Yankee President Randy Levine responded harshly to comments made by Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber. Major League Soccer's commish said on Thursday, "It's incomprehensible that you watch a game, and there will be front-row seats empty," in reference to the expensive seats that remain empty at Yankee Stadium.
"We draw more people in a year than his entire league does in a year. If he ever gets Major League Soccer into the same time zone as the Yankees, we might take him seriously," Levine responded on Friday
I suppose he may mean that the MLS needs to enter the Eastern Time Zone. That way they can be in the same time zone as the Yankees. Not really sure what Levine was trying to do there.
What Levine says is ultimately true though, the Yankees do in fact outdraw the entire MLS in attendance. But Is it really necessary for the president of the New York Yankees to get into a war of words with the commissioner of the MLS? After all, the Yankees outdraw the entire MLS. Levine himself said that.
For an organization that prides itself on class and success, the Yankees seem to have forgotten the "class" part of that formula. Something feels completely wrong about Levine taking shots at America's professional soccer league, one in desperate need of support in this country. Soccer remains the most popular sport in the world, and completely unpopular in the US, as indicated by horrendous attendance.
While some may say that Garber and the MLS deserve Randy Levine's scorn, Levine simply continues the trend of blind unaccountability from the "world's strongest sports brand," as Garber referred to the Yanks as on Friday. The problem here is that Randy Levine and Lonn Trost represent precisely what makes the Yankees unlikable, as they embody the complete disconnect between the Yankees and its loyal fans. Deny it if you want, but Randy Levine firing barbs at the MLS makes the Yankees look very silly.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
