Don't say fan power never counted for anything in MLS. For this article shall prove you wrong.

We can't do anything about Mo, but damned if we're going to stand for our chip butties being done wrong.

Fuck me, we're pathetic.

But the possibility of going .500 for the first time in our history is enough to get me going. I have persuaded my research group meeting in Warsaw to adjourn three hours early tomorrow so that I can catch the last plane to London, which will allow me to take the first flight to Toronto Saturday, which lands at 11:30. God willing, and with a little help from the stadium folks who have agreed to hold my suitcases for the duration of the match, I shall make the 12:30 kick-off.

My wife is a little upset that I'm not coming home first before going to the game. Went on about priorities or something like that. Not sure - wasn't listening.

You may call it pathetic but those food options sound fantastic. It's certainly better than the fare available at Ninian Park, Cardiff: Welsh Burgers which the catering staff have before described them to me as "cheeseburgers without the cheese".

"We're bringing back the chip butty" Dunnill added is a great sentence that puts me in mind of a non league club attempting to revive their fortunes by re-signing last season's portly, yet successful, top scorer.

The Galaxy has two "fan ambassadors," who actually do seem to have the ear of the front office, and when they asked for suggestions in how to improve the game experience, the quality of concessions at HDC were near the top.

What is it with concessions? In the aftermath of last night's Mexico v China friendly at Qwest Field in Seattle, there's much grumbling about long lines and poor service at the beer-and-food stands.

And I'm thinking: A footy match requires you to be in the park for what, a couple hours, max? Why waste any time or money on the stadium food and drink in the first place? Certainly there are suitable watering holes on the way to and from. ...

With the pending arrival of our big-league team I am curious about how this goes in other MLS parks.

One other question: At MLS parks do the security people hassle you to sit down?

The DC United fans have probably vomited any and all concessions they may have eaten after that first half display. We are going to shatter the record for shitty goals allowed if this continues, with Peralta having a hand in most of them.

I am still willing to chalk this up to a new pair of centerbacks getting used to things, but Christ our defense looks terrible.

PSounder: Usually very much, sometimes even in the designated supporters sections until the front office hopefully beats it into security's head that those sections are to be (largely) left alone.

I've never been hassled about standing. In fact, since one of the main chants on our end of the ground is "west side stand up", we're on our feet eight or ten times a game and no one says anything.

We're making up scarves calling ourselves The West Side Stand-ups.

Re: food. I have to admit the Cuban Wrap sounds tempting. But the thing is they always introduce this food at tiny little boutique concessions on the east side - those of us on the west side are basically stuck with Pizza Pizza.

And there are no waterholes within about 15 minutes of our stadium. It's a drawback, unfortunately, of the stadium being in the exhibition grounds.

MLS just saw fit to spam me with the following earth-shattering news:

QUOTE:
Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber will debut his new blog, "The Commissioner Speaks," on Friday, April 18 at 3 p.m. ET. This new bi-weekly blog will appear every other Friday and will feature Commissioner Garber addressing topics on Major League Soccer and many other items, including emails from MLS supporters. Make sure you check out the debut of this new blog tomorrow.

FFS. First Shaka, now this.

The section where I stand at Fire games (and the adjacent one) is standing room only. You are warned by signs and when you buy a ticket that it's a standing area and you're expected to sing. I've actually seen people kicked out for sitting.

Fun watching DC lose again tonight. I interviewed their CEO Kevin Payne this morning; kind of feel like giving him a call again tomorrow...

At Galaxy games, there are usually signs for the sections where the Riot Squad and the Galaxians stand. Don't know if they're going to have a sign for the newsupporter's group, which is in the General Admission section. Technically, someone unaware of the groups could buy a ticket to that section, but those are supposed to be the last ones sold by Ticketbastard.

I agree w/ Psounder 2 about concessions, They're usually a rip, so I never bother, no matter how good they are. Plus, I never expect stadium food to be good. And like you said, it's two hours. I can wait, especially for a bacon-wrapped hot dog in the parking lot afterwards.

I went to the DC-Crew game last night with IMP. We agreed it may have been the most pathetic performance by DC United in memory. Really, what the fuck. I enjoy a good moan, head shake and shout of "RUBBISH" as much as the next man, but this team is really trying my patience.

What is the basis of the hypothesis that Peralta is a professional soccer player? That he's Argentinian?

We gave up Christian Gomez for this?
And how much are we paying Gallardo for this? Well, I know the answer. ONE POINT FUCKING EIGHT SEVEN FOUR MILLION in guaranteed money this year. We could kept Gomez for a quarter of that price.


And then I drove home and found out the Caps lost in OT, the Nats blew it again and my computer at home is hosed for reasons I'll get into in another thread if I have time.

That's not entirely true, Reed: according to Goff, Gomez had apparently decided he wanted out of DC.

Anyway, I am surprised you are taking him to task. Although it certainly wasn't a dominating performance by any means, he was our best offensive player by some measure. if anyone deserves your ire it's Emilio, who continues to be terrible, and Peralta.

Gallardo was pretty good, but for a DP costing that much he needs to produce a lot more. It's early yet, but we saw instant production from the successful DPs like Blanco and Angel.

Do you have a link to the Gomez story, SocScrim? I thought he only wanted out because DC weren't prepared to pay him DP money.

No doubt--Gallardo hasn't shown himself to be worth the money yet, but he certainly wasn't the problem last night.

Here's the link. Just to re-iterate my point, it's not that DC couldn't have re-signed Gomez to a fraction of Gallardo's cost, it's that (based on Goff's post) gallardo's signing was necessitated by Gomez' and DCU's falling out. In other words, it's not like DCU chose Gallardo over Gomez. Gallardo came after Gomez' departure was a fait accompli:
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2008/01/gomez_moreno_ej_and_supplement.html

Well, that's splitting hairs a bit, isn't it? It's certainly fair to compare the two, as we know DC could have resigned Gomez for a small portion of what they then had to spend to replace him. And it's clear from the same article that DC were already in negotiation with Gallardo, surely something that impacted their thinking on Gomez.

Remember how San Jose were relocated to Houston because AEG couldn't get a stadium done there, and MLS was told it'd happen in Houston instead? Read this commentary and Don Garber's letter to Houston's owners on the present impasse over a stadium in Houston now.

Here's a snippet, with Garber's remarkable threat to relocate the team again:

QUOTE:
As you will recall, the decision to grant (AEG’s) request to relocate the San Jose Earthquakes from the Bay Area to Houston was made after significant deliberation among the members of the MLS Board of Governors. Though the team was successful at the gate and had a passionate fan base, the lack of a suitable stadium prevented the team from ever having a viable business.

The relocation, the first and only in MLS history, had a traumatic effect on the League at a crucial time in its development. Our approval was based on assurances that an appropriate soccer stadium would be built in the Houston market in a timely fashion. A suitable stadium is a requirement for all MLS teams, which is no different than the stadium requirements in all other major sports.

Fortunately, the San Jose Earthquakes re-joined the League as our 14th team this season. Ironically, after much work with the public sector, specifically the City of San Jose, our new owners now have a suitable plan in place to construct a soccer-specific stadium. The fact that such a deal could be agreed upon in the most difficult region in the country for public-private partnerships is a credit to the new ownership and its relationship with the City.

I am concerned about the lack of progress in your discussions with the City of Houston. Even in the fourth largest market in the country with a young and dynamic demographic that embraces soccer, the Houston team will continue to lose money without a public-private partnership on a new soccer stadium — a fact that presents significant issues for the League. It is inconceivable that MLS will allow the team to continue playing as a secondary tenant in a college football facility, particularly after the League moved the team due to the challenges at San Jose State.

While another relocation would be equally traumatic, we both must consider our options to ensure that the team has a path to economic success. We learned an important lesson in San Jose: a passionate fan base is not enough to support the economics of operating a professional sports team. The team needs a soccer-specific stadium to ensure success.