OT- Champions League
Another year, another Champions League, starting today. Notable matches today include Chelsea-Porto, Juventus-Bordeaux, and Marseille-AC Milan. Man U, Bayern, and both Madrid teams also play their first group games.
Wednesday is the highlight of Match Day 1 with Inter-Barcelona, featuring Samuel Eto'o and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, having swapped teams, playing against their old squads.
Thankfully, now that Fox Soccer Channel has the rights to the games, we can now watch matches that feature a team other than Manchester United. At 2:30 is Marseille-Milan, and at 5:00 is Chelsea-Porto. Finally at 10:00 is the requisite Man U coverage. Unfortunately, unlike ESPN, there is no HD for FSC (nooooo!!!)
September 15th, 2009 at 6:33 AM ^
When the games actually mean something and aren't just a money grab for the top 3 teams in most leagues in Western Europe.
Although, it must be said, at least UEFA eliminated the second group stage that existed from about 2000-2004. That was a blatant money grab too and attendance suffered.
September 15th, 2009 at 8:19 AM ^
I do agree that they play way too much soccer in Europe these days, and it's motivated by the financial aspect of the game. However, there is a money aspect to every professional sport these days. How is that different from a long NBA, or MLB season? Sure the big teams make a lot of money, but smaller teams get to make some money they wouldn't be able to make otherwise. We could argue about the format of the competitions, but that would be a different topic. But to say wake me up in March is essentially no different than saying wake me up in January for the NFL playoffs.
September 15th, 2009 at 9:15 AM ^
The second group stage of the Champions League was specifically created by UEFA in the late 1990s in order to satisfy the so called "Group of 14" clubs from around Europe, which included teams like Barca, Real, Man U, Liverpool, Juve, PSG, Marseille and Ajax. Those clubs have threatened for years (led by Silvio Berlusconi, who owned AC Milan) to breakaway and form a "European Super League." In order to keep these teams within the auspices of UEFA (and, in order for UEFA to continue to reap the financial benefits of their sponsorships in the Champions League), they agreed to the second group stage, which essentially gave the larger teams three more guaranteed home dates.
That second group stage was eliminated, however, because: (1) teams were complaining of fixture congestion; and (2) attendance was suffering (why watch Milan play Anorthis Famagusta in the first round when it leads to a second round match against the third placed team from Sweden?).
The reason the Champions League is different than American sport is because the Champions League is separate from the domestic European competitions. The fall group stages, on average, contain no more than 1 or 2 surprise teams either advancing to the final 16 in the spring, or being eliminated. You are normally assured that if you ignore the fall Champions' League matches, you can wake up in the spring and find Real Madrid, Barcelona, Man U, Porto, Chelsea, Bayern Munchen, Liverpool, Juventus and Inter waiting for you.
However, there are ongoing domestic competitions which can keep my attention in the meantime.
So, in fact, you can wake me in the spring when the actual elimination rounds start for the Champions' League, because that's really all that matters. In the interim, I've still got every major European domestic league to watch, each of which lead to the end, a domestic league title, and whose outcome is affected every week by results and don't lead to a playoff at the end of the year.
September 15th, 2009 at 10:31 AM ^
Fans still want to watch the Yankees play the Red Sox in May, or the Lakers play the Celtics in November. Especially in the NBA, there are so many teams and so many games in the playoffs that nobody would miss most of the regular season. Of course the leagues are happy to maximize their profits if the markets allow it. You make valid points, but I don't see what the big deal is or why that is wrong. Sure they will tweak the formats to find the right balance. It is business. Most of the movies in the theaters are not made to express artistic talent, they are made to make money. If you're looking for meaning, maybe some just want to be entertained, maybe some others are curious to see how their new teams will fare against good competition. The fact is these games will be watched around the globe, and some fans will stay up late to watch exactly those top three teams of the bigger leagues. I don't agree with the reasons you provide for not following these games.
EDIT: I didn't neg you...just discussing with you.
September 15th, 2009 at 10:56 AM ^
I just like to watch soccer.
September 15th, 2009 at 3:43 PM ^
Viva Real Madrid!