I asked U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati about Seattle and Portland over the weekend, and he pointed out that the artificial turf fields in both cities present some issues. "We haven't played any qualifiers in quite some time on surfaces where we have to lay down sod, so that makes it a little bit tricky," Gulati said. "Second, when we have double-dates we want to try to minimize travel, and not only travel over the two games but for players coming from Europe. So it's a little bit different during European season than in MLS season. They're both terrific markets. Do I think we'll play there in the next couple of years? The answer is yes. When that is, I couldn't predict."
Gulati to Grant Wahl on why they ignore the Pacific Northwest
Umm, here's a news flash, LA requires more travel time than Seattle and Portland (with more limited direct flights though). They've played friendlies on Turf. So sure, he answered, but his answers have been ignored for other host markets.
8 months ago
Dave Clark
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Here's why the travel excuse irks me.
Yeah, we’re a ways out here. I get that. But we’re still, you know, a part of the United States.
by Aaron Campeau on Oct 10, 2011 2:11 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
I suspect this will be less of an issue at some point in the future
Sure, a lot of the USMNT’s best players will be based in Europe, but with higher future revenues in MLS, teams may be willing to use DP spots for, say, a Stuart Holden or Jozy Altidore, keeping more USMNT players in MLS for a larger portion of their career.
Not as far as you think.
Great circle routes and all that.
It’s 4,437 miles from London to Miami, Florida where the Honduras friendly was played.
It’s 4,798 miles from London to Seattle.
LA is over 5400 miles from London, the same distance as London to South Korea.
Bloggin' at JoePasDoghouse.com
by J.Schnauzer on Oct 10, 2011 3:09 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Bingo
I’ll use Amsterdam, since it is kind of at the center of our Scotland/England guys, Germany/Italy guys, and Jozy plays near there.
AMS-SEA = about 4900 miles
AMS-LAX = about 5600 miles
AMS-DFW = about 4900 miles
AMS-MIA = about 4600 miles
AMS-ORD = about 4100 miles
Pretty much the same thing. Play a game in LA, a game in Seattle, and get them back. Unless we’re going to play every national team game somewhere between DC and Boston, which I think would be shortsighted in the development of the game in the states, the whole “it’s too remote” excuse is a bit lazy in its ignorance of simple geography, especially for an Ivy League professor.
Hell, when I go back to Seattle to visit family for Christmastime, I’m actually doing a side trip to England from there for the FA Cup weekend plus a weekend with league fixtures, because in an intercontinental sense, Seattle-London direct is a relatively short flight. I live in the fairly northern part of a connected continent, and all of Northern Europe is closer to Seattle than I am.
You do all the work for us, Honey Badger, and we'll just eat whatever you find.
BC Place Turf Reactions??
I have yet to see any real player reactions to the new pitch in Vancouver. Has anyone else? It’s a ** Fifa-rated surface and, I expect, similar to what we’re likely to have in place next year.
2-Star aint all its made up to be.
Don’t forget that Portland is also * * rated, and not all that long ago our field had a * * rating. I believe that it was only before this season that we got down-graded to * (no source).
We all know that if our field was considered * * last year, that isn’t much to brag about.
No, we haven't been two-star in a long while
I’m actually not sure we were ever two-star actually, at least not while the MLS Sounders have been around.
Two-star is as high as FIFA will give a turf field, which is patently insane.
The turf at BC Place is glorious and better than a lot of grass fields.
by Aaron Campeau on Oct 11, 2011 5:02 PM PDT up reply actions
It's two out of two though, not two out of four or five
So it’s not as bad as it looks.
by CarlosT on Oct 11, 2011 5:41 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Just look at Red Bull Arena
The surface caused as plenty of footing issues
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
by Dave Clark on Oct 12, 2011 7:42 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Sunil
can’t leave the house soon enough to suit me. Lame excuses but, even worse, is the fact that he is keeping the US program from cashing in on the cash cow that is the NW. What a fool.
by swansuite on Oct 10, 2011 2:43 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
But why?
What would be Sunil’s (or US Soccer’s) motivation for skipping over us if not for the reason he stated? Doesn’t seem like a monetary one as we’d sell as many or more tickets than anywhere? Does he have some kind of bias against us for some reason? General east coast bias?
I don't doubt the given reasons are the real ones.
They’re just dumb reasons.
by Aaron Campeau on Oct 10, 2011 3:08 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Exactly, Hanlon's Razor
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
by Brougham Hooligan on Oct 10, 2011 3:41 PM PDT up reply actions
Lets not forget FDR's quote either though
“In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
I'm going to assume kickbacks until proven otherwise
Chuck Blazer may be gone, but the graft never goes.
by Dizzo on Oct 10, 2011 6:40 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
To be fair to Gulati
LA is many times the market that Seattle is. And they can sell out the Rose Bowl there — 93k vs. 65k at C-Link. And the turf is a big problem. It’s not a massive, overwhelming advantage but it’s an advantage, and it always will be.
But they could throw us a game now and then.
I'm also not convinced that the Sounders' success translates directly to huge USMNT support here
The last two Gold Cup appearances have been uninspiring, so I’m not really judging based off that, but having interest in your local club doesn’t automatically translate to interest in your national team (and vice versa.) Given a good opponent in a friendly, or a WCQ, I’m sure we’d sell out Qwest, but I think the same is true for LA. Would Qwest have sold out for US-Chile in January? Or US-Costa Rica in September? I’m pretty skeptical.
Still, as someone who went to Qwest to see the US beat Cuba back in 2005, I’d like to see some better matchups get thrown our way at some point.
It is entirely possible that
He doesn’t even know the great circle routes, or the distances involved.
the “stupidity versus conspiracy” poster was spot on, I think. Most of the country has this idea Seattle, Alaska, the north pole, are all a lot closer to each other than to them.
Ssshh don't tell them
They’ll just move here and clog up the streets.
When is the expected resurfacing planned to happen? Is our field situation impairing the recruitment of guys like Tagoe?
by PhootieD on Oct 10, 2011 5:51 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
This is not provable
Heck, just this weekend one of the Union players said that this was the best Turf he’d ever played on. No joke.
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
(Sshh! You're ruining my master plan!)
I met a possum.
by s0merand0mdude on Oct 10, 2011 10:15 PM PDT up reply actions
That surprised me
It seems like public knowledge that it needs to be replaced. I didn’t know turf, like fine wine, needs to be aged.
by Dizzo on Oct 10, 2011 11:18 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
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