Are there professional leagues below NBA, NFL etc?
basketball has a long history of 2nd divisions, some pretty entertaining. the will farell movie Semi-Pro touches on it a bit. now they have the d-league. it's basically the equivalent of the reserves in england, owned by an NBA team, but they play in smaller cities. that league was just set up a few years ago. mostly the NBA uses colleges to do scouting, grooming, teaching fundamentals. it's still how most players get noticed. this works for the nba because they don't have to spend much beyond scouting for the draft.
the NFL mostly relies on colleges as well. there are thousands of college american football players. again, the colleges sift through and promote the best players. it's up to the NFL to draft. there is arena football and cfl (canadian) and UFL, all very minor leagues. guys get paid but not a lot. very very rarely does a player come up through those ranks to make the NFL. they end up in those small leagues beacuase they're NFL castoffs, not aspiring players no one knows anything about.
as dan mentions above, hockey and baseball are the closest in model to soccer. i don't know anything about hockey, but i know baseball has a loooong development curve. kids drafted at 17-18 can sometimes take up to 7 years to make it to the big leagues.
the system is similar to what english football is like: mlb=the premiership, AAA=the championship, AA=league 1, A=league 2 etc. One key difference is that the MLB team owns the player all the way up through the system. players aren't sold on from smaller leagues. instead, they start at the bottom and work their way up with similarly-aged players. in that way it's a bit like u-17, u-19, reserves. another major difference is that kids in AA may make 12k a year, while the minimum at MLB level is 400k a year. vast gaps. and those young guys do sometimes still need to get jobs in the off-season.
MLB even has developmental academies similar to what you'd find in england. they're located in venezuela, the dominican replublic, etc. kids start as early as 16.
― con suelo, Friday, 3 December 2010 20:08 (thirteen years ago) link
Fuck DC btw.
― I've got ten bucks. SURPRISE ME. (Laurel), Friday, 3 December 2010 20:12 (thirteen years ago) link
while we're in dreamin mode look what these jokesters in miami want to do http://football-miami-n-beyond.blogspot.com/2010/12/miami-marine-stadium-new-soccer-stadium.html
http://i55.tinypic.com/10wi06f.jpg
― con suelo, Friday, 3 December 2010 21:21 (thirteen years ago) link
hm, 2 MLS teams in Florida have already failed
― fwiw: lol iirc sb'd u tbqh (dan m), Friday, 3 December 2010 21:29 (thirteen years ago) link
Thanks, con suelo. The reason I asked was during an evening of hopping about streams of what seemed like hundreds of random european matches, it occurred to me that there must be 50,000 or more people employed as full-time professional footballers in Europe. The US/Canada being roughly the same size, I just wondered whether they had anything like as many, given that you guys have more big team sports than we do.
I'd guess not, because:1. your sporting structures seem much more haphazard than ours; and2. the resources devoted to employing footballers here is a little insane when you think about it
― Ismael Klata, Friday, 3 December 2010 23:27 (thirteen years ago) link
just a few goals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyPPQWyvpuA&feature=player_embeddedhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIcSgBox-xk&feature=player_embeddedhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSmQMuHmfTU&feature=player_embeddedhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbiiC40-nJA&feature=player_embeddedhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks08pazZjiM&feature=player_embeddedhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Voy0SGaXTlU&feature=player_embeddedhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roUvAB2EhO0&feature=player_embeddedhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItQEtYnEWNE&feature=player_embeddedhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO9kq-tI3RE&feature=player_embeddedhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=876lbOJ21FY&feature=player_embedded
― dan m, Thursday, 9 December 2010 19:32 (thirteen years ago) link
lol @ DC's video being < 2 min
hey someone is going to make a russell brand movie where he's an aging footballer on one last big contract who comes to america. too bad kc changed their name i could see him in a wiz shirt
― harlan, Thursday, 9 December 2010 22:21 (thirteen years ago) link
http://www.portlandtimbers.com/sites/portlandtimbers.com/files/por-jers1-620.jpghttp://www.portlandtimbers.com/sites/portlandtimbers.com/files/por-jers2-620.jpg
― dan m, Friday, 10 December 2010 13:22 (thirteen years ago) link
No Pity. Awesome.
― EZ Snappin, Friday, 10 December 2010 13:31 (thirteen years ago) link
I like that they're making the effort, but it's riiiiight on the edge of pandering to the supporters imo.
― dan m, Friday, 10 December 2010 15:50 (thirteen years ago) link
It's totally pandering! Especially that alt jersey. But it looks good while doing it, which makes it alright in my book.
― EZ Snappin, Friday, 10 December 2010 16:09 (thirteen years ago) link
pandering 2 the supporters is a-ok if it results in a good-looking uni imo
― max, Friday, 10 December 2010 16:19 (thirteen years ago) link
i like the rose thingy
― kanellos (gbx), Friday, 10 December 2010 16:26 (thirteen years ago) link
I prefer my pandering in non-patch form
http://www.mlsarchives.com/imaging.aspx?image=/images/front/chicago_fire_2005_alternate_buete22_ss_flatfront_detail.jpg
(PS ADIDAS BRING THIS SHIT BACK <3 K THX BYEEEE)
― dan m, Friday, 10 December 2010 22:19 (thirteen years ago) link
i don't know where to put this so i'll put it here
akron are really great to watch
― harlan, Sunday, 12 December 2010 09:05 (thirteen years ago) link
otm
but why oh why does the clock count DOWN? and why oh why do they stop it when there is an injury?
― Gukbe, Sunday, 12 December 2010 09:11 (thirteen years ago) link
it's so weird
― harlan, Sunday, 12 December 2010 09:21 (thirteen years ago) link
Maybe this'll be the year that the ZIPS coach makes the jump to MLS. DC almost had him last year iirc.
― dan m, Sunday, 12 December 2010 17:47 (thirteen years ago) link
Akron won its first NCAA championship with a 1-0 victory over Louisville in Santa Barbara, Calif., capping an extraordinary three years for the Zips: 62-3-8, 169 goals for, 34 goals against.
― dan m, Monday, 13 December 2010 16:58 (thirteen years ago) link
one loss a year!
(they were prettier friday night than yesterday but still, congrats ZIPS)
― harlan, Monday, 13 December 2010 17:51 (thirteen years ago) link
<3ing this pic from old soldier field in the early days
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs600.snc4/58003_479259303886_9733218886_5680138_2436271_n.jpg
― dan m, Tuesday, 14 December 2010 21:13 (thirteen years ago) link
I was at the Popeyes in Santa Ana and Santa Claus saw the plates on my truck "Galaxin" and asked me if I liked the Galaxy and I told him I sure did, that's about all I think of, he said he liked the Galaxy to. Then he asked me if I hated Chivas as much as he did, and I told him OOOH Yeah I HATE SH*TVAS a WHOLE lot, we high fived each other.
― harlan, Thursday, 16 December 2010 07:08 (thirteen years ago) link
edson buddle linked to birminghamteal bunbury linked to stoke
― the Chinese firewall of the heart (Michael B), Thursday, 16 December 2010 14:52 (thirteen years ago) link
I have heard both these things, Bunbury scored for Stoke's reserves.
After the Generation Adidas team did their tour of Spain, Bunbury, Juan Agudelo, and MLS's best entry to Footballers with bad hair: a picture thread, Brek Shea, are all being linked with Atletico Madrid.
― dan m, Thursday, 16 December 2010 15:56 (thirteen years ago) link
Buddle to Birmingham is interesting since LA just picked up rights to Juan Pablo Angel.
― dan m, Thursday, 16 December 2010 15:57 (thirteen years ago) link
http://www.soccermetricsblog.com/2010/12/demographic-analysis-of-mls-players-boyden-carey.html
― harlan, Wednesday, 22 December 2010 07:21 (thirteen years ago) link
http://www.matchfitusa.com/2010/12/silly-season-cynicism.html
― harlan, Thursday, 30 December 2010 05:11 (thirteen years ago) link
― dan m, Thursday, 30 December 2010 06:45 (thirteen years ago) link
Little Rooney has signed with MLS and will be in the combine/SUPERDRAFT. He sucks, right?
― dan m, Friday, 31 December 2010 17:25 (thirteen years ago) link
Former Manchester City and Lazio midfielder Ousmane Dabo says he is on the brink of a move to the MLS. Dabo told France Football's website: "It is under way. I am not interested in playing in Europe anymore. I have played here 15 years. My career is done. Over there, salaries are nowhere near what they are in Europe, except for superstars such as Henry and Beckham. I am a defensive midfielder, I am almost 34. I will not be the one selling shirts."
― mizzell, Wednesday, 5 January 2011 16:03 (thirteen years ago) link
meh, more interested in the young south american non-collegiate guys who are starting to trickle in for the combine and such
oh and lolmini rooney
― dan m, Wednesday, 5 January 2011 16:50 (thirteen years ago) link
super proud to be a part of this
Section 8 Chicago announced a donation of $10,325 to the Chicago Fire Foundation for the calendar year of 2010
http://www.chicago-fire.com/news/2011/01/section-8-philanthropy
― dan m, Thursday, 6 January 2011 19:35 (thirteen years ago) link
brilliant dan, well done to you all
― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 6 January 2011 20:02 (thirteen years ago) link
in the latest round of "he's good, his brother must be good too!" speculation, Eric Lichaj's brother Andrew is on trial with the Fire
― dan m, Friday, 7 January 2011 22:40 (thirteen years ago) link
Hey, anyone who reads this thread: How do you feel about a new one come draft day? (Thursday 1/13, that is)
― dan m, Monday, 10 January 2011 22:29 (thirteen years ago) link
Excuse me. Come SUPERDRAFT day, that is.
― dan m, Monday, 10 January 2011 22:30 (thirteen years ago) link
i read this thread, don't really see the need for a new one, cause i have it bookmarked, but whatever, i'll deal.
― mizzell, Monday, 10 January 2011 22:35 (thirteen years ago) link
I hang around. It never gets too unwieldy for me but then I'm on here constantly.
― Ismael Klata, Monday, 10 January 2011 22:58 (thirteen years ago) link
guys don't you see, taking MLS seriously enough to have an annual thread instead of a 3 year old clearing house is what we need to make this nation competitive
― ullr saves (gbx), Monday, 10 January 2011 23:04 (thirteen years ago) link
+1 for new thread. we are as good as the spl damn it
― harlan, Tuesday, 11 January 2011 07:12 (thirteen years ago) link
congratulations philly for getting BIMBO as a jersey sponsor. well done
― harlan, Tuesday, 11 January 2011 15:41 (thirteen years ago) link
SPL thread covers SPL, cups and internationals. You've got a separate international thread at least! Though yes, we do get one a season, even though there's only about four of us posting on it.
― ailsa, Tuesday, 11 January 2011 16:04 (thirteen years ago) link
I was just sort of thinking if we had a fresh start more people might pay attention.
Can't wait to see how Philly works BIMBO into their shirt, considering how I'm used to seeing it on various Mexican shirt designs.
― dan m, Tuesday, 11 January 2011 16:11 (thirteen years ago) link
SPL thread also occasionally ventures into the murky waters of the leagues below the SPL as well. We're pretty much a "everything even tangentially to do with Scottish football at any level" thread, hence how we get to rack up about 2000 posts a season between us.
That, and me taking five posts to make one point clear.
― ailsa, Tuesday, 11 January 2011 16:19 (thirteen years ago) link
alisa, Chicago is being linked with David Wittenveen and Mickael Antoine Curier from the SPL, any opinions? I've not heard much to be excited about.
― dan m, Tuesday, 11 January 2011 16:32 (thirteen years ago) link
Witteveen I've not seen - Hearts keep sending him out on loan. onimo might have a better idea since he was at Morton.
Curier seems OK, a not-bad striker in a couple of average teams. Probably best ask pfunkboy or aldo since he's been at both their clubs.
Sorry! Neither exactly on my "must watch" radar, tbh.
― ailsa, Tuesday, 11 January 2011 18:29 (thirteen years ago) link
http://www.philadelphiaunion.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/primary_image-620x350/image_nodes/2011/01/letouxjersey.jpg
― dan m, Tuesday, 11 January 2011 21:10 (thirteen years ago) link
Love the fact that Bimbo is now an MLS sponsor. I really loved watching games in Mexico and players with a huge Bimbo on their chest. I love wearing my Rayados jersey when I play with friends, never fails to elicit a reaction ^^
― Jibe, Tuesday, 11 January 2011 21:14 (thirteen years ago) link
dan m, Mickael Antoine-Curier's signed for Hamilton again, so you're safe from one average SPLer.
― ailsa, Wednesday, 12 January 2011 12:53 (thirteen years ago) link