Who had fun watching Ireland blowout England?
No one likes being part of a blowout. Last night, you know who felt good after Ireland's 14-0 thrashing of England? Not the WCP Cup Organizers. Not the fans. Not England. Not anyone who's considering coming to watch exciting soccer. Not Ireland(well...they probably felt alright). It hurts the tournament to see results like this.
WCP needs to do something about the disparity between teams. This is the background on it: People want to play in this tournament, and people want to win this tournament. Some people have the luxury of being able to recruit people from around the province to help them win. Some don't. Ireland picks up the best players they can to help them win. They don't need all the best players, because they're pretty good anyway, but they recruit hard nonetheless. Players will come play for them, and why not? They have a good chance at winning. You can't fault Ireland players for being skilled. England is a group of players who play hard, but simply aren't as skilled as Ireland. It's obvious there's a large gap in talent, but England doesn't go around trying to get the best players on their team. They can't. I'm not trashing Ireland, and I'm not trashing England. NOBODY WANTS TO BE A PART OF A BLOWOUT. It's a fault that has naturally occurred in this tournament. So what can be done about this?
OPTIONS: 1. There's been talk of instituting a rule that a team can only have a certain amount of out-of-town players. It makes teams take on more Regina players, and since fans are all from Regina, it creates a bigger draw to the tournament. The Saskatoon players could still come down, but they would play on different teams. Not that big of a deal. This is really just an Ireland rule. But it's been talked about.
2. A qualifying tournament. Each year, anyone can submit a team. There's no boundaries. You want to submit a team? Go ahead, you just need to find enough players. So how about a qualifying tournament for say...the bottom 12 teams? The problem with that is cost. What teams would be willing to pay essentially the same fee to compete just to participate in the WCP Cup? It's a tough call.
3. More pools. Pools are at 6 teams a pool. The World Cup has 4 teams in each pool. More pools would mean that each game is extremely critical. If a good team gets upset in WCP Cup, they can hammer on 3-4 other teams to gain that advantage back. Lots of teams have no chance of making it out of their pools now. But say you have a pool with Laos, Colombia, Austria, and Nigeria. Sure Laos will probably come out, but second place is lot more uncertain. It can come down to the last game of the group, whereas in the current format, you know who's out of the tournament long before all the games are finished. This option makes it more exciting for the weaker teams.
...
As a player, you don't want to blowout a team. You want to provide excitement for the people who come to watch, and you want to play good soccer. But what are you supposed to do if you're on a good team? Score on yourself? Play a man down?
Teams are getting better, make no mistake. I'd say there are 12-13 quality teams in the tournament, and it gets better every year. Look at how exciting Group D is. Group A too. We've seen good games in Group B and C as well. The tournament is still as good as it's ever been.
What are your thoughts on this? Is it an overreaction to a couple blowouts, ex. Ireland vs. England and France vs. Italy? Does something need to be done?
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52 comments:
CC I agree, something has to be done about this, I think a prequalifying tournament is the best option for this tournament. In Calgary a few yrs ago in there youth tournament they had teams that had to qualify for there own district tournament.
the out-of-town player rule I dont agree, ROI would not have a team which some people would be happy with, but I think it brings some excitement to the game.
More pools, ya I guess you could do that but then your playing 3 games which teams paid 900 dollars for 3 guarntee games. I dont think more pools would solve anything.
this is what should happend realistically
1. pre qualifying tournament
2. if not a pre qualifying tournament then a ranking for the draw.
keep the top 4 in each groups
then your quarter finalists would be drawn next
then your 3rd place finishers from each group next
and then following below teams would just be drawn at this point.
Ireland is way way to stacked! If they lose game I would be completely shocked, nor should they even give up more then 2 goals a game. But games like these hurt the tourney, I know it's all about having fun ( or atleast Your supposed too) and representing a country but in the end you wanna win and after a stomping like that might turn teams away from entering the tourney next year.
Great post cc, I think teams should be restricted to 6 out of town players. I am sure this would hurt teams like Ireland, Ukraine an etc.. The question is, is it really fair or is it good for the tournament that Ireland stack their team year after year after year.
I am not too sure about the pre-qualifying tournament because timing and organizing will be a huge issue. As you know most of the teams don't play together during the year, so its tough for them to get together for the pre-qualifying tournament.
Additionally, this tournament is about community pride as it unites many communities. So I think it would be great if we can make rules that somehow teams are competitive without cutting team.
Here are my other suggestions:
Every team must:
1. Not have more than 12 players from div2/premier from Regina league
2. Have at least 3 youth players. i.e. below 18.
3. Have 2 master players like before
I don't know what the rules will be, but somebody gotta stop this embarrassing results: 14-1, 11-1, 9-1....etc.
Yes Ireland does have alot of very talented players but what alot of you forget and this might be a shock these players are all friends. So they do not have to recruit hard to get them to play on a team.
They should just add an extra round of playoff games. Give first place in each pool a bye, then have second and third playoff. It would make for more meaningful games.
You can't punish teams for putting work into getting quality players from saskatoon, teams like El Salvador Ireland Poland and Laos to name a few all use players from Saskatoon, nothing is stopping other teams from getting players from there. Pre qualifying tourney would be a good solution for the bottom 10 teams.
This has been my concern for a while. I live in Saskatoon and see no reason to come play when its always the same teams that make it into the knockout phase every year. It does hurt the tournament.
Having qualification would be a good step in the right direction.
MLS uses drafts to keep things competitive. Excellent players could be noted and drafted before the tourney starts too. That way every team has its share of superstars.
I see teams dropping out next year, If it keeps going this way.
As to the first comment, I beileve that ROI would still have a team if they limited the number of out of town players, it would just have more Regina players on it. I don't think that point is valid.
About out of town players: Recruiting players from out of town ISN'T a luxury...it's a motivation factor! How many of the players in this tournament go to Saskatoon for adults tournaments? Or coach/have kids that go to Saskatoon or other cities for their tournaments? Or go check out the PSL games when out of town teams come here? Or how many players in the this tournament own a computer where they can go on the Saskatoon soccer website, take a look at the top teams/players and then search those names in Facebook or something to track down the players? It's not rocket appliances here...if you want out of town players, GO OUT AND GET THEM and make them an offer to make it easy for them to come play! Out of town players help prevent this tournament from getting even further watered down and infact make it better, so we're not just watching players we've seen a million times over. Limiting the out of town players will make this tournament an even worse calibre with 24 teams and even though I play in the tournament, I probably wouldn't watch very many games if it is watered down any more than it already is. More local players will likely lessen the draws as it is...take a look at a game England Vs. Scotland...to my knowledge NEITHER team has any out of town players...by your logic that more regina players means more fans, those 2 teams should be sell out crowds every night...I would assume they'd be lucky to see 50 people at a game. People want to watch good soccer, not some watered down div. 4/5 players getting schooled by their 1-2 Div. 2 players.
More pools won't make a difference either in the differences in the calibre of the years either...that won't change a 14-1 score...Teams like Scotland and England and whoever else are still going to struggle to get out of the pools whether it's 2 of 4 that make it out, or even 2 of 3 that make it out depending on who is thier pools.
Qualifying tournament: Great idea...it's been mentioned a few times on the various blogs and I've brought it up a few times...Limit the actual tournament to 16 teams...each year, the bottom 4 teams get religated to the qualifying tournament (Just like the World Junior Hockey tournaments). It would we well enough in advance, so if a team didn't make it, their top players could get picked up for other teams on a guest basis (force them to go back to their original team the next year and limit that a team can only have a MAX of 2 players picked up from relagated teams or something).
Another idea to even out the playing field would be to increase the # of heritage players required (move it from 11 to 16, or hell even 20). With 24 different countries represented in the tournament there can't be too many players in Regina that wouldn't at least have some heritage in at least one of those 24. OR further restrict the player movement...if you sign up for a team you must play for them for 3 years or beef up the player transfer fee (NO RELEASE FORMS! EVER!)
And about Ireland being stacked...it's not because of the rules, I think it's more about what they offer and that they are motivated enough to go out and get new players. Do you seriously think that other teams like Laos, or whatever other top contender would have any troubles attracting the same players as Ireland? Doubt it...it comes down to who gets off their ass and asks players. Within the rules of the tournament, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever that Team Canada should not own this tournament EVERY SINGLE YEAR! They don't have to abide by any heritage limitations at all, so they could ideally pick ANY PLAYER IN THE PROVINCE THEY WANTED.
Signed,
Anonymous Team Scotland Player. Been on the losing end of a few blowouts myself.
Maybe having less teams in the tourney as opposed to 24 teams might help solve some of the blow outs.
It is great to have many countries represented but 24 teams might be too many for the talent pool in Regina.
People are paying to come and watch this event and although they don't want to see blow outs, they also don't deserve to pay for div 3and 4 talent on the field.
There are about 8 to 12 competitive teams in this tourney. France and ROI have seperated themselves as the elite teams, however they could still be given good games by a number of teams and lose those games.
The problem is France and ROI both have pools that are weaker this year and the drop off of talent in those pools is making it appear a more lop sided tourney in that aspect.
You will never be able to stop blow outs in this tournament from happening entirely due to the talent pool in Regina and Saskatchewan is not really meant for a 24 team tourney.
I like the idea of having a limited amount of out of town players to give a chance for other Regina players to play. I know a few buddies who are very talented soccer players here in Regina but don't want to play because of teams like Ireland. It's not only embarassing but it makes it no fun for people watching. I agree with you fully CC. The folks around watching England lose 14-0 were not into the game and people kept leaving and talking about how boring the games have been for the money they paid.
Limiting the amount of out of town players makes the teams for even and gives way to players that don't want to embarass themselves cause of staked teams. It also makes for more entertainment for fans and people will stick around to watch instead of leave after one gong show of a game. I would like to see a new team with this tournament not the same one over and over and it looks like another Ireland win this year again.
Those England guys must have felt so bad after that game and it's very sad cause they are not a bad team at all and some nice people play on England. I also want to tell the other teams that have lost to Ireland not to worry and bounce back next game. Good luck guys.
I would be in favor of a qualifying tournament for any new teams as well as teams that didn't make it out of their group stage the previous year. The number of teams could get cut down to 16, but it would be much more competitive with fewer blowouts.
I am 100% against limiting the number of out of town players. We should be looking at ways to make this tournament better, not ways of watering it down further! Like the other said, there's no excitement in watching a bunch of div. 4/5 players out there bumbling around. We should be finding ways to attract new fans and supporters to our sport, and I can assure you that lowering skill levels in a showcase event is not the way to do it! Soccer has a bad enough reputation for being boring, let alone removing the more talented players who can pull off some pretty exciting moves and replacing them with guys whose best strategy is kick and chase.
I also agree with the previous post that said the reason France and ROI are blowing out teams is more to do with them being in weaker pools. Put either or both of those teams in Group D and you'd probably be lucky to see a 3 point spread against the Canada's, Poland's, etc. No different than Moving Scotland out of Group D...chances are if you move them out of Group D they'd look a lot more competitive (not contender competitive, but you'd see some closer scores)
I honestly think that most of the comments about letting regina players play is BS. why should we punish a team for being good? If England is mad about losing 14-0 then they should have either entered a stronger team or not entered a team at all. In all top sports leagues there are generally a few teams that have earned a prestige level IE: Man U, NY Yankees, Barcelona, and those team are good every year because the best players from "ok" teams generally feel like they wanna play for those teams. ROI has clearly got to that level and should not be punished for winning and for good players to want to play for them.
I think people are complaining because they are jealous. Why dont you quit crying about ROI and other top teams and go recruit yourself some skill.
Limiting out of town players will bring the talent level down a lot.
People like to say "ROI stack their team", No doubt we want the best team we can. Isnt the point of this tournament to win and to take pride in your team? Absolutely it is.
I love playing with ROI because the players are talented and they are a fun group of guys and we all get along well.
David Brown
i would have to agree with most ppl limiting saskatoon players would only make the tournament becoming worse and we need to find ways to make it better. i wouldnt mind seeing first place teams getting a first round bye and then 2nd and 3rd place teams playing quarterfinal games. another thing would be to have a pre tournament qualifying for teams lets say who finish last in each pool and then add any new teams, or something of that sort.
But as for having players and what not for outta town or whatever and even in regina, its basically based on who know. As the one roi person said there all friends so its easy as " hey came play for ireland." its really not ROI, Laos, ES or even Polands fault for having friends and knowing people who are good at soccer, which all those teams players grew up playing together and asking them to play. Its honestly as simple as that. if you know ppl you can find some quality talent and if you dont then i guess your shit outta luck.
After reading all these comments the best option is a Pre qualifying tournament
it seems people want to play in this tournament and they have every right and oppurtunity to do so, but If I was a player on a weaker team such as Scotland,England etc,etc, I would accept the fact to play a pre qualifying tournament to know if my team was actually good enough and compete at the level of tournament standards. I think also if a pre tournament was created, I dont think players should be able to move to other teams if there team didnt qualify.
Ya it is about winning but its also about representing your own country, if you want to bring players from around the province then fine, as long as they are heritage. thats the biggest problem i see in this tournament. how white is laos seriously? and france, and ROI and just as bad. your missing the point of the tourny by signing a bunch of foreign players. Rep your country, have some pride.
This isnt really on topic but how come all you bloggers are so quick to post on Sudans huge defeat against el salvador but when they lose to columbia you dont post anything? Props to columbia for staying in the running for a place in the second round!
LFC
As a parent of a son in the tournament , I find it sad that so many comments on here are about limiting the talent basis in the tournament . I as a fan do NOT want to watch mediocre talent JUST because it means more Regina Players. I would much rather watch talented players play from where ever they live. Ever team has the ability to recruit , more however are to lazy and complain they can't .
When you start looking at ways to to punish teams who excel , what you are saying is your to lazy to get better yourself . How do you get better by playing better quality of players .
The organizing committee needs to abandon the random draw . That is not good for the tournament. It creates group of deaths and easy pools , like ROI and France's. Make it a Ranked draw, which should make all pools balanced.
This is a tournament , not league play , EVERY tournament I played in growing up has always had teams pick up players , why , because you want to WIN and want have the best team you can. Maybe instead of complaining teams should drop one or two of their div 4-5 players and pick up 1-2 so called TALENTED players , make your team better. You just might find playing with more talented players makes YOU a more talented player learning more skills having more FUN !
Why do you think I enjoy watching elite players play instead of watered down talent , I learn more about the game and admire the talent some players have. Do you the players want this tournament to become just another tournament or become a showcase of talent for the province and the city . BTW my son plays for one of these teams blowing out other teams and doesn't play much , but he doesn't complain cause he learns lots when he does play and makes him a better player in the long run .
I can't begin to fathom the logic of some players thinking having less talented players will make this a better tournament DUH ! Anyone can play in a tournament but not everyone can play in the WCP. Unless you have some talent , that is what this is supposed to be a tournament for the better soccer players ! If you want more water down talent , example increasing heritage requirements , adding more youth , then go back to rec soccer. This tournament was created to attract the best talent , which it is doing more and more. Some teams choose to bring in more talent and some choose not just playing with friends. I bet all of you people complaining , would not be if you were the ones winning. Be a winner and make yourself better not a loser by whining and complaining !
Thanks
A Dad and a Fan not a player
i think they should put a rule on like 4 out of town players per team just because there is no university team in regina for the men to play and practice but every out of town team does, so all you have to do is get 9 good players and there you got yourself a university team playing agains local teams.
I agree with Ala. I think they need to put a limit on out of town players. This tournament is here for us Regina players to enjoy and gives a chance for elite players in regina to play. So many good players in Regina are sitting in the stands watching. Come on. Also, I agree we don't have a University or the coaching so this is a great idea. Saskatoon can create there own tournament if they choose or those players can go and divide themselves to even out the competititon for next year. GREAT POST ALA.
Or you can do it how like Saskatoon does it, have 3 import players meaning that they are not heritage and the rest of the team has to be heritage. And with the heritage players they can be for anywhere as long as they have some heritage. You also need 5 master players but I'm not sure about youth players. That's why I think Saskatoon World Cup is better than this garbage you call WCP.
Limiting the amount of out of town players would not help this tournament develop. There is a reason that div 4 and below only play on quarter fields in Regina. Do we really want to see these guys get out on a half field? Not at all. Having out of town players is exciting because it creates a bit of an unknown factor and we get to see different players on a daily basis. Just think of Sudan and how exciting their games are... It's cause we don't know these guys and they are fun to watch! With limiting the out of town players it would make teams like this not even able to enter the tournament. Stop trying to drop the caliber of this tournament and get to know some out of town players for next year!
There are some very uninformative posts in this thread.
There are plenty of quality players in Regina and many good coaches there as well.
Once again people need to think logically about this.
There are 8 to 12 competitive teams this year. That is pretty much the basic and standard you are going to get for the population of Saskatchewan and the tournament format.
There is not enough of a talent pool to have 24 competitive teams. Just like in the real world cup there are some teams that make it that know they don't have a chance. They do though get to take part in a prestigous tournament.
On a smaller scale that is what this is simulating. To put it blunt some players and teams in this tournament are not very good. In fact, they would struggle to win div 2 or 3 tournaments.
If I was a fan of soccer, and a parent and wanted to see quality I would obviously take a note of the strong teams and try to see them play, and I would also make sure to get to the playoff stages of this tournament. I would tell my son or daughter that you won't see better soccer in this province than these good teams playing in this tournament.
If fans are paying to come watch soccer as they are for this tournament, you better do your best job of putting in a team that you feel will represent some sort of a product on the field. If not, you don't have to play or field a team and worry about playing against the best skill that this province has to offer and worry about getting beaten badly.
I am sure Kevin (tournament organizer), wants to see the best talent fielded at this prestigous event. I mean anyone can head down to the center on any given week night or weekend throughtout the winter for some sweet exhibition put on by div 3 talent for free. I don't think that is the direction this tournamnet is heading or wants to head down though.
ALA: Weak arguement. Just because there isn't a formal University team doesn't mean our solid players can't get together and train/play together.
Anon 3:02am: If there are so many 'elite' regina players in the stands, why aren't they on teams? Clearly there would be spots on some of the weaker teams like England, Scotland, and whoever else. It's not like there aren't any open spots on any of the teams.
To the Soccer Dad: I 100% agree. WCP Cup used to be somewhat of an all-star type tournament. By limiting the out of towners and pushing them out it's weakens the tournament and makes it far less exciting. Take a look at how exciting it was to watch a brand new team like Sudan come in and actually be able to compete, rather than fold up like is expected of any new team.
As for the comments about moving the bottom teams out and make them go to a pre-qualifier? As a player for Team Scotland, I think that is a completely acceptable idea. I would rather compete in this tournament knowing we earned it and can compete rather than be blown out every game.
People mentioned adding more playoff rounds so the top 3 make it out. #1 This isn't a charity, letting the 3rd place team in a pool get out, only to get waxed in the first round is a little useless (A team like Ukraine, Jamaica, Canada, Germany...whoever ends in 3rd would be great to seem make it to the next round....Seeing someone like Serbia/Portugal/Afghan etc take on ROI in the first round would be just as ugly as the France/Italy ROI/England games). #2 How many people on here complain about the costs of tournament passes and fees? You don't think adding an extra 4 or so games will add to the costs?
Increase the heritage requirements and/or have a pre-qualifier...that's the best way to level out the playing field.
I don't think the issues is out of town players. Because this tournament help promote soccer here in Saskatchewan and it just shouldn't be about Regina players. To me this shows none soccer and other soccer communities here in Saskatchewan how soccer is developing here and the talent that is here is Saskatchewan. Also, any tournaments here or other provinces and the States, love having out of town teams. If we are going to lean towards players strengths to form stronger teams then some rules should apply.
Example:
Every team must:
1. Teams should just have players from div2/premier youth or for mens div 1,2,3 from all leagues.
2. Have at least 4 youth players. ages 16 to 18.
3. Must have at least 10 heritage players. This may limited players from just playing with any team.
4. Out of town players must be heritage and must be able to practice with team to form a team bond before the tournament start.
I think the tournament directors are doing a great job and glad we have something like this here in Regina.
The goal of the tournament is to have as much talent as possible play, and the problem is how that talent is distributed.
The problem is not the amount of out of town players... because not all the out of town players are "talented". ROI does have alot of out of town players that consist of Saskatoon's top players.. yet the also have a pair of Saskatoon players that are nothing spectacular.
I think there isn't one solid solution as a problem that has yet to be mentioned is... "What happens to all the players that participate in the qualifying tournament and their team doesn't qualify?"... Do some players get to transfer to other squads... or are you stuck on the squad that didn't qualify and left out of the tournament? That question would create a massive problem of players making sure that they play on a good team in order to not be left out of the actually tournament!!!
In part it comes down to the individual... it's your choice if you want to represent your nation's pride or whether your going to dominate and win. Limiting the amount of non-imports would force players to be distributed more evenly... yet that would also lead to the disappearance of some players from the tournament. Players want to play with their friends or people that they enjoy playing the game with... not many people want to play for a team of randoms where they don't know anyone. At the same time alot of Saskatoon players travel together... so if your looking to get some Saskatoon players on your squad... you have to keep in mind... if you can recruit 2 or 3 guys that are friends or play on the same team... you have a greater chance of having those players on your squad... yet that is on the team's owness to start networking and building connections in order to establish a ground for players to want to come play for your squad.
If your goal is to have Saskatoon players... then go out and put in the time... as the tournament sells itself... the atmosphere is enough for many players to want to come down and play.
Limiting the amount of players would bring down the talent level significantly... a lower level of talent would actually produce less blowouts, yet less quality games aswell.
Lastly Ala has the worst argument I've ever read... the majority of players on ROI aren't members of the university program... yet they have the most talented team by far. Speaking from a Saskatoon player's perspective and former university player's perspective... I'd play on a team where my buddies were playing and on a team that I knew would be worth the drive. Would I play for England.... sadly no... yet teams like ROI, Poland, Laos, ES, Canada and even Jamaica would be an option that a player would consider.... so if your goal is to have a competitive team... use those team's approaches to recruitment as a template for yourself.
First off the "eltie player in regina" are sitting in the stands because no one wants to play Ireland who stakes there team with a bunch of Saskatchewan Huskies incuding their backup goal keeper. I also want to add that the Regina keeper Jonah who will be back for ROI soon is 10 times better than the Mark guy they have now. So quality players in Regina = YES!!!
Secondly no one wants to lose by a score line of 14-0 which shows you something needs to be done like maybe add two divisons for next year. People want to enjoy the games not pay money to sit and watch that garbage.
Half the people out there who don't play, don't play on teams because they don't want to embarass themselves infront of so many people on a bad team. No one deserves that.
If your Saskatoon version of the WCP CUP is so good like the guy in the above post said, then keep your Husky players there and stop your trash talk.
I'm hoping some changes happen for next year. It's about time a new team wins this tournament. No one likes Ireland and you can definately tell when the announcers yell "Any Ireland supports" and people "Boo" at them. I totally understand why too, with how cocky they are.
If France plays as a team and not a one man show, they will take it to Ireland. I'm hoping for a huge upset. GO FRANCE!!!
I would just like to say that if you limited the number of out of town players per team, and if all the out of town players which are currently playing in the tournament continue to play, then the talent would just be distributed over more teams rather having 12 on one team for example you have 4 players on 3 teams. This does not water down the talent it spreads it over more teams. This would help other players develope from the out of town additions.
Games are only exciting if they are competitve.
To the Orgainizers whatever gets decided you are always going to have someone unhappy. Best of luck!
I'm pretty sure Ireland has reason to be cocky.... France on the other hand had a shocking performance last night. Thanks for commenting above.
limiting out of town players would not work because what qualifies as an out of town player? does a player living in yorkton who plays in the regina league qualify as an out of town player becuase if so Ukraine would be screwed or a team like sudan who has found a place in all our hearts would not be legal do to the number of players they brought in. ROI France Laos and ES are not the only teams to bring players in they are just the ones everyone talks about because these teams keep winning.
to anon 1:00. Do you seriously think that all those out of town players flock to Ireland JUST so they can play in the tournament? They play there because they are a good team and because they are friends with those guys and I would assume they are getting some of their costs covered. I can't see them sticking around the tournament JUST to play for some random team.
And I don't give a damn if a team is cocky or not...if they can walk the walk that keeps up with their confidence then all the power to them. Anyone else can suck it up and create a team that people want to play on and you'll get those good players.
This is getting terribly repetitive. We all get that Regina has limited premier caliber talent and that some games are horribly boring to watch.
The out of town talent is a necessity for this tournament to keep it exciting, but it would be nice to see the talent spread out a bit more in order make for more even games. I understand doing anything you can to win, but when you are taking most of the top players in the province on to one team, it makes it very difficult for any other team to compete with that.
It still brings exciting match ups, but as many have said, the talent pool is too thin right now to make the tournament competitive when the top 20 players in the tournament are all on 2 or 3 teams. We could cut down the number of teams, but one of the main purposes of this tournament is the cultural experience it brings our city.
I am on one of the weak teams in this tournament and I understand why people wouldn't want to watch a player like me play. But my team is making an effort to grow. As many of the weaker teams are doing, we have picked up young talented players who may not be quite ready for this tournament yet, but if you start cutting out these teams now these young players will have a lot more difficulty finding a place or growing as players thanks to this tournament.
Much like restricting the amount of out of town players would hurt the tournament, restricting the amount of teams would do the same. If there was a pre-tournament qualifier, would Sudan have been able to bring all of their guys for that? Every year we get surprised by new teams and exciting talent because people are out in search of that next game breaker.
It will take some time for some of us weaker teams to break out of that bottom level, but I think it is worth it when teams like Saudi Arabia or Sudan pop up out of nowhere, or teams like Laos and Poland go from a weak team to a strong team. I remember when both Laos and Poland were on par with teams like England and Botswana this year. Had they been cut out of the tournament, they many never have bounced back and ended up being exciting powerhouse teams.
We also need to think about the costs for having a pre-tournament qualifier. Teams spend a lot of money on kits, practice time and fees for this tournament. How many teams would put up all that money just to play a qualifying tournament? I think this tournament is fantastic and gets better every year and doesn't need a lot of changing, aside from hopefully some growth from the weaker teams each season as their young talent grows and they find those few hidden gems.
ROI currently has one active player for the Huskies on their roster and that is Mark Diakaw the goalie.
If you look at the team rosters there are more Huskies on El Salvador than any other team. Also alot of the U of S Huskie players that are playing are actually from Regina.
And by the way Anonymous 12:10 I was at the ROI vs England game and you should get your ears checked because the fans were NOT booing at ROI. It is unfortunate that there is a big hate on a team that has that much talent.
NO ONE LIKES ROI! They have very limited fan support at this tournament and people want to see someone else make the finals and win not the same darn team over and over. Get over it Anon 6:22 p.m. People just don't like them lol. I'm one of those people.
Let them have their team, cause when I bring in Team USA next year and embarrass ROI and show class to the other teams they may think otherwise and realize it ain't fun getting embarrassed infront of your fans... They lost what, 1 game in 3 years? It was against N Ireland and that was 2 years ago and since then they stacked their team... Hmmmm, maybe just don't want to lose and will do anything to win?
Who do you have on Team USA that will embarass ROI for next year? That's a pretty bold statement, you better have something to back it up...lol
crappy teams should just practise.....
Man I would represent that Stars and Stripes in a heartbeat!
I'd love to see a Team USA; as I do have heritage there!
You guys are the funniest people ever!!!!!!!! There will never be a day ROI loses 14 0. I hope you all come watch ROI blowout Serbia tonight!!!!!
who would be on usa other then that obvious american julio??? thats a pretty stupid statement!
I have a better idea. I have a ton of buddies that play on the Alberta for CIS and they rule the CIS league. I think they lost 2 games all season. They will kill this ROI team. ROI will go home crying to their mom's. I garantee it. Watch out for a huge upset next year. Keep talking ... you'll end up looking like sissy little girls. ROI not that great.
Obvious American? Define what an obvious American is... is it the same thing as an obvious Canadian?
As I recall you are heritage if someone in your family is born in that country... If I am not mistaken the USA is just as diverse as Canada... yet instead of supporting a multi-cultural approach the assimilate into an approach that they are all "Americans"...
So is one of my parents where born in the USA, that wouldn't make me an obvious American at all...
right...whats your name lol
Julio your american team won't come close to beating ROI. Stop your nonsense talk man. You just one of those guys trying to stir stuff up and cause problems. Time for you to stop flooding the blogs with nonsense talk. Thanks for coming out.
HAHA learn to read dumbass at 1:43 am... I never said anything about it being my American team... I mentioned that it'd be a hype idea... Not once have I trashed ROI as there's a few guys on the squad that I think are very good players... but yes... learn to read and then reply!
As I am pretty sure the individual that said he was making an American team was by the name "Chris"; but obviously you would have known that because you managed to read the posts properly...
As for your posts about me starting problems... whoopie doo.. I'm glad you think that... although I haven't said anything too troublesome..."Blog Flooded". Thanks for coming out! ha
Julio you go on every blog everyday, and right trash man. You post on the official blog, the norway blog, the canada blog, and this one. You fill all the blogs with your strong opinion and try and start problems among people. You need to think about what you write. I'm not the only one who's tired of your opinion. Get a job or something man. Don't you have something better to do. Ha. Have a nice day BLOG FLOODER. Once again, thanks for coming out.
Back to the topic at hand as this what meant to spur conversation on how to make this tournament better and not to say who is better as all ideas should be considered.
I will say that in North America, almost all professional sports leagues have a Salary Cap (MLB is not that stricty though), which is instituted to distribute the talent equally around their respective leagues. Now since none of us are professionals in this tournament I see how this rule is trying to apply those same principals and should be considered because if professional leagues are do this then why can't amatuer leagues as well in there own shape or form.
Baha first off... I am actually bored of talking to you Anonymous but I'll give you one last reply... the only guy I really trash is Braden Husdal.. other then that it's all just opinions.. you can go back and re-read everything that I've written and you will see that...yet you don't seem like the most intelligent individual that you being able to properly read a post is highly unlikely... so it is what it is...
I actually hadn't posted in awhile, and to make a post it takes less then five mins when you actually know how use computer... it's simple... and not very time consuming... at the end of the day, half the time I post due to the reaction anonymous posters like you give... it's actually humorous how offended and how outspoken people get behind a veil of anonymity... sadly I don't really care what people think hence why I say what I want under my own name... so the fact that your bothered is actually hilarious... and part of the reason why I make such posts after anonymous people trash me...
Lastly.... yea I am pretty sure I do quite well for myself when it comes to a career that I am not really going to bother getting into details with what I do... i'll just say that I have the luxury to manage my own time, in my own office to do as I please... I doubt you can say the same... but hey keep judging as it's what you do best right?
So Anonymous, give yourself a pat on the back for being absolutely out to left field with your post. I know you prolly were stoked up after you made that last post because you felt clever yet I am still the one laughing at you.
Bahah Thanks for coming out ;D
I guess I'll just wish you all the best on your next miserable attempt at trashing me.
why should a good player play with a bad players?
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