Watching costa rica Mexico, that was a crazy run by the CR player followed by an incredible save by the Mexico goalie.

Looking like PKs

One of the worst PK calls I've ever seen. Fucking shady Mexicans

Good win over the Fire again. 3-1.

Costs Rica got so fucked!

gerb131;1741374 wrote:Soccer has always been big in central ohio.

Evidently not if attendance is tapering down.

gerb131;1741374 wrote:Piss me off if crew left. Soccer has always been big in central ohio.

MontyBrunswick;1741596 wrote:Evidently not if attendance is tapering down.

Soccer is vastly popular, unfortunately, it's still a "recreational" or "leisure" activity...in my opinion.

I spent some time with a top-25 women's DI program (yes, women's...but, still) last week. They straight up said, their athletes aren't "students of the game." They are the second/third highest level of women's soccer in the country (and world). They are recruiting national team candidates/members. Their athletes are playing for fun. Their athletes are playing for social reasons.

This is where we are with soccer, still. I can say with reasonable certainty, NO football or basketball players are there for social/leisure reasons. Knowing DI soccer players on both men's and women's sides, it is there. It's crazy. While soccer is big...it's still not to the point of being something people seek to watch, partake, and engulf themselves in. That's how I view it in why Crew struggle. It's not part of the culture. It's not part of the life.

Attendance sucks because 1/2 people can't even watch the games in Columbus. If you don't have Time Warner you can't watch them. I know 4-6 people who cancelled their season tickets for that reason. They also don't have any of the big names in the league and while they are a good team they don't have a recognizable name.

sportchampps;1741646 wrote:Attendance sucks because 1/2 people can't even watch the games in Columbus. If you don't have Time Warner you can't watch them. I know 4-6 people who cancelled their season tickets for that reason. They also don't have any of the big names in the league and while they are a good team they don't have a recognizable name.

Their attendance is largely unchanged for years. As of right now, it's down around 2,000 fans on average. To me, that's skewed. I was attending games and what they announce/show is still about the same then as it is now. In the last 3-4 years, they average between 12,000-16,000 fans.

Crew hosted an MLS playoff match in 2014 (when attendance was supposedly 16,000+) and only got a shade over 9,000. That's garbage.

And, not to discredit what you are saying about "good team...recognizable name," but that's stupid and continues to go with what I believe is the case of "soccer people" today. There's teams all over the world that are good/bad and have names/no-names. They get support because it's in the culture to support the team. We just aren't there yet with soccer, as big of a participator sport it is...it's not there as a spectator OR student of the game sport. If Columbus people can't rally around Kamara, Higuain, Parkhurst, Wil Trapp (who's one of the top young players in America, and a Columbus native), and whoever else in the past...then what's it take? They are good soccer players. They play pretty good soccer. But...it's just not where people actually "care" enough to make it part of their lifestyle.

Saying people in Ohio don't care about soccer because they don't go to Crew games is like saying people in Columbus don't like football because they didn't go to Ohio Glory or Destroyers games. The MLS while improving is still a shitty league with a handful of really talented players another handful of washed up big names.

sportchampps;1741821 wrote:Saying people in Ohio don't care about soccer because they don't go to Crew games is like saying people in Columbus don't like football because they didn't go to Ohio Glory or Destroyers games. The MLS while improving is still a shitty league with a handful of really talented players another handful of washed up big names.

The mls is far from a shitty league.

Where would the MLS realistically rank amongst all the leagues in the world? According to this http://www.sounderatheart.com/2014/6/5/5782894/mls-gains-ground-in-league-rankings it's not even in the top 10 yet. The MLS seems to slowly get better every year though.

sportchampps;1741821 wrote:Saying people in Ohio don't care about soccer because they don't go to Crew games is like saying people in Columbus don't like football because they didn't go to Ohio Glory or Destroyers games. The MLS while improving is still a shitty league with a handful of really talented players another handful of washed up big names.

Did you read the other posts I said too? It's more than that. I live soccer daily. I talk it daily. It's what I've deducted by talking to MANY coaches in MANY different areas about soccer, in all aspects.

There's many teams that are terrible across the world, and even in the States in other sports, that still do well in attendance. It's because it's a part of the culture.

I chatted a couple weeks back with a coach who's won a national championship in college and also a runner up. He's been coaching for 17 years in college. He says players today are WORSE than they used to be. Why? They aren't students of the game. They rely on coaches and a few days of training a week to get them through their development. They don't take individual responsibility.

It's not in the culture. They rely on everyone else. Watching is part of it.

like_that;1741849 wrote:Where would the MLS realistically rank amongst all the leagues in the world? According to this http://www.sounderatheart.com/2014/6/5/5782894/mls-gains-ground-in-league-rankings it's not even in the top 10 yet. The MLS seems to slowly get better every year though.

Meh...depends on what the league is "ranked" on. Downside, League limits itself from world competitiveness with a salary cap. It's truly hard to rank them without really playing much outside of domestic competition.

What I do know, our national team has great success that many other national teams cannot say the same in the last 4 or so World Cups. They've done that largely with players having major MLS backgrounds. A long way to go, but positives can be shown.

like_that;1741849 wrote:Where would the MLS realistically rank amongst all the leagues in the world? According to this http://www.sounderatheart.com/2014/6/5/5782894/mls-gains-ground-in-league-rankings it's not even in the top 10 yet. The MLS seems to slowly get better every year though.

I would say closer to 20 than 10.

USA down 0-1 against Jamaica after 35 mins.

Annnnd now down 2-0 with a beautiful set piece.

I still can't figure out why the 2nd goal counted. That should be an indirect free kick, correct?

Laley23;1742043 wrote:I still can't figure out why the 2nd goal counted. That should be an indirect free kick, correct?

I was only able to turn the game on as the goal happened, so I am not sure on the background on this question.

like_that;1742044 wrote:I was only able to turn the game on as the goal happened, so I am not sure on the background on this question.

Guzan saved the ball, run to throw it forward, and a toenail stepped on the 18 yard box line as he released it. Linesman flagged it for illegal touching. Bogus call, but even worse if they fucked up the direct/indirect aspect of it.

ESPN is to blame for this loss (if they do lose)

Their Headline all day today said "USA vs Mexico in gold cup finals should be a dandy" or something to that effect.

For a second I thought I missed the semi's already and the two teams already won.

SportsAndLady;1742046 wrote:ESPN is to blame for this loss (if they do lose)

Their Headline all day today said "USA vs Mexico in gold cup finals should be a dandy" or something to that effect.

For a second I thought I missed the semi's already and the two teams already won.

Dumb as fuck for simply looking ahead, but also Mexico barely got by CR and now ESPN assumes they are a shoe in? Outside of Cuba, both teams have looked sub par so far.

Pathetic.

Wait did we just lose to Jamaica?

Just gross.

And I still think that 2nd goal should have been disallowed.

Hopefully this is a wake up call. They tried to sleepwalk through this whole tournament.

Regroup and win the playoff, and all is forgotten. The Gold Cup, while great to win, serves as a ticket to the Confed Cup, which is what we all really care about. So, make up for this awful showing and get where we need to be.

Fucking pissed