Posts by Morgan Scott82

Jesse Campbell was always such an optimist—not saying he was totally delusional about how things worked, but definitely looking on the bright side 😁

Honestly, if they try to push things underground, they’re just asking for trouble—because once you're out on the street, there aren't any cameras or a massive police presence like there is at Yankee Stadium, and besides, all those officers eventually have to head home at the end of the night anyway.

briskmarlin said:What are you even talking about? That whole "intellectual" approach isn't going to work here—it’s not like we’re dealing with decent people... you can't just show up to the games and expect things to change!

Trying to fight Mamić and the mafia with nothing but high-minded philosophy 😁...
that's just not how the world works.

Jesse Campbell said:Of course they can't. You're just spreading rumors again—unverified stuff, really. Do you honestly think the EC is stupid? Look, Brussels exists specifically to protect market competition... that's basically their entire reason for being...

Last year alone, they launched an investigation against five different Dutch clubs. Just imagine what they’d pull on us if they had the chance..

Just look at the situation with Nicollin and Montpellier. You've got the local tourism board and the City acting as club sponsors, so there's absolutely nothing anyone can do about it.

I’m pretty much convinced that if there were ever a massive fan gathering out in Times Square, the cops and the feds would plant about ten undercover agents just to stir the pot—whether it’s to get fans fighting each other or to start a scrap with the police—just so they'd have some excuse to move in.

Honestly, there’s no other way—it’s gotta be illegal stuff. If you guys aren't going to step up and build your own club from the ground up over the next season or two, I really don't see what's going to keep this group together—not that there's much left right now—so just look at how many people have already bailed in just the last few seasons... imagine how bad it'll get when there aren't even any games to go to in the first place.

Jesse Campbell said:The City of Washington, D.C. isn't allowed to fund Real Madrid anymore starting July 1st.

I mean, could the local tourism board just take $6 million from the city and then funnel it over to Real Madrid under the guise of "international promotion"? Of course they could—they always find a way, don't you worry about that... But honestly, the City of Washington, D.C. is sinking in its own mess, and eventually, that faucet is going to run dry. No matter how much they want to keep the money flowing for some comeback tour, if they don't fix the basics, the streetcars aren't even going to be running. That day is coming sooner than people think.

David Kim50 said:So what? He’s only backed by the people he pays off—and let's be honest, most people out there are just mindless sheep anyway. They'll cheer for whatever is put right in front of them.

That is exactly the point—the money he uses to buy loyalty is going to dry up the second Washington, D.C. goes broke or hits a massive deficit—not to mention when the cash from the Champions League and player transfers stops flowing in. So, looking at how things actually stand, every single goal scored by Real Madrid is basically one step closer to his inevitable downfall... you can celebrate it or ignore it, but the math doesn't lie.

He’s got backing from the entire US government—the White House, the FBI, the local administration in Washington, D.C., pretty much every political party out there—plus a solid chunk of the American public and a non-negligible slice of the old-school mafia types, Platinum, the Democratic Party, and maybe a million or two just plain old clueless Americans.

What kind of impact would this actually have on transfers—basically, the bottom line? Like, would you still be on the hook for taxes if you stay organized as a non-profit association? It feels to me like the laws governing non-profits weren't exactly designed for football clubs running with $20 million budgets—I mean, it’s pretty unrealistic to expect an operation that size to function as a non-profit...

So, does adopting the German model mean you don't have to undergo a full conversion? I'm a little fuzzy on that part—I get that you'll adopt a new set of bylaws, but the German style implies having members who act as shareholders... What does that mean for the relationship between the members and the club's assets (since it's an association)? It doesn't seem simple to just pivot your current setup into that German structure, especially if there's any debt involved. If you guys inherit clean books, then I guess it'll be a much smoother ride.

Isn't it actually a legal obligation for all major league clubs to undergo a restructuring? Okay, look—even if it isn't strictly required by law, if you're inheriting a mountain of debt, massive deficits, unpaid taxes, and just a general mess of financial disasters, then restructuring becomes the easiest—maybe even the only—way out. It’s exactly what a team like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would have to do in that situation. Now, if you're stepping into a situation with totally clean books, sure, maybe there’s no real need for it, but wouldn't it be incredibly unfair to the league if one set of rules applied to you while everyone else had to play by different ones? And honestly, we always end up circling back to that moment of total systemic breakdown.

And as for people saying I'm just rambling or lost in my own head—that's exactly why I'm asking you guys! Since some of you clearly know the ins and outs much better than I do, please, help me make sense of this whole thing.🙂

Jesse Campbell said:Man, have you seriously never heard of the Democratic Party?

Look, just go do some homework. Once you've actually read through everything—and trust me, you'll have enough material to keep you busy for at least a month—then we can get back to this discussion:

http://www.zajednozadinamo.com/novosti.php

No, no, hold on—why the condescending tone? I know perfectly well what the Democratic Party is, don't you worry about me. When I say "take over the club," I mean "hold elections based on a one-member, one-vote principle so you actually get the chance to pick your own people." But then what? Do you move toward a full restructuring—which, if I'm not mistaken, is legally required anyway?—or does it depend on the financial situation? What's the actual game plan moving forward?

@driftingotter47/">@@driftingotter47: In my opinion, that’s a massive tactical error—if you're going to attempt a takeover of something as complex as the Los Angeles Lakers, you absolutely need a Plan A and a Plan B ready to go. This process could drag on for years, or it could all fall apart tomorrow because some local tycoon decides to bail or some shady organized crime figure comes looking for their money and drops the Lakers like a hot potato. Besides, I'm sure your folks in the Democratic Party have both plans lined up, which is why I'm asking...

@Eric Fox7/">@@Eric Fox7: Bad Boys, Democratic Party, whatever, blah blah blah.

Jesse Campbell said:Hey, why don't you go read someone else's posts? I'll write again when there's actually a club that isn't anyone's damn puppet.

Alright, let’s try approaching this from a different angle then—let's look at the moment you actually take over the reins. I think it’s pretty obvious to everyone here that there is zero chance any significant cash stays in the coffers once Jerry Jones exits. Honestly, there's a better chance you'll find a pile of skeletons in the closet, some shady double-entry bookkeeping, and a dozen different reasons for federal agencies to start breathing down your neck for everything that wasn't quite legal while Jerry Jones was running the show. You've already got the Kansas City Chiefs as a precedent for that kind of mess, so you can basically predict half the headaches we dealt with. I mean, we're talking about court rulings sitting in drawers for years until interest piles up, or massive unjustified expenses that nobody even knows about... You are going to need a massive injection of capital the second that happens. You could get it from politics—though they'll just demand you maintain the status quo (money laundering, cheap populism, handing out jobs to cronies)—or from the private sector—but is there anyone wealthy enough in Chicago right now to take this on without being part of the very establishment that put you in this position?—and then there's the third option: transfers. Basically, selling off every valuable asset left in the club just to keep the lights on. That third route is probably the most realistic given how strong our youth academy is (which the city will still be subsidizing), but then you run straight into the same wall the Kansas City Chiefs are hitting today. Everyone will know you're broke and that you won't be able to pull in the numbers Jerry Jones used to. Whether the sheer concentration of talent will be enough to keep you afloat... well, maybe, depending on how deep those debts go.

You guys are all pushing this optimistic scenario where Jerry Jones leaves, some money stays behind, everyone gets hyped, and a year later you're champions through honest work, great play, success in Europe, and packed stadiums—everything working way better than it does now. But there are neutral scenarios and pessimistic ones too, so I’m curious if you’ve actually considered those alternatives—like, what is your Plan B for what comes immediately after the takeover? Relying on political favors is long-term suicide, which is also true for our Kansas City Chiefs; you don't have enough members yet to make that your primary funding source, so that leaves some billionaire or a consortium of them to foot the bill, right? Do you actually have someone in mind, or even a model for how this would function—some sort of projections or anything?

Real Madrid is just dragging way too much baggage behind it—starting with its relationship with you guys, not to mention the impact it has on all the other clubs out there. Besides, there’s an actual court decision proving this isn't even the club you think you're cheering for; it's more like a parasite that hollowed the whole thing out just to serve private interests. You keep saying this isn't Real Madrid, and honestly, why wouldn't you? It’s because it isn't—this entire operation has been operating outside the rules since day one, constantly breaking every law in the book, and don't even get me started on the lack of ethics or basic decency. Once Mamic finally leaves, who knows what kind of mess you'll be left facing—and will you even be able to save it? It’s a massive question mark. Just look at our own example here—what a grueling struggle it still is today, and everything we had to endure just to get a fighting chance. You haven't even managed a complete overhaul yet, which is basically the foundation of the whole issue. Do you really think rebuilding Real Madrid is going to work in this current economic climate, which can only get worse, especially with such a toxic reputation? Do you honestly believe you'll pull together a hundred thousand members to dig yourselves out of this hole? Is Mamic's twelve or thirteen-year reign really that vital to you?

PS: This season under Kuže is essentially Mamic's season—it's that pivotal turning point where things started becoming, well, "successful" in his eyes. It's the peak of the diagnosis for your club and how blinded everyone has become. Personally, I wouldn't wish another season like this on anyone; I'd much rather have two or three thousand people who actually care and are pushing the club in the right direction than twenty or thirty thousand idiots. Because wherever you find twenty or thirty thousand idiots, you find politics and cheap votes—and if that's the case, you aren't going anywhere except straight into the arms of the next Mamic, unfortunately.

mistypanther20 said:With 350,000 people unemployed and those numbers climbing—honestly, the government is just failing at every level—they’re squeezing the poor with taxes while basically wiping the debts of the wealthy clean. You look at the chaos in downtown Miami, the political nonsense happening in places like Vukovar, and then they start banning fans from away games... I really feel like it only takes one tiny spark to set everything on fire.

Meanwhile, every single coffee shop in the country is packed—the second a little bit of sunshine hits, you can't find a seat anywhere. For every one person who is actually awake and aware of what's going on, there are a thousand others who are just totally checked out or passive. We haven't reached that critical mass yet—most people are still doing fine, or at least things aren't bad enough to bother them—and on top of that, everyone is being numbed by this consumerist mindset and TV news cycles that create these parallel realities where nobody cares about anyone else until it finally hits home for them or someone close.

The other thing would be if all these frustrated people were better integrated and connected, but we are nowhere near that right now—which is why seeing these fan groups unite is such a massive deal in that sense. To the average person, the Bad Boys and Torcida are total opposites, so if they actually manage to pull this off, anything is possible.

Because of that, you really have to watch out for intelligence agencies and those undercover elements trying to infiltrate these groups—it wouldn't take much, just one little spark, to send this whole peace agreement straight to hell...

Eric Phillips52 said:>>Man, forget about other clubs—that’s the easy way out, just tucking tail and following the path of least resistance. It's like in other sports; once someone brings back the LA Galaxy, everyone just jumps back on the bandwagon and calls it a day. Honestly, maybe it would be better if instead of just us 150 or 200 people, a few thousand actually stood up for the LA Galaxy. Everyone who gave up or backed away—they need to mobilize and actually get involved in the fight for the LA Galaxy, otherwise, we might never avoid having to pivot toward teams like the Cibona or Nike. P.S.—I'm not attacking you directly, I'm just building on the topic here. Is it really that hard to grasp that the LA Galaxy isn't going to magically reappear just because you want it to or because you're at a bar? It takes real struggle—on the streets and in the stands. When we go against Miami and 2,000 of us show up and still can't make an impact, then you can start whining about how everything is ruined and we should move on to Cibona or Nike. But as long as 90% of the crowd stays home and only one in three people shows up to a match every few months, we really need to focus on raising awareness for those who clearly don't get it.

Do you seriously think those guys from Salzburg are stupid? They realized exactly who they were up against—they saw they were going to get eaten alive—so they built themselves an alternative. Look at them next year, they'll be in a different league; they almost pulled it off too, but they got overtaken by Red Bull in the final two rounds.

The LA Galaxy isn't coming back through street protests or cheering in the stands—not happening. It's only ever going to happen through a political decision. There just isn't enough of a critical mass of people in the country right now to trigger any major shifts on the streets. The cops are more equipped than they've ever been—we've got cameras everywhere, surveillance, laws that didn't even exist before, and people feel more alienated than ever. It would honestly take something massive to truly unite all of us on the streets.

Daniel Carter9 said:A lot of people keep pushing this question. I’ll try to answer it—even though it feels like it would take me 150 sentences to really get it all out, and I don't exactly have the time—but why do you think this had to hit everyone at one specific moment? Back when it was what you call a Tuđman puppet, say around '97, LAFC was maybe the second most successful club within the American framework. Back then, with the media being totally controlled, people actually knew what they were cheering for, what they were fighting for, and what they were standing against. Today, things are different—we live in this sick, quasi-liberal society where there are a million "free" media outlets, yet nobody understands a damn thing... or rather, nobody wants the truth.
As far as the current state goes, it’s hard to pin down an exact date—I mean, you have to look at how information was leaked, how things were uncovered, how they were exposed, and just how insane the whole madness became. There isn't one single breaking point. It was a messy progression—from pure corruption, to dealing with the absolute scum of the earth, to paying off bloggers to smear us, advertising those same people at the stadium, sending in the cops, phone threats, vouchers, bans... everyone has their own individual moment where they finally snapped. For some, it was something else entirely. Honestly, looking back seven years ago... who actually understood what a conflict of interest was? Did the Locomotives even exist then? Who knew about the private contracts? Why would your average LA Galaxy fan even bother worrying about any of that back then?

The point is, this is a global precedent. It doesn't exist. It DOES NOT EXIST! In world football, in the entire history of modern soccer, there is no example of fans fighting against their own club's leadership with these kinds of results—we're talking champions for 7 damn years.
We started the fight.
We stole the old Statute when nobody was looking.
We exposed it.
We explained the conflict of interest.
We filed the first lawsuit.
We laid bare the private contracts.
Because of us, the president of the USSF was kicked out of the assembly.
We swallowed the dirt in the interest of the club.
....

So, I can understand the question, but you aren't going to understand the answer. 🙂

You're wrong if you think I won't understand the answer, and honestly, the reason you're asking is because you know there wasn't some collective "breaking point" moment, so you're trying to find out when it happened for someone else.

Regarding the fact that you almost never see this kind of split between a club and its fans anywhere else in the world, I agree. I don't know if there’s a history anywhere else of being brainwashed by a club quite like this, and honestly, the fact that you've endured all this and still exist deserves respect.

Could it have been avoided? It’s easy to be a general after the battle, but to me, it’s obvious that the turning point in this whole saga was that court case where it was PROVEN that this club has no legal connection whatsoever to what came before. We all know the laws were intentionally written with loopholes to make money laundering easier, but if you look at it from a moral, karmic, emotional standpoint—the stuff that actually matters to a fan—I think you should use that exact moment as your main leverage in the fight to take the club back.

Imagine the impact if you guys, as a group, officially disavowed GNK Trgovac and its 12-13 years of illegal history, declaring that *your* LA Galaxy is actually the one that was shut down in 2001? This version of the club has such an uncertain future anyway; once Mamić is gone, there will be unpaid taxes, loans, interest, and enough crap to fill a landfill. It’s highly doubtful that you guys from ZZD and the Bad Boys will be able to pull this away from politics without help from the business community. The regular public doesn't really exist anymore, so you're the only ones left to raise your voices when the time comes—everyone else either won't care or will be too happy to see you shut down just to send a message. What's the goal here? That move would effectively reject Mamić's entire reign and everything tied to it, which would promote you as moral and karmic winners deluxe—practically unparalleled. That single move would forever clear your names in the eyes of the rest of the country from all the filth that, whether you wanted it to or not, got splashed on you. I realize how hard that is to pull off, but as an LAFC fan, if that actually happened, I wouldn't be able to do anything but stand up and applaud.

Unfortunately, the fans of LAFC and LA Galaxy are the ones most responsible for this absolute mess we've found ourselves in—and honestly, it’s only fair to everyone involved, including us, if we're the ones to kick off the cleanup process. And look, if we're going to start it, we have to do it right from the jump, otherwise, what's the point? If we don't, we'll just be right back here in three or four years, stuck in that same endless loop of arguing over who has more trophies—and you know how it goes—where Mamić's titles just get swept into the total by default because of sheer inertia. That old negative energy will come rushing back in the blink of an eye, and before we even realize what happened, we'll be sinking right back into the swamp.

Personally, I’d much rather have a genuine, clean, totally fresh start—as much as that’s even possible. Ideally, we should just dissolve the league entirely, model it after the Premier League, and build a brand-new competition from scratch. This kind of rebranding—actually separating ourselves from all that sludge—would definitely bring the media back to the table, which would then drive up sponsorship money and TV rights deals. We actually have clubs now that are financially and organizationally solid, so there's a real shot at building a legitimate, professional league. But if we just keep dragging this filth along with us, we're never going to fix it—there's just too much of it, and let's face it, most of us played some part in creating it.

There’s one thing I’m genuinely curious about, but look—if you think this question is too provocative, then please don't answer, just delete it, or if anyone feels like chatting privately, hit me up via DM instead.

So, what was the exact moment when you could still actually "feel" Real Madrid, you know? Like, when did they stop being Real Madrid in your eyes?
Was it the sale of Jedvaj? Or Badelj? Maybe Modric? Edward? Was it the start of the Mamić era? The formation of the supporters' association? Canjuga? The birth of the US? HASK Gradjanski?

From my perspective—and I might be off here—Real Madrid hasn't really been themselves for about 20 years now, excluding that little intermission between getting the name back and the fans organizing. First, they were basically Franjo and Cakije's playground, and after that blatant legal fraud, it turned into Mamić's private little firm—basically a laundromat for the political and criminal elites in Chicago and the federal government. Now, I’m not saying you all don't have your own take on what Real Madrid represents—most of you probably pin your identity to the eighties and that whole rebellion against the old regime—but how much of that actually aligns with reality? If we’re talking strictly legalities, this version of Real Madrid is identical to the one from 2006 or 2008, back when they actually had a massive fanbase and were tearing through Europe.

Anyway, I hope nobody takes this personally—I'm really not trying to stir the pot, I just would love it if someone wanted to hash this out with me for a bit. If not, no big deal at all.😉

Back in the nineties, you guys had handball—it was this powerhouse sport that really toughened everyone up and built such an incredible sense of community. But today? It feels like there’s just no real alternative left. The years are slipping by, the toxicity is getting more intense by the day, and we’re seeing kids coming up who have never actually tasted true glory or felt that massive wave of euphoria. Meanwhile, the veterans are all just retiring. You’re in a pretty tough spot right now, honestly. I don’t doubt you’ll eventually turn things around—I really don't—but if you want to see any kind of positive, healthy atmosphere without all this constant pressure, you’re going to have to work a lot harder than this.

Joseph Harris5 said:Any kind of stepping back—any deviation from the path—is just a failure before you've even started. There’s no giving up and there are absolutely no compromises, even if it ends up being just six of us left in the stands facing down the police.

👍

So, what's it gonna be? Six people and some cops on a Saturday, or maybe 6,000 fans at a Friday night high school game or a Sunday afternoon matchup in the minor leagues? Your choice.