http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/soccer/05/23/bc.soc.liverpoolowners.ap/
index.html


do they annoy you too?

ok, i'll just post the one that stood out to me....


"There's no way either of my two teams' fans have the level of intense passion that Liverpool has," said Hicks, who also owns baseball's Texas Rangers and hockey's Dallas Stars. "I want them to. Hopefully some day they will."

QUIT BEING ONE OF THE WORST OWNERS IN MLB, THEN MAYBE WE'LL GET INTO THE RANGERS!

Also goes on to talk about spending more money on players and a new stadium for Liverpool.

How much money have we spent on Liverpool and longhorn athletics????

[This message has been edited by 1 (edited 5/23/2007 9:25p).]

I really hate sip hicks

It's hardly a fair comparison. Soccer in Europe is a completely different culture. It would be hard to find any team in any sport in the US with such a fanatical following.

I thought he was against spending money on teams. Remember, one time when he spent money on one of his teams, "unfortunately it worked and we won the Stanley Cup".

It's also interesting that he refers to the Rangers and Stars as "my teams". Contrast that with Jerry Jones, who repeatedly says "you can't own the Cowboys" and never refers to them as "my team". Who would have ever thought we could get another owner in here that would make Jerry Jones look good.

Is there any possibility that he would sell HIS team soon?

quote:

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There's no way either of my two teams' fans have the level of intense passion that Liverpool has

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Exactly what is wrong with that statement? Premiership fans are in their own class, American professional sports fans really don't compare. These people devote their lives to their teams. They commit violence in the name of their team, of crying out loud. They have their own team-specific chants songs that the entire fan base sings in unison. From an American perspective, they could probably be best compared to the most passionate of NASCAR fans, crossed with Alabama Crimson Tide fans, crossed with the wildest Aggie football fans. Put all that on steroids, and you've got an English football fan.

Not only that, but Liverpool FC is the creme de la creme of the EPL. They're the EPL's equivalent of the Boston Red Sox (with Man U being the Yankees, of course, and Chelsea being just plain evil). Their fans are widely agreed upon to be among the best (if not the best), and it's generally agreed upon that "You'll Never Walk Alone" is the best song in the EPL. Heck, Pink Floyd put the Liverpool fans in one of their own songs.

There are some of us that are wildly passionate about the Rangers, but the overall fan base doesn't deserve to be spoken about in the same breath as Liverpool fans.

[This message has been edited by WestTxAg06 (edited 5/24/2007 9:02a).]

[This message has been edited by WestTxAg06 (edited 5/24/2007 9:06a).]

quote:

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Exactly what is wrong with that statement?

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You pretty much answered your own question. Knowing how Hicks loves to bash Ranger fans, this is just another thing he will throw out there as a reason he will not increase payroll.

It is not a fair comparison for Hicks to compare Ranger fans to Liverpool fans. First, soccer is king in Europe like the NFL or college footall in the United States. Second, Liverpool has a league leading 18 championships in the Premiership with their first dating all the way back to 1900-1901. With their storied history and their success on the field, of course they are going to have a better fan base than the Rangers. If Hicks wants Ranger fans to be more like the fans of Liverpool, then he needs to put a better product on the field, unlike a team with zero championships and zero chances of winning one.

[This message has been edited by TylerAG97 (edited 5/24/2007 10:43a).]

All that storied history..............

And now Hicks owns them.

The begininning

of

the

end

.............

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Not only that, but Liverpool FC is the creme de la creme of the EPL.

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Tied for 3rd and 15 points behind second. Yeah, they're really the creme de la creme.

I don't follow EPL all that closely, but I presume you're pointing to this year's standings. That's not a fair way to examine a club's stature in the league, because if that were the case, you could conclude from this year that the Yankees are just an also-ran in the grand scheme of Major League Baseball.

This is from the beginning of the Liverpool FC Wikipedia entry:

quote:

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They play in the Premier League and are the most successful club in English football. They lead the way in terms of English League Titles, with eighteen, and are third in terms of European Cup wins, with five, an English record. They have also had success in the other cup competitions (see honours, below). Liverpool are a founding member of the G-14 group of leading European football clubs.

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I think my statement was a fair one.

quote:

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Tied for 3rd and 15 points behind second. Yeah, they're really the creme de la creme.

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Over the history of English football, yeah, they're the creme de la creme. Oh, and they were in the final of the UEFA Champion's League this year.

But you say they suck, so I'm sure I must be missing something.

[This message has been edited by friend of cheese (edited 5/24/2007 1:39p).]

No, historically, they have been the best, but that only means historically.

This year, they weren't even close to the creme de la creme.

Well, I'd say that advancing all the way to the final of UEFA Champions league before losing 2-1 to AC Milan is pretty darned close.

This thread has taken quite the left turn...

Maybe Tom Hick will sell the Rangers and Stars and move to Liverpool and buy that team.

Hicks has always made a point to run his teams independent of each other. i.e just cause he spends money on a A-rod type contract that doesn't mean he won't pick up a free Agent for the stars. Plus he has a team that is legitimitally one or two players away from being the best team in Europe, to compare the two is just silly.

And as far as fans are concerned I read that supporters were outside the Liverpool hotel til 5Am the night before the game, and back by 8AM singing their support for the team. If you went from owning the Rangers and seeing that type of fan to suddenly expierence what is arguably the greatest fan base in sports, your telling me you wouldn't be impresed and notice the difference. Give me a break

"Damn the man, Save the Empire"

wow. some of you have missed the point. NO ONE is challenging the fact that Liverpool has crazier fans.

yeah, it's pretty obvious that Liverpool has that...it's that Hicks would act like Rangers fans should be the same when their team is the suck.