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View Full Version : I have a lot of respect for "The Don" ....



Juanito
11-21-2010, 04:38 PM
http://www.mlssoccer.com/videos?catid=1916&id=10663

Watch the press conference. He is a smart man. Before him, the league was about to collapse. With him, they have gotten a contract with Adidas, secured TV rights (albeit small). He has not gotten in the way of the TFCs, Sounders, and Unions of the world grow supporter culture.

I like that he wants to "push the league from the bottom and not pull it from the top" which means that he doesn't see bringing DPs as a long-term solution for the MLS.

I see him in a different light.

kodiakTFC
11-21-2010, 04:58 PM
I've always liked The Don, he is a great commish and I fear where this league would be without him.

Mark in Ottawa
11-21-2010, 05:07 PM
Never an easy task but I believe that Don Garber is doing a fine job as MLS commisioner.

Stryker
11-21-2010, 08:49 PM
I think he's done a great job. The way he's allowed for three DP's per team was a smart move. Just wish he'd have raised the cap one million more for next season.

TheKing7
11-22-2010, 01:18 AM
He's also looking to change to the FIFA/ european calendar.
Not only is he doing a good job, he's also adapting and listening to the fan base.

Juanito
11-22-2010, 01:23 AM
See, I am posting this because when TFC first came into existence, I started "reading up" on the league. When I joined RPB as a board member, I used to read a lot of negativity against Garber. I was somewhat inclined to agree with the masses, but I wasn't well-educated on the subject.

After following the team and reading up on what he has accomplished, he has done more good than bad. I was just wondering with MLS weekend and all, what is the general consensus nowadays.

Alonso
11-22-2010, 01:27 AM
Props to the the DON! I agree he's taken a calculated approach but pushed where and when he can to advance the league.

I thought that he would be more conservative than he has been and am glad that I've been proven wrong, he attempts to make strides to get the league to its maximum potential.

razor787
11-22-2010, 01:27 AM
He's also looking to change to the FIFA/ european calendar.
Not only is he doing a good job, he's also adapting and listening to the fan base.

He will recognize FIFA dates? That's awesome! I don't care if the casual fan won't go to the games as it gets colder, we will get 90% of the full time supporters, which is what counts.

phonzo
11-22-2010, 02:00 AM
there are some subjects and topics he implied though that are absolutely ridiculous.

twistedchinaman
11-22-2010, 03:17 AM
there are some subjects and topics he implied though that are absolutely ridiculous.

As in...?

The Don, like it or not, has done a good job period.

Pookie
11-22-2010, 08:11 AM
He will recognize FIFA dates? That's awesome! I don't care if the casual fan won't go to the games as it gets colder, we will get 90% of the full time supporters, which is what counts.

Yeah, awesome.

90% of the 2,000 full time supporters? Yep, that's a healthy league right there.

In the USA, you think lining up against NCAA Football and Basketball, NFL, NBA and to a lesser extent the NHL is a good idea for the overall health of the league?

In Canada, if they went to afternoon games where do you think majority of their fans are going to be in afternoons? If they aren't amongst the 400,000 viewers of the NFL or the 700,000 to 1M viewers of the CFL, they are likely shuffling kids to hockey tournaments. If the game is played on Saturday evenings, perhaps some of the 1M to 2M viewers of Hockey Night in Canada might pause to click over on a commercial.

If you think this move would only impact young (20-29) single "students" in the Toronto area (or other urban areas in North America), this is the demographic that is shrinking the most according to David Foot, author of Boom, Bust and Echo.

Aligning with the FIFA schedule in North America has "brilliant" written all over it.

phonzo
11-22-2010, 08:59 AM
As in...?

The Don, like it or not, has done a good job period.

first off didn't mean to sound as harsh as I did I still think he has done a great job in turning the league around and into something profitable. It's also nice to see them provide a forum such as Sunday mornings that is so direct.

As for the items; these are better discussed in the private boards, but it does have a lot to do with carrots and sticks.

maninb
11-22-2010, 09:14 AM
Raising the playoffs teams to 10 is MORONIC!!! As it is the REGULAR SEASON MEANS NOTHING!!!! It should be 6 in the playoffs with Division winners getting a bye to the semis....

maninb
11-22-2010, 09:21 AM
Also aligning with the a European schedule playing from August to March is just plain IDIOTIC!!! The league would be done in 4-5 years....

phonzo
11-22-2010, 09:55 AM
Regardless of FIFA's pressure I actually agree with the Don about not pursuing a FIFA calendar..sorry but a mid season game at BMO at the end of November...I mean I would be there but still.

How many people leave BMO when it rains? Even some of the fine folks from RSL noted that some nights if its just to warm / cold people won't show there. Also he talked about splitting the season and made a valid point that while it could work only true fans would understand it.

It's fine I encourage him to keep telling FIFA to eat it on this one.

C.Ronaldo
11-22-2010, 09:56 AM
10 teams is too much

i dont want a 10th place team winning the cup

C.Ronaldo
11-22-2010, 09:57 AM
although, if they move the mls cup to the summer, like the supercups in other countries .

that would make things interesting

keem-o-sabi
11-22-2010, 10:14 AM
I liked the one comment yesterday about the SUmmer schedule vs the Winter schedule...maybe we have it right and Fifa has it wrong.

I think as long as they can accomodate international fixtures having the schedule around Spring/Summer/Fall is fine. Playing a clausera and apertura would be stupid.

As much as we say who cares about the general population and let's only care about the supporters, is pretty naive. You've never owned a team then, believe me, the supporters are what you want, but that is about a 1-5% of your ticket base income. The general population buys just as much gear and spends a lot of $$$ on the club. As one of a few people that have actually owned a club (albeit a minor league club), you need both groups to be happy.

I'm always pissed that we get all fall/spring matches when the weather sucks. I'd like some more summer matches. The weather is nice, the girls are prettier in the stands.

Suds
11-22-2010, 10:21 AM
Being at the press conference I can say I'm pretty impressed with Garber.

While he is the commissioner has a fair bit of power and decision ability, it seems as though he believes in giving the teams in the league and people in the MLS organization the ability to use their talents to build the MLS. It's a strong and confident leader who has the ability to not be a control freak and keep all the decisions and power with them.

I was also impressed by some of the other members from MLS operations. You really got the sense these are smart people and it gives me confidence i the leagues future. Sure, they'll make mistakes, but I feel like the league is in good hands right now.

phonzo
11-22-2010, 10:52 AM
well as I noted they are great at providing educated lip service but yes Nelson is a very well spoken guy and they do have the right people in the organization.

keem-o-sabi nails it - we the supporters in most cases do not generate enough revenue to support the teams. It's everyone that comes for the team and what supporters bring that drives the league. Supporters should be and are critical to the continued success of MLS.

Also I'm surprised no one has said this yet but Nigel and Jason did a bang up job moderating. Jasons face when Garber replied back with Yes to the US academy setup was fantastic - shit I think my jaw also dropped.

The reason the FIFA schedule is important is because it removes all the player shortages that can occur. But the simple solution to this is increasing depth in each teams roster by upping the caps.

__wowza
11-22-2010, 11:30 AM
The reason the FIFA schedule is important is because it removes all the player shortages that can occur. But the simple solution to this is increasing depth in each teams roster by upping the caps.

they could also try and honour fifa international dates that come in close proximity with large clusters of MLS games.

flatpicker
11-22-2010, 11:56 AM
I'm all for MLS respecting the FIFA calender a bit more.
But they do need to be careful about how they do it.
I'm sure they are weighing all the options.

I would imagine cold climate clubs would end up on long road trips during the cold months.

Pookie
11-22-2010, 12:49 PM
I'm all for MLS respecting the FIFA calender a bit more.
But they do need to be careful about how they do it.
I'm sure they are weighing all the options.

I would imagine cold climate clubs would end up on long road trips during the cold months.

Like the months of December through March?

flatpicker
11-22-2010, 01:05 PM
^ I may have read it wrong, but I thought it was said they would take a break during the dead of winter and then resume the season.

dupont
11-22-2010, 01:07 PM
I really hope they don't move to the FIFA winter calendar. It's a terrible idea that will hurt the growth and popularity of the sport in the northern USA and especially in Canada.
I think making professional soccer grow in North America should be the top priority that trumps anything FIFA tries to force on us.

jabbronies
11-22-2010, 01:12 PM
MLS playing in the winter is the dumbest idea I've ever heard in my life. I'm sure there are labour laws out there that are against having your employees parade around for 90+ minutes in -35 degree weather in nothing more than shorts and a long sleeve tee.

Conforming to the FIFA calendar should be thought of more like - no games scheduled on International dates.

After this weekend I feel like "The Don" is more of an ideas guy who hands off his vision of how this league should move forward to his underlings. I think the overall idea come across to them, but I'm not sure that they know how to execute the nitty gritty details to make that idea come to fruition. Successful companies don't run on executives alone and I get the feeling that is all MLS is. A bunch of executives who are out of their league when it comes to getting things done the right way.

Pookie
11-22-2010, 01:14 PM
^ I may have read it wrong, but I thought it was said they would take a break during the dead of winter and then resume the season.

I think moving to the FIFA schedule, or this modification, would kill the league.

Imagine a 3-4 month break in the middle of the NFL season?

nfitz
11-22-2010, 01:39 PM
Like the months of December through March?If we break for December to mid-Feb, then all we'd really want to do is play perhaps the last November game away, and a couple in Feburary away. Or perhaps play one game a year at the Skydome.

rocker
11-22-2010, 03:00 PM
I'm a fan of avoiding FIFA dates, but not of switching the whole schedule to different seasons and taking a two-month break mid-season.

I also don't like the long road trips to avoid cold weather... I prefer things to be relatively even, otherwise you get a bias in the schedule, where some teams have an accumulation of home games coming up, or vice versa.

trane
11-22-2010, 03:06 PM
There are many countries which play a spring to fall through the summer and follow a FIFA scheduale, Sweden, Norway and I think Denmark do this. We could do the same here. You do not have to play an EPL continental European schedual to follow FIFA calendar.

Whoop
11-22-2010, 03:12 PM
Isn't Russia moving from a summer league to a winter league?

Pookie
11-22-2010, 03:17 PM
If we break for December to mid-Feb, then all we'd really want to do is play perhaps the last November game away, and a couple in Feburary away. Or perhaps play one game a year at the Skydome.

It's not just the schedule though... it's what is in the calendar and its impact on the health of the league.

Games would most likely be on weekends. On weekend afternoons over that time frame we run into the NFL, NCAA and NBA. On weekend evenings, in Canada at least, we have the NHL along with Sunday night NFL.

Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of hockey parents taking their kids to weekend games, practices and tournaments throughout the October - April time frame.

Corporations advertise heavily in those leagues. If attendance and TV ratings suffer, they aren't going to put their money behind it when there are alternatives on during the same time frame.

Ours is a gate driven league and anything that threatens that gate revenue needs to be considered and then most likely dismissed

C.Ronaldo
11-22-2010, 03:27 PM
i say take ncaa head on. games every saturday.

you cant run from the inevitable

Pookie
11-22-2010, 03:41 PM
i say take ncaa head on. games every saturday.

you cant run from the inevitable

Not that easy. CFL runs through December. NFL playoffs start in January, March Madness goes in March. The Bowl games and World Junior hockey take up the December - January period.

Not to mention the fact that in the winter, thoughts are on hockey. Kids and adults are generally playing soccer in the spring and summer. That makes following it a more timely and attactive option.

Leagues playing the FIFA schedule generally do not compete with other top notch professional options. Current set up is the best time frame for North America.

Detroit_TFC
11-22-2010, 05:53 PM
Isn't Russia moving from a summer league to a winter league?

Yes, but I have yet to hear the specifics of how they are going to actually implement that.

Last winter in the UK was one of the worst in recent memory. Many lower league games had to be postponed due to frozen pitches, transport trouble, etc. I would guess that's going to happen a lot with the winter schedule in Russia.

Glenchen29
11-22-2010, 10:26 PM
I had a brief conversation with Don and he is a very smart man. We were talking about the Bundesliga and he has done is homework for sure! He realizes how that league is successful and why and I think he is implimenting what he has learned from speaking with other leagues, owners and fans.

flatpicker
11-22-2010, 10:40 PM
I think the rest of the world should move to a summer schedule.
Because I say so.

Juanito
11-23-2010, 03:02 PM
Our MLS schedule is very tight. The American teams not only have The Superliga, they have the US Open and The CONCACAF Champions League as well as domestic matches. It's pretty freakin' full. I hope the Superliga finishes because the CL should supercede it.

The playoffs, if anything should be contracted, not expanded. Make the regular season count. One home and away and if you really need a conference, the conference winners get a bye into the semi-finals. The next best four teams are the wild-cards and they face in a home and away.

Fort York Redcoat
11-23-2010, 03:10 PM
Kill Superliga. Kill playoffs. If playoffs have to stay shorten the domestic season.