217 replies to this topic

[Titans Bastard]

For anyone marginally interested in the Revs: Their 2-2 tie in the season finale against Toronto (where the Revs' 85th minute saw them have an awesome bicycle kick goal called off for offsides then promptly give up the tying goal less than a minute later) gave the Revs a final of 28 points on the season. Of course, this tied them with Vancouver for worst in the MLS. However, since the Revs took the season series 1-0-1, their tie basically knocked themselves out of the 1st pick in the draft and top claim priority on international player waivers. A loss would have secured both of those things.

Oh well. Clean house and start again next year. Hope springs eternal.

Well, the best they could have done is 2nd overall pick -- don't forget that Montreal is coming into the league next season and will be tops for that.

I hope the Revs actually do clean house. They need to dump at least half their roster and they need to get rid of Steve Nicol and purge the front office. The Kraft family shows very, very little ambition or interest in the Revs so I'm not holding my breath. It's a poorly run franchise from top to bottom and the problem starts with an owner who doesn't hold his employees accountable for their failures.

It's a sad situation. The Revs franchise has slipped from being one of the strongest in the league in the 90s to a place where apathy reigns supreme.

[Terras]

Well, the best they could have done is 2nd overall pick -- don't forget that Montreal is coming into the league next season and will be tops for that.

I hope the Revs actually do clean house. They need to dump at least half their roster and they need to get rid of Steve Nicol and purge the front office. The Kraft family shows very, very little ambition or interest in the Revs so I'm not holding my breath. It's a poorly run franchise from top to bottom and the problem starts with an owner who doesn't hold his employees accountable for their failures.

It's a sad situation. The Revs franchise has slipped from being one of the strongest in the league in the 90s to a place where apathy reigns supreme.

Ah yes, I completely forgot about Montreal. I'm not terribly connected on the national scene, my season consists of "Who are the Revs going to lose to this week?" and "How fast is Cochrane/Phalen/Tierney going to do something boneheaded and get tossed?"

The sentiment among the people I've talked to is that there's no chance the Revs don't sack everyone. That's conjecture, but the writing is on the wall at this point. In less than 10 years they let a perennial contender turn into a laughing stock. It's a level of failure that would be unacceptable in any other situation, at any other club. The Krafts may not care about the soccer, but at some point they have to recognize its their money getting sucked down the drain.

On the bright side, as a friend of mine put it, at least there will be some comedy to be had if another expansion team comes into the league and outperforms the Revs in their first season. Silver linings are important when the odds of anything ever improving are negligible.

[Titans Bastard]

Ah yes, I completely forgot about Montreal. I'm not terribly connected on the national scene, my season consists of "Who are the Revs going to lose to this week?" and "How fast is Cochrane/Phalen/Tierney going to do something boneheaded and get tossed?"

Ironic...that's the only time the word "fast" will be used in the same sentence as Cochrane/Phelan/Tierney....

The sentiment among the people I've talked to is that there's no chance the Revs don't sack everyone. That's conjecture, but the writing is on the wall at this point. In less than 10 years they let a perennial contender turn into a laughing stock. It's a level of failure that would be unacceptable in any other situation, at any other club. The Krafts may not care about the soccer, but at some point they have to recognize its their money getting sucked down the drain.

One would think that we've reached a point where things are unacceptable, but who really knows. The Krafts own the stadium so they can't be losing that much money.

I wonder what the Krafts hope to get from all this. I forget how it goes, but there's some theory that holds that the existence of the Revs help the Krafts save some tax money. Another says that the Krafts are holding on to the Revs as the league grows and will eventually cash out when expansion stops and the value of the existing franchises really starts to climb.

Who knows.

On the bright side, as a friend of mine put it, at least there will be some comedy to be had if another expansion team comes into the league and outperforms the Revs in their first season. Silver linings are important when the odds of anything ever improving are negligible.

KC is the blueprint the Revs need to follow. KC was a totally moribund franchise not long ago and has totally turned things around. However, their ownership has a clue. Knowing the Revs, they'll probably take the wrong lessons from the KC experience.

[SoxFanInPdx]

I got Kansas City vs. Salt Lake in the final. I like Salt Lake to take it all even though they've had issues the past month.

[javaisfun]

Bad times indeed. However several years ago when the season ended we were left to wonder if we'd have a team next season, and who would be. In the league, and what it would be named.

Now im sitting in a brewery in Salt Lake city ready to watch the team I love play tomorrw. In the grand scheme of things it a meaningless match, but I still drove 13 hours to be here, and it feels great.

The Timbers dropped tons of points late in games in the middle of the season, and that is why they didn't make the playoffs. This season has been huge and just another chapter in a long ride.

I hope you had a fun time in the RioT, you guys were great up there. What did you think of the game/ stadium/ experience?

[javaisfun]

Bad times indeed. However several years ago when the season ended we were left to wonder if we'd have a team next season, and who would be. In the league, and what it would be named.

Now im sitting in a brewery in Salt Lake city ready to watch the team I love play tomorrw. In the grand scheme of things it a meaningless match, but I still drove 13 hours to be here, and it feels great.

The Timbers dropped tons of points late in games in the middle of the season, and that is why they didn't make the playoffs. This season has been huge and just another chapter in a long ride.

I hope you had a fun time in the RioT, you guys were great up there. What did you think of the game/ stadium/ experience?

[Mr. Wednesday]

It's a sad situation. The Revs franchise has slipped from being one of the strongest in the league in the 90s to a place where apathy reigns supreme.

s/90s/00s

Although the Revs drew great crowds at the beginning of their existence, they were a bad joke from a competition point of view. They had a great run in the early-mid '00s', largely on the strength of Twellman, in-his-prime Joseph, Dempsey, and Parkhurst. Now Joseph is a shadow of his former self and they never did replace the other three.

[Titans Bastard]

s/90s/00s

Although the Revs drew great crowds at the beginning of their existence, they were a bad joke from a competition point of view. They had a great run in the early-mid '00s', largely on the strength of Twellman, in-his-prime Joseph, Dempsey, and Parkhurst. Now Joseph is a shadow of his former self and they never did replace the other three.

They did have a great run in the 00s, which helped paper over some of the underlying problems with the franchise off the field. Now that the team is atrocious again, all of the rot is exposed to the clear light of day. The Revs probably lead the league in ex-fans. It's pretty tough to throw your support behind them while observing what's going on in other MLS cities.

[steeplechase3k]

I hope you had a fun time in the RioT, you guys were great up there. What did you think of the game/ stadium/ experience?

It was a pretty cool stadium, I didn't like having to take the train 25 minutes from downtown, but the stadium is only a few blocks from the train so it isn't that bad, and it's still more accessible then just about anyone but Portland, Seattle and Vancouver (and Houston next year). I also love the fact that in the entire metro area you can see mountains on several side, as the sun was setting it was really beautiful.

Early in the year that's a game the Timbers lose, and probably not just 1-0. Going down on the road and then failing to score on a PK would have crushed this team earlier. I'm happy they were able to fight back, it bodes well for next season.

I also had a BLAST in Salt Lake City. It's a great place, and tons of fun to visit. I'd recommend it as a great place to go see a MLS game.

[Titans Bastard]

Steve Nicol won't return

His contract was about to expire. Nicol had some great years, but it wasn't working and hadn't been working in a while.

[Terras]

Jon Kraft is going on DA at 9 to talk Revs.

Also, I was directed to a sampling of tweets by SI editor Jen Chang:

Revs turned down chance to sign various "name" players such as Robbie Fowler, Pauleta etc that had agreed to sign for Nicol over the years... On 1 trip to South America a few seasons ago, Nicol & his staff came back with a list of 20+ players they felt would take Revs to next level ...All would have been of pricey by MLS standards but affordable (one was striker Jose Sand). Revs front office turned down the entire list.

If this turns out to be Nicol getting Tito'd for a last place season when the FO sat there with their thumbs up their asses, I will be so unbelievably pissed.

[Titans Bastard]

Jon Kraft is going on DA at 9 to talk Revs.

Also, I was directed to a sampling of tweets by SI editor Jen Chang:
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If this turns out to be Nicol getting Tito'd for a last place season when the FO sat there with their thumbs up their asses, I will be so unbelievably pissed.

All this stuff is very believable.

[biollante]

Seems believable. Revs have been on the short end for a bit. Can't say I blame Nicol, he always got a lot out of his players, no matter what their skill.

[Titans Bastard]

NY @ Dallas tonight. The playoffs begin!

[Titans Bastard]

NY beat a tired and burned out Dallas team last night. Dallas had a strong first half of the season despite losing key playmaker and 2010 league MVP David Ferreira. They participated in the CONCACAF Champions League and since Hyndman didn't rotate players much, the team just plain ran out of gas. The lack of an effective forward hurt as well as it's tough to depend on wingers and a mediocre CAM like Ricardo Villar.

NY moves on and will play LA, which I'm sure will please the big wigs in MLS HQ. I think LA should handle NY easily, but we'll have to see. NY has some talent, but they've at no point been able to maximize it and I don't expect that it will magically come together soon.

Colorado vs. Columbus tonight. Denver got several inches of snow last night. It's been cleared, but I'd imagine that the pitch is in rough shape. This one could be.....interesting. The conditions and the nature of the two teams suggest that this won't be a shining example of the beautiful game.

[Titans Bastard]

You gotta love Eric Wynalda. The man tells it like it is:

---

C'mon Eric, you know you want the job! Cheers mate "@Wynalda11: So, who gets the job in NE? Man, who wants the job!!"

---

@CoachSeanDoyle no budget, no stadium, no players, no thanks

[SoxFanInCali]

So I suppose this is a stupid question, but why are the Rapids (a Western Conference team) playing in the Eastern Conference playoffs while the Red Bulls (an Eastern Conference team) are playing in the Western Conference playoffs? I could see if both wild card winners were from the same conference, but why put them in the opposite one when 1 from each conference advanced?

[Titans Bastard]

So I suppose this is a stupid question, but why are the Rapids (a Western Conference team) playing in the Eastern Conference playoffs while the Red Bulls (an Eastern Conference team) are playing in the Western Conference playoffs? I could see if both wild card winners were from the same conference, but why put them in the opposite one when 1 from each conference advanced?

The short answer:

Because the playoff system is retarded.


The long answer:

LA had the best overall record. As such, they were paired with the lowest remaining seed from the wild card round (which happened to be NY). KC was paired with the better seeded remaining wild card (Colorado).




Seeding based on conference isn't so much of a problem in other US sports leagues because nobody plays a balanced schedule. In MLS, however, everybody played each other once at home and once away. It's crystal clear who the best teams were based on the regular season, so it's ridiculous that you have #1, 2, 3, and 10 in the Western bracket and #5, 6, 7, and 8 in the East.....and #6 (Colorado) is actually the "lowest" seed of those four.

If you play a balanced schedule, screw conferences. Just have a single table and seed the playoffs based on that.

[Billy R Ford]

Pretty damning report about the Revolution out today:

Taylor Twellman claims the Revolution ignored his concussions

Former New England Revolution star Taylor Twellman said Friday that the Major League Soccer team ignored his symptoms of multiple concussions, even sending him back on the field after he said, "I have a concussion," following the hit that eventually forced him to retire.Twellman, the keynote speaker at a conference on brain trauma, said the trainer instead asked him his name, the score of the game and to count backward from 100 before telling him he doesn't have a concussion and sending him back into the game.

...

He said he has been diagnosed with five concussions, so he knew he'd sustained one in 2008 when he went for the ball and was punched in the head by Los Angeles Galaxy goalkeeper Steve Cronin.But the team's trainer cleared him to return after a cursory exam. Later, Twellman said, he took a shot that was 10 feet wide of the net and began celebrating because he thought he had scored a goal.

He was seeing double.

Have the Revs since learned their lesson? On October 15th against Columbus, Diego Fagundez went down after a head collision and stayed down, for several minutes. The team kept him in after he got up; he eventually left in the 80th minute. He was later ruled out of the season finale... with a concussion.

Fagundez is sixteen; what could they possibly have been thinking?

EDIT: Eh, maybe my outrage was premature: Twellman has since tweeted the following:

Wow. Time for some clarification as I was traveling all day after speaking about my head injury today in front of medical personnel. Under

no circumstance did the @NERevolution 'ignore' my #concussion. every day the staff reached out to me and tried to help me find the answers

to my symptoms. I have NO HARD FEELINGS towards anyone at #REVS but feel that my story needs to be heard so people NEVER experience what I

have had to experience. I will continue to spread my story 2 help all of U not experience the post concussion problem thru @ThinkTaylorORG

I am not in the business of finger pointing and never will be regarding my #concussion. Point is Education is not where it needs to be

you all know my passion about #concussions and unfortunately my story isn't a great one but will help many people not experience PCS.

I love @NERevolution @MLS and that is why I have dedicated my life to the concussion protocol in @MLS and will continue to do so.

Edited by Billy R Ford, 29 October 2011 - 01:20 AM.

[Titans Bastard]

Vintage RSL is back! What a performance against Seattle last night. A 3-0 home win, but it could have been more. Seattle were fortunate that Osvaldo Alonso didn't get a straight red for his ridiculous cheap shot. Seattle still has the home leg, but they have a long, long way to go.


Much more entertaining game than the two wild card matches, which were more or less snoozefests. May this continue with the ESPN2 triple-header today.

[SoxFanInPdx]

Good to see the scum up north got their ass handed to them, typical cheap shots by the Flounders. Hell, the Timbers got a result over in Rio Tinto just last week

This is exactly why I have RSL in the final.

[Titans Bastard]

Not that we haven't known this for a decade, but Rafa Marquez is such scum.




I missed almost all of the three playoff games today thanks to Comcast, which was completely offline for most of the afternoon and evening here. From the highlights it looked like the three games had some decent chances, at least. All four matchups have clear favorites heading into the second leg. Three of the hosting teams hold leads, while RSL goes on the road with a three goal advantage.

[SoxFanInCali]

Vintage RSL is back! What a performance against Seattle last night. A 3-0 home win, but it could have been more. Seattle were fortunate that Osvaldo Alonso didn't get a straight red for his ridiculous cheap shot. Seattle still has the home leg, but they have a long, long way to go.

Good to see the scum up north got their ass handed to them, typical cheap shots by the Flounders. Hell, the Timbers got a result over in Rio Tinto just last week

This is exactly why I have RSL in the final.

Um, it's gotten awfully interesting in Seattle. 20 minutes to go, the Sounders need 1 more.

[SoxFanInPdx]

Most high schools in the Seattle/Tacoma area have a better pitch than this shit in Qwest. Didn't think that hellhole could get worse, but it is Seattle, nothing surprises me in that city.

[SoxFanInCali]

Regardless of the pitch, RSL's play have been shit. 95% of the game has taken place in the half they are defending, and the word that best describes their play is probably "cynical". They're lucky to still be up, as Seattle had one goal (correctly) taken away for a foul on the keeper and another saved off the line with the keeper stranded.

Into the 90th minute, they're projecting 5 minutes of stoppage time.

[SoxFanInCali]

And that's it. RSL hold on to win 3-2 on aggregate.

The remarkable career of Kasey Keller is over.

[SoxFanInPdx]

Congrats to the Sounders for their historic first MLS Playoff game win.

[SoxFanInCali]

Congrats to the Sounders for their historic first MLS Playoff game win.

Which is one more than the Timbers.

But yeah, I know it's your first year in MLS. Let's look a bit further back.




(looking)




(still looking)





(still looking)






Hey, congrats for making it to Soccer Bowl '75!

[SoxFanInPdx]

Fair enough, but you are right, it was the Timbers first year in MLS. At least the Seahawks have their field back and the Sounders did win that US Open Cup thing. Didn't know you were a Sounder fan. See you in the Liverpool thread.

[SoxFanInCali]

My grandparents lived in Washington, so I saw a couple games of the NASL-version Sounders when I was young. I'm not really a fan though, just having a little fun with you, and remembering all the jokes my grandpa used to make about Portland.

I actually enjoy Portland as a city, especially since approximately 25% of my time there has been spent drinking the various local beers.

Edited by SoxFanInCali, 03 November 2011 - 12:12 AM.

[SoxFanInPdx]

My grandparents lived in Washington, so I saw a couple games of the NASL-version Sounders when I was young. I'm not really a fan though, just having a little fun with you, and remembering all the jokes my grandpa used to make about Portland.

I actually enjoy Portland as a city, especially since approximately 25% of my time there has been spent drinking the various local beers.

PM me next time you are in these parts. The first beer is on my tab.

[Titans Bastard]

Houston and LA both extended their aggregate leads with home wins last night, giving us our final four teams.

Conference finals on Sunday:

Houston @ KC
RSL @ LA

[Titans Bastard]

Eastern conference final going on right now. KC vs. Houston, two evenly matched teams. Decent so far, scoreless.

[Billy R Ford]

1-1 at halftime in Los Angeles.

Good game so far- a few balls off the post, including one right at the end of the half.

[Titans Bastard]

Magee scores to make it 2-1 LA, and Espindola immediately hits the crossbar on the other end. Second post for RSL (and one for LA). Great stuff so far. Crazy block by Will Johnson on a sure-thing Barrett header, too.

[Titans Bastard]

Keane with the dagger!!

3-1 now at 67'. Keane has been looking dangerous all night and RSL looks tired. Hard to see how they come back from this, they just don't seem to have it in them right now.

[Billy R Ford]

Ended up missing the second half, but from what I saw today, LA is the clear favorite for the final. Not to mention its at the Home Depot Center.

[Titans Bastard]

Revs hire Jay Heaps as their new manager.

Inspired.



You never know with untested managers, but he was never the sort of cerebral player you'd expect to turn into a tactical wizard.

[Vinho Tinto]

Revs hire Jay Heaps as their new manager.

Inspired.



You never know with untested managers, but he was never the sort of cerebral player you'd expect to turn into a tactical wizard.

Has he even coached a youth team? I understand the Pats are a much bigger priority, but the Krafts come across as 100% disinterested in the Revs.

[Titans Bastard]

Has he even coached a youth team? I understand the Pats are a much bigger priority, but the Krafts come across as 100% disinterested in the Revs.

Heaps has been a volunteer assistant at BC and Northeastern! So...yeah.

[Titans Bastard]

MLS Cup is tomorrow. Brad Davis is out for Houston. Chad Barrett is out for LA. That's a much bigger problem for Houston. Beckham has been sitting out of training but is expected to play. For the first time he's actually been more of a key player for the Galaxy than Donovan this year.

Some year-end awards:

MVP: Dwayne de Rosario (DC/NY/Toronto)
Defender of the Year: Omar Gonzalez (LA)
Newcomer of the Year: Mauro Rosales (Seattle)
GK of the Year: Kasey Keller (Seattle)
Rookie of the Year: C.J. Sapong (KC)
Comeback Player of the Year: David Beckham (LA)
Coach of the Year: Bruce Arena (LA)

Best XI:

G - Kasey Keller (Seattle)
D - Omar Gonzalez (LA), Jamison Olave (RSL), Todd Dunivant (LA)
M - Landon Donovan (LA), David Beckham (LA), Brek Shea (Dallas), Brad Davis (Houston), Dwayne de Rosario (DC/NY/Toronto)
F - Chris Wondolowski (SJ), Thierry Henry (NY)

Goal of the Year:




What should have been goal of the year:

[Titans Bastard]

Info on the 2012 schedule

and some playoff tweaks

[SoxFanInPdx]

Go Dynamo

[Arroyo Con Frijoles]

In this Battle-of-Teams-That-Have-Beaten-the-Revs-in-MLS-Cup, I'm rooting for...

...I don't actually really care. LA, I guess.

[Titans Bastard]

LA:

-----------------Keane, Cristman-------------------
------Magee, Juninho, Beckham, Donovan------
---Dunivant, DeLaGarza, Gonzalez, Franklin---
---------------------Saunders------------------------

Bench: Ricketts, Hejduk, Berhalter, Birchall, Stephens, Cardozo, Kirovski


Houston:

------------------Carr, Ching---------------------
--------Ashe, Moffat, Camargo, Cruz----------
-----Taylor, Cameron, Boswell, Hainault-----
-----------------------Hall--------------------------

Bench: Deric, Freeman, Robinson, Watson, Clark, Bruin, Costly

[Billy R Ford]

I never was a big fan of Adam Cristman.

[page 2 protege]

Very nice Landon!

[nvalvo]

Beautiful combination on the goal. Keane's ball to send Donovan was lovely.

[Titans Bastard]

Outstanding season by LA.

MLS Cup
Supporters Shield
won their group in the CCL


They aren't always the prettiest team -- Bruce Arena is their coach after all -- but they are effective.

[SoxFanInCali]

Freddy Adu was left unprotected in the expansion draft for the new Montreal Impact...and wasn't taken.

Brian Ching was selected, but he's threatening to retire if he has to leave Houston.