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Michael Rand started RandBall with hopes that he could keep lies from conquering the minds of the weak. So far, he's only succeeded in using the word "redacted" a lot. He welcomes suggestions, news tips, links of pure genius, and pictures of pets in Halloween costumes here, though he already knows he will regret that last part.
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Posts about Soccer
Major League Soccer official: "No question" Vikings stadium is suitable for MLS
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: May 15, 2013 - 3:16 PM
A match in 2007 at the Metrodome featuring David Beckham and the LA Galaxy drew 20,000 fans
On the heels of Monday's Vikings stadium unveiling, we had a chance to chat with Dan Courtemanche, the Executive VP of Communications for Major League Soccer, about the design of the building and the potential future of MLS in Minnesota. The Vikings, per the terms of the original stadium language, have exclusive rights to bring Major League Soccer to the venue for five years after it opens.
Here are a few takeaways from our conversation with Courtemanche (which we hope to follow in a subsequent post after an interview with Vikings VP Lester Bagley):
*On whether the new stadium design, which does have a soccer configuration, would work for MLS: "No question. We believe it’s another strong indicator of the growth of soccer across the country when you have venues like this that can house not just a potential MLS team but a World Cup game in the future."
*On where MLS expansion stands: "We don’t have specific plans or a timeline, but we certainly believe over the next decade we will add more teams. Whether it’s to 24 or 28, it hasn’t been decided. We’re at 19 now, hopefully soon to announce we’re at 20 (with another New York franchise). In 2004, we were at 10. … Back then, I’m not so sure we would have seen back then we were at 19 about to announce 20."
*On how some perceived negatives -- fixed roof, football venue, artificial surface -- are not the dealbreakers they once might have seemed to be: "Clearly it’s going to be a state-of-the-art facility that will rival any stadium throughout the world. When it comes to the configuration and capacity, we have similar stadiums in Seattle, New England. It’s in a market-by-market basis as to what fits best. Had we gone into Seattle and built a 20,000 seat stadium, there would be more than 20,000 people per game who couldn’t watch them because they averaged 43,000 people last year. ... We play a lot of games indoors in Vancouver in retractable roof at BC Place. It seats 66K, and they downsize it into just lower bowl. … There are more state-of-the-art designs to downsize stadiums that do exist. The vast majority of [Vancouver's] games are played indoors just because of their climate. ... We’re fortunate that due to the advances in artificial surfaces … the technology is so similar now to playing on grass that it’s not a make-or-break situation."
*On why the outdoor TCF Bank Stadium isn't a stadium solution: "Without me knowing the soccer configuration, the bottom line is that if you want to have the opportunity to be profitable, you have to control your venue. ... When it comes to professional sports in sports leagues, the ability to be profitable at the local level -- a major factor is control of the venue, whether it’s revenue streams, gates, parking, concessions, etc. When the ownership is a secondary tenant, it makes it challenging. In other words, it’s much better to have the owner – if we were going to partner with someone like the Vikings – to have it in their stadium where they control the venue and revenue streams."
TFD: Video of the must-see soccer finish between Watford F.C. and Leicester City
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: May 13, 2013 - 5:41 PMIf you haven't seen this ... wow. Just wow. Even if you don't like soccer. Wow. Aggregate goals tied ... closing moments ... again, wow.
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Weekend Links with Jon Marthaler: Tiger Woods and strange Kobe tweets
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: April 27, 2013 - 7:54 AM
As near as I can tell, NFL fandom has reached such a critical mass that it is more or less a given among sports fans. The Vikings are as popular as every other team in the state put together; every Twins fan or Timberwolves fan or Wild fan you come across is also a Vikings fan. It's just the way of the world.
I mention this because I did not want to watch the draft on Thursday night. The NFL Draft is both interminable and boring, filled with mindless chatter and one or two moments of very mild excitement, like watching a rain delay in baseball and waiting for one of the tarp crew to slip and fall over. And frankly, when it comes to Vikings fandom, I spend three hours every Sunday in the fall in gut-wrenching agony; I prefer to use the offseason for non-Purple-related activities, if only to remind myself that I may indeed be a sane person.
But I watched. Of course I watched. I had to watch, because I work with sports fans and all of my friends and family are sports fans and I knew, come Friday, we were going to talk about the NFL Draft. It's like doing the required reading in English class.
I'm promising myself that I'm now waiting until the season starts to think about the Vikings. Except for the preseason, of course, I'll have to watch that. And I'll have to read the training camp reports. And I'm sure somebody will want to talk about minicamp. And... man, the offseason is the worst.
*On with the links:
*It's rare that a writer can define an athlete's career and change the course of it at the same time, with one article, but that's what Charlie Pierce did with his Esquire story about Tiger Woods in the spring of 1997. Grantland has the director's cut of the piece, with a bunch of added footnotes, including the fact that Pierce wrote the whole thing in two and a half hours, which is the approximate amount of time I've spent writing just this one sentence you're reading right now. Charlie Pierce is a genius and a monster.
*Brian Phillips followed the Iditarod by air, and turned out a book-length piece that is one of the great accounts of participatory sports journalism you'll find, now that George Plimpton has passed on into the great beyond.
*If you'd ask me why Mike Pelfrey has struggled, I would have offered the following scientific opinion: "He stinks out loud." Luckily, we have Parker Hageman to break it down and actually demonstrate five things that are wrong for Pelfrey right now.
*Graham Parker writes about Shrovetide Football, perhaps my favorite stupid English sports tradition this side of the Eton wall game.
*Kobe Bryant has quit tweeting during games. Sports on Earth's Will Leitch thinks that's a shame - especially since in some ways it was the apex of sports social media.
*And finally: North Carolina spring football is getting weird.
Weekend Links with Jon Marthaler: Here's hoping for some Target Field doubleheaders
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: April 20, 2013 - 11:20 AM
Jon Marthaler bakes up a delicious batch of links for you every weekend. Other times, you can find him here. Jon?
The Twins have had three games canceled this week, leading to some down-the-road scheduling problems, including a pretty good possibility of a day-night doubleheader with the White Sox. Most people, I think, know the day-night doubleheader drill - the teams play once, clear the stadium, then play again that evening, effectively as if the teams played a day game and a night game on the same day.
Now, players hate doubleheaders -- you would too, if you had to work a double shift. Managers hate them for ruining pitching staffs. Front offices hate them for causing more logistical headaches than they're worth. And so the scheduled doubleheader has disappeared from modern baseball.
Frankly, though, as a fan I can't think of anything better. I'm someone who takes work off each year for the first two days of the NCAA tournament because of its wall-to-wall basketball; if the Twins scheduled a traditional back-to-back doubleheader, I can guarantee I would buy tickets, at almost any price. An entire day of baseball? What could be better than that?
I know that this terrible extended winter is causing problems for the Twins' schedule, and I know that nobody from the team wants two games on the same day. But I can't help hoping that, somehow, this leads to six straight hours of baseball at Target Field later this season.
* On with the links:
* Jesse Lund at Twinkie Town did a long and interesting Q&A with Twins assistant general manager Rob Antony. And if facts aren't your forte, RandBall's own Stu also wrote an Onion-style article about the Twins' new $15 "All You Can Yell" promotion.
* John Gagliardi is in many ways Minnesota's living football saint, but out in Washington, their own passed away - Pacific Lutheran coach Frosty Westering. Chuck Culpepper at Sports on Earth writes about his career and legacy.
* The TVFury blog has an engrossing interview with sportswriter, columnist, and best-selling author Peter Richmond.
* Eight years ago, former NFL defensive tackle Al Lucas died from an on-field hit during an Arena Football game. At Grantland, Robert Weintraub writes about Lucas's life -- and considers how the NFL would deal with this kind of tragedy.
* At The Classical, Colin McGowan listens to a Bill Simmons / Colin Cowherd podcast, and wonders, in his words, "how this could possibly be what so many people want."
* Grantland's Graham Parker reviews the history, and the new incarnation, of the entirely fan-created MLS Supporters' Shield. At the same site, Brian Phillips looks at the career of Matt Le Tissier, who at 44 is temporarily coming out of retirement to play for his obscure local club on the island of Guernsey.
TFD: You will never see a penalty kick this bad again. Ever.
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: April 16, 2013 - 6:05 PMYou wouldn't even miss a PK this badly if you were intentionally trying to lose.
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