In the Star-Telegram last weekend was a very telling quote from Hitchcock. It appeared in an article by Tobias Lopez in the paper version of the… um… well… paper, but didn’t make it into the on-line version of the S-T. It took me a while to find someone with the paper so I could get the quote. Here’s the quote from Hitch.
I wanted to point this quote out as it reinforces our thoughts about how much pressure Hitch is under to sell tickets and sponsorships, in short to turn a profit. It’s clear in hind sight that this move was 100% about trying to sell stuff. I’m not sure what to think of the idea that a coach was fired because a potential sponsor was at one game.
Mr. Lopez had some things to say about it, and since it never appeared on line I figured I might as well give you the entire article. If anyone at the Star-Telegram wants this removed please email me and I will take it down.
The reason FC Dallas general manager Michael Hitchcock repeatedly used the word “embarrassed” after firing Steve Morrow had less to do with the team’s direction and more to do about – what else? – money.
Hitchcock confirmed Wednesday that sitting in the suites during Sunday’s 5-1 loss to Los Angeles were potential jersey sponsors, corporate partners and local politicians.
Hitchcock, of course, brought them out to see a house packed (22,331) for the appearance of the Galaxy’s David Beckham.
“We were entertaining a lot of prospective sponsors and clients,” he said. “And, yeah, it’s embarrassing to me. It’s embarrassing to our fans, who I feel deserve more from their team. It certainly doesn’t help the cause when we’re trying to sell sponsors into partnering with FC Dallas with a performance like that.”
Any sponsor worth its salt doesn’t commit to a partnership based on one game.
In one season plus eight games, Morrow built a squad around young, dynamic talent and paid for youthful inconsistency.
FC Dallas now faces three games in nine days.
Why? Well, Hitchcock moved the Aug. 9 game against Houston to Wednesday so Ozzfest can invade Pizza Hut Park on that date.
Certainly that wasn’t a move made in the team’s competitive interests.
The fans got their money’s worth Sunday.
They saw Beckham, six goals and a scuffle – everything a rowdy fan needs.
Sure, fans went away angry at the loss, but they are the same 2,000 who have journeyed from the Cotton Bowl, to Southlake, back to the Cotton Bowl, and finally to Frisco.
They returned after June 4, 1998, when FC Dallas fell 8-1 to the Galaxy.
They’d come back even if the seats featured thumb-tack cushions and a no-deodorant policy was enforced.
The other 20,000 will return based on whether or not the pizzas were cold or if their kids were one of the first 5,000 to get the free mini-soccer ball.
Morrow said Thursday, “When you sign up for this position, you know what the consequences can be. I fully accept that, and after 22 years in professional soccer, I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. We didn’t see it coming, just so suddenly, and I feel like I am being treated very unfairly. I didn’t get the opportunity to continue, or finish, what we started.”
He’s completely correct.
The direction of the club is in question, but not because of Morrow’s doing.
FC Dallas has been through four general managers, starting with Billy Hicks (1996-2000), the original who kept a league-operated club afloat on a shoestring budget.
Andy Swift (2000-03) is still beloved as the GM of the people.
Greg Elliott (2003-05) is remembered for his ill-fated “winning is our ethnicity” approach.
Michael Hitchcock (2005-present) might have just sealed his legacy.
Ugh!!!!
I have never really liked him, ever since the first time I saw him grinning like a Cheshire Cat at the first game we attended.
How can we, the fans, effectively communicate to the appropriate people our feelings about Mr. Hitchcock?
I am still quite upset about OZZfest — especially since they had the NERVE to send a ticket pre-sale ad the day after the Houston game. He is gutless. He has our team playing their third game in 9 days this Sunday. Would I be surprised if they have a hard time in the altitude against Colorado? No. They played two hard-fought games already. This will be a challenge more because of that than the opponent.
Had Hitch had any balls/guts/nerve/whatever, he would have said NO to OZZfest and then tried his damnest to market the Interstate Rivalry game, with billboards, ads, whatever, to see if he could generate above avergae attendance at a non-Beckham game. But I guess we’ll never know if it would have worked.
And to be embarrassed in front of potential sponsors? He SHOULD be embarrassed — every tme he looks in the mirror.
Hitchcock is a soccer peddler. He peddles FCD, at least for the time being. If I was in Hitchcock’s place, I wouldn’t have liked Morrow either. Morrow filled the team with obscure South Americans, traded fan favorites, failed to field a consistent team, and to top it all off, turned in the worst performance on the biggest game this year. That’s a tough sell to anyone (other than those reading this, you guys would buy anything with a FCD logo).
I just don’t understand how these guys don’t get it, especially when there are examples to learn from right in front of them (Beckham & Blanco). If you field a winning team with exciting players who have personality, then people come to watch. The problem is that FC Dallas tries to do things on the cheap. Like skipping on Blanco and then feigning effort by signing a has been out of Saudi Arabia on the cheap. Would we be struggling to get 10k in the stands if Blanco was on our roster? I think not.
“Hitchcock is a soccer peddler. He peddles FCD, at least for the time being.”
No, I beg to differ. He’s a ticket peddler. He peddles, Beckham, concerts, and anything that will get more attendance at something, and not necessarily at FCD games. He has failed to even try to adequately market FCD. Now, I certainly agree that having a winning team would help. But for Hitch to place so much blame on Morrow — when upper management shares the “credit” — is unacceptable.