The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 93

THE BOSTON GLOBE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, LS begins a retooling, starting with Gup final 100 WOOL SUITS 0 ww i to And though Garber had only minimal knowledge of soccer, he gained "an enormous respect" for the game by closely observing it England, Germany, and Spain. But Garber appears to understand that simple, subtle changes can have profound effects and are preferable to drastic, smoke-and-mirrors alterations, especially in a sport with such a long tradition. MLS regular-season ties will progress to a 10-minute sudden-death overtime. And the point system will be 3-1-0 (win-tie-loss), as in the rest of the world. Garber also has made progress behind the scenes, apparently helping to reassure sponsors, three of whom renewed commitments through 2003 this week, and stabilizing relations with broadcasters.

There will be more consistency in the ABCESPN telecasts in an attempt to capture "destination viewing." Next season will start in mid-March, and 28 games will be shown on 19 consecutive Saturdays from June to September. Also, a 60-minute highlights show will air on Mondays. The regular season will end in mid-September and the MLS Cup final will be in early October, likely in Tampa. By Frank Dell'Apa (iU)HK STAFF Don Garber has moved quickly to make his mark on soccer, i Garber, who re-placed Doug Logan as MLS commissioner in August, yesterday announced the abolishment of the postmatch shootout, indicating that the league will promote substance over gimmicks. Further, the game clock ivill count up to 45 minutes for each half and will be controlled directly by the referee, who will signal the amount of injury time, In accordance with FIFA regulations, Though the shootout will survive as a tiebreaker for the MLS Gup final between Los Angeles and D.C.

United at Foxboro Stadium Compare at 300! 2 Button, 3 Button, Double Breasted DON GARBER Shoots down shootouts Expert Alterations On Site! MLS realignment for 2000 season HO DRAINER OF THEVir) "We are delighted that three of the four sponsors have decided to continue their commitment," ESPN vice president Steve Risser said, "and that there will be a shorter, more Eastern Conference D.C. United Miami Fusion NY-NJ MetroStars N.E. Revolution Central Conference Chicago Fire Columbus Crew Dallas Burn Tampa Bay Mutiny Western Conference Colorado Rapids Kansas City Wizards Los Angeles Galaxy San Jose Earthquakes Pure Silk Designer Dress Shirts Nationally Known Dress Shoes Italian Made Merino Blend Knits sa 0)99 a) Ties $J99 Compare at $25! Compare at $30! Compare at $100! Compare at $50! QDLPE01 MPEM? I Route 90 Mass. Pike concise schedule. The MLS is young; it is still in a growth pattern.

When we started in 1996 we did not set high expectations for the league. Our job is to build ratings." Risser said MLS ratings are similar to NHL regular-season ratings. The MLS will have three divisions West (Colorado, Kansas City, Los Angeles, San Jose), Central (Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Tampa Bay), and East (D.C. United, Miami, MetroStars, Revolution) More than 35,000 tickets have been sold for Sunday's game Longmea-dow's Jay Heaps of the Miami Fusion was named MLS Rookie of the Year. Heaps played 32 games during the regular season and playoffs, displaying his athleticism at right back after spending most of career as an attacker.

"That is the best position for me, but it took a few games for me to get settled," Heaps said during a presentation Boston Common yesterday. "Right now, I'm taking 2Vk weeks off. After my season at Duke, I went right into basketball, then trained at Feyenoord in Holland and went right to the college All-Star game in Fort Lauderdale. I've had six days off in the last year." Sunday, the change in the clock will be unveiled in that (V "There has been an assumption that the American soccer fan is different than soccer fans from outside the US," Garber said yesterday. "But there are millions of players, from 5-year-olds to amateurs to professionals in this country who play the game according to FIFA rules on a regular basis, and the league has bypassed this market and.

underestimated it. i. "Instead, we based our marketing on future fans. We have to go back and shore up our existence with the core soccer fan and build the model with the core fans, and it took the league a couple of years to realize this. There was a negativity buzzing among the hardest-core fans that reached a momentum that we had to address.

We do know from our research that there are approximately 60 million people in this country that consider themselves Soccer fans. We don't have 60 million people going to our games." The vote by the MLS competition committee to shoot down the shootout was unanimous, Garber said. But that, is only because of Garber's ability to not only build consensus, but unanimity. 4 Garber, 41, certainly knows about a tough sell, having made his reputation by promoting the NFL in Europe. Route 9 igal Fannies Eat 156 Eat Ent39j North Avenue Industrial Part (In Frugal Fannies) 128 Route 28 j' Route 93 I 1- MENSMMT i 5 sW MENSMART Just Shop Us Once You'll Be Back! visit us online at www.kgmens.com WESTW00D SUPERSTORE READING SUPERSTORE 781-942-1339 781-461-8770 1SEAD UGMliV Dltrvf RESPONSIBIV OFF ROAD PLEASE BUCKIE Uf fOt SECURITY.

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