It's a great time to be a soccer fan in the Pacific Northwest.
The Seattle Sounders make their MLS debut tonight, just a day after Vancouver was awarded the 17th MLS franchise. For those of you who missed it, here is my column for ESPN.com on why Vancouver was chosen and why it will be a successful MLS club.
All the Vancouver owners were in attendance on Tuesday except for Steve Nash, who was busy wtih an NBA game last night. For those of you who are unaware of his love for soccer, Steve Nash is a full-fledged soccer junkie who plays soccer in the NBA off-season and played a key role in Vancouver landing an MLS team.
Here's a great video that illustrates Nash's passion for the sport:
Now that it has had some time to sink in, what do you think about Vancouver joining MLS? Excited about it? Indifferent? Not a fan of all the Pacific Northwest love? Looking forward to take a trip out West for the Seattle-Vancouver-Portland road trip?
Share your thoughts on Vancouver's MLS expansion victory below.
Wow…..people, for the love of God, AB is not “on board” with the ownership group in St. Louis. They donated some land to them. Some of you need some remedial reading courses…..or a lobotomy.
eLove
I never understood the “it doesn’t play right,” argument.
You’ve never played the game if you don’t understand this comment.
St Louis has to be next with their great soccer tradition. I thought their bid was looking strong, esp with Bud coming on board?
Just wondering, are there other 1st divisions that cross national boundaries? I can only think of France/Monaco. OK, just wondering in the stratosphere…what if this cross-border model started making money and a few Mexican teams could be pulled in? In the long run, could there be a regional “super league” like I hear them talking about for Europe? Is Europe looking closely at whether cross-border leagues work? Again, just speculation late in the workday.
nash is great. my cousin who regularly plays soccer in chinatown(NYC) during the summer has played with him often.
glad a big name like that is involved in MLS.
Turf? Seriously? Why? Why? Why? I don’t like it.
That was an awesome sports vid. Inspiring and crushing all at the same time. Steve Nash not only beats me in basketball, but in Tennis, Skating, and worst of all my favorite sport soccer. I was so deluded in thinking I could probably take some NBA stars in soccer. Super athletes are just super athletes. Beckham could probably play some B-Ball.
Seriously, will Steve Nash suit up in two years?
Just wathced the video. I never knew nash was so passionate about skateboarding.
“I’m furious that Seattle, Vancouver and all but certain Portland will have teams.
Now I am – I lived there 3 years and now live in the wastelands of upstate NY 🙁
Love it for them – hate it for me.
Posted by: Bill | March 19, 2009 at 12:59 PM ”
I feel you pain Bill. I grew up in Seattle, and moved away 6 years ago. Now I am in Florida, and the nearest teams are DC and Houston, both over 14 hour drives. It’s just wrong that there are probably less Canadians that far away from an MLS team, than US residents. Seattle is the only place in the Northwest that deserved a team. No people, don’t use USL as a come back. the attendances aren’t correlated to MLS attendance. If they were, the game tonight would be played infront of 10,000 fans at memorial stadium
If the game grows as expected. why wouldn’t the USL teams also grow organically and become as strong as MLS. It’s not like with promotion and relegation so MLS wouldn’t always be the top tier. Remember the NFL merged with the AFL when both leagues were equally strong. I see no limits on USL development.
I just want to point out that in spring and fall, in the Pacific Northwest, when as most of you know, it’s raining nearly all of the time, keeping up a pristine playing surface is almost impossible. (because every inch of the surface eventually becomes a divot, which would mean re-soding the pitch everytime you play. that’s also unmanageable, and sometimes dangerous) So… That’s probably a big reason that turf is used.
For summer, real grass would be great, so for half of the season it would work. Not the whole season though.
I never understood the “it doesn’t play right,” argument. The premier leagues and teams in Oregon, anyway, ONLY play on turf, and they PREFER it. Teams in USSF’s Premier Development Academy Program, included.
Happy for Vancouver; hopeful for My Timbers.
I wouldn’t exactly call that video “great.” In fact, it kind of sucks. Sort of like basketball.
That being said, I hope I win my bracket!
Martin Nash will be 35 when Vancouver first takes in the field in 2011. That, combined with he not really being an MLS-level player means he probably won’t be on the roster.
I’d bet on him being a member of the technical, coaching or scouting staff.
Timbers confirm there is a press conference Friday:
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_031809_news_portland_major_league_soccer.49a68303.html
West Coast represent! As a California-based MLS fan for the last decade ro so, this is the moment that some of us have only dared imagine. 2011 couldn’t get here sooner.
I hope BC Place works out and the new waterfront stadium gets built soon thereafter. Hopefully this will put some pressure on Lew Wolff to go big on his SSS plans and not build CCS2.
East Coast fans should consider making a road trip.
This is pretty cool news. Good ownership group, natural rivalries with the other cities, and a good soccer tradition. What more can one want?
Vancouver wouldn’t have been my first choice, but congrats to Whitecaps fans and welcome to the league. Looks like Portland is also joining per Mandela’s post, which wouldn’t have been a top choice either, but again, congrats to the Timber fans.
I hope MLS is able to find the right group of investors in Florida to make a team work there since the sport is missing a huge chunk of the country, and there are some big markets there. I’d also like to see St. Louis get a team.
Lastly, it’ll be interesting to see how big the league could becomes. There are 2 other interested cities in Canada, and probably another 10 locations in the US who could host a franchise. As long as they move forward in a controlled manner(IE, let the talent pool and salary cap evolve with the league), I don’t see a problem with having a 32 team league.
Sorry for the link mix-up. The correct link is now in place for the Vancouver expansion story.
Martin Nash? Doesn’t he work for Dunder Mifflin?? 😉
Haha, Nash looks like he could be force on the pitch in MLS.
Bill — Ever heard of the Rochester Rhinos? Support your local club, top flight or not.
An email was sent out to Timbers season ticket holders this morning:
Merritt Paulson & Major League Soccer…
Invite you to attend an important announcement about the future of professional soccer in the City of Portland
——————————————————————————–
Friday, March 20, 2009
10:00 am
Hilton Portland
Pavilion Ballroom
921 SW Sixth Avenue
To unsubscribe, please email info@pgepark.com
I would just like to see Vancouver build its own truly soccer-specific stadium.
Ives, you have the wrong article linked
think martin nash will be on the MLS squad? I claim nepotism!!
Get over the field turf, these aren’t the only countries to use the surface. It doesn’t ruin the game, the only thing it is doing is causing you to miss a game. Which is the dumbest reason I have ever heard to miss a game.
Nash is from nearby Victoria, B.C. and his brother plays for the Whitecaps.
Me thinks Nash will be the bo jackson of basketball and soccer. Will he play for vancouver?
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Frighteningly, he could. Another sign of the weird and growing confluence between Canada and soccer.
I’m furious that Seattle, Vancouver and all but certain Portland will have teams.
Now I am – I lived there 3 years and now live in the wastelands of upstate NY 🙁
Love it for them – hate it for me.
Vancouver is a beautiful city with very friendly people,everyone there is pretty awesoeme
Ess Eff. If the city government of Vancouver would’ve allowed the owner of the Whitecaps to build a stadium on the actual land that he owns, it would’ve been natural grass. Instead they kept messing around with him and caused this refurbishment deal on B.C. Place.
Me thinks Nash will be the bo jackson of basketball and soccer. Will he play for vancouver?
Turf. Ugh. I’m all in favor of expanding to cities that will thrive. But, turf is such a bummer. Does anyone like watching games on turf on tv? No matter who’s playing, I find another match.
Ives, can you confirm the report of a press conference in Portland tomorrow? If so, do you know what they plan on discussing?
i LOVE Steve Nash as a basketball player, i think he is amazing as a player and a personality and he is supremely classy and great for the image of the NBA. so i’m actually quite happy that Vancouver got an expansion team aside from them deserving one, but also because this awesome guy is now sharing his image with MLS. it can only do good.
Of course this will be great for US soccer. Anyone who doesn’t like it is kind of not really in favor of the MLS, or so, at least, I think…