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View Full Version : thoughts and opinions on garber?



__wowza
07-03-2009, 11:52 AM
no, that wasn't a phillippino slip up about carver. i've been doing a lot of reading on the guy and he seems genuinely passionate about the sport, which is never a bad thing. he's learned from the mistakes of past north american leagues and seems to have a well thought out plan for the future of the sport in north america.

http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20090702&content_id=5658802&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp

haven't seen him discussed much on here.
hows everyone else thing he's doing?

Roogsy
07-03-2009, 11:56 AM
He seems well-intentioned, but is making mistakes that I feel come from pride and ego.

Learning from mistakes by others is all well and good, but it sort gets undone if you don't learn from your own.

Oldtimer
07-03-2009, 12:13 PM
Garber is a mouthpiece for the owners, some who don't really understand the game's culture.

That being said, he did a lot in the early years to bring MLS in line with the world game by dumping the non-standard rules that Doug Logan had put into place (e.g. shoot-outs for tie games) to make the game more "American." His business savvy (particularly in setting up Soccer United Marketing) saved the league from bankruptcy in its early days. He's also been careful to learn from Toronto, and put his neck out to get a team here when most Americans wanted to keep it as a US-only league.

Get In There
07-03-2009, 12:13 PM
He seems well-intentioned, but is making mistakes that I feel come from pride and ego.

Learning from mistakes by others is all well and good, but it sort gets undone if you don't learn from your own.


By "pride & ego' do you mean the whole FIFA date deal?

B

Roogsy
07-03-2009, 12:23 PM
FIFA dates for sure.

Marketing to soccer moms.

Acknowledging problems with officiating.

Superliga winnings shared with players, it's such a small amount and would make such a difference for players.

flatpicker
07-03-2009, 12:51 PM
I think Garber has done some decent things for the game in North America.

I still believe more can be done to bring the league in line with international standards.

I hope that Garber has his sights set on making those appropriate changes.

- scheduling the league with fifa dates in mind
(doesn't have to be perfect considering our summer season, but it can be better than it is now)
- I would really like to see more spending options available to clubs with sufficient revenue.
- A single table would be a very nice addition as well.

rocker
07-03-2009, 01:32 PM
Garber was quick to recognize the TFC model and encourage/allow other teams to go in that direction.

I like Garber on the financial side of things. The guy has seen it all (expansion, contraction, expansion), and started up SUM Marketing (brilliant idea).
He's the perfect guy for a sport that's still a relatively small player and attempting to grow.

flatpicker
07-03-2009, 01:40 PM
Going back to my comment about tweaking MLS schedule to better suit fifa dates...

Anyone think Garber will schedule less games during the month that World Cup is on?

Seriously, a lot of people won't be getting too excited about MLS during that competition!

ensco
07-03-2009, 01:44 PM
His great error was in allowing the Metrostars to be renamed. It was unforgiveable.

He should never, ever, ever, have allowed that, no matter how much money was involved. I lived in New York. That single move crushed the spirit of the fans there.

In general, the weak state of the big market teams (NY, NE, LA, Chicago) has to be, at least in some measure, the great failure of his time as Commissioner

Stryker
07-03-2009, 02:01 PM
I think he's done a good job.
If he could pull a fast one and get a good TV deal he'll have built himself a nice little legecy.

rocker
07-03-2009, 02:04 PM
In general, the weak state of the big market teams (NY, NE, LA, Chicago) has to be, at least in some measure, the great failure of his time as Commissioner

and his great success is just the opposite -- keeping markets alive to grow the game and choosing excellent expansion markets (TFC, Seattle). Forget TFC and Seattle for a second.... what's happened with Real Salt Lake is nothing short of amazing. Beautiful SSS, grass field, 15000 a game. Pretty solid.

Gotta take the good with the bad.