Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I guess my circle are mostly snobby English fans. My sister and brother-in-law bought several years ago about a 10 minute walk from Stamford Bridge, so we've been to a few Chelsea matches. My father-in-law lived for several years in Brighton and is a diehard BHA fan. So as the casual/fair-weather fan of the bunch, I'm constantly corrected on my "Americanization" of the game. I don't personally know too many Revs fans.
I'm so torn on Tidewater. The public money, Brett Johnson, and the fact that the state would invest in this vs. doing so earlier to keep the known entity in the Pawsox all bother me. But I actually think the Stadium renderings look great and I think that it should be a great experience when (if) it opens.
Abramovich-era Chelsea supporters tend to be disliked in the UK because they're higher income and entitled. Kind of like pink hats and suits in Fenway Park.
Personally, I really like the English football culture where every city and town has their own football team. 10% of the city goes to watch their club at 3pm on a Saturday. The matches are blacked out on television in that time slot to get people to attend the games. Local rivalries go back centuries. It's very different from the US where professional sports are primarily television sports. New England has 13 million people and one team. Europe has the concept of promotion and relegation. The PawSox could win AAA and be promoted to MLB. The Boston Red Sox could finish last and be relegated to AAA.
I used to have Revs season tickets. Everyone I know who goes to Gillette was involved in youth soccer. The parents and now their adult children. And then you have the cosplay crowd in The Fort pretending to be drunk Brits. I eventually lost interest because the level of play is so poor.
Personally, I really like the English football culture where every city and town has their own football team. 10% of the city goes to watch their club at 3pm on a Saturday. The matches are blacked out on television in that time slot to get people to attend the games. Local rivalries go back centuries. It's very different from the US where professional sports are primarily television sports. New England has 13 million people and one team. Europe has the concept of promotion and relegation. The PawSox could win AAA and be promoted to MLB. The Boston Red Sox could finish last and be relegated to AAA.
I'm a big fan of the English football culture too. The support is really unrivaled by U.S. teams. The idea that a medium sized city like Liverpool can not only support 2 top flight teams, but those teams play less than a 20 minute walk from each other is fascinating. There's nothing like it here. What passes for over-the-top fandom here is baseline over there.
I love the concept of relegation in theory, but haven't given a ton of thought to how it would play out practically in the states. I know it'll never happen, but I'm sure it would mean the end of "tanking" for draft picks.
To go on-topic, I was happy to see the renderings for the stadium at Tidewater Landing showed a roof over the stands. Hopefully, they'll use hybrid grass/turf rather than an artificial surface. Gillette is awful for that compared to a real soccer stadium.
The roof has disappeared from the most recent renderings of the Tidewater Landing stadium and, to the best of my knowledge, the facility is going to feature full-on artificial turf rather than a hybrid surface.
Abramovich-era Chelsea supporters tend to be disliked in the UK because they're higher income and entitled. Kind of like pink hats and suits in Fenway Park.
Personally, I really like the English football culture where every city and town has their own football team. 10% of the city goes to watch their club at 3pm on a Saturday. The matches are blacked out on television in that time slot to get people to attend the games. Local rivalries go back centuries. It's very different from the US where professional sports are primarily television sports. New England has 13 million people and one team. Europe has the concept of promotion and relegation. The PawSox could win AAA and be promoted to MLB. The Boston Red Sox could finish last and be relegated to AAA.
I used to have Revs season tickets. Everyone I know who goes to Gillette was involved in youth soccer. The parents and now their adult children. And then you have the cosplay crowd in The Fort pretending to be drunk Brits. I eventually lost interest because the level of play is so poor.
I understand getting into the sport because of supporter culture though, and how the world game is so different than American sports, where half the teams make the playoffs. I think switching to the English terminology comes naturally and isn't necessarily indicative of putting on airs. If you watch a lot of EPL it's what you hear- and half the MLS announcers are English as well.
And it's their sport, sort of. Now that NFL plays games in England I doubt American fans wouldn't look so positively on them changing our football phrases to something that made more sense to them. Throwball, anyone?
I was looking at the renderings of Tidewater Landing recently, and only the earliest rendering had a roof. The more detailed drawings didn't. Maybe it would be possible to add one sometime in the future if all goes well.
I went to Beirne stadium last week for a game. It was actually kind of lovely going to game at a smaller venue. They had string lights in the trees around the food trucks and it was charming. And $5 beers sure beats Gillette prices. I gave up my Revs season tickets this year. They look like they have their best chance ever of finally getting a new stadium in Everett. When that happens, lots of southern NE fans will be going to Tidewater instead. I've had that discussion with many Revs fans. I think RIFC's success could hinge on the Revs to som extent
I understand getting into the sport because of supporter culture though, and how the world game is so different than American sports, where half the teams make the playoffs.
Premier League is significantly better than "half the teams make the playoffs". The top-7 play in European competitions. The bottom-3 get relegated. You usually have 6 or 7 clubs in the relegation battle and 10+ teams with a realistic shot at playing in Europe. One tier down the pyramid, Championship has the same relegation battle. The top 2 teams get promoted automatically. The next four go into a playoff for the last promotion slot. There are usually a dozen teams with a shot at making the promotion playoffs and if you're an average team, a good month can put you in the hunt for promotion, a bad month can put you into the relegation battle.
So unlike the US, all matches are meaningful. On the last day of the season in Championship, all the games are played at the same time. There were four clubs in the battle to avoid the last relegation slot. Birmingham City, where Tom Brady has an ownership stake, got relegated.
It's an amazing culture where 10% of the city turns out at the stadium to watch the game at 3:00 on a Saturday. Sunderland has a metro population of 340,000 and the actual city is 174,000. Their 41,000 seat stadium is sold out every game.
And it's their sport, sort of. Now that NFL plays games in England I doubt American fans wouldn't look so positively on them changing our football phrases to something that made more sense to them. Throwball, anyone?
I don't think American fans would react much differently to "Throw Ball" (or something similar - my BIL calls it "Hand Egg.") than UK fans would to "Soccer." There may be some ribbing if someone visiting from London said "throwball" while taking in a Patriots game at Gillette, but I doubt most people would I really be too bothered about it. I've been similarly politely corrected for using the wrong terms at matches in the UK (and even when Liverpool played at Fenway a few years back). I doubt the details would matter that much at all. If someone said "21-nil" instead of "zero," called a tie a "draw," or said "extra time" instead of "overtime," etc., I can't imagine them taking too much flak. I don't think anyone bats an eye if two English people are saying these things to each other while watching 2 English "throw ball" teams play against each other in English stadiums.
Premier League is significantly better than "half the teams make the playoffs".
.
I know. You may have misunderstood me; I was saying that's why I prefer it to American sports. It's rather absurd that MLB plays 162 games and still can't determine who the best team is without another month+ of play! Not even in one league!
In shorter seasons with once weekly games, like NFL and MLS, the mere geographical size of the US proves an obstacle, since it requires so many teams. MLS teams can no longer face every team due to the leagues expansion so East vs West Cup final is now a necessity. I'd prefer if that were the only playoff game and if there were relegation - but that's not going to happen. US TV wants playoffs, and Team owners bought into a closed league and aren't likely to give that up.
I'm a big fan of the English football culture too. The support is really unrivaled by U.S. teams. The idea that a medium sized city like Liverpool can not only support 2 top flight teams, but those teams play less than a 20 minute walk from each other is fascinating. There's nothing like it here. What passes for over-the-top fandom here is baseline over there.
I love the concept of relegation in theory, but haven't given a ton of thought to how it would play out practically in the states. I know it'll never happen, but I'm sure it would mean the end of "tanking" for draft picks.
In regard to soccer, not that much impact. No one would tank for the draft; fewer starters come from the draft these days since the teams have built up their academies. The Revs did get Dejuan Jones, Brandon Bye and Henry Kessler through the draft though as well as Tajon Buchanan a few years back and he's now playing for Inter Milan. So there is still some value but there are so many other routes available to MLS to get quality players.
If you meant all sports, yeah I can't imagine how that would work
Saturday night, nice weather, and looks pretty empty.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
