Sporting Kansas City won the rights to UM standout Soony Saad today. As someone who works for Sporting, this is very exciting.
http://www.sportingkc.com/news/2011/07/sporting-kc-acquires-rights-soony-saad
Gotta start saving up for my new jersey!
Has the name "Sporting" been
I miss when they were the
I'm no expert on MLS or Kansas City
But based on the MLS forum I sometimes read, you seem to be the only one who misses the Wiz.
Like I said, I'm no expert, but they celebrated when they changed names.
Not really
I kind of like it. There are a ton of soccer fans here, so they can appreciate the name and its history. It's the average joe sports fan that doesn't really care about soccer that absolutely hates the name. I think it will grow on people.
A Møøse once bit my sister. No realli!
is it really worse than
is it really worse than "Wizards"? I'll take a European name over a shitty mid-90's vintage American one any day... though I really prefer "FC" or "United" to the likes of Real and Sporting. I think Seattle Sounders FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC are the best names in the league... a mix of traditions.
When your team is winning, be ready to be tough, because winning can make you soft. On the other hand, when your team is losing, stick by them. Keep believing. -- Bo Schembechler
Ahem
I'm generally with you,
I'm generally with you, however I like DC United and FC Dallas in terms of euro naming. That said, Real Salt Lake just sounds dumb.
GO BLUE
This is exciting, but I don't
This is exciting, but I don't really follow Sporting KC's team since my home team is The Galaxy.
What are his chances to start? I know they have Teal Bunbury, Omar Bravo and Kei Kamara. I haven't seen Kamara play this year and Bravo is getting pretty old. Hopefully he can start getting some time off the bench. I can imagine that some forward has been in form since KC is on a 8 game win streak.
Greetings from Bolivia.
"It's special how the real true people hang together. And if you don't support the program you're not a true Michigan guy. It's that simple." - Gary Moeller
My worthless opnion
I haven't seen all the stats so take this FWIW, but I don't think he'll be a starter for a while but will definitely get his share of playing time. Just from what I've seen, we haven't had a super dominant striker during this win streak (mostly a credit to defense). Many goals coming from midfielders and defenders in set pieces. Bravo has been pretty quiet, but is destracting because he's Omar Bravo. CJ Sapong has been doing great early in games but is usually subbed out. Kei Kamara doesn't usually start either. Vermes is not afraid to experiment with his squad, so I think a player of Soony's caliber will get a more than fair shot and may start a few games when he's ready. Dont know what's going on with Teal. There may be some head coach conflict with Vermes that i'm not aware of, but he rarely starts and is often subbed in during stoppage time. And his attitude doesn't seem to be where it needs to be. We've just had a bunch of injuries and players let go from the squad, so Soony has a great shot at becoming important on a squad that's on the up and up.
A Møøse once bit my sister. No realli!
Thanks for the update. I
Thanks for the update. I look forward to watching him play some day. I was selfishly hoping that the Galazy were going to sign him. I am not the biggest fan of Chad Barrett and losing Edson Buddle was a big deal.
I guess I will have to wait till next season or the play off to go to a Galaxy vs Sporting KC match.
Greetings from Bolivia.
"It's special how the real true people hang together. And if you don't support the program you're not a true Michigan guy. It's that simple." - Gary Moeller
Galaxy fan here too
Was really hoping that we could have picked up Soony. We need a competent striker pretty badly, what with JPA sucking, and Barret being probably the worst striker in the league (Cristman is awful too). God I miss Edson
personally, I like the naming convention for MLS teams
and while you may think that the MLS just thinks this stuff up to sound European, there is actually some degree of history behind the names of many American/MLS soccer clubs.
For one, remember that they are clubs, which is a bit different than a traditional "team" in the American Football or basketball sense of the word. Keeping this in mind, remember that there are many teams with the abbreviation of "F.C." after the name of the club, which is obviously to identify them as a "football club". One such FC is Toronto Whitecaps FC, who were actually founded about 25 years ago.
So yea, for the most part, giving teams names like "DC United" or "Real Salt Lake" seems a bit cheesy on the surface, but it is important to keep in mind that soccer has a world culture unlike that of your more 'Merican sports.
No, I don't think that MLS
No, I don't think that MLS invents these names. It's worse than that - they flat-out copy the names of successful European clubs (Real Madrid, Manchester United, Sporting Lisbon, Dynamo Kiev, etc.) to create a phony sense of history for their franchises (sorry, they are not "clubs" in any meaningful sense of the word), instead of trying to build upon local cultural traditions. It comes across as very artificial.
I look forward to the eventual arrival of Panathinakos Detroit Young Boys.
yes, actually, they are clubs.
my example, Vancouver Whitecaps, have 2 Women's USL teams, a men's USL team, and they provide a youth system that feeds into their upper two men's teams. This is not comparable to professional teams in any other American sports league.
many other countries around the world do the same thing, such as Australia's A-League, which features teams like Sydney Rovers and Adelaide United. K-League (Korea) does the same thing. Like I said, you can't name a soccer club like you name a basketball team, the culture surrounding the sport is entirely different.
don't be so American.
Only took until July 5th to
Only took until July 5th to start with the anti-American sentiment from the futbol crowd. Happy Independence Day to you too!
The swag is back.
Sporting's owners are
Sporting's owners are actually attempting to start up teams in other sports. They were serious about the name making sense. Real Salt Lake is awful, but if it would be ok if it was like Real San Diego.
Using Detroit as an example, I'd rather see Detroit Arsenal or Detroit City etc. than the return of the Detroit Safari. Detroit Express FC would be my favorite, though.
When your team is winning, be ready to be tough, because winning can make you soft. On the other hand, when your team is losing, stick by them. Keep believing. -- Bo Schembechler
Interesting
I was under the impression all of the MLS teams were owned by the league. That is kind of cool that they really have some sort of club type feel. That being said, FC is always going to be poserish when Americans refer to the game as soccer. Go with SC instead and I would have a lot more respect for it (not that they have any interest in my respect).
I am a blossoming (for lack of a better word) soccer fan and really enjoy the EPL on Saturday mornings. I haven't really bought into the MLS yet with no local team. If Detroit got a team and named them Arsenal, I'd be disappointed. Just go with Express.
MLS is a single entity...
MLS is a single entity... hence Saad signing with the league. But each franchise also has an individual (well, 2 owners own 2 clubs a piece) owner... the team owners simply own MLS. It sounds more complex than it is.
FC is fine. It's what teams are called. SC is just a neologism that sounds silly. As for potential Detroit team names... Arsenal is a great name with history behind it. I'd love it. Express is great, too. But I have a feeling the team would get a name with a more Greek feel like Detroit Olympia considering the market and the ownership group
When your team is winning, be ready to be tough, because winning can make you soft. On the other hand, when your team is losing, stick by them. Keep believing. -- Bo Schembechler
If you go to a match,
If you go to a match, especially one where the team is an FC, you will hear it mostly referred to as football. At least that is how it is in Portland.
Real Salt Lake is dumb because in Spain "Real" means that the club has been annointed as Royal by the King or Queen. Unless we decide to desolve democracy and name Sarah Palin queen I don't see how the "Real" can ever be applied to an American club.
Interesting
People in Portland calling soccer football just strikes me as trying too hard.
maybe KC should have used the
maybe KC should have used the "real" moniker then, They already have the Royals name on the sports club. Probably given to them back in the day when we had kings and queens.
Go Blue!
Why disappointed? Detroit
Why disappointed? Detroit was the Arsenal of Democracy in WWII, so there'd be a reason for it.
Michigan Resurgent? Michigan Resurgent!
The beatings will continue until the uniforms improve!
True
I get your thinking, but there's obviously a pretty successful team that already has that name. It just seems like if we get a team, we should not try to borrow off of someone else's success.
They can only be the
They can only be the Detroit Young Boys if they also name their stadium Wankdorf.
The only one I truly hate is Real Salt Lake.
Soony made a mistake
I have to agree with Ives here...
http://twitter.com/#!/SoccerByIves/status/88332519270924288
"Pro prospects who want 2 test European market MUST keep college eligibility. Otherwise U wind up with zero leverage in negotiating w/MLS"
Ives goes on to say that he is getting the league minimum...
"For those wondering about Soony Saad's salary cap number, word I get is he's on a minimum salary. Got Twellman'd after leaving school early"
The funny thing is, I have always thought Soony's game reminded me a bit of Twellman's.
Jesus. That's $40,000 (I
Jesus. That's $40,000 (I looked it up) for a guy who (supposedly) had tryouts with the likes of Bayern Munich. It's hard to feel bad for a kid who is getting paid to play sports, especially in what can't be a very expensive place to live, but that is quite a comedown. Hope his contract is short.
"I just hope Tressel doesn't fire me"
-Gordon Gee
DCUnited opting to not even
DCUnited opting to not even enter the lottery makes about as much sense to me as UM only taking one DT in this recruiting class.
Has the name "Sporting" been well-received in KC? I have to say I'm not a big fan of the pseudo-European names.