ESPN UK (on Twitter): "Delighted to tell you we are showing MLS again this season. First game is Seattle Sounders versus LA Galaxy on Wednesday 16th March at 2:30am."
BIG TYME
― gtfopocalypse (dan m), Monday, 21 February 2011 17:41 (thirteen years ago) link
i don't know where to put this, i want to start a stats thread but not right now, it was an american researcher and he did quantify some MLS, so why not put it here:
WSJ
The pace and flow of soccer generally make it difficult for managers to affect the outcome of a match once it begins. Since soccer has almost no stoppages for coaches to draw on clipboards or strategize with their players, a manager's most critical in-game decision may be choosing when to utilize his three substitutions.That's where Bret Myers, a professor of management and operations at the Villanova School of Business, comes in. A lifelong soccer player and fan, he sought to help coaches make their subs at exactly the right moment and discovered what he calls the "Decision Rule."To determine this, Dr. Myers analyzed the substitutions and ensuing results of every game played during the 2009-10 season in the top English, Spanish, Italian and German professional leagues, as well as the 2010 Major League Soccer season and the 2010 World Cup. He concluded that if their team is behind, managers should make the first substitution prior to the 58th minute, the second substitution prior to the 73rd minute and the third prior to the 79th minute. Teams that follow these guidelines improve—score at least one goal—roughly 36% of the time. Teams that don't follow the rule improve about 18.5% of the time. He noted 1,037 instances the rule could have been applied and found that managers abide by it a little less than half the time. He also found that the timing of subs has no effect on the team ahead in the score or if the match is tied.
That's where Bret Myers, a professor of management and operations at the Villanova School of Business, comes in. A lifelong soccer player and fan, he sought to help coaches make their subs at exactly the right moment and discovered what he calls the "Decision Rule."
To determine this, Dr. Myers analyzed the substitutions and ensuing results of every game played during the 2009-10 season in the top English, Spanish, Italian and German professional leagues, as well as the 2010 Major League Soccer season and the 2010 World Cup. He concluded that if their team is behind, managers should make the first substitution prior to the 58th minute, the second substitution prior to the 73rd minute and the third prior to the 79th minute. Teams that follow these guidelines improve—score at least one goal—roughly 36% of the time. Teams that don't follow the rule improve about 18.5% of the time. He noted 1,037 instances the rule could have been applied and found that managers abide by it a little less than half the time. He also found that the timing of subs has no effect on the team ahead in the score or if the match is tied.
― harlan, Tuesday, 22 February 2011 03:29 (thirteen years ago) link
Interesting that science bears out the "bring on the big lad after an hour" tactic.
― Yossarian's sense of humour (NotEnough), Tuesday, 22 February 2011 10:01 (thirteen years ago) link
http://www.portlandtimbers.com/news/2011/03/cascadia-summit-live-stream
first meeting of MLS versions of Portland and Seattle streaming now for free
― gtfopocalypse (dan m), Saturday, 5 March 2011 03:58 (thirteen years ago) link
portland might be decent?sigi is hard to look at.
i liked the flares.
― harlan, Saturday, 5 March 2011 08:44 (thirteen years ago) link
I'm loving this preseason, lots of free official streams. Fire v. Toronto right now.
― gtfopocalypse (dan m), Saturday, 5 March 2011 22:15 (thirteen years ago) link
lolwut
MLS UK - http://www.majorleaguesocceruk.com/MLS France - http://www.mls-news.frMLS Italia - http://www.socceritalia.info/MLS Brasil - http://mlsbr.wordpress.com/
― gtfopocalypse (dan m), Sunday, 6 March 2011 23:38 (thirteen years ago) link
http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/videos/66836/vancouver-whitecaps-promo-new-kit-by-painting-it-on-a-topless-model-video.html/attachment/vancouver
― mizzell, Thursday, 10 March 2011 16:53 (thirteen years ago) link
new iphone/android app available, supposed to be pretty good but I don't have one of those phones
http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/new-season-new-m-l-s-app/
― gtfopocalypse (dan m), Thursday, 10 March 2011 19:25 (thirteen years ago) link
here is a soccer thing to know.corner kicks,the ball goes out in your corner of the field then the other team kicks it in they can either pass to a goal bystander or shoot from the corner i hope that was helpfull bye
― harlan, Monday, 14 March 2011 07:20 (thirteen years ago) link
A bright future on Fox soccer awaits you.
― Yossarian's sense of humour (NotEnough), Monday, 14 March 2011 12:37 (thirteen years ago) link
tell me you're stoked for first kick
― harlan, Tuesday, 15 March 2011 05:38 (thirteen years ago) link
I'll be more stoked on Saturday.
― gtfopocalypse (dan m), Tuesday, 15 March 2011 12:27 (thirteen years ago) link
my dad took me to the NASL sounders when i was four. tonight i get to return the favor and take him to his first MLS game
― harlan, Tuesday, 15 March 2011 17:53 (thirteen years ago) link
Nice. It's like when I saw Daglish managing Liverpool last week - he was on the field first game I ever saw as a five-year-old back in 1982.
― Ismael Klata, Tuesday, 15 March 2011 18:45 (thirteen years ago) link
the commish was at the Fire's season kickoff charity luncheon yesterday, shown here rocking one of our supporter scarves
http://section8chicago.com/images/fbfiles/images/garber_cf97.jpg
dude's a bit of a douche imo but damn that's a sharp scarf
― gtfopocalypse (dan m), Tuesday, 15 March 2011 18:55 (thirteen years ago) link
nice feel good story here, a local kid went to the Fire open tryouts and appears to have made it onto the first team
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/soccer/4319651-419/pantazopoulos-makes-dream-team.html
― gtfopocalypse (dan m), Tuesday, 15 March 2011 19:14 (thirteen years ago) link
classy tifo imo, rising sun flagscan we lool for a sec abt the ref spraypainting the 10 yd line? loved iti am in an all cowbell sextion. who knewshould be 3-0 sounders
― harlan, Wednesday, 16 March 2011 03:02 (thirteen years ago) link
finishing!
they do the evaporating 10yd spray in mexico, imo glad it's here
sloppy goal by la but cmon keller
― gtfopocalypse (dan m), Wednesday, 16 March 2011 03:19 (thirteen years ago) link
ok on replay maybe it wasn't such a sloppy goal
― gtfopocalypse (dan m), Wednesday, 16 March 2011 15:16 (thirteen years ago) link
http://www.kmbc.com/r/27214722/detail.html
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco will be coming to Kansas City next week to tryout and train with the soccer team, Sporting KC officials tweeted on Wednesday.
― gtfopocalypse (dan m), Wednesday, 16 March 2011 17:05 (thirteen years ago) link
i see irish international striker caleb folan has gone to colorado rapids
― Michael B, Wednesday, 16 March 2011 19:43 (thirteen years ago) link
Are there any major rivalries in MLS? How do they compare to, say, Liverpool-Man Utd, Arsenal-Spurs?
― territory of the magic wand (Chris), Thursday, 17 March 2011 15:22 (thirteen years ago) link
they're kinda manufactured since a lot of the teams are so new
Atlantic Cup — D.C. United vs New York Red BullsBrimstone Cup — Chicago Fire vs FC DallasCalifornia Clasico — Los Angeles Galaxy vs San Jose EarthquakesCascadia Cup — Seattle Sounders FC vs Portland Timbers vs Vancouver Whitecaps FCLamar Hunt Pioneer Cup, pre-season — Columbus Crew vs FC DallasRocky Mountain Cup — Colorado Rapids vs Real Salt LakeSuperClasico — Chivas USA vs Los Angeles GalaxyTexas Derby — FC Dallas vs Houston DynamoTrillium Cup — Columbus Crew vs Toronto FC
― mizzell, Thursday, 17 March 2011 15:27 (thirteen years ago) link
None of them compare to Utd/Liverpool or other such rivalries, having not been around for generations.
Probably the biggest, starting this year, is the 3-way Seattle-Portland-Vancouver clusterfuck, due to their proximity and their history in other leagues over the past 30ish years.
NY-Philly-DC-New England is pretty big in a lot of ways, again because of proximity and all the other sports rivalries that exist between these cities. NY-DC hate is probably greatest in this one.
Chicago and Dallas used to be a huge rivalry back when there were fewer teams in the league, but has waned recently. Fire fans (of which I am one) basically hate everyone, but recent rivalries are biggest with Columbus (proximity) and New England (repeated playoff meetings).
Vancouver and Toronto (and Montreal when they enter the league) are going to be pretty big.
Columbus and Toronto is pretty dece.
The only true crosstown derby, LA/Chivas, is a rivalry, but is mostly hype-driven ime.
Dallas/Houston is pretty big too, being a Texas thing.
(afaik)
― gtfopocalypse (dan m), Thursday, 17 March 2011 17:01 (thirteen years ago) link
NY and New England not a rivalry, the supporters groups have been friendly for years! The DC part is for real, though.
― go peddle your bullshit somewhere else sister (Laurel), Thursday, 17 March 2011 17:02 (thirteen years ago) link
Wait I thought you guys had like bottles thrown at you when you drove up to Foxboro that one time? Or was that in DC?
― gtfopocalypse (dan m), Thursday, 17 March 2011 17:06 (thirteen years ago) link
For anyone who's so inclined, a couple of Fire fans are producing a podcast starting this season.
http://hotmesscf97.podomatic.com/
Great humor, good analysis, a complete overview of where the team (and others around the league) are at the start of the new season.
― gtfopocalypse (dan m), Thursday, 17 March 2011 19:04 (thirteen years ago) link
Yah we did! But I think the climate has changed/different people are in charge of stuff/the people doing it weren't the main supporters club.
― go peddle your bullshit somewhere else sister (Laurel), Thursday, 17 March 2011 19:07 (thirteen years ago) link
nobody goes to their games anyway lol
― gtfopocalypse (dan m), Thursday, 17 March 2011 19:25 (thirteen years ago) link
xp Would crosstown derbies work in the US if, say, Cosmos get off the ground? It doesn't seem to be a big deal in other sports e.g. I never hear about a Giants-Jets beef.
― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 17 March 2011 20:01 (thirteen years ago) link
I am not a knowledgeable NFL fan, but afaik the Jets and Giants don't play each other because they're in separate conferences. I do know that Giants/Eagles is a huuuge rivalry.
Crosstown derbies could work though, imo, once there are some more teams. Gals/Chivas could be huge but the issue is that the Chivas branding tends to drive some fans away from their side. It definitely happens in other sports -- the baseball crosstown classic here in Chicago, Cubs/Sox, is always huge. The various California teams in other sports all hate each other, etc etc.
― gtfopocalypse (dan m), Thursday, 17 March 2011 20:10 (thirteen years ago) link
Jets and Giants could maybe meet in the playoffs? Dunno.
I'm not up on what's happening w the Cosmos name & future these days, but until maybe a year ago, it wasn't even clear that the NYC-area market could make ONE team really work, much less two. I would say we're a ways yet from having to worry about a cross-town derby.
― go peddle your bullshit somewhere else sister (Laurel), Thursday, 17 March 2011 20:37 (thirteen years ago) link
There would DEFINITELY be people who'd join up for the Cosmos/any 2nd team just out of spite for Red Bull changing the name of the 1st team all those years ago -- a certain number of fans left after that who've never re-engaged, although some of them crumbled when the stadium opened.
― go peddle your bullshit somewhere else sister (Laurel), Thursday, 17 March 2011 20:40 (thirteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpOnM4SHPO0
Cosmos got a bit of publicity here last week when Cantona did an interview with the bbc - our awful pundits were left open-mouthed when he named the Kung-Fu kick as the best moment of his career
― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 17 March 2011 20:51 (thirteen years ago) link
They're the trolliest non-team in existence.
― gtfopocalypse (dan m), Thursday, 17 March 2011 20:53 (thirteen years ago) link
I might have had too much coffee but I cannot sit through 10 mins of that interview.
I did, however, just buy my ticket for the home opener tonight and ALL the supporters sections are sold out! Now let's see who's actually sitting in them....
― go peddle your bullshit somewhere else sister (Laurel), Saturday, 19 March 2011 14:39 (thirteen years ago) link
Normally I'm not one to care much about screen-size when watching games on video (lol internet streams) but the prospect of watching the Fire on a 10x30ft screen tonight has got me a little geeky.
So following the retirement of McBride and Brown and the departures of Ljungberg, Castillo, Conde, and a bunch of other dead weight, Coach looks to be running out a 3-5-2 with a youngish bunch of hungry no-name (outside the league, at least) players against the playoff runners-up from last year... should be quite interesting.
― gtfopocalypse (dan m), Saturday, 19 March 2011 18:24 (thirteen years ago) link
lol toronto
cd9 getting 2 goals as well
fire don't look like shit in a road draw, I'll take it
― gtfopocalypse (dan m), Sunday, 20 March 2011 03:30 (thirteen years ago) link
MatchDay Live (their name for the internet game interface) season pass is $39.99 until the 28th. Decided to give it a go and am watching the Vancouver - Toronto game from the other night. Boy do Toronto look bad; horrible fullbacks and midfield. It's gonna be a while before the Ajax system reaps any dividends. A while being years, based on the start.
― EZ Snappin, Sunday, 20 March 2011 15:16 (thirteen years ago) link
a good first day! lots of goals, glad to see charlie, agudelo is a wonder, lol sounders.
― harlan, Sunday, 20 March 2011 18:27 (thirteen years ago) link
Oh man so the Toronto-Vancouver game had video feed issues on Match Day Live and I didn't get to watch it (as it was happening)! And then the other game I was really excited about wasn't on MDL, the Timber's season opener. Had to go to some streaming site that probably gave me worms. Terrible defense on the Timbers side, the goalie looked so frustrated!
DC United kicked some serious ass, that was good.... I gotta put Charlie Davies on my fantasy team if he keeps up that level of play.
― Threadkiller General (Viceroy), Sunday, 20 March 2011 18:49 (thirteen years ago) link
Watchin' the DC game as I type. Looks great, especially compared to the SD stream for the Tor-Van game. Love Pat Onstad.
― EZ Snappin, Sunday, 20 March 2011 19:05 (thirteen years ago) link
That was a great MLS game. Chippy, some great defending, a couple of good goals.
― EZ Snappin, Sunday, 20 March 2011 21:18 (thirteen years ago) link
The Fire home opener on Saturday is forecast to be in the low 40s, rain, w/ chance of snow. Still excited.
On a brighter note, our supporter sections have almost hit 800 season tickets sold, more than doubling our previous high mark. And this is after the team missed the playoffs last year for only the 2nd time.
― gtfopocalypse (dan m), Wednesday, 23 March 2011 15:59 (thirteen years ago) link
I wonder if that's a MLS-wide phenomenon or just limited to Chicago... I think last years world cup created a lot of new American soccer fans.
― Threadkiller General (Viceroy), Wednesday, 23 March 2011 18:16 (thirteen years ago) link
It could be, but I think it's also a side effect of ownership deciding to try and give a shit about their fanbase. They've cut parking prices in half, offered up a lot more perks for buying season tickets, it's looking like they'll play Man Utd in a friendly at Soldier Field and all season ticket holders get that game included at no extra charge, etc. Numbers are up all over the park, not just in the end sections.
― gtfopocalypse (dan m), Wednesday, 23 March 2011 19:14 (thirteen years ago) link
Also fwiw I don't remember a big bump in attendance after the WC finished last year.
― gtfopocalypse (dan m), Wednesday, 23 March 2011 19:15 (thirteen years ago) link