Creating archenemies in MLS proves to be a work in progress
Don Garber sees the day Major League SoccerÆs fiercest rivalries approach the intensity of some of EuropeÆs biggest derbies. So does Ivan Gazidis, who grew up in the midst of one. Thomas Rongen thinks theyÆre nuts. ôI donÆt think it can ever happen,ö says D.C. UnitedÆs Dutch-born coach, an Ajax fan taught to hate Feyenoord at a tender age. ôWe need to be realistic, and we will be long dead before we see that. … If I ice myself for 300 years, and then come back, maybe then.ö Garber, MLSÆs commissioner, certainly hopes for a quicker timeline, and donÆt think such things arenÆt on his mind. The decision to switch from a two-conference to a three-division alignment, he acknowledges, was prodded in part by the desire to foment some genuinely intense rivalries. Now all thatÆs left to do is wait. ôYou need to let these things play out,ö says D.C. president and general manager Kevin Payne. ôIn some cases, weÆve wasted too much time in MLS trying to manufacture emotion. ôThe fans will really decide what the rivalries are. The players will, to some extent, but the fans will sense that. If the players on one team really donÆt like the players on other teams, the fans will respond. You canÆt manufacture legitimate emotion. It happens over time.ö MLS is rife with rivalry, truth be told, but none approach anything like the intensity of a European rivalry, nor of American rivalries in other pro sports or in college sports. But there exist more than a dozen genuine rivalries as the league enters its fifth season. Which ones will grow more heated, develop into the next Dodgers-Giants or Cowboys-Redskins, depends on what happens next. ôRivalries are built over years, and theyÆre built with stories,ö says Dallas coach David Dir, whose team counts Chicago, Kansas City and Los Angeles as rivals. ôIf we play Chicago 10 years from now, weÆll have five of those stories, built over time.ö Right now, only one exists, and itÆs turned the Chicago-Dallas matchup into one of the most intense in the league. Everything stems from last yearÆs thrilling first-round Western Conference playoff series, in which Dallas bounced back from a lopsided loss in Game 2 and a two-goal deficit in Game 3 to knock out the defending champions. The pivotal moment came in Game 2, when a clumsy tackle by ChicagoÆs Dema Kovalenko left Burn defender Brandon PollardÆs leg broken. ôI donÆt think Kovalenko tried to hurt Pollard, but from my perspective, it probably gave us the edge in that last game …,ö said Dir, whose players inscribed PollardÆs number on their boots before the decisive game. ôEmotions of the game start rivalries. Sometimes someoneÆs comments escalate awareness of the situation. There are a lot of little things that help stir things along. Usually, some kind of event happens that makes them happen.ö DallasÆ rivalry with the Wizards, now waning, grew from an article in Kansas CityÆs game program the first season that Burn players found ôderogatory.ö A tough playoff loss intensified it, and then Guy Newman, formerly the WizardsÆ assistant coach, threw water at Mark Santel during a game. Since the firing of GuyÆs dad, Kansas City coach Ron Newman ù the leagueÆs most colorful figure ù tempers have cooled. Hard-fought postseason series and bitter playoff losses have fostered the leagueÆs best rivalries. Los Angeles considers D.C. United and Chicago, to whom it has suffered its most devastating losses, its primary rivals. Columbus has seen its road to MLS Cup dead-end three times in D.C. Miami is eliminated by D.C. every year. Heck, everyone loses to D.C. ôWe have 11 rivalries,ö quips United defender Jeff Agoos. ItÆs true. ThereÆs L.A., Columbus, Miami. The rivalry with the MetroStars, so tense in 1996 and Æ97, will resume when the Metros become competitive. ThereÆs Chicago, the only team to beat D.C. in a final. And then thereÆs Tampa Bay and San Jose and Colorado and New England ù all cite D.C. as a ôrival.ö D.C.-MetroStars ought to be the best of the regional rivalries, but that goes to the battle of Florida, a product of Carlos ValderramaÆs moves between Tampa and Miami. The MetroStars-New England and Los Angeles-San Jose battles, mirroring long-standing regional rivalries, seem to matter more to the fans than the players. ôWe want to kick [D.C.Æs] butts so bad, but the whole thing is not so much against D.C. as it is for our team not coming through against D.C.,ö says Ozzy Gomez, leader of the Galaxians, one of three Galaxy supporters groups. ôItÆs not a bitter rivalry. We have a better rivalry with San Jose. We can travel there, they can travel here. ôItÆs hard to have a rivalry 3,000 miles away.ö Proximity also sparked a feud between the Fire and the Crew, or at least between their fans. Fire supporters traveled to the regular-season finale in Columbus in order to show up the Crew faithful. ôI tell you, thatÆs what makes the rivalry,ö says former Columbus general manager Jamey Rootes, who left MLS during the offseason for a position with the new NFL team in Houston. ôThereÆs all this bravado that goes along with it ù theyÆre thinking in terms of superiority. Like in college football, itÆs usually a war for bragging rights. At the end of the day, the teams are very similar, very competitive, but the fans perceive one thing or another as a significant difference.ö MLS executive vice president Gazidis, a Manchester City supporter from childhood, agrees. ôTeams have a character that is defined over time, over a long period of time,ö he says. ôThe character isnÆt just the character of the players or the coaches, but the character of the club, ultimately defined by the fans. ôAs that character becomes defined, the types of fans that character appeals to gravitates toward the club. Over time, a long period of time, you have real rivalries based on the different character of the fans.ö Says San Jose general manager Lynne Meterparel: ôWe donÆt really have a Dallas Cowboys or Pittsburgh Steelers or Miami Dolphins, where you say the name and you get an image. But weÆre only 4 years old. WeÆre not supposed to have that yet. It comes with heritage.ö MLS clubs, still infants, are taking early steps toward defining themselves. And realignment, which has split up the L.A.-Chicago, L.A.-Dallas, D.C.-Columbus and Miami-Tampa Bay rivalries, will figure into the equation. ôYour fiercest rivals,ö Rongen notes, ôreally come from within your own division.ö Matching European or South American rivalries isnÆt the point, but Garber, Gazidis and others believe great rivalries will emerge from MLS. ôAbsolutely,ö says Gazidis. ôBut I canÆt tell you which rivalry it will be, or how it will arrive. ôRivalries come from competition and from fans who care passionately about their team. Unless we have intense competitions and fans who care about us, we wonÆt develop rivalries. In that sense, rivalries are a symptom of a healthy league, but also a driving force behind a healthy league.ö
by Soccer America senior editor Scott French
