Mr. Conrads Opus

[keem-o-sabi]

Don't know if you ever read Jimmy Conrad's articles on soccernet, but he is at it again, talking about how to change MLS (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=702921&sec=mls&root=mls&cc=5901)

[TorCanSoc]

Wow. Crazy read. Don Garber must love him.

[MG42]

Great article, and fantastic idea that I haven't read anywhere else.

[TFCtoMUFC]

A few things I dont like about his MLS1 MLS2 idea. If DC United are slated to get relegated they don't cause they've been in the league for a long time and they dont want some punk team coming up just to lose. Thats what relegation is all about, so that would defeat the purpose. And the 1 game playoff between 2nd and 3rd place teams is dumb, the 3rd place team could be 14 points back and not deserving of that chance.

[flatpicker]

His suggestions aren't a whole lot different from what myself and others have discussed in here.
But the simple fact that more people involved in the league are promoting the idea of a two-tier system makes me happy.
There are ways to do it, and make it work.
One thing I would disagree with though is his "no playoffs" scenario.
I think there should be an MLS Cup playoffs between MLS 1 and MLS 2 teams (kinda like a mini FA Cup in which all 20 teams would qualify).
That would help ensure fans of MLS 2 teams stick around since they know they will eventually face some MLS 1 clubs.

Becoming a monopoly sounds good.
I have discussed in the past that I never liked, or fully understood, the benefit multiple professional soccer leagues.
There is too much confusion, it needs to be streamlined for the benefit of all.

Getting rid of the draft is something I have always been in favour of.
Bigger development programs creates even more competition between teams, and that is never a bad thing!

[jloome]

Despite ongoing ego-based arguments to the contrary, MLS is actually ideally suited for a second division and a single relegation spot: it's single entity, which means losses caused by relegation can be offset by the other teams via revenue sharing, ala baseball.

[Darlofletch]

A few things I dont like about his MLS1 MLS2 idea. If DC United are slated to get relegated they don't cause they've been in the league for a long time and they dont want some punk team coming up just to lose. Thats what relegation is all about, so that would defeat the purpose. And the 1 game playoff between 2nd and 3rd place teams is dumb, the 3rd place team could be 14 points back and not deserving of that chance.

As a fan of a lower league team back in england with three unsuccessful playoff appearances under it's belt, I like playoffs, and i'd go as far as have 2nd to 5th playoff for the second promotion spot. otherwise, with no relegation to be avoided, there's a lot of teams with nothing to play for very quickly into the season. Would it suck to be the second place team? absolutely, but as conrad says elsewhere in the article, bitterness, paranoia and a sense of unfairness and persecution can be used to push a team on to better things.

[Hitcho]

^ Agreed, and good point Dunc.

I am not in favour of the Namerican "play off" system, where the league title goes out on a lottery. League title goes to league winner, that's the end of it.

But I don't mind the UK "play off" system of having a second promotion place up for grabs based on a play off because as Dunc points out, it maintains something to play for deeper into the season.

Flatpicker - time to resurrect our old thread mate?! :D:D:D Two tier league system, promotion and relegation in some shape or form and a side MLS Cup competetion whcih is run like the FA Cup throughout the season. For parity to remain king here and keep the leagues fluid and not the same teams up top and down below every year, we'd need things like the draft system to stay in place.

But, the sooner they kill off the expansion draft the better. If you can't find 20 players then don't join the fucking league! This is especially so for teams joining from USL or another existing league.

[Darlofletch]

You could also still have a playoff sytem in place as well if you're absolutely against abandoning the "everyone has a chance to win it all every year" mindset. let the top 4 mls2 teams play a preliminary round, 1v4 2v3, then have the winners join the top 6 of mls1 in an 8 team knockout.

[Darlofletch]

^fdk;kl;

huh?

[Hitcho]

No, the league title needs to become a much more valuable thing if MLS is going to get any credence internationally and attract better players. Play offs as America knows them must be scrapped. Retain for promotion too keep the grumblers happy but that's it. And rename the cup comp "the play off cup" or something to fudge the issue a bit more.

It's fucking madness anyway - the league is so tight with the parity measures in place that a genuine scrap for the league title with all the teams involved focussed on it and not holding back for an orgy of play off games after the real season has ended would mean a really good, exciting, tight title chase that went right to the death each year. That's gold, and we should exploit it.

[tfc2007]

Some really strong ideas.
Worth exploring.

[VPjr]

I like his ideas...probably because they mimic many of my own ideas, some of which I (and so many others) have posted.

I doubt promotion / relegation will ever happen but I still want to see single table (20 teams, 38 games per year). I want to see the league champion being awarded the MLS Cup. I have no problem with a playoff system at the end of the year that would become the equivalent of the Carlsberg Cup in England (a limited field league cup open only to the top 8 teams but with a fat cash prize to keep the players interested in fighting to the end of the season for a chance to qualify...make those game single elimination).

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the idea of ditching the draft (drafts suck in all sports). I love the idea of depemphasizing NCAA soccer because that is simply bad for development. I also like the idea of MLS teams running their own indoor soccer programs for young players during the winter (I prefer that the brand of soccer that is played be futsal rather than arena soccer with boards, which is crap IMO).

I'm torn on the MLS monopoly of all things pro soccer in North America. I think a little competition for an organization that runs itself essentially like a cartel is not the worst thing in the world. they need to be kept honest.

All in all, I love the article.

[Beach_Red]

It depends who the MLS want as fans and what kind of league it want to be. I've seen quite a few professional sports leagues start-up or expand a lot and the successes and failures have a bit of a pattern.

If MLS wants to appeal to people who are fans of other leagues in other parts of the world, than sure, just copy those leagues. If there are enough of those fans to make the league work, great.

If MLS wants to attract the same fans as MLB, NBA or even the NFL then maybe setting up like a foreign league won't work as well.

Baseball was king for a long time, really had no competition as a pro sport in America. There were two leagues, but they were single table, had no playoffs and each team developed its own talent. The World Series was the first playoffs and sponsored originally bu a newspaper. But as competition for attention became much stronger baseball expanded its playoffs - mostly to get into prime time network TV for a month.

That's realy what the playoffs are for in a TV market with four pro sports and lots of college sports - a short period of focus.

In football college was king and the pros didn't get much respect until the AFL and NFL merged and they did TV right.

I think the most intereting thing for MLS to look at are the different approaches of the NBA and the NHL. In the 60's pro hockey and basketball was on about the same level in the US.

No league that started up since baseball has tried to develop its own players (the NFL and NBA don't even have minor league teams). They leave that to the schools. And, it's not just the players that get developed, it's the fan base, too.

[NF-FC]

My solution to the pro/rel argument is that instead of relegating the crap teams to MLS-2, promote the good teams to "MLS Premier". That way nobody can get their panties in a bunch because they paid 35 million to be relegated, because they weren't!