MLS 2023 Season News and Such

While I welcome this statement, the fact that it's being made by the NFL Player's Union doesn't give it much clout. The league & the owners are still in charge and would have to make it happen. Outdoor stadiums, like Lumen Field, should have little trouble with the change. The problem will be with the domed stadiums that do not have a retractable grass field surface like the one for the Arizona Cardinals.

Looking at it from the NFL's perspective, it will be very interesting to see how much the players like it in the middle of winter when the grass surface turns into a mudhole. Just check vintage photos of the NFL prior to Astroturf!

From the MLS perspective, it's great. Given the (now) slight overlap of the seasons, the fields shouldn't be that bad until very late.
Oh, of course, it also means Messi would play! $$$$

The NFL owners don't give a f*** what the players or the their union have to say. It's all about money, so anything that is gonna cost owners any money ain't happening, at least not any time soon. Jerry "Skeletor" Jones isn't going to pay to redesign the surface at the Cowboys' stadium; the Super Dome can't be converted to natural grass; etc etc. That said, the fact Seattle is one of the World Cup host cities paired with many NFL players' aversion to turf gives a glimmer of hope Lumen might be converted to the surface it was supposed to be (per the original stadium replacement vote by taxpayers), but I won't be holding my breath.

It just, man...rather than offering insights, all this does is muddy the waters more!

This is just Steve Nicol talking out of his ass; he has no idea what went down and with whom, and of course it is "in house" because that is one thing we do know (that it involves Arena saying something super f'd up against someone inside NER).

If Arena did nothing wrong then he wouldn't have resigned and wouldn't have stayed silent about what transpired. Now, the only thing that can change my mind about Arena is someone--him, if he did nothing wrong--telling the story. The speculation is just making it worse.

Nicol shouldn't be commenting on the situation on tv--he cannot speak objectively since Arena is his friend, and he knows no more about what transpired than I do. He just sounds like an old man defending another old man's archaic shitty behavior but without knowing what happened.

Also, ESPNFC is making it seem like the players are rebelling because they want Arena back--maybe they did, but maybe they refused to train until they get answers (maybe even they were protesting that Arena was allowed to resign before punishment could happen). Or the timing of players walking off the training pitch after the resignation could be correlative rather than causation. Who knows? Good thing NER play COL next; maybe the off-pitch distractions won't matter.

Another instance of pundits not knowing any details but making wild assumptions.

For the record, I have no proverbial dog in the fight with this Bruce Arena debacle. It is just that I'm still off contract until...Saturday, and fall quarter doesn't start until the 20th--aka I am bored AF and have too much free time hahaha. At the same time, there is a part of humanity that gets some enjoyment from watching drama unfold which does not involve/directly impact them......Sophocles and the other Greek tragedians were really onto something in the 5th century BCE (nerd alert!).

I'll be there if you ever start a Greek History & Mythology subforum.

In my opinion, anything Arena said that resulted in 1) his being put on leave without pay and 2) him tendering his resignation (add to that, admitting wrongdoing in his letter, albeit without specifics) constitutes "super f'd up."