Chad Ochocinco + MLS

[Young Drachma]

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There were 40 media at a practice. He's saying all of the right things, but...I just wonder if he'll call it a day after four days or the potential buzz won't compel the team to consider putting him on the reserve squad for a few months, see what he can do and meanwhile, sell lots of #85 jerseys and give him garbage time during their massive road trip.

In the off-chance you want to watch the training you can do that here: Sign Up (http://www.sporting85.com/)

Yes, the team made a web site to <s>harvest</s> gather email addresses of <s>unsuspecting doofuses who'll be bombarded with email about a team they could care less about long after he's gone</s> their new fans and over 1,000 people tuned in today.

Chad has already said he never expects to get into a game, that he'd "play for free" and hopes he shows enough that they'd just let him hang out and train with them, because it'd keep him in better shape while the NFL figures out what it wants to do.

Three days left of this mini-circus...but the only people who are really annoyed are people who seem to think it somehow makes MLS look <s>more</s> like a sideshow in the global soccer community.

[Passacaglia]

The team didn't have a web site before?

[samifan24]

I'm sorry but even though Ochocinco and the team are saying all the right things, this is nothing more than a PR stunt. Even if he won't play in a game the team would be smart to keep him because this is probably the most media attention the MLS has received since Beckham joined the league. I'm a soccer fan but I just can't watch the MLS or get into it. I know there are great supporters in places like Seattle and Vancouver and the league seems to be growing every year now but this just seems like a dumb PR stunt to me.

[Young Drachma]

The team didn't have a web site before?

A web site setup to stream practice? No. They did it for his trial and over 1,000 people tuned in.

I'm sorry but even though Ochocinco and the team are saying all the right things, this is nothing more than a PR stunt. Even if he won't play in a game the team would be smart to keep him because this is probably the most media attention the MLS has received since Beckham joined the league. I'm a soccer fan but I just can't watch the MLS or get into it. I know there are great supporters in places like Seattle and Vancouver and the league seems to be growing every year now but this just seems like a dumb PR stunt to me.

Timbers Army are awesome. I wasn't in Portland long, but that city sells out PGE for freaking women's national team exhibitions. Talk about a soccer mad place. Toronto has great fans too.

It's a gimmick, but he's been talking about soccer in interviews since like 2006. (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=420353&root=us&cc=5901) This is pre-twitter, pre-Ochocinco name change. I think he's sincere (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/players/10/10/first.person1016/).

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The top selling jersey in MLS last year was Thierry Henry. He sold 40,000. Just sayin...

[Young Drachma]

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Sounds like coach is gonna let him go after Monday, but not before he plays in a reserve game.

[MacroGuru]

I follow him on twitter, the entire experience for him has been humbling. He admits they are better conditioned than he is and he has admitted that some are definitely faster.

He has talked about the grueling practices as well.

[BishopMVP]

Shurg... he's an athletic specimen who's been brought in for a trial, not even a real game. Even if he wasn't famous and helping draw attention he'd be worth a quick look. And honestly, he could probably be a serviceable reserve-level target forward after a couple months training because his size and strength would help defenders learn.

[whomario]

"good for him" is basically my thinking.

What i find pretty naive in all the articles is that no one even mentions that the guy is 33 years old. It´s not just that he hasn´t played in ages, he´s also simply pretty old for a guy whose main quality would have to be athleticism.
Does he even stand out athletically ? Because people seriously underestimate how athletic soccer players actually are at the top level, i have serious doubts that he´s even close to what you see from even the better MLS forwards in terms of athletic ability.

but like said, why shouldn´t he do sth like that if he can ? Heck, i´m pretty sure i would if i could :)

edit : The above isn´t even meant as a negative toward his athletic ability, but it´s just unreasonable to think that a 33 year old will stand out all that much in that regard in a sport with totally different (but very, very high) demands athletically than the one he´s excelled in so far.

[Young Drachma]

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[sovereignstar v2]

Kill me now. Are people really this bored to even give a flying crap about this?