the screen for something inaccurate they said that someone at the game couldn't possibly have been stupid enough to say.

my friend J0e can't go to the games as he lives too far away and he'll be in our group chat when we're at games, telling us what the broadcasters are saying, and we'll usually react - 'are they high?'

https://www.thenutmegnews.com/current/2024/3/14/after-successfully-running-two-mls-franchises-into-the-ground-nelson-hatchet-man-rodriguez-finds-his-zen-destroying-us-open-cup

So good. The man is a snake.

Excellent thread by my pal Karl, click through for the rest:

Love #cf97 and always will but, man, MLS is really making it hard to do so right now.

Part of what drew me to the Fire was the participatory nature of it. The DIY ethos I learned in punk/HC translated easily to soccer support. Be cool, learn songs, sing along.

— Area Man (@WB05Karl) March 15, 2024

Day-One, Done 😤 | #USOC2024 pic.twitter.com/ScEEKRPebB

— U.S. Open Cup (@opencup) March 20, 2024

lmao all the mls next pro teams lost to amateurs yesterday

i watched austin fc II (fuck austin btw) go up a goal in extra time after being up a man, only to allow the equalizer in stoppage time and then lose in pk's, incredible scenes

Yeah that Vermont win was something else

my friend went to an Open Cup match last night between Brave SC and the Savannah Clovers, had a good time.

really fucked what MLS tried to/is trying to do to this tournament

I'm really hoping that at Leagues Cup, Miami somehow gets eliminated in the group stage, that Mexico sends b-squads that still manage to beat several MLS teams, and that viewership is terrible.

San Francisco amateur soccer club El Farolito, which takes its name from a Mexican restaurant and has a fan group called Burrito Brava, defeated MLS Next Pro side Portland Timbers II in the US Open Cup first round! pic.twitter.com/444eFAjFvl

— James Nalton (@JDNalton) March 20, 2024

the beauty of the fuckin cup

Excellent insider account of the nonsense surrounding the Open Cup this season. (Archive.is version to subvert subscription requirements.)

https://archive.ph/7d2ny

Ah, the full post didn't seem to come through, sorry. I do have a PDF version if anyone really wants it.

LMAO. I sold my Orlando City - Inter Miami ticket for tomorrow for $275 (normally goes for $25). now reports coming in that neither Messi, Busquets, or Suarez are practicing today, and all are going to be evaluated/potential game day decisions. for the second year in a row, Messi might not play.

I am going to be afraid to go anywhere near downtown tomorrow if that happens lmao. might be a mini riot at the field.

i am genuinely curious what mls is going to do once messi retires bc it feels like theyre going to slide back to reality

I hope attendance plummets and Garber is fed to an alligator by the owners

ideal outcome

I have heard from reliable sources that Apple TV subs are nowhere near projections. Given that deal is basically Messi-driven that says a lot about the eventual backslide IMHO.

There's our $8m man

Will Shaq do this for Switzerland? pic.twitter.com/FV8P3T6DNb

— kornkid15 (@kornkid15) May 17, 2024

https://x.com/JDNalton/status/1793796346752680099

Lol & lmao, this is the same shit that happened in Chicago last year.

Duh, edited link:

Seems surreal for clubs to be releasing statements like this about opposition players, but when games are marketed in such a way, including much higher ticket prices, it becomes an issue when those players don't play. https://t.co/UEzUgFD9QM pic.twitter.com/Up4Qn8F01b

— James Nalton (@JDNalton) May 24, 2024

Anybody paying out the nose to see any of this aging clowns play after seeing how frequently they're held out of matches deserves to be parted with their money

welcome Cavan Sullivan!

Freddy Adu probably mad that his one piece of lasting legacy is now gone

every mls team got that one white dude with no technical ability but he just runs hard

— jon (@dejuanszn) July 25, 2024

thats p much most american players hahaha

Early September return...hasn't played since June. Last League's Cup match at home drew only 10,500, despite them being defending champs.

And got knocked out tonight in Round of 16. All after season ticket prices were jacked up a ridiculous amount this year.

Messi is going to long term ruin this club and I'm here for it

#InterMiamiCF training Update
✅ Facu Farías possible return to full training towards end of season.
❗️Lionel Messi still individual gym training no return date from Tata, unofficial early September
👀 David Beckham attended training
✅Travelling later on for the game.#Messi pic.twitter.com/1JIEGQJC96

— Claudio (@ClaudioFutbol) August 12, 2024

The whole league could use some long term ruin imho

not wrong there. overstuffed w/ teams and wouldn't mind seeing contraction.

also wouldn't mind seeing League's Cup fail and glad to see that it still isn't quite taking off the way Garber wants. attendance has improved this year but is still about 3,000/match under regular season numbers, whereas in a tournament that's supposed to be as elite as Donny Boy claims, you'd want to see the opposite - attendance spiking!

I went to Orlando's last League's Cup match after having sold my tickets to the previous two, for only one reason, which is wanting desperately to see live soccer, because due to conflicts and/or illness I'd missed the last FIVE matches across all competitions (by far my worst attendance as a season ticket holder). and it was just garbage.

going to PKs with no extra time (which I realize the Copa does too now prior to the final) is ridiculous, it just rewards whichever team is overmatched playing for PKs without having to worry about the tired legs that come w/ having to defend for another 30 minutes. kinda glad we got knocked out.

not wrong there. overstuffed w/ teams and wouldn't mind seeing contraction.

the streets demand pro/rel babyyyy

They sure do - I recommend StuntPegg's channel btw - good stuff on there

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GQR7W8xBIo

How is the standard of MLS these day?

i love stuntpegg!! that vid is of orange county which plays in usl champsionship, the league of my hometown club (san antonio fc)

mls i dont think is really shedding its retirement league reputation, idk if thats fair but i dont care bc i root for their downfall. theres a shitload of teams and they will likely keep expanding until they reach 32 34 36 40 teams

it shd also be mentioned that bc orange county are connected with rangers that i have a deep an unabiding hatred 4 them

MLS was making some progress in shedding it by signing better talent in their prime, and reducing the amount of old legends that came into the league.

But the Messi fiasco was the worst example of backsliding into that reputation and just setting the league back a decade.

The expansion just diluted the product more, which is why strikers can effortlessly score goals because they're playing against CBs and RBs that are too afraid to engage and let them make the first move.

Exhibit A, Inter Miami, being atop the league despite conceding a horrific 1.5 goals/match, which is not good even by MLS standards.

Like I don't watch much of the league other than my own team but I often laugh at how poor the defending is when I do

Berhalter in for the Fire, lol here we go

https://awfulannouncing.com/mls/lionel-messi-apple-paywall-impact.html

Seems exactly right imo

who couldve predicted etc etc

My sg homie made this icon of mediocrity

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/41849341/the-mls-trophy-wants-how-wooden-spoon-came-be

nice

https://i.ibb.co/vq0SgnJ/FB-IMG-1731212561382.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/vq0SgnJ/FB-IMG-1731212561382.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/vq0SgnJ/FB-IMG-1731212561382.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/vq0SgnJ/FB-IMG-1731212561382.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/vq0SgnJ/FB-IMG-1731212561382.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/vq0SgnJ/FB-IMG-1731212561382.jpg

This kind of shit is the best thing about the playoff structure.