Some quotes which didn’t make the preview
Written by Jeff Lemieux on July 13, 2010 – 5:05 pm -I just posted a preview on revolutionsoccer.net (you can read it here) taking a look at the Revolution’s participation in SuperLiga 2010 and focusing on tomorrow night’s game against Mexican Primera DivisiĆ³n club Pumas UNAM. As is almost always the case, I included quotes gathered throughout the week from head coach Steve Nicol and some of the Revs players. But there were just too many quality quotes this week to include them all in the preview, so I thought this would be a good place to share some of those which didn’t make it into my story.
Most of these quotes revolve around the rivalries SuperLiga has embraced between the MLS and Mexican teams, with thoughts from Nicol, Shalrie Joseph, Pat Phelan, Seth Sinovic and Darrius Barnes.
Head coach Steve Nicol
“Neither side wants to lose, neither side wants to give an inch, and if anybody tries to take it then we both stand up and be counted. When both teams are doing that, then you end up with some heated skirmishes, shall we say?”
Shalrie Joseph
“They’re coming here and they’ve got a lot to lose. We want to win the trophy every year and keep it in MLS. We know how huge it is to play Mexican teams.”
Pat Phelan
“I feel like the Mexican teams come in here with a swagger thinking they’re better than every team in the U.S. It’s their preseason and things tend to turn ugly if things aren’t going their way toward the end of games as we’ve seen the last couple of years. For us, it’s just about putting that stuff behind us, realizing that it’s going to be a part of it and just dealing with it professionally.”
Seth Sinovic
“I’ve heard it’s going to be a physical challenge, but it’s a challenge nonetheless and we’re excited for it. It’ll be exciting to play [a team which plays a different style] like Pumas this week, and hopefully we can get some wins out of it.”
Darrius Barnes
“I think it’s carryover from the national teams and the heated rivalry the two nations have. Each nation is so competitive and I feel like when you bring it into the domestic leagues it just kind of carries over. Each side wants to win and they want to represent their league, and sometimes the boiling point tips over a little bit. I feel like it’s good for the game. It gets fans into the game a little bit and players into the game even more.”
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July 14th, 2010 at 11:13 am
Mostly, I just want us to come out of superliga healthy (fingers crossed). Considering how nasty these games can be I would consider pulling Joseph….
July 14th, 2010 at 11:36 am
That’s a tough one. Superliga is a trophy and you’d like to win it….but keeping folks fit for MLS is top priority…We will probably see almost all the squad during the tournament …It would be great for morale, fans and team, if they make a good showing…
July 14th, 2010 at 12:17 pm
i’m guessing there’s no tv coverage.
July 14th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
Jeff, I was there when the Revs lifted the Superliga title 2 (?) years ago, and since then, I have been left asking: ‘What did they do with the $1 million prize money??’ Don’t get me wrong, I love the Revs, but what gives? How have they positively invested that money?
July 14th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Mark, the Superliga games will be on Telefutura, a secondary channel owned by Spanish channel Univision.
July 14th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Mark - As Joe mentioned, tonight’s game will be broadcast live on Telefutura with Spanish commentary. For English commentary from Brad Feldman and Taylor Twellman, you can get a live streaming video feed right here on revolutionsoccer.net (via superliga2010.com).
Andrew - A pre-determined chunk of that money went directly to the players, and then beyond that, I have to imagine there are many ways that money could’ve been put back into the club. As for specifics, I wouldn’t know.
July 16th, 2010 at 9:41 am
Jeff,
for someone who works in the orginization you dont know much. Dont you remember the finals between the revs and houston almost wasnt played, the players boycotted the MLS because the league only pays out 15% of the winings to the players, they are left to split 150,000 between them. that year the players agreed to protest and split the winnings evenly between both teams. The league takes a big chunk for operating costs then the team takes the rest and puts it with the money they have from selling dempsy, and do nothing with it. the mexican fedaration gives the players 100% of the money.
July 16th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
d3 - I’ve actually been working with the Revs since the start of the 2008 season, so I remember that final very well as I was in the press box. With that said, I want to clear up a few things …
1. It’s true that the players voiced their concerns with the situation regarding the prize money, and the Revs and Dynamo did agree to share the prize money for first place (150,000) and second place (125,000) regardless of who won the final. However, to say that the game almost wasn’t played would be inaccurate - the players never indicated that they would boycott the game.
2. All I said in my original response was that a pre-determined chunk of money went to the players, while the money the club received could’ve been used in many different ways. This is still accurate.
3. It’s true that had a Mexican club won SuperLiga 2008, those players would’ve received a greater percentage of the one million dollar prize than MLS players. However, the percentage the Mexican players would’ve been given was nowhere near 100 percent.
I certainly appreciate the response and the dialogue, but I wanted to make those points clear.
July 19th, 2010 at 8:58 pm
Jeff,
I think that is the most facts i have ever seen in one revolution write up, usually they are vague and uninformative, hopefully i don’t have to write a pissed off sarcastic response to trigger it next time.
but seriously, Thanks for the info.