DC United President and resident smack-talker Kevin Payne (in the side) has spoken, and finally we see some honesty about how much jealousy even the proudest of MLS clubs have for the mighty, and mighty new Seattle Sounders FC.
(See initial reports from the Seattle side here.)
Kevin Payne (no attention to me) wearing his Open Cup Bid Victory Crown.
(You're so) Payne tells Steven Goff of the Washington Post today "I appreciate that Seattle's fans are great. Our fans have been great for 14 seasons. It's really unseemly for Seattle to suddenly show up in MLS and everything should be handed to them. Their crowds are wonderful, we had a great time out there in Seattle [last month], but our crowds are pretty good too and we expect this year we will get far more people in the building than we did last year [8,200]."
Really? Seriously? The club NO ONE in Maryland seems to want is getting all huffy? Has Payne been reduced to smoking the blue prints to all the failed stadium plans? Is the varnish of those four MLS Cups creating fumes in Sir Payne's plush office? Did some Eagle mascot get out of the wrong side of the nest this morning? How in the hell can an expansion team (with a 35-year history...take that 14-year-old DC) be any threat at all to the league's all-time championship leaders? Yet, there is Payne responding like an offended, shocked child when he's held up to scrutiny. "Who DARES to question UNITED?"
"But there is something to be said for not playing on an artificial surface and not playing on football lines. We are able to deliver a surface that is arguably the best grass field in the league. We don't have football lines, and I can understand why the USSF would prefer that it's national championship not be played in those kinds of circumstances. Obviously the game-time was an issue, but that's not D.C. United's fault. Seattle wasn't able to comply with the time of the match. We did what the USSF asked us to do: We proposed financial terms, we met their requirement for day and time, and we provide them with the kind of surface soccer is supposed to be played on."
What kind of surface would that be? The kind with faint football lines from a college bowl game LAST season, such as the barely-standing RFK grass surface has? Oh, perfect.
On every level Sounders FC are out-performing DC United in 2009: at the gate, in the standings, product sales, corporate sponsors...
Mr. Payne just can't stand it, and he's let us know about it.
He's all class.
DC fans, you're on the clock. Pass 30,000 in ticket sales or be ready to help wipe egg off of your smack-talking President's face.
(Sounders fans are talking about living with Payne here.)
Comments
He's a tool with jealous little tonsils. Did he really say 'suddenly show up in MLS?' What a joke. Been around longer than the corns on his feet. Well almost, LOL.
"Unseemly?" Why that little rascal!
Seattle fans are the most tedious and obnoxious fans in the history of MLS. And you jackasses managed to accomplish that in less than half a season.
Idiots.
the Sounders would not have sold out this game. midweek, 1pm? Sounders are lucky not to host, as it would have been the first kink in the armor to have maybe 15k in attendance
Dearest Mike, accept our apologies. I think.
It's not really fair to ask them to get 30,000. I'll be disappointed after the smack talk if they can't get 15,000. I'm happy they got called out, now they have no excuse not to get off their asses and go to the final. This is great for everyone.
This was an "Examiner" post? I thought they were supposed to look like an attempt at serious journalism, rather than someone's personal blog. Weird.
Dearest Chris...(from Examiner) "We're seeking people like you who have in-depth knowledge about a particular topic, a passion about that topic and a desire to share related insights with others." I thought I was very insightful. ;)
I e-mailed my soccer-loving friend in Maryland yesterday and asked her if we were going to still be friends after Sept. 2nd. She had no idea what I was talking about.
Does DC United have a PR department?
You can't spell 'crud' without 'dc.'
wow that dc guy seems a bit upset at something. he should be happier...they won the right to host, LOL.
Stop your crying Seattle, it'll hurt less to lose a cup final away from home anyway.
DC United: 4x MLS Cup, 4x Supporters Shield, 2 USOC, 1 CONCACAF Cup and 1 Inter-American Cup. And you?
Oh yeah, we often fill the lower bowl of our stadium too. We just don't put a fancy tarp with a picture of another team's keeper on the upper deck and pretend it's a sellout. YMMV.
Oh and by the way I must need some of that BC Bud you guys get up there because you must be smoking ounces and ounces of it if you really think you would have drawn 30k on a Tuesday at 1pm.
'NattyBo.' Seriously? Who signs in with a name like that? I mean you could use anything...and you pick that? Kevin Payne would be so disappointed.
@huh?
Sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you over your bush league marching band.
Maybe pull one of your trophies out of your ear and try again. LOL.
A little smack talk is just what MLS needs, so I love what Payne said (especially because he's right).
"Pass 30,000 in ticket sales or be ready to help wipe egg off..."? Really? Because Seattle was going to sell 30K tickets to a 1pm WEEKDAY game? (what you proposed)
Puh-lease.
Looking forward to the game...
Vamos United!
Vamos...so you admit that United fans are now measuring themselves against what Seattle does?
a-ha, I agree with your sentiment towards Vamos United. DC have 5 weeks to sell those seats, and they SHOULD. Vamos, you've got to know that your backtracking and finding excuses already isn't a good sign for you guys...
Oh, and YES, the Sounders would have sold out the lower bowl. Why not? Mariners afternoon matches often get more than 30k.
What a bunch of babies, I can't wait to beat the stuffing out of you on your inaugural visit to RFK. In one short season you've managed to become more insufferable than Toronto fans, which is saying something.
You guys should take notes on real supporters while you're watching the match on TV. Notice that 30,000 fans doing the same chant over and over and holding free supporters scarves over their head does not a supporters atmosphere make.
Google "fortress RFK" for pictures from last year's final tifo (this site doesn't allow URL's to be linked). I'll wager our 8,000 make more noise without help from a plastic band or an acoustically superior stadium.
Not to mention the fact that the ECS can't pull a tifo off to save their lives. Maybe you should try getting better real supporters than your neighbors to the south in Portland before you mess with the big dogs of MLS.
all this griping is stupid. If the Seattle folks want to be mad, be mad at the USSF. Seattle's bid lost, deal with it. Nobody knows what the real reasons are behind. I think a lot had to do with the start time and the TV issues. Sad as it is, TV often dictates what happens.
What does Tifo have to do with actual attendance, NattyBo, unless you are planning to make 22,000 cardbaord cut-out tifo supporters? DC has great fans, but you drew 8,200 for this match last year. That's just the facts. Do MUCH better this year, OK?
Fact: DC United has drawn a larger crowd at Qwest than the Sounders ever have Aug 9, 2006 66,830
:)
Now if DC could only draw that many in...DC. :)
Barra Brava is a great supporters group. They traditionally do the best tifo in the league.
But don't say ECS hasn't done any tifo when you can clearly see what the ECS can do from the pictures from March 19th 2009. the "Tonight Our History Becomes Legend" display.
If you want pictures go to the ECS website, click on the media tab and then photos.
Thanks for posting this. I had, for a very brief moment, forgotten that the gate, product sales and corporate sponsors are what really matter for American soccer in general, the USOC specifically.
JT, you had forgotten that MAJOR LEAGUE soccer is a business? That the USSF picks sites based on the dollar? That SUM does as well? Well then you did need reminding.
14 Years > 14 Weeks.
35 years > 14 years MLS is the newbie league in Seattle.
"Oh, and YES, the Sounders would have sold out the lower bowl. Why not? Mariners afternoon matches often get more than 30k."- David Falk
---actually no they don't, a quick look at day games during the week shows that other than opening day the Mariners draw between 16-18k, thanks for playing though.
VAMOS UNITED
I have yet to see a DC United fan post that they WILL get not only a decent but a great crowd for the Cup. C'mon, put your ticket sales where your trophies are...
Mariners averaging 28,543 all time for weekday matinees at Safeco Field.
You totally made that up. Plus 28k ain't 30k.
hey GS... what's with the silly graphics? kind of juvenile, no?
Anyways, we won't have to wipe egg off anyones face when we crush you guys on both of your visits to RFK this year. You going to come along and witness the carnage?
dadryan... I thought the graphic was retro cool with a dash of street cred. ;) My bad. As for attending a match back in DC...what, you've still got tickets available? LOL.
what does tifo mean?
[sigh]......if only championships were decided by ticket sales. [/sigh]
tifo = displays of signs, banners, flagsat matches.
Ticket sales = something DC needs to get better at before hosting another Open Cup Final.
that's ok, we'll just take the trophies.
again.
...resident smack-talker.. You have a way with words, Mr. Falk. Funny stuff.
I've got an idea. DCU will spot the Sounders a 3-1 lead, and see if they can hold it on the road. We already know they can't hold it at home.
35 years? You're counting NASL? And the period between NASL and USL/A-League where no one had a team? What a joke.
Mason honey, this thing called tradition goes back before MLS kicked off in 1996. As for the 3:3 draw in Seattle...you're smacking over THAT? DC gave up three goals to a club your own fans say is 14 weeks old, and you actually smack talk that? Um no, sweetie.
Fact: It was Real Madrid who drew the crowd. They could have been playing the Mighty Ducks and 66k people would have showed up.
I guess the inferiority makes you delusional.
This is utter nonsense.
You really can't talk about tradition when the vast majority of your fans weren't coming out to see the USL Sounders. That's a long gap between the NASL Sounders and MLS Sounders being well-supported. Point blank: You're at least 80% bandwagon jumpers.
I think what's happening in Seattle is awesome and great for the entire league. I have no idea why the Sounders losing this bid means that DC United is the worst thing in history. You understand the point of bidding, right? It's competitive; we're not out to hand things over to you because you're new and popular.
You want someone to be mad at? Why not start with your crybaby GM and his losing bid? You couldn't even bid to host on the right day and time! Really outperformed us there, huh?
Enjoy the sight of Jaime Moreno lifting our 13th trophy over his head at full time. I know I will.
The whole point is you can't prove you outbid us, since there's no transparency, and if there's no transparency the fans lose, whichever team they support.
Enjoy dreaming about that cup. We've proven to be a better team, and our new reinforced D will make sure we don't score your goals for you this time.
If any of you seriously believe that you'd have drawn more than 5k at 1pm on a Monday, then there's really no reason to discuss this.
United isn't under any pressure to draw 30k.
Trophies > Ticket Sales.
I'd be more than happy with 12k+ which is pretty much par for the course in an MLS vs MLS Open Cup Final.
I really don't understand why you're all in such a huff about hosting another Final that Seattle won't be victorious in. DC will lift the Open Cup, and Seattle won't be in the MLS Cup Final at Qwest either.
As for the "author" of this "article", United is jealous of nothing about Seattle.
Your "history" in NASL and the USL means absolutely NOTHING.
That's like United claiming the history of the Diplomats.
Your atmosphere is plastic. Just a bunch of anglos in ugly jersey's holding scarves. Congrats you're the Everton of MLS.
Your attendance will drop next year, then the year after that, and the year after that, and so on, till it settles around 18-
LOL, keep living in the past. What do you expect, for us to have an MLS cup a few weeks into our first tournament?
If you wouldn't be jealous you wouldn't be posting here trying to predict our future. That's just lame. The fun part is we don't have to. We can just point at your numbers and laugh. 8k attending a cup final? LMAO, please, show us how it's done.
Yeah yeah we're plastic fans yadda yadda. Talk is cheap isn't it? Yet "you're more than happy with 12k+ since it's par for the course." Thanks for letting us all know how happy you are with mediocrity. You just proved how "real" D.C. fans are.
Ahhh fels good to be on top. You can't turn a game on lately without them talking about the unprecedented phenomenon that is the Seattle Sounders. And having you here salivating is just more proof for the pudding.
you guys are on top of ticket sales, that's it. i don't know why you're so smug about it.
btw, how many times have you guys won the Open Cup in your "33" years of history?
that's what i thought.
Make up your mind DC fans...are we 14 weeks old, or 35 years old? DC has made you guys too much like politicians, wanting it both ways! :)
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