January 30th, 2008 . 3:57 pm . By: Buzz Carrick

 As we at 3rd Degree continue our 10th Anniversary Celebration, we move on to the Top Ten Best Decision in FCD History.  This is the corollary to the Worst Decisions Top Ten we ran a while back.  There have been some great moves by this franchise over the years and we’ve been lucky to see better than average football in Dallas as FCD is usually in the upper half of the standings.  Could things have been better? Sure, but they could have been a hell of a lot worse to.

Top Ten: Best Decisions in FCD History

1. PHP - It can not be undersold how important Pizza Hut Park is to FC Dallas, without it FCD would not exist.  The Burn were one of the team’s being discussed as a candidate for contraction when the Fusion and Mutiny were folded.  Only through the grace of the Hunts and their belief they could get a stadium built was the Burn saved. 

Pizza Hut Park is also the reason FCD is profitable.  The ancillary money from concerts, other sporting events, and soccer tournaments is what makes the FCD business model function.  Yes, we wish it was downtown.  But the stadium in and of itself is beautiful, functional, and the life blood of FCD and the “new” MLS. 

2. Pareja Trade - Pareja was allocated by MLS to the New England Revolution on May 26, 1998.  Not long after Dallas traded for Pareja by sending Damián Álvarez to the Revs.  Over the next decade Pareja became the heart and soul of the Dallas franchise.  Captain, frequent best player, twice team MVP, one MLS Best XI, and the leader on the field and off over eight seasons in Dallas.  Pareja left FCD 2nd all time on the assist list with 47, 3rd in games player with 176, and 4th in minutes played with 12, 543. 

The unseen impact Pareja had as a leader and teacher to young players, particularly to young Hispanics, is hard to measure.  Pareja’s willingness to embrace the language and culture of his adopted country set an example to the entire team.  Hard work, professionalism, and respect of the game earned Pareja a reputation league wide as one of the great players in MLS.  These attributes translated into a natural move into the coaching ranks in 2006 and there will be consequences to losing him in 2008 as Pareja moves to the U17 program.

3. Sunny Side - In 1996 and 1997 the sunny (read hot) side of the Cotton Bowl would rarely have anyone sitting in it.  Seats were the same price on both sides of the Stadium, and since it was hot as heck in the sun everyone sat in the shade.  As a consequence the TV cameras always showed what looked like an empty Cotton Bowl at every game and the match atmosphere was quite poor. 

As a response in 1998 the Dallas Burn powers that be decide to make the sunny side general admission.  The sunny side became known as the “festive” side as the most noisy and boisterous fans would sit there with The Inferno as the center piece group.  Consequently the game atmosphere at the Cotton Bowl was dramatically increased with the chanting fans taking up a midfield location.  In addition the TV crowd presence was massively different and that in turn helped sell the events to people watching on TV increasing attendance further.

4. Burn Grassroots Initiatives - Initiatives like the 5th Major Sport program and the Community Tienda program, among others, were recognized in the industry as standard bearers that effectively built a loyal, grassroots following.  These programs allowed the Burn to build attendance each year from 1997 through 2002 and raise season ticket base and sponsorship dollars.  These grassroots successes helped save the team from contraction until HSG came to buy the franchise.  

Its important to note that the strong foundation and success at the grassroots level happened with half the ad budget and half as much staff as everyone else in the league at the time and that FCD uses today.  Successful programs were run with no money by a combination of hard work and hustle, kissing babies and shaking hands, and most importantly, strong customer service.

5. Dir Hire -  For roughly two years prior to the start of Major League Soccer in 1996, Dave Dir worked as one of the chief scouts for the league in the development of their potential player pool.  Dir had also previously won two titles with the Colorado Foxes of the APSL.  Hiring Dir as their first head coach gave the Dallas franchise a leg up on the rest of the field in putting together the earliest Burn rosters. 

Dir was able to build his roster with players he knew from his scouting work and from his days in Colorado.  That head start put the Burn in the top half of the table virtually every year. The 1997 US Open Cup won by Dir and company remains the only major trophy in franchise history.

6. CAP Partnership - Just a few years into the club partnership with Atlético Paranaense and it’s already showing serious returns. FCD has gained one player with upside already and may be soon adding another of even greater skill.  The home and away game series is a nice feature, and the availably of a training center in Brazil for FCD is a great bonus.  But the biggest long term benefit for FCD will be the lessons that can be learned in building a youth set up and club structure from one of the most noted producers of young talent in the hemisphere.  In return CAP gets fantastic lessons in sales, marketing, and profit generation from ancillary business that will allow them to keep more of the talent they produce and perhaps become one of the dominate South American powers.

7. Youth Club - While at this point and time the Youth Club doesn’t seem to be all that big a deal, over the next 20 to 30 years this will be a massive addition to FC Dallas.  The Dallas club scene is a vital hotbed of serious soccer talent.  Not only will tapping into the local talent pool make Dallas year to year one of the best teams in the US, it will also allow them to make money and profit as MLS moves more and more into a global soccer economy as independent franchises. It will take quite a few years for this program to really pay off, but the potential is massive and the importance of FCD Youth in the years to come can not be understated.

8. Kreis Up – Early in Jason Kreis’ career, Dave Dir moved him from midfield to forward and the result was magic on the field.  Kreis went on to be the all-time leading franchise and league goal scorer and the first American born MVP in MLS history.  The first 15 goals and 15 assist player in the league, five time Burn leading scorer, seven time all-star, and twice Burn MVP are just a few of the highlights on his resume.  A stunning 108 career goals, 31 game winning goals, and 74 assists still rank Kreis 3rd, 2nd,  and 10th respectively in MLS history.  Kreis was the offensive cornerstone of the Burn franchise for nine years prior to his move to Real Salt Lake and remains the franchise record holder in nine statistical categories: goals, assists, games, minutes, shots, shots on goal, game winning goals, multi-goal games, and hat tricks.

9. Dallas Burn Radio – In the late 90s and early 00s, Dallas did a terrific job getting it’s name into the local market through the use of local radio.  Starting with the centerpiece show Inside Soccer with Brad Sham; Dallas had several shows that appeared in multiple languages on radio stations that could be heard around town.  The connection of local media legend Brad Sham with the team gave credence and respectability to a franchise in sore need of both.  KLIF 570, 1190 Fox Sports Radio, and 1270 KESS (the #1 sports station in Dallas at time) were all used over various seasons and added their own reputations to help build the Burn name. Remotes from sponsor restaurants, a weekly show presence and timeslot, and Burn games on stations with strong signals all made the radio shows cost effective and worthwhile projects that have become afterthoughts or have disappeared completely in recent years.. 

10. Dallas Cup to PHP - One of the most prestigious youth tournaments in the US and arguably in the world, the Dallas Cup should be making even greater strides in the years to come with adidas on board.  While it’s fun to have such a great tournament at PHP for the fans to watch, the real importance of this even from an FCD point of view is in the area of brand recognition and awareness of their facility.  Not only is it important to lay positive ground with US players and coaches that will some day make up the core professional players in this country, but it’s perhaps even more important to develop an international reputation. 

Players and coaches from around the world will return home talking up FC Dallas and it’s world class facility at Pizza Hut Park. Teams from all over the world will consider training at PHP thus creating more revenue for FCD.  Players from all over the world may considering playing for Dallas a viable option.  Getting the Dallas Cup to PHP is both a short term and long term gain as only positive publicity can come from being associated with such a fantastic tournament. 

Anything Else?

So that’s our list, but it’s by no means definitive or all inclusive.  I’m sure each of you will have your own list, believe me I really wanted to put the Hoops jerseys on here.  So what did we leave out?

Categories: Top Ten.

13 Comments

Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI

Leave a comment