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Why I find myself not watching as much MLS as perhaps I should
TFC Fans…. Fans of the club but not fans of the League?
http://tfcpics.com/blog.html
Why I find myself not watching as much MLS as perhaps I should
I would agree with your statement that most tfc fans aren't really fans of mls but that isn't exclusive to tfc or mls for that matter. fans in general of any sport in any league have the same attitudes toward their local team over the league they play in. do you think most leafs fans are watching a game on tsn or rsn if the leafs aren't playing? Or what about the average yankee fan, would they be watching a game between k.c. and seattle if it was on t.v.? fans of any league be it the nhl, nba, cfl, nfl mlb, epl whatever are always going to be more interested in the home team than the league itself.
I've tried to watch some of the other games this season, and though the quality of play is beyond terrible (especially compared to the Prem - but that's only understandable) it's still nice to get to know the other teams a little bit before we have to face them.
I started off that way, but to be honest the league is growing on me. I have a feeling as us TFC fans become more and more familiar with the league and its players (we're still learning), and as the league grows and improves, more and more of us will become actual fans of the league.
Well I love football, If an english premier league match is on I would be watching, obviously I look forward to Liverpool though. If theres a spanish match on I would watch that also, I guess it all depends on the person, some just aren't interested.Originally Posted by habstfc
"Love the one you're with"
and even if the MLS isn't really 'lovable', it's not going to be changing anytime soon.
I'm certainly more interested in the rest of the league now than in years previous,
if only because I know all the other clubs much better than before.
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I know this:
The quality of play is so much better in MLS games OTHER than TFC.
On top of having one of the worst teams in MLS for the past 3 seasons, we have been playing ugly football the whole time.
At least LA is fun to watch.
I can only watch so much shitty soccer in a week. 1-2 TFC games are enough for me.
This is the same reason I don't watch Women's hockey outside of the Olympics.
Was laughing for a good few minutes after i read this. It is too true.
I think this is too harsh. Not saying we don't play a lot of ugly football. There are a lot of bad games in MLS.
As a whole, I'd guess that last season about 50-60% of MLS games were total snores, while about 3/4 of ours were bad.
We actually had about 8 entertaining games last year - the games away at KC, DC, Columbus, Montreal, and SJ, the home wins against NE, DC and Colorado come to mind, there may be others...
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
100% agree.
I actually do try to watch as many MLS games as I can and the level of play is much more watchable than most TFC games. I'm guessing its due to the fact that we never have really had a creative striker or even a decent coach who can help create that type of play with this team.
I watched a couple of MLS Cup finals prior to the inception of TFC and that was it. The last 3 years I've watched a few regular season matches not involving TFC with more interest than in years past but there is still a lack of MLS exposure on television in Canada...
To me the main problem I have with this league is the parity and the fact that players are owned by the league. It's very plastic, and there is little to no identity, or individualism, to any of the teams. I fear that I won't be able to begin respecting this league until the Mickey Mouse ears are cut right off - and we join the world community of football leagues. This will probably take a while. Till that time I'll try and learn a bit about opponents, as horrible as it is to watch teams play in this league, and then focus my attention on supporting TFC - as it's the only football available to me locally.
There's a LONG way to go before the MLS is even close to the smallest of European leagues. When the salary cap goes we'll be able to take the next step. Until then we'll stay at the bottom.
indeed
that is what it is for myself
still learning teams styles/players/etc
Completely agreed. I started watching a bunch of non-TFC games last year and to be honest, I was more entertained watching those games than most games TFC has ever played. People who think that the quality of the league is absolute shit and unwatchable should watch some more MLS games.
The standard of the NYRB/Chicago game last Sat after the TFC game was excellent. The atmosphere was A1 & the teams responded with some very pleasing football to watch.
RPB Road Warrior. DC United 9/29/07, Columbus Chaos 3/25/08, DC Rumble 5/24/08, Montreal Madness 5/27/08, Chicago 7/12/08, Kansas City Opener 3/21/09, Columbus Smoke 3/28/09, Boston Bus Bounce 8/1/09, Montreal 1000 4/7/12 Montreal 3200 3/16/2013 Columbus Bus Breakdown 3/21/15, Montreal Playoffs 10/29/15, Montreal Opener 04/23/16, Montreal East Final 11/22/16, Chicago 08/19/17, NY Semi-Final 10/30/17, Columbus East Final 11/21/17, Montreal "Dichio Lives" 3/17/18
The problem for me though is that I'm fed the best football in the world on a weekly basis (Premier League + Champions League) so I know that my standards of what football should be like is outrageously high. I'm honestly trying to lower my expectations a lot as I watch MLS games this year - but I will say that although TFC may play some of the worst football in the league, I really don't think about that when the game is on ... only about winning, moving the ball up, and scoring goals. I tend to forget all about quality when it comes to TFC.
i agree, mls is better than TFC, you watch chicago vs houston, you are going to see a decent match.
i am glad we are getting out of market games now, you realy get to know your enemy when you watch them more than 2 times a year.
TFC are mudders LOL
Moderator
Should anyone really be surprised that a lot of MLS fans don't follow the rest of the league as much as they do the EPL, Seria A, or Bundesliga?
MLS really can't hold a candle to any of those three organization in terms of talent and skill. Personally, I don't really see a problem in just supporting Toronto and putting the rest of the league on the backburner. Hopefully over time the overall level of quality of MLS will improve, but until that day, there's not much else we can do.
Did the USA , of all countries, just fix soccer? - C. Ronaldo, May 27th commenting on the FBI-led investigations into fraud and corruption throughout FIFA.
+1
Judging MLS by watching TFC games, is like looking at the world through a dirty glass.
To be honest, in most North American Sports, most fans support & watch their team, but don't really "watch" the rest of the league...
You don't see a 49ers fan going out of their way to catch an out of market Raiders/Colts game... You don't see a Bruins fans going out of their way to watch a Predators/Flyers game...
Sure, they watch the "media made" hype games like 'Monday Night Football' but thats it...
People need to stop comparing the MLS to leagues in Europe and elsewhere and start comparing it to North American leagues - because that is the true comparison in regards to viewing etc...
Carts...
"...Money wasn't tight, but it like, it wasn't right..."
Moderator
Really? I dunno about that. I can think of three close friends off the top of my head that make an effort to follow their respective sports as a whole. And that includes watching other teams play and following the stats of individual players.
Fuck, even I'll catch NHL Western Conference match-ups towards the end of the season and that's nothing compared to the league-wide analysis my step-brother does all throughout the season.
I gotta say, that some of the best sports fans I've met are Yanks precisely because they are so knowledgeable in the sport as a whole and not just their teams.
Did the USA , of all countries, just fix soccer? - C. Ronaldo, May 27th commenting on the FBI-led investigations into fraud and corruption throughout FIFA.
It's interesting that many fans throughout Europe are advocating a salary cap to create parity in the top leagues in the world. Parity is not the issue, it is the quality of play, which as you mentioned is sub par at the moment but steadily improving. On another note, I believe MLS average attendance is in the top 10 worldwide which bodes well for the future...
funny you chose both of my teams.
i have watched cleveland vs arizona , jets vs rams , thrashers vs lightning, etc
how can you call yourself a fan if you dont know who you are playing.
I've always wondered how MLS would compare with the Irish Carling Premiership? Just because those are really the only two leagues I've ever seen live.(Other than about a century of existence, that is..)
Last edited by Bars92; 04-04-2010 at 07:07 PM.
The quality wouldn't be much much better in the MLS but they do get bigger crowds in the MLS, but look at the size of the country compared to the size of ours lol.
The salary cap isn't a problem. In North America, every team needs to competitive. Otherwise, fans of teams who have no chance of winning the championship aren't going to go to their games anymore.
The Prem on average, besides when the big four are playing, is not that great to watch. Most of the teams do the same thing, which is have the defenders play a long pass up to the forwards who pass it back to the mid field. When you watch that for 90s minutes, it takes its toll on you. Serie A games have more skill and technical ability on average.
I don't know about the other sports, but the success of the NFL Network shows that there's plenty of out of market interest in football beyond just MNF and the Super Bowl.
And the huge success of college sports in the US shows plenty of out market interest.
What there isn't much interest in are 'second-tier' leagues and that's what MLS is up against. What are the TV ratings for AHL games or AAA baseball or D-League basketball?
There's a huge market in North America for the best in the world but not much of a market for second or third or 43rd best.
I agree with those of you who think TFC is a bad example of good MLS action.
I have often been surprised how much more entertaining MLS is when Toronto isn't playing.
We are getting shafted!
Have to agree, witness Donovan's superb kick to Buttle and the follow thru header to goal vs Chivas......love goltv's hd and doubleheader idea of MLS games...
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