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    Great love does not exist without joy and without great suffering ,that's why One club is worth only as much as its fans !


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    mornin d
    wow 2016 and things are looking up --- come on you reds lets go

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    Morning.

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    unblanced. . dont we already play the Krew 3 times?
    maybe we can play less games vs (far superior) western conference teams?
    NOTICE: Wager with STB: OVER 2 shots on goal in the First half wins a Pint at HT.

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    unbalanced schedule - the start of not even following this league, let alone this team.

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    TBH, I think they should go to the AL/NL model. East conference teams play east conference teams, west play west. 2 or 3 games you cross over and play against the biggest derby in the other conference (or whatever team fits if teams have no cross conference derby) plus a random team that changes yearly (sometimes home, sometimes away). It'd cut down on travel, make road trips easier, make it easier to play/fit in CL games. Plus if we're doing the playoff format anyways, then there would be MLS champ, and also the East and West conference champ would mean something (They'd have to actually give the conferences names, NHL back in the day styles).

    Edit- the math works too. Say each team plays teams within it's conference 3 times, that'd mean either 30 or 27 games in conference, plus a home and home with a cross conference derby, and 2 home against randoms, 2 away against randoms, so teams would play 6 cross conference games. The problem is the conference with 9 teams instead of 10, they'll have to find 3 extra games. Who knows how they'll allign next year if they're scrapping the current system, but say it's the East with 9 (I'd assume Houston would go back to the West, MTL comes in to the east), so maybe add an extra game for each derby? Like

    TFC vs Columbus, vs MTL, vs random
    Columbus vs TFC vs Chicago vs KC
    Philly vs NY vs Columbus vs DC
    NY vs Philly vs NE vs DC
    DC vs Philly, vs NY, vs random
    KC vs Chicago vs columbus vs random
    Chicago vs Columbus, vs KC, vs random
    Montreal vs Toronto vs NE vs random
    NE vs MTL, vs NY vs random

    So there are 6 teams playing random games, they'd just rotate. Not perfect, but thats how the unbalanced thing works. So for us, we'd play every eastern team 3 times except for MTL/Columbus and 1 of KC, Chi, NE, DC (that'd be randomly selected each year) who we'd play 4 times (2 home, 2 away). Plus a home and home with vancouver, and 2 home games against random western teams, plus 2 road games against random western teams (hopefully back to back). So we'd play 5 western conference teams in a total of 6 matches, bringing us to 36, same as every western team.
    Last edited by Waggy; 10-04-2011 at 09:31 AM.

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    And miss the chance of seeing Donovan, Beckham, Keene? No dice.

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    For 20 teams, they should go:

    10 games home - same conference
    10 games away - same conference

    5 games home - other conference
    5 games away - other conference

    A 30 game season plus playoffs is reasonable. Either that or increase the season length.

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    They should just play every team home and away. This is a terrible idea for the league.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Greatest Ripoff View Post
    They should just play every team home and away. This is a terrible idea for the league.
    Agree,but since we are in NA we have to live with it.
    Great love does not exist without joy and without great suffering ,that's why One club is worth only as much as its fans !


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    Quote Originally Posted by PopePouri View Post
    For 20 teams, they should go:

    10 games home - same conference
    10 games away - same conference

    5 games home - other conference
    5 games away - other conference

    A 30 game season plus playoffs is reasonable. Either that or increase the season length.
    9 home, 9 away same conference (if there's 10 teams, you wouldn't play yourself).

    Then you could do 5 and 5 for the other conference, and swap the home/away the following year. That's 28 games. at that point if they really want more games, you could add a few more randoms.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Globetrotter View Post
    9 home, 9 away same conference (if there's 10 teams, you wouldn't play yourself).

    Then you could do 5 and 5 for the other conference, and swap the home/away the following year. That's 28 games. at that point if they really want more games, you could add a few more randoms.

    I have to agree with this. Our league and our players have to deal with issues that are pretty unique to North America. While having a single table would be ideal, the logistics are obviously too hard. If they're going to give "preference" to local rivalries, I'd rather they not make up fake rivalries as they go along and have TFC play the Crew 4 times a year. Play conference teams home and away and add a selection of cross-conference games.

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    Increase the season length? It's too long already. And how can there be a balanced schedule with an unbalanced amount of teams structured into 2 conferences spread over 3 time zones? If you miss a team for the year, you miss it. Just like the NFL, or MLB. Besides there's always CL groups, and playoffs to play other clubs. Plus it'd be better for everyone to limit the airtravel. It's a drain on the players and it prevents fans making trips.

    edit: I like that idea too (9 9 and 5 5), but that's 1/3 of the season playing a conference with a completely separate playoff race. If you make the playoffs for finishing x in the eastern conference, shouldn't you play more in the eastern conference? Plus how does the conference with 9 teams play 9 9 and 5 5? They can only do 8 8
    Last edited by Waggy; 10-04-2011 at 10:30 AM.

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    As MLS adds more teams in its long term plans, you can expect an unbalanced schedule to be a given.
    TORONTO FC, 2017 MLS CHAMPIONS!!! (Still the greatest in league history!)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Waggy View Post
    edit: I like that idea too (9 9 and 5 5), but that's 1/3 of the season playing a conference with a completely separate playoff race. If you make the playoffs for finishing x in the eastern conference, shouldn't you play more in the eastern conference? Plus how does the conference with 9 teams play 9 9 and 5 5? They can only do 8 8
    it's not a separate playoff race. there's a lot of wild card spots that aren't conference specific.

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    Bad planning on the leagues part. They should have waited to add two teams at once instead of screwing up the schedule. I guess money talks.
    Lets see what they come up with.

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    I don't think they should wait for other teams to be ready for expansion just to keep a balanced schedule. Why should Montreal wait for NY Cosmos to get its act together? Expansion is a huge deal, and for some ownership groups, timing is imperative due to government funding of stadia, economic markets etc. Waiting is not an option.

    I love the balanced schedule, but it didn't really bother me to have an unbalanced schedule back in 2007. Actually, given the onerous travel requirements, it might produce better soccer to have teams travelling less often to far away cities.

    I'm sure some teams would hate not to get LA Galaxy, but unless you love circuses, there's no reason to really complain "I'm not seeing the LA Galaxy at BMO Field next year, damn!" Actually, not playing them might make our chances better... hehe. The east wasn't that good this year.
    Last edited by rocker; 10-04-2011 at 10:56 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Globetrotter View Post
    it's not a separate playoff race. there's a lot of wild card spots that aren't conference specific.
    But the 2 top spots are for winning the east/west respectively. Either way, that's a smaller issue to the big problem with your 9 9/5 5 idea, which is that it works great in a league that is balanced (equal, even number of teams per conference), but doesn't solve the problem MLS has next year (9 teams in 1 conference, 10 in another). How do you make a schedule that's fair to everyone while maximizing potential ticket sales/interest and keeping the league as competitive as possible? You can't just have the east play 2 fewer games a season than the west obviously, how do you make up those 2 extra games fairly? Who gets to play whom? Where? How do you make up 2 extra games when there are 9 teams in the conference (so someone is stuck, there need to be 18 extra games, but you could theoretically only play 16, (ie you pair every east team up for an extra home and home, what happens to the 9th team))?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Waggy View Post
    How do you make up 2 extra games when there are 9 teams in the conference (so someone is stuck, there need to be 18 extra games, but you could theoretically only play 16, (ie you pair every east team up for an extra home and home, what happens to the 9th team))?
    TFC should just be given a bye as the most awesome Canadian club in MLS.
    MLS is a tough, physical league, that emphasizes speed, and features plastic fields, grueling travel, extreme weather, and incompetent refs. - NK Toronto

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    Quote Originally Posted by Oldtimer View Post
    TFC should just be given a bye as the most awesome Canadian club in MLS.
    That whole statement is sad to think about. LOL

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    What hurts MLS scheduling is having to budget, time-wise, for the presence of CCL games in any given team's schedule. Time to re-think the value of how the competition is run, and let domestic matches have a far greater priority.

    While I've made a decent effort to tune in a number of CCL games over the past 2-3 seasons, one constant is that, no matter where a CCL group stage game is played, there's a high percentage of games that are poorly attended.

    Obviously, they're a hard sell. Pumas played at home vs TFC in a stadium that looked about 7/8s empty(couldn't see the near side well).

    Maybe having the US, Canada, Mexico, Central America and Carribean clubs stage a more domestic or regional FA Cup-style knockout series to whittle down the clubs in the early going would be more productive and profitable instead of this weak four-club group stage. It would cut costs and make each game more interesting.

    Create a format where 2 clubs from Mexico, Central America and USA, plus one from Canada and the Caribbean qualify to get into a two-group stage that commences in late summer/early fall and go from there. Allows time for more league games to be played in the more marketable summer months.

    And let's face it. If FIFA are serious about growing the game properly, helping MLS grow on a domestic basis has to be a priority. This is where, regionally speaking, the greatest potential for growth of the game - and financial rewards - exists.

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    Quote Originally Posted by greatwhitenorf View Post
    What hurts MLS scheduling is having to budget, time-wise, for the presence of CCL games in any given team's schedule. Time to re-think the value of how the competition is run, and let domestic matches have a far greater priority.

    While I've made a decent effort to tune in a number of CCL games over the past 2-3 seasons, one constant is that, no matter where a CCL group stage game is played, there's a high percentage of games that are poorly attended.

    Obviously, they're a hard sell. Pumas played at home vs TFC in a stadium that looked about 7/8s empty(couldn't see the near side well).

    Maybe having the US, Canada, Mexico, Central America and Carribean clubs stage a more domestic or regional FA Cup-style knockout series to whittle down the clubs in the early going would be more productive and profitable instead of this weak four-club group stage. It would cut costs and make each game more interesting.

    Create a format where 2 clubs from Mexico, Central America and USA, plus one from Canada and the Caribbean qualify to get into a two-group stage that commences in late summer/early fall and go from there. Allows time for more league games to be played in the more marketable summer months.

    And let's face it. If FIFA are serious about growing the game properly, helping MLS grow on a domestic basis has to be a priority. This is where, regionally speaking, the greatest potential for growth of the game - and financial rewards - exists.
    CCL Group stage is played from mid Aug to Oct...

    biggest factor in this year's scheduling was Gold Cup.
    “Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.

    I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’

    And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”

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    Unbalanced schedule is awful. Russia has a balanced schedule and they have similar travel and time zone problems.
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    Quote Originally Posted by werewolf View Post
    Unbalanced schedule is awful. Russia has a balanced schedule and they have similar travel and time zone problems.
    IIRC MLS had unbalanced schedule for many years before, and it survived.

    though I'd be pissed if TFC has to play Columbus 4 times and western conference teams not at all
    “Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.

    I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’

    And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”

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    Quote Originally Posted by werewolf View Post
    Unbalanced schedule is awful. Russia has a balanced schedule and they have similar travel and time zone problems.
    In Russia, game plays you.

    Anywhoo, we'll have to muddle with 19 for a season or two. I doubt the league will wait longer than that to reel in #20 whoever it is.
    Last edited by Detroit_TFC; 10-04-2011 at 03:56 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by werewolf View Post
    Unbalanced schedule is awful. Russia has a balanced schedule and they have similar travel and time zone problems.

    That's not really true. only 3 teams would fall in a different time zone, the rest are in a north west shift from St Petersburg to the west side of the Caspian Sea.

    There are only 16 clubs and 4 of them are in Moscow. Most of the league is in area of MLSs Eastern Conference. Thus much lower travel time.. particularly with 4 teams in one city which greatly reduces travel time if you schedule them a few games back over a few days.

    The unbalanced "sked" would suck. But I kinda understand it. You almost have to move into a conference system because you need to shorten the season. March to November just isn't reasonable.. anyone remember how friggin cold the MLS cup was?

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    Not to change the subject but I was surprisingly pleased by Ives's power ranking write up for TFC:

    Last week: Tied New York, 1-1, on Saturday.
    This week: Idle.
    Outlook: The Reds gave the Red Bulls all they could handle, with Danny Koevermans and Torsten frings continuing to look like great assets for next season. Koevermans' seventh goal in his ninth game with the club gave Toronto a deserved lead as the club maintains playing with maximum effort despite being out of the postseason hunt. Defensive stability is an issue the team will undoubtedly address in the offseason.

    I guess it's just relief that maybe for the first time in a while the amount of uncertainty we'll face in the offseason is lower than the previous one.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Kaz View Post
    That's not really true. only 3 teams would fall in a different time zone, the rest are in a north west shift from St Petersburg to the west side of the Caspian Sea.
    The distance from St. Petersburg to Makhachlaka is about the distance as Toronto to Houston. They may be in similar time zones, but there is still a great distance.

    And that's not too mention the second division.
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    Nice write up by Steve Davis on mlssoccer.net analyzing Winter's use of 3-4-3 vs RB:

    http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/articl...onal-formation

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    Kinda funny that outsiders have picked up on how well our rebuilding year has gone while many supporters here haven't yet. Not trying to bait, just an observation. It's great to see TFC getting some GOOD press for, well the first time I can recall. I tend to think Ives either doesn't pay as close attention to TFC as the American clubs, or at least doesn't care as much, based on his observations in the past. Though in retrospect he was right to dislike the 'good' moves we'd made (a-la Mista)

    And ya, obviously I dont advocate an unbalanced schedule, but we're stuck with one for the next year at least, it needs to be handled fairly and properly. While playing Columbus 1 more time than this year isn't ideal, at least if we so choose we could go see that game. At the very least it'd take place in our time zone (no 10pm kickoff), and at least the club wouldn't be on a plane for 10+ total hours to play a 90 min game somewhere out west. Besides realistically while it might not make much a difference to our ticket sales, MLS might look at columbus and say "if we can get 500 or 1000 more people to buy tickets, it's worth it". And as much as we hate columbus, financial success for all teams in the league is important.

 

 

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