Fire/Blanco News Roundup
By: Tom | March 15th, 2007Your esteemed Fire blogger has been at this for only four days, but he’s already quite tired of the riveting Cuauhtemoc Blanco is-he-coming-or-not saga. Apart from the fact that it takes me several minutes to spell his first name correctly (which is my own sorry Anglo-cultural fault), all we have to go on is pure speculation and the negotiations seem to be taking forever. The Daily Southtown has the latest “scoop”, if you can take it.
At this point, I’m starting to think the Fire are going to have to sign him, if only to justify the interminable time spent on one player. The problem is, and I state this with about as little insider knowledge as it’s possible to have, if the Fire have any sense they’re offering a one year deal, but Blanco, if he has any sense, is holding out for a 3-year deal - the unfortunate snag being a 2-year compromise deal is not an option for the designated player spot. The best bet would probably be an incentives-laden option, since there seems to be a general feeling that Blanco is a boom-or-bust signing: he could either ignite the Fire and MLS or flame out completely (sorry, that’s the first and last time I’ll use fire metaphors here).
In any case, as MLS notebook points out, Chris Armas’ comment on the possible signing didn’t exactly ring with confidence:
“If we can add a top-notch player, then yes, bring him in. But should we add a player just for the sake of adding him? No,” Fire midfielder Chris Armas said last month. “If you do your homework on some of these guys and you see that he’s going to help, then great. You just hope the guy can be a team player.”
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Tags: Blanco, Chicago Fire, Club America, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Designated Player, Off the field, Team NewsSubscribe
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Comments
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I can only imagine the type of reception Blanco will get at opposing stadiums. If there is an enemy to U.S. soccer it is him. Smart move for the Fire to try to get him from a PR perspective. Not so sure he has that much game left in his body though.
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United States
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Isn’t Blanco one of HP Lovecraft’s monsters? He’s the brother of Cthulhu, isn’t he?
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United States -
I know Blanco is enemy #1 for U.S. national team fans, but could someone fill me in on some of the specific details explaining exactly why?
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United States -
Mexico is the big rival for the US. The games are often very physical and in the eyes of many Americans the Mexicans play dirty. Blanco is the symbol of this. He has cracked into many an ankle during his days. The US players playing in MLS will cringe at the thought of him in their league.
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United States -
Thanks Eddie - I was wondering if there was any specific incident or not. As a fan of the Fire but not of the American national team, I think I’ll stick up for Blanco if he signs - it’s always fun to have a player on your team everyone else hates.
Plus I live in a 88.9% Mexican neighbourhood, so perhaps owning a Blanco jersey will make me some friends.
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United States -
Im Mexican and I hate Blanco!!! But than again Im a Chivista and hes an Americanista… so theres also that… a lot of Mexicans hate Blanco as well…
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United States -
it´s sad to see how people make comments without knowing anything about what they are talking about. Temoc is hated by his opponents because of his celebrating style not for being dirty. Besides, it´s american players who try to outmuscle the smaller, weaker but ,by far, more talented mexican players.
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United States
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