EPL Talk - Latest Comments in Should the Premiership Have an All-Star Weekend?

Re: Should the Premiership Have an All-Star Weekend?

Sheps — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 05:21:58 -0000

"On another note do you realize the last two World Cup Champions had a total of one active PL player when they won their titles? Yet PL snobs claim it is far and away the best league in the world, a completely laughable claim."

Do you fancy saying that again on Thursday morning, when half of the teams left (maximum possible) in the world's premier club competition are from the Premier League?

Re: Should the Premiership Have an All-Star Weekend?

Sheps — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 05:18:40 -0000

Are you having a laugh? 9 on 9 games?!! We don't do that to proper sports such as football thank you.

There's way too many games in the calendar as it is. Players get injured (Rooney) for just playing too much. End of May is also rubbish as every other year there's an international tournament.

We already have celebrity matches, they suck.

I don't like either how your initial list of why this is so good mainly centres around finances - this just sums up how the majority of Americans will never appreciate the passion that drives the game here. A Derby fan would much rather spend their weekend cheering on their losing side than watching an all star game, because we derive entertainment here from passion, not commercial over exuberant egoistical "all star" games.

Re: Should the Premiership Have an All-Star Weekend?

RedLine55 — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:12:02 -0000

I think it's called "Manchester United vs. Arsenal"

Re: Should the Premiership Have an All-Star Weekend?

Alex Hleb — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 11:44:14 -0000

tom thumb, on point.

Re: Should the Premiership Have an All-Star Weekend?

Tom Thumb — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 09:58:36 -0000

American sports do this because they don't have an active international set-up; and the league cartels don't want to allow one. In soccer/association football, we have an international competition, it is great; and thus we don't need gimicky All-Star games and skills competitions. The MLS one is OK, but World Cup qualifying, which begins this summer, is much, much better. Between the Champions League, and the Euros and World Cup qualifying, the EPL doesn't need this.

Re: Should the Premiership Have an All-Star Weekend?

SamSpur — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:59:30 -0000

The big problem with this idea:

All the best players basically play for 4 clubs, so to try to find spots for reps of every club will mean not taking all the best players. And if you don't require all clubs to have a representative, then it's pretty much like watching a ManU/Arse match anyway.

Re: Should the Premiership Have an All-Star Weekend?

Baz — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:12:56 -0000

Crap idea.
Confine the glitzy sports events for Hollywood.

Re: Should the Premiership Have an All-Star Weekend?

Alex Hleb — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:38:38 -0000

im just against the term the nfl stole from the sport. i like to call it helmet ball instead. i think eventually the mls will be the mlf within the next 30-40 years. it will happen. im sure.

and oh i know the history of the word, that one old guy derived the word from "association", but i just i dont see the association in mls.

Re: Should the Premiership Have an All-Star Weekend?

Dimi Berbatov — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:36:50 -0000

anyone who watched the "match of the 80s" video posted previously on this site will have noticed the extensive use of the term "soccer." The current trend against "soccer" is just that. Why are you so angry Hleb?

Re: Should the Premiership Have an All-Star Weekend?

kkfla737 — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:23:33 -0000

Thank you JM. Well said.

Re: Should the Premiership Have an All-Star Weekend?

jm — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 18:57:51 -0000

"TYPICALLY GOONERISH."

Now there is no need for that in a post against sporting partisanship =)

Anyway, I've never understood the problem with the term "soccer." Well, to rephrase, I do not see any good reason to have a problem with it (elitism is not a good reason). It's a name, and is essentially required, socio-linguistically speaking, in the American vernacular. I often switch which term I use based on the company I am in. It serves my purpose of referring to this sport, and I'm not sure what else we can demand out of a word.

Using "football" does not give one access to the club of "real fans," nor does the use of "soccer" show one to be an ignorant American in this regard. It's an expedient term in many circles.

Re: Should the Premiership Have an All-Star Weekend?

kkfla737 — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 18:44:53 -0000

Alexander Hleb:

YOU INVENTED THE TERM SOCCER, NOT US. WHY DON'T YOU DO SOME RESEARCH ON THE HISTORY OF THE SPORT BEFORE BEING SO SMUG AND TYPICALLY GOONERISH.

Re: Should the Premiership Have an All-Star Weekend?

Michael — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:56:21 -0000

Yes, and in America, there is the NHL, NBA, NFL, NHL, NASCAR, College Basketball, College Football, and Golf, along with a whole host of minor league sports and lesser professional leagues.

I'm just saying, there's more choice here than in Britain.

Re: Should the Premiership Have an All-Star Weekend?

Alex Hleb — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:30:37 -0000

theres rugby, cricket to pay attention to as well. and you can also mention formula 1, golf. dont be ignorant and make assumptions.

Re: Should the Premiership Have an All-Star Weekend?

Alex Hleb — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:19:36 -0000

sorry michael, you wont find any facilities used primarily for SOCCER. maybe football, but im sorry soccer isnt a popular sport in england.

Re: Should the Premiership Have an All-Star Weekend?

Michael — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:19:14 -0000

Jm, you make a great point when talking about the timing and the challenges of scheduling such an event.

If the Premiership were the Bundesliga, say, the perfect time to hold this would be during the Christmas period when they're on their winter break. You correctly pointed out that the Pro Bowl is overhyped for the actual product on the field because not only is it after the season, players usually opt out of it and instead prefer to go home to their families. Unfortunately, the Premiership is the exact opposite of the Bundesliga and squeezes in even more matches during the Christmas period.

The timing issue is probably the most important of all, you're right about that. There are no breaks during the course of the Premiership season so the only option is to hold it after. Unlike in America, where there are countless other sports for people to turn their attention to once one sporting league is finished, I still think British fans would still have an interest in watching an All-Star event. Whether the players would be in favor of playing in it after a grueling season, though, is another story.

Re: Should the Premiership Have an All-Star Weekend?

jm — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:08:52 -0000

The biggest obstacle for this in the Premier league is timing. Between international duty, league matches, the FA cup, the league Cup and European competitions, fitting it in during the season would be very challenging. Especially since the players on the best teams are the ones with the toughest schedules, since they are often involved in all of those competitions. It would be worse to have the competition sans the top talent than to not have it at all.

Looking at American All-Star games, having it during the season seems absolutely critical. The American Football Pro Bowl is held after the Super Bowl, which greatly diminishes interest in it. Contrast that with the baseball or basketball all-star games which mark a natural break in the season. Yet, I do not think there is any feasible way to do this in the English game.

Also, as a matter of personal taste, I tend to prefer the style employed for the baseball all-star game rather than the NBA's or NHL's,. Indeed, I rather find that the homerun derby makes the baseball All-Star break too bloated, let alone all of the various things they have going on in the NBA. If the EPL were to have some sort of All-Star game, I think it would be best to restrict it to just a simple, single game. It would require less of a commitment from the top players (key since they have so many other playing commitments) and keep it from being such a spectacle.

Actually, the more I write, the more I realize my disdain for the NBA and NHL all-star games. That's more or less just personal taste, but it's just the scope of the thing, the gaudiness of it, etc. I think it would be fun to watch some great EPL players play together for the first time, but I'd like to see it on the more austere model traditional to the MLB (which, sadly, becomes more of a spectacle each year itself). Unfortunately, I'm not sure the timing obstacle is one that can be overcome.

Re: Should the Premiership Have an All-Star Weekend?

kkfla737 — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:49:43 -0000

The MLS used to have an ALL Star weekend with all the dumb idiotic skills competitions and they abolished it. Thank goodness for that. The MLS now has a game where the "all stars" play a foreign team ie Chivas or Chelsea. That is a much better draw for real fans.

I can think of nothing worse than this, but considering the Premier League is simply a marketing/propaganda machine not a serious football league in many ways I assume this is being seriously considered.

On another note do you realize the last two World Cup Champions had a total of one active PL player when they won their titles? Yet PL snobs claim it is far and away the best league in the world, a completely laughable claim.