Major down side to this is that it will embolden FIFA and the continental associations. UEFA already apparently telling Real Madrid that they will be banned from European competitions as long as Florentino Perez is president of the club.
Oh thank goodness. I was very conflicted there for a moment on how to be a fan of a Club that broke away like that.
You and me both, my friend. My family had begun to develop plans to become fanatical followers of the Scottish League. (And now that I have written that last sentence and look back on it.... we just ain't right.)
I'm the type of soccer fan that real soccer fans loathe. Frankly, I don’t blame you.
I'm typically a hardcore traditionalist when it comes to sports and hate when changes are made to broaden the appeal and generate additional revenue. I'm admittedly a casual fan at best of European soccer and lack an appreciation for the history and uniqueness of the club system. My opinion is clearly slanted by having an American perspective at how professional leagues should look. It's not to say that the franchise model with a single dominate league doesn't have issues. No doubt this is clearly a move based purely on the greed of the 12 clubs involved. They know the world's most popular sport has grown as much as possible in its current format, and that there are billions of potential new fans (primarily in Asia and North America) who aren't currently watching for whatever reason.
I know it sounds silly, but my biggest gripe about professional soccer is the sheer number of quality teams and leagues. I only have so many hours a week that I can read, watch, and consume all sports. I don't have the time or energy to sort through which teams in which leagues and ultimately which games I'll watch. Narrow it down 20 to 40 teams of world’s best in a single league, I'm tuning in.
That's a really logical viewpoint. And I think it probably aligns well with what the 12 clubs are actually thinking in strategic terms.
Don't get me wrong -- I still personally don't like it. But I very much appreciate Liam's time and consideration in posting.
But lets face facts, UEFA and FIFA have been the most corrupt organizations in profession sports worldwide for decades.
The fact that FIFA is the body that will probably have to step up and do something from a moral standpoint is by far my biggest issue with all of this.
I don't like it at all. Has the potential to completely wreck the unique league systems within Europe that have consistently produced compelling matchups which truly test the ultimate mettle of champions. Adversely affects promotion/relegation -- which is an other aspect of European football (particularly the English FA) that makes it particularly unique. The selection of the initial 12 clubs appears to be based completely on $$ with no other considerations. New arrangement seems about as compelling as the NFL -- which I rarely watch at all.
To that last point, I'm a diehard Liverpool supporter -- but I don't think believe for a minute that the Reds are truly an elite team on the pitch right now. If anything, they are being included based on a legacy built many years ago. Feels a lot like the ACC selling its soul to get Miami (even though that ultimately benefited Virginia Tech).
Apparently the top German and French teams passed on invitations to join.
So what's the primary argument in favor of the new arrangement?
My second born son was just named to the varsity soccer team at Liberty-Bedford. Pretty sure he is the only freshman that was taken. They had good numbers at tryouts and it's a very deep pool in terms of talent.
All three of my boys are pretty gifted physically. But #2 is the best athlete among them by far. He also wrestles (won three event medals in his first year) and played pretty much every down on the JV football team this spring season.
Kid has also suffered mightily this past year due to the various shutdowns. So this good news is certainly welcome and I just can't help but crow about it.
I wonder how soon of an announcement will come? I mean you start your season in around 10-11 weeks.
That's the one thing that I find most curious about this situation. Given the very public manner in which Coach Wells had to separate from Richlands, I would have expected some kind of corresponding hiring announcement from Charlottesville. Relying solely on Google, I have yet to see anything like that.
Also curious about the nature of the position itself that he is taking. A quick visit to the official athletics site at UVa provides a listing of the football staff. I see several "analyst" positions listed but no obvious vacancies related to position coaching.
I agree. At the beginning of the season, everybody was "Happy to be playing". Now, everybody wants to gripe. What did anybody expect to happen? It's just organized chaos this season and that's pretty much how everythng has been for over a year now.
Count me as a continuing member of the "Happy to be playing" tribe. I will also be fully behind SWD/Region 2D standard bearers as they advance.
Richlands’ fans are going to have a pretty rude awakening in 2-3 years unless the crop of kids in the pipeline takes a massive leap forward. I’ve always said, with our schools the sizes they are, this stuff is cyclical...
What will be interesting is that everyone else will still be obsessed with Richlands even if the Blues were to hit a long-term downward trend.
I don’t speak for all Richlands fans. I never said I did. He did. I speak for myself.
Another poster made the comment about Ryan speaking for all Richlands fans.
Personally (and I know this won't be a popular opinion among my kinsmen) I am disappointed by the apparent shift in policy as well as the fact that the impressive streak of playoff appearances will be coming to an end. But I also can't make much of a logical argument on behalf of a team with 2 losses within an already limited playoff field.
Weird year. Glad that we get to watch football in some form this school term. Let's get back on the horse and ride this fall.
While the first game was won 42-6 I think the QB for Altavista had more yards than the Raiders would have liked to give up. He is fast for sure, (state champion in the 60 meter dash this year) so he will get some yards if he is able to get outside on you. Hard to motivate a team to play another team the second time around when they beat them by 36 points the first time. The Raiders need to set goals of "points by half time" and "amount of yards allowed by half time"
I think you may start seeing some starters playing more in the second half (if this does in fact become ugly). Unfortunately the Raiders are put in a hard position. They either play football and run their offense for 4 quarters and possibly make some ugly scores or they call off the dogs if they get up big by half. The later of those options though doesn't help them to be the best team they can be come playoffs. In saying all that though, they could roll into any of these game over confident and get a burnt.
Hate that this is their schedule. So wish we could see if anyone in the Seminole is in need of a game.
I could be mistaken, but my understanding is that Jefferson Forest has pretty much pulled the plug on their spring season. So it's likely that all other Seminole schools have that hole to fill. And even if those district members have already made arrangements, that is still subject to change. Case in point.... Liberty (Bedford) moved quickly to replace JF with Bassett. But then that fell through and they wound up playing Broadway this past Friday. All of that transpired within about a week's time.
Of course the obvious obstacle for Appomattox might also be that nobody would want to take them on.
I heard on WGTH radio, Richlands assistent coach, Brad Deemer,was killed on his way to the game, in Tazewell. I send my prayers to the Richlands family.
That's beyond awful. No words, but definitely in prayer for his family and the old hometown.
Of course I'm sure he threw out the caveat that localities can impose stricter guidelines if they choose to do so. And I'm sure that a majority of my local school board -- who are either inherently smarter than everyone else on the planet or have access to better data than anyone else -- will stick with tighter restrictions. Just like they did with winter sports.
Reporting from outside the coverage area.... Liberty (Bedford) looks to have about 30 players out for the first day of practice. (Waiting in the parking lot to pick up my son so I don't have a clear view of the upper practice field.) Another one of our local rules is that there is no JV team this year, so our numbers might be somewhat skewed by the presence of freshmen (like my boy).
Winter sports season just passed without our teams being allowed to participate in a single regulation match/game of any kind. But practices occurred every day under certain protocols. In wrestling, for example, they had to stop every 50 minutes and sterilize/wash their hands. Because....yeah.
This isn't as bad as what the good folks of Prince Edward experienced circa 1960. But it sure feels closely aligned to it.
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Super League proposal for European football
in College and Pro Sports
Posted
Major down side to this is that it will embolden FIFA and the continental associations. UEFA already apparently telling Real Madrid that they will be banned from European competitions as long as Florentino Perez is president of the club.