Liga MX GOAT!

(wtf are they doing)

BetOnline are so desperate to get people betting on stuff that they've added lines for Mexican 4th division soccer, lol

LIGA MX was the top-spot sports betting event on the board at the Las Vegas sports books 2day.

Things I would have never thought I would have seen in my lifetime....

Back in school mates of mine used to bet on 2nd division Hungarian water polo on our way to sports class, lol. Degens gonna degen.

Liga MX is now done too, but they're gonna complete today's matches and then suspend.

10:15PM EST is the clasíco joven, Cruz Azul v. América. Not a bad send off I suppose.

I'm still disappointed they didn't at least go thru with the last CCL match, even if it was a closed door match. I was quite looking forward to LAFC v. Cruz Azul.

That's my fave water polo league!

I got a whopping €10 refund for my flight to CDMX. Turns out kiwi.com is awful haha.

I'm watching the CA-Cruz Azul match. I've never seen a closed door match before, and the lack of atmosphere is so weird. I feel like I'm watching a scrimmage and not a match that actually counts for something.

In any event, RIP live sports after this for a long time....

Yea, the saying "football (sports) without fans is nothing" has really been proven true by all this. The games are awkward and borderline unwatchable without fans.

MLS with ready made solution to season restart...

Transition to fall through spring schedule beginning August 1st.

Article I wrote in 2014 for a friend's blog, while covering the sport for some online sites and blogs.

https://www.helltownbeer.com/2014/12...cer-crowd.html

So they're going with the European calendar?

No, they certainly will not.

Teams with outdoor stadia: Montreal, Toronto, Minnesota, New England, NYRB, NYCFC, Philly, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, RSL, Colorado... even DC, Columbus, Cincinnati, KC, Nashville would all be tough December-February.

Fossil, The Athletic is starting a book club of sorts and had some contributors mention their favorite books. In the comments someone suggested this one and it sounds right up our alley. Have you read/heard of it? I'm sure you're familiar with the story and feel like you've alluded to the crime in Juarez once or twice in this thread

This Love is Not For Cowards: Salvation and Soccer in Ciudad Juarez

United emailed me saying they plan to resume on May 10th and play the season in full

Montreal has snow on the ground for 5+ months out of the year. Might as well eliminate them, Toronto, and some of the northern climates if you go to a Euro schedule. That's the main issue w/soccer in North America is that the climates are pretty brutal. Even the schedule as is can be pretty dicey at the start and end of the season. I don't think there's much wiggle room unless you go to something where southern teams play 17 home games in a row when their weather is cooler, then northern teams play 17 games in a row once it heats up. Not sure how practical that would be.

LFC, I don't think I've mentioned Juarez, but thanks for the rec., I'll be sure to pick it up soon. And feel free to share more books from the club that you find interesting.

Don't these clubs have pitch heating? It's not like it never snows in European countries in December or February. Play with an orange ball and don't play tiki-taka when it snows. I can understand the health concerns, but not the trouble with playing on snowy pitches.

This is a follow-up I did to the above, also from 2014.

https://www.helltownbeer.com/2014/12...spring-it.html

For those not reading the blog posts I'm linking to (don't blame you), keep in mind, the MLS playoffs, played at the home of higher ranked team go through November. So games in those northern cities are possible and do take place in November already.

Secondly, the proposal in the blogs is for a couple weeks of December games to take place in the more southerly cities. Fall season ends before christmas as players get a 3 week break. When they come back from break in Mid-January, the teams convene in one two locations, i.e. Miami or L.A. or Phoenix, for a three week NBA League like gathering. Fans get up close. Team fan groups convene to drink, carouse, watch soccer, and get autographs/memorabilia etc.

When the regular season starts back up in second week of February, 2-3 games are played in southern cities. Season already begins March 1st, so this is doable. To balance out the schedule, the first three weeks of the fall portion would be played in the northern tier cities.

Despite the doom and gloomers in regards to weather and changing the schedule, changing is not only doable, it has many other positives: transfer windows, bringing college players in for the MLS Winter League in January, playoffs going up against first few rounds of NBA/NHL instead of college football's most exciting weeks and the heart of the NFL season, summer left for national team competition and summer club competitions.

Anyway, read the damn blog posts! LOL. The disclaimer in the second blog, which is linked in this post, is worth the read all on its own.

No one is giving away home games, and those dates don’t remotely work. Comparing the first week of November (for exactly one game) to the second week of February is silly, they’re not at all comparable times of the year.

And generically saying southern cities host? C’mon man, I listed 17 of the 26 teams as having outdoor stadia that couldn’t regularly host in February.

Not sure what you mean by "No one is giving away home games..." Everyone still plays balanced home and away schedule. Maybe you're referring to the MLS Winter League in January that I talked about. Those practices and games do not count in regular season standings. It is to be modeled after the NBA Summer League that takes place in Las Vegas every summer.

Starting August 1st, first few games (3) are at cities more northerly. This and a couple extra games in spring or fall at more northerly cities balances out having more southerly cities host games in December (2-3 weeks) and February (2-3 weeks). Simply having some mid-week games during December and February deals with problem of not enough far south franchises.

17 is more than half of 26. There are tons of other issues too.

Can’t happen and won’t happen.

Here is MNUFC’s first ever home game. March 12, 2017. It was like 20 degrees and they had to stop the game halfway through each half to snow blow the lines because no one could see them.



Remember the US vs Costa Rica disaster in the snow in Colorado in 2013? That was the end of March.

Playing a fall-spring schedule means about 12 straight road games from Nov - March. That’s never gonna happen.

Part of me doesn't want to post this. Why should I provide factual information refuting the dizzying inaccuracies of others. The break from reality that some of you employ to spout an opinion is impressive. MLS's actual schedule pisses all over the argument that fall to spring won't work because of weather.

Maybe I will pose this as a question...

How many 2020 MLS/CCL games were played, beginning in late February, at the stadiums of what would be considered northern tier franchises? Hint: It's a significant freaking number...and the vast majority were MLS regular season games.

Sooooo, once again, with the fall to spring season wrapping-up its fall portion in Mid-December and restarting the spring portion in Mid-February, there is only a need for 2-3 games, maybe?, to be played in more southerly cities in both December and February. And the season balances out by playing August games, the start of the fall portion, at more comfortable cities in the north.

But by all means post some more pictures of soccer in the snow. I love looking at neat photos. And for sure, just keep blabbering on about "It won't work. It can't work." When in fact, the current MLS schedule proves, demonstrably, otherwise.

No, that’s silly. Three CCL home games at the end of February (Seattle, NYCFC, Montreal) do not prove MLS can have a full slate starting in mid-February. Simply writing that sentence out should make clear the leaps you’re making.

Look, if it’s so easy, why not just come up with a balanced schedule and show us? Do it where the average daily temp for a team with an outdoor stadium is never below 40.

I see nothing wrong with that pitch (but ffs, is there really no pitch heating?). Get the orange balls out and get on with it.

Also keep in mind that all 3 of Montreal's home games so far have been played indoors at Stade Olympique, which sucks b/c the turf is so goddamn hard and it barely resembles soccer. It would suck to have to play even more matches there instead of their real home, Stade Saputo.

They are welcoming "Spring" today with a high of 27 degrees.