Buzz retires
Last night, we had a End of the Year Banquet for the Minnesota Thunder fans. We honored Buzz Lagos with a Lifetime achievment award. I also screened two videos that I made. They can be downloaded here:
posted by Zathras at 8:16 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks for your kind words, Lukacs.
I have heard from certain former Thunder players (read; Sanneh and M. Lagos) that the MLS model isn't the greatest ever. The single-entity tends to kill player salaries and that's not really good for the sport.
I believe, however, that there isn't much space for raising salaries at this point--no one is really making money hand-over-fist in this sport (save perhaps US Soccer) so we have to be realistic.
As much as I would love to see a promotion/relegation system set up, the USL is just too volatile for that. Between 2004 and 2005, four teams folded and Virginia Beach came darn close. In a single-entity model, you aren't in danger of that happening (you just risk having whole thing come crashing down.)
What MLS ought to do is to look at the models of those clubs that have had longevity and try to build on what those clubs have accomplished. In Portland, the Timbers have been around since the NASL days but are in real danger right now due to the power of minor league baseball and the lack of a realistic place to play. The Thunder have been built from the ground up by Buzz Lagos' constant community involvment. MLS ought to stop trying to 'look' a Major League outfit, as much as that might make it seem more like a 'legitimate' major league sport, and work on the grassroots level. That's where the support for soccer is in this country, at least until we can bring the David Beckham and Ronaldos in to MLS.
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