Apparently Zlatan turned down a $100 million offer to play in China. How does the MLS deal happen without some sort of back end? MLS deal is for 2 years and $3 million as a TAM signing.
First thing that went through my head was a negotiation conversation something like
MLS - Zlatan we would really like you to come to America and play for LA Galaxy.
Zlatan - LA, sounds great but I have this offer from China for $100 million.
MLS - $100 million that is a big number, our roster rules called TAM, GAM, SHAM only allow us to pay you $1.5 million per year for 2 years.
Zlatan - $1.5 million I have cars worth more than that, what else do you have?
MLS - We just happen to have this club located in Ohio we could throw in.
Zlatan - Ohio where is that?
MLS - Ohio, it's the cosmopolitan capital of the Midwest USA, LeBron James lives there, it's a great place to live.
Zlatan - Deal, Zlatan will conquer America.
MLS - How did we just do that? #savethecrew.
This is pretty fun. r/MLS survey with 4,658 responses on the most hated team in MLS. The list of responses is pretty good: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...#gid=688198155
70% of the comments on TFC are hating on Bradley and Jozy, with a good portion of the rest being about our success/money. Quite enjoyed a simple one: "they know what they did".
Results of the thing are here:
I want to see those urban street soccer pitches around TO.
Mississauga put one up and it was a success
Last edited by C.Ronaldo; 04-05-2018 at 11:48 AM.
Here are some of my favourite responses, hated team followed by the reason for hating team. There are some funny lines, it is worth a look
Seattle Sounders - F*ck Microsoft! Sony 4 Live!
RSL - Now that Beckerman's dreads are gone, I see no reason to like this team.
There is 1 really long and very odd response from a TFC hater that I did not want to post that is interesting.
^ You mean the one where he ends off more or less apologizing for his views?
Yes, that is messed up.
Yeah, That one caught my eye too. Line #569 for those who want to trawl through the doc. For those who don't, it reads as follows:
As a Sounders fan, one might expect the Timbers to be my answer. Fortunately, we do not suffer from the same inferiority complex Portland natives do. On that note, fuck Toronto FC fans for incessantly throwing shit onto the field during the 2016 Cup Final while we took corner kicks (those time-wasting tactics worked to your disadvantage you fucking idiots). Fuck Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley for being entitled, responsibility-averting whiners who let our country down (there are perhaps others to blame as well but these guys are true asswipes). And honestly, fuck Canadians in general. For some reason this stereotype exists of Canadians being polite, and is fetishized by people for some reasons. No Canadian I've ever met has been any more (or less, honestly) polite than anyone else, knock off this stupid circlejerk you fucks. These feelings I have expressed are far more intense than in reality. I'm actually fairly indifferent to all these teams, people, and places. I apologize for being so rude to Canada and Toronto FC fans.
Seattle and Atlanta I can understand because their fans are utter shit! NYRB because they're nothing but thugs, and Orlando because it and the entire state of Florida is shit! (I'd imagine all the votes for Montreal came from TFC supporters.)
As far as Toronto being seventh, UNACEPTABLE!!! Our side should be, at least, in the top TWO!!! Let's do better than that, boys!
TORONTO FC, 2017 MLS CHAMPIONS!!! (Still the greatest in league history!)
Conversely, Most of the Montreal hate comes from Toronto Fans, and there are only 4 comments about Vancouver relating to their style of play - even less vitriol than Minnesota.
Does anybody know what happened to cause the ultimate anti-soccer sports pundit in this country to change his tune so much? Bob Mccowan even said he watched some of the second half on Tuesday night.
Did the bosses @ rogers get to him? Was it all the NHL guys kicking a ball around as pregame warm up?
Because just 2 years ago he was doing his anti-soccer bit quite a lot. Like, he still comes across as a complete newb & focuses on the things that get publicity. But, in 2016 he would not have had Molinaro on the air like he did yesterday. He seems to respect the athletes & coaches now.
I'm just wondering if something has finally turned with this sport in this town as far as major media is concerned. Like, this is a Leafs town & then Jays & then Raptors & then TFC - can't see that changing soon. But, TFC seems to be getting airtime that we didn't used to see.
Not the CCL - it started last year from what I heard, and I don't listen/watch that show unless he has on a TFC person. He had on Tim Bez at the beginning of 2017 & it was all friendly - weird.
I don't listen much, but he had Leiweke on after Leiweke left MLSE. About two years ago.
Leiweke really got in McCown's grill about how he was treating TFC. Basically told him he was yesterday's man and that a guy like him needed to be ahead of the curve, not behind it. He was speaking business guy to business guy. McCown was kind of speechless. Leiweke couldn’t have cared less, he was already gone. It seemed like it had an impact.
Last edited by ensco; 04-06-2018 at 07:03 AM.
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
Seattle overtaking the Galaxy$ as the most despised team? Colour me surprised. </sarcasm>
They are hated by Portland, Vancouver and most of the west for their insufferability, and most of us don't like them...it's quite the s*itcake they've built for themselves!
Still possibly the only known RPB to appear on Masterchef Canada.
(I think?)
Steve Simmons is still a dinosaur. After TFC bounced the Rapids from the CCL, his spread in the following Sunday Sun had a bit that said, "I don't know about you, but as I kid I never once dreamed about playing in a CONCACAF Champions League."....something like that. My immediate response to that would've been, "Probably so, but in today's generation, a lot of kids do dream of playing in the CCL.....CFL? Not so much." But I do not use the Twitters......
Shame too, I used to like Simmons a lot, but his anti-soccer biases now are simply nonsense.....
McCowan's attitude towards soccer is based in the fact he worked with the Blizzard in the original NASL days (has mentioned stories on air) and how he got swept up in how even then the talk of soccer "taking-route / taking-over" was everywhere and he seems to be really upset at how quickly it died out.
I think now he sees that there is true longevity to TFC and that MLSE has put some seriousness in it (especially recently) and he feels he can, for lack of a better term, 'like' soccer again as he sees it being bigger and bigger headlines the more successful TFC, the other Canadian clubs and MLS are becoming.
Toronto FC,#CMNT & #CWNT, Scotland, Heart of Midlothian FC, Tottenham Hotspur FC
"The Harder the Struggle, The Greater the Reward" - @OsoJ92AWAY DAYS - CHICAGO August 2017, MONTREAL March 2018
The thing that really got my attention that I remember Leiweke saying to McCown is that the media were missing things that were happening directly in front of them, and were ignoring it .
He specifically mentioned the rise of conglomerates like MLSE, which are engineered to capture sports dollars if/as people continue rotating towards basketball and soccer. Journalists needed to personally do the same
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/_BrittJo/status/982345298683949057
This is so on brand & so much fun to watch.
DCU might be getting their angel investor
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/soshnick/status/983526114499923968
This is the guy who bought the LA Times from a hedge fund to give local news a shot in the arm. He also owns a chunk of the Lakers.
There is some question about the $ figure.
Selfishly would love to see that franchise get a shot in the arm. They were a big part of early days MLS culture and had a strong fan base.
Unfortunately the crumbling dump that is RFK and some other factors hurt the team.
Assume the new stadium is scheduled to open at some point this year.
https://www.si.com/soccer/2018/04/10...elli-dc-united
DC United of all teams in for Balotelli. Would like to think that if Balo came to MLS he'd land with us given the Italian community, but I guess that would be the kind of player DC wants to help kickstart their new stadium tenancy.