Why New England Deserved to Lose

They're cheap.

And not in a Moneyball way either. Well they are good at finding cheap talent, but that is a good thing. The problem is that they are cheap on the other stuff too. DC United usually tries to go the extra mile for their players, staff, and fans. The Revs save money by not finishing the race and deserve to end up just short because of it.

Maybe this is Gulati and his economist attitude. (Sidenote: I really like economists and on the whole would trust them with my team. Its just sometimes they forget to internalize hard to quantify variables.) Or maybe Kraft just dotes on his Pats and could care less about the Revs. Whatever the reason, they skimp where other teams don't and it shows.

Marketing
The Revs had the second worst attendance after Kansas City this year. They have a negative growth rate from 1996, and have had significant drops in 03' and 04' when they were playing well. This is with free parking this year. This isn't a problem with the New England fans, its a problem with the New England front office. They need to get out into the community and sell their team. Even if they have to take suggestions from DCU fans.

I truly think that the Houston front office can do more with a championship than the people over at New England. What other teams have won championships in their first year? DC United and Chicago. Hopefully Houston fans (who looked great in Dallas) will be on their way to continued support like those two teams have had over the years. New England on the other hand has already started comparisons to the Buffalo Bills, and every league needs a team like that.

In the middle of bashing thier team, let me just take the time right here to say major kudos to the Midnight Riders (I love the Allman Brothers too). They do not have a front office that goes the extra mile, but have carved out a nice place for themselves and seem to be nothing but class. I was really encouraged to see their traveling support in the Eastern Conference playoffs (they even got there on time).

346
The number of minutes the Revs went scoreless in their first three MLS cups. It's boring. It's effective, so I won't bitch that much. But I am happy when ugly soccer doesn't win (unless it is my United playing "not so pretty today"). In this vein, Jay Heaps deserved to miss the last PK as well because he is the embodiment of this philosophy.

CONCACAF
Somebody needs to tell the Revs front office that the Concacaf Champions Cup matters. I think they didn't get the memo. In my mind the utter contempt the Revs have for any competition outside the MLS Cup is one of the main reasons why they don't deserve to win. Especially when winning gets you a birth in one of those competitions.

Bermuda???

Also, next year they probably won't have Dempsey. Which us United fans can't really harp on too much. But also might be missing Joseph as well. Possibly Twellman too, but he will probably just get a raise. In short, New England really doesn't deserve a championship because they are not willing to shell out to even compete on equal terms in a tournament of champions.