Like all sports in this country, Major League Soccer remains a work in progress. The learning curve may not be as severe now for MLS, but there are still daily lessons … and surely more ahead.
That’s why we always need to temper our responses to the meaningful or the maddening with a healthy dose of perspective.
No one has beat up on Chivas USA more than I have – but so much of my displeasure was rooted in two damaging elements: the hubris of club ownership at its launch (and the attached disrespect for MLS) and the way Chivas USA leadership stubbornly refused to plot a new course once it became so obvious those original designs were so fatally flawed.
Now, with that said, I don’t blame Chivas USA for trying a novel branding approach.
Major League Soccer has grown through trial and error; not every idea has been a champagne popper, now has it? It’s easy to dog the ideas on the back side, but we really don’t recognize a bad idea as such until we can step back and examine the chalk outline, right?
In other words, you’ll never nail the better ideas without the risk of stumbling over some real clunkers.
If you want to go a little deeper into it all, this is a great place to start. It’s from SI.com, a special contribution from Keegan Pierce. I know the man; he’s one smart and well-traveled cookie, and he has a truly unique perspective as someone who truly believed in the cause and worked hard to peddle the goods.
Pierce reckons Chivas USA could have possibly worked, but with some substantive changes in the model. (I’ll let you click on the SI.com piece above for those.) The best of his good work is here:
…foreign investors must always remember the importance of allowing a new team to grow its own roots and create its own history and identity. This is not just a question of establishing community ties (which Chivas USA certainly tried to do); it also means making sure that a new club doesn’t feel it is constantly living under the shadow of a parent or older sibling.”
Pierce wasn’t the only one doing so good work on the demise of an idea. From The Goat Parade, a blog on Chivas USA, this is an extensive read on the Jorge Vergara legacy. And as author Alicia Rodriguez says, “it will not be positive.”
And how.