#61
Posted 18 February 2017 - 09:49 AM
Sometimes I think the entire Red Bull existence has been some 19 year old kids football manager save file he only plays when he comes home drunk. - 'Mibabalou'
#FUCKredbull
#62
Posted 19 February 2017 - 04:05 AM
When you are the newest kid on the block, you want a piece of the pie any way you can get it. Implementing a take on the popular system for determining the champion (playoffs) makes a lot of sense when Americans are your target audience.
Focusing on the fact that the rest of the world does not use playoffs just ignores the localized differences that result in the different countries/audiences/etc. We are the USA, not the rest of the world. And in the USA, the billion dollar leagues all have playoffs.
There's also just playing the hand you're dealt. MLS Cup gets the glory. The league sells merch for it. The winners get a parade. It's what gets you the star above your crest.
You can believe we got it wrong with our system (no relegation, unbalanced schedule, playoffs, whatever). And I believe you can make a valid case for most of those points. But reality trumps fantasy land. Playoffs are here to stay. Time to figure out how to succeed in them and get some stars above our crest.
#63
Posted 20 February 2017 - 08:10 PM
It still took a while for playoffs to develop & expand.This country has been conditioned for playoffs by the major sports leagues that pre-date MLS.
IIRC, MLB only has a single playoff series, between the champions of its two separate leagues, from 1903 until 1973. Expansion into divisions has created more demand, and 10 teams now participate.
The NFL did not have playoffs from 1920 to 1933, then only a single championship game between conference winners until 1966 (although there was a playoff game to determine a conference winner in 9 of those years). So, multi-team playoffs have only been an NFL feature since 1967.
The NHL has always had the Stanley Cup, while the NBA was only formed in 1949 & had gimmick playoff formats for several seasons. Since there were only 6 NHL teams (2 in Canada) & 9 NBA teams, most of the USA was unfamiliar with either league.
We are good enough to beat the best teams, and bad enough to lose to the worst teams.
#64
Posted 20 February 2017 - 09:00 PM
#65
Posted 21 February 2017 - 10:56 PM
divisional play in MLB actually started in 1969
Had forgotten the 3-0 sweep of WESTERN champs Atlanta in the warm glow of the 4-1 series win over Baltimore!
Better memories of Mets defeating the Big Red Machine in '73, although those were & are tempered by the series loss to Oakland in 7.
We are good enough to beat the best teams, and bad enough to lose to the worst teams.
#66
Posted 28 February 2017 - 11:03 PM
Feel like they did this before but that Soccer Fan Council thing MLS runs sent out a survey asking about how happy you were with the MLS playoff format. Hopefully they are leaning towards a single table format.
#67
Posted 09 December 2017 - 09:53 PM
#68
Posted 13 January 2018 - 05:37 PM
Besides, we already won the Cup this year when we became co-champions by drawing with Toronto in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. I'm pretty sure that's how the playoffs work.
#69
Posted 14 January 2018 - 04:20 PM
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