New York Times Soccer Maven Jack Bell Addresses The Giorgo Chignalia & Red Bull Situation In A Du Nord Exclusive
After reading all of Giorgio Chignalia's words from Jack Bell's article in Wednesday's New York Times, I sent a note to our pal Jack and asked him a (run-on) question. I got back a lot more than I figured I would, so I am running Jacks words seperately from the ususal du Nord daily blab. I think you will dig this.
What do you think about the possible Metrostars purchase by Red Bull, and did you get any idea of what Chignalia knows in regards to how MLS is run - salary cap, internationals, developmental team etc etc??
As I'm sure you know, GC has a long and glorious history of spouting off. That said, for all the bombast, the guy has an incredible knowledge of players and what makes good players.
I'm sure he's aware of the financial restrictions, but I honestly think those salary numbers are about to change and could change quickly. nothing concrete from MLS folks, but I think that when you get people like Vergara, Checketts and Red Bull involved they are not going to be interested for very long if it means being chained to mediocrity.
For me the key is divesting Uncle Phil as quickly as possible because he and Hunt have been able to put the kibosh on lots of things because they hold the strong hand.
A couple of folks have asked me about the nuts and bolts and if GC knows this or that ... I was thinking about it last night recalling my days covering the Cosmos and dealing with GC. The best thing about it was that there was never a dull moment. The willingness to talk to the media and actually tell us stuff went a long way to making the Cosmos a must-cover for New York papers. As you know, that has certainly NOT been the case with the Metros.
NY/NJ has been a blackhole for MLS and it simply can't go on. That was the basic theme of my MLS preview two years ago. Garber kind of poo-pooed it then. Now, I know he just saw the Cosmos movie and was surprised to see the passion and tumult, stuff that he can only dream of with the current Metros situation.
There are a hundred reasons why the NASL imploded. But the Cosmos losing money, I think, didn't have much to do with it because the team was merely an entertainment vehicle for Warner Communications. It was synergy before the word was in vogue. Many, many companies have bought into that now, sponsoring teams, events, etc., around the world to promote other things. The NASL was pretty poorly run, yet one thing that many people refuse to acknowledge is that for all the damage, the NASL truly planted soccer's seed here. Any argument to the contrary is pure bullshit.
What do you think about the possible Metrostars purchase by Red Bull, and did you get any idea of what Chignalia knows in regards to how MLS is run - salary cap, internationals, developmental team etc etc??
As I'm sure you know, GC has a long and glorious history of spouting off. That said, for all the bombast, the guy has an incredible knowledge of players and what makes good players.
I'm sure he's aware of the financial restrictions, but I honestly think those salary numbers are about to change and could change quickly. nothing concrete from MLS folks, but I think that when you get people like Vergara, Checketts and Red Bull involved they are not going to be interested for very long if it means being chained to mediocrity.
For me the key is divesting Uncle Phil as quickly as possible because he and Hunt have been able to put the kibosh on lots of things because they hold the strong hand.
A couple of folks have asked me about the nuts and bolts and if GC knows this or that ... I was thinking about it last night recalling my days covering the Cosmos and dealing with GC. The best thing about it was that there was never a dull moment. The willingness to talk to the media and actually tell us stuff went a long way to making the Cosmos a must-cover for New York papers. As you know, that has certainly NOT been the case with the Metros.
NY/NJ has been a blackhole for MLS and it simply can't go on. That was the basic theme of my MLS preview two years ago. Garber kind of poo-pooed it then. Now, I know he just saw the Cosmos movie and was surprised to see the passion and tumult, stuff that he can only dream of with the current Metros situation.
There are a hundred reasons why the NASL imploded. But the Cosmos losing money, I think, didn't have much to do with it because the team was merely an entertainment vehicle for Warner Communications. It was synergy before the word was in vogue. Many, many companies have bought into that now, sponsoring teams, events, etc., around the world to promote other things. The NASL was pretty poorly run, yet one thing that many people refuse to acknowledge is that for all the damage, the NASL truly planted soccer's seed here. Any argument to the contrary is pure bullshit.
posted by brucio at 23:49
9 Comments:
Jack Bell, cursing like a sailor!
wowie wow
thanks for sharing
Outstanding Bruce!
Well done, Bruce...
Things in MLS are about to get real interesting, real quick-like. Giddyup.
Thanks for reposting that. Interesting to say the least.
So, yet another NY team that outspends everyone on it's way to 'well earned' championships is good for us all, isn't it?
Will you people get over yourselves?
The main reason the 'metros' have failed time and time again is because they have sought big name 'superstars' like Branco, Lothar, et. al., at the expense of the rest of their roster. If they ever treated the tri-state soccer market like the sophisticated, knowledgable base it could be, they'd see results. Good football, not blatant, tastless gimmickry, will bring fans.
Its a management issue.
The N.Y. logo is now replaced by a Red Bull New York. I really REALLy don't like it if the name of the team is named after a product. That intierly sucks the big one. What will we have next, the Kentucky Kotex?
Oppps! So upset I misspelled entirely.
Oh, and how about the Preparation H Wizards?
The Japanese baseball league used to have the Nippon Ham Fighters, where Nippon Ham is a meat packing company.
I think FedEx wanted to work their name into the Tennessee basketball franchise, but got rejected by the NBA. (Before that KFC wanted to buy the Grizzlies and turn them into the Kentucky Colonels.
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