5/03 News

[AreliusII]

MLS MVP nets hat trick vs. Rapids
http://deseretnews.com/dn/print/1,1442,600131011,00.html


Weekly update: On the road again
http://real.saltlake.mlsnet.com/content/printer_friendly/y2005/m05/d02/c28547.html


WILL NEW SPORTS FIND HOME IN UTAH?

Date May 02, 2005

The jury's still out on professional sports in Utah, whether the state is blessed with options or burdened with mediocrity. The Jazz, despite their 82-game misery, don't count in the debate. That's still the NBA. They're even owned by Larry H. Miller, the car guy we all know. But the rest of these teams: Who are these guys? And should anybody care? In the past two weeks I've been to a couple Major League Soccer games and a press conference to announce an Arena League Football team. They're both making their pitch to the huge fans of their sports, but also to the common person who wants more common sense. Namely, these supposed attractions include more interaction with fans and fewer athletes having run-ins with the law. The general consensus is these athletes are more "like us, " at least as far as everyday life goes. But let's say either of these teams win their sport's version of a championship. Does anyone go to the parade? Is there even one? That's why they're formed as questions. I'm not convinced anyone knows. And if it's up for debate, it's probably not a very popular sport. But Utah is slowly becoming the Fort Wayne (Ind.) of the West, taking on any and all comers that want to make a buck off our state's oversaturated sports fans. Where's XFL when we need it? It's pretty busy around here. From August to March, it's all about BYU and Utah, all of the other local colleges, and the Jazz (as long as Andrei Kirilenko is healthy). And don't forget high school sports, which are going strong until May. Real Salt Lake is enjoyable to watch. But combining that form of entertainment with all of the other options, it remains to be seen if there is enough time and money to satisfy all of these teams' bottom lines. About 9,000 fewer fans showed up to watch the second home game at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday, two weeks after the initial game. Yes, something must be said about the gametime start and temperature, which were much later and cooler, respectively, this time. But if RSL is to survive, it must first lower at least one of its ticket prices. I have a general rule for any sport that isn't part of the four major pro leagues in this country: At least one ticket must be equivalent to the price of a ticket to the movies, so basically $8. Even the Jazz do that. Hey, I'm looking out for you, Dear Reader. RSL's cheapest seat walking up to the ticket office the day of the game is $14. Ain't going to cut it. Dave Checketts must reteach himself that this isn't New York City. It doesn't matter how many (or few) home games a team plays. RSL and the new football team must have at least one cheap seat. Non-negotiable. The AFL needs to abide by this policy, too. No business majors have been consulted in this opinion, but let's say pricing out a large portion of the curious Wasatch Front isn't a neighborly move. All of these smaller leagues infiltrating the state bring up a more pressing question: Do people, sports fans, actually want to see people "like them?" That's what RSL officials and members of the new Arena League Football team keep saying. You know, salaries are more sane. Players are typically more educated, still successful athletically. They sign autographs and take time to meet fans. They appreciate what they have, and are willing to share with their fans in that success. But do fans really want all of those goodies? Sounds an awful lot like women's basketball. That hasn't, unfortunately, caught on very many places, including at BYU and in Salt Lake City when the town once had a WNBA team. I like the sport, enjoy the teamwork. I don't always crave slam dunks or selfish play that too often has consumed men's basketball at various levels. But most fans don't really want people that are like them. They want superhumans (sadly, even if that means steroids). You're not going to get many of those in the MLS or AFL. You'll get plenty of good games and good stories. A lot of memories, too. Whether that's enough remains to be seen. Major League Baseball has continually tried to destroy itself. Steroids is the latest saga, of course. But Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds have each received standing ovations from their hometown fans. It hardly seems to matter that a lot of cheating is going on. Just hit home runs, the masses seem to be saying. Entertain us. Thrill us. Do things we can't. That could be the problem with these other second-tier sports teams coming to Utah. Their athletes may be a little too normal. º Jason Franchuk can be reached at jfranchuk [at] heraldextra.com.

[bordelais7]

I kind of agree on the cheaper tickets thing. Hopefully RSL runs a bunch of promotions (I'm sure they will).

Although, that north end zone did look pretty packed, so I'm not sure people are having too much trouble forking out the $14 so far...

[Rover]

Good point about ticket prices. Otherwise . . .

The rest of it is like some stream of consciousness thing, wandering from one conjecture to the next. Sort of like a sophomore English term paper.

Superhumans? Let those 300+ pound pointy ball players run around a soccer field for a few minutes. I'm sure they'll have new understanding of what "superhuman" is.

[bordelais7]

Yeah, comparing MLS to the WNBA is ridiculous at best. How many "superhumans" do you see in NASCAR or in Poker, two wildly growing and successful events? Lame, lame, lame.

And more fans came to a franchise home opener than to their second game? Stop the presses! When or where has this EVER happened before? Well, besides everywhere. Duh.

[AreliusII]

Originally Posted by Rover

The rest of it is like some stream of consciousness thing, wandering from one conjecture to the next. Sort of like a sophomore English term paper.

He is the local sports writer for the Provo paper. He is a very poor writer. Read his write up of last week’s game to see how much of a soccer novice he is (he calls headers “headshots” and shots on goal “kicks on net”)… Plus, it has the same stream of consciousness feel to it…

He is the same reporter that has poo-pooed Real from the beginning.

RSL ties San Jose

Date May 01, 2005



Jason Franchuk

DAILY HERALD

SALT LAKE CITY -- The crowd at Rice-Eccles Stadium was considerably smaller Saturday night than the first one to ever see Real Salt Lake play a soccer game two weeks ago.

But at least the folks who braved the 7:30 p.m. start and cool temperatures -- and even those fans that are reading about the result now -- will realize that, yes, this team actually can score goals.

Of course, it can give up scores, too, surrendering a header to San Jose in the 82nd minute that created a 2-2 tie in front of 16,254 attendees.

"When you sit back waiting for the goal, eventually they'll break through," RSL defender Rusty Pierce said after Alejandro Moreno scored on a header with about eight minutes left.

RSL can look on the bright side about its offense. That's as many goals as RSL (1-2-2) had in its first four games.

Coach John Ellinger made some changes in the lineup after the team's recent loss to FC Dallas, moving defender Matt Behncke into a starting role to join Brian Dunseth in the middle to add size to the defense. The change was also necessary because Eddie Pope was out after a red card given in the last game.

The moves, in some way, perked up the offense.

Jason Kreis scored both goals for RSL in the first half. The first came on a penalty kick in the 21st minute to tie the game at 1, 10 minutes after San Jose's Brian Ching notched his fourth goal of the season on a fancy header off an assist from Brad Davis.

Ching leads Major League Soccer in scoring, with all of his tallies coming off passes from Davis.

Kreis scored in the 34th minute, too, by dinking a shot past the Earthquakes' goalie after Clint Mathis created a good pass to his open teammate.

It was a pleasantly open, exciting game to watch from the start. In the fifth minute a San Jose shot ricocheted off the right post, and six minutes later Ching scored.

Neither team was used to getting this many shots on goal. To put their action in perspective, until this point the most kicks on net in an entire game RSL had was five; San Jose's best was seven.

The teams equaled those amounts to perfection in the first 45 minutes.

So the number of early opportunities was definitely a surprise.

"The first half was great," Ellinger said. "We just wanted to come out in the second half and keep putting the pressure on. We knew we would have to withstand a surge in the first 10 minutes, then we did something for the next 10 to 15. Then they finally scored. That was kind of disappointing, but that's the game."

Kreis' importance in it shouldn't have been. He knows the way through San Jose.

In 29 games, spanning all 10 MLS seasons, RSL's captain has totaled eight goals and six assists against last night's opponent.

The crowd that saw his latest feats of feet was about 9,000 short of the historical opening contest, April 16 against Colorado, but that could be blamed on the later start and colder temperatures.

Those who showed up, still as festive as the first time, left more disappointed. San Jose left town with a point -- instead of RSL getting three, and the Earthquakes earning none -- thanks to a headshot by Moreno, who received a perfectly timed long pass from Brian Mullan.

RSL goalie D.J. Countess never had a good play on the ball. He was sharp for the most part, recording 13 saves -- only four fewer than he had made all season.

Pleased with the offense, now RSL's netminder thinks it's just some tweaking that needs to be done for his team to become dominant.

"If we just play for a full 90 minutes, we'll be a very powerful team," Countess said. "Tonight was just a glimpse of what Real Salt Lake is all about."

Jason Franchuk can be reached at jfranchuk [at] heraldextra.com

[bordelais7]

Must....refrain....from writing....angry email...........ARRRRRGGGGHHHH!

[SoccerPrime]

Just curious, whats the average Jazz attendance?

[bordelais7]

18,841

( http://www.insidehoops.com/attendance.shtml )

[bordelais7]

...and that really helps to demonstrate how empty huge football stadiums feel even when you have a sizable attendance for a soccer game. A sold out Delta Center with (I think) 19,900 fans looks like A LOT more people (to me) than RES does with 25k+ in attendance. Strange illusion.

[Aerick]

Two points:

I don't think lowering the cheapest tickets any more is going to help - I'm under the impression that those don't have much problem selling. Perhaps instead of lowering those from $14 to 8$, they should lower them all another couple of bucks instead - so you spread out the $6 drop in price across the board. I think that would be more productive and would cost the club the same. But I think it's still too early to consider price changing options. We don't know if that's even going to be necessary yet. Jumping the gun on this one, I think.

As far as wanting to watch "superhumans", I think this is a ridiculous point. First of all, for many of us, it's about watching a sport that we love, not necessarily people. And the fact that all of those "just like us" players can run circles around any of us on the pitch should indicate a level of "superhumanness" anyway, right? In my opinion, you get the best of both worlds: "superhuman" talent and ability combined with a normal (or relatively normal) sized ego.

My 2 cents...