Seattle unlikely http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ht...sounders24.html Does this boost our 2005 expansion chances?
The article indicates that SLC could join in 2005 if Checkets keeps his current aggressive form or in 2006 along with Seattle. Sounds like Seattle will be a "no-go" for '05 but that MLS is not yet sold on SLC being a "go" for '05 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/writers/grant_wahl/06/24/mls.expansion/index.html
Salt Lake Tribune reports that MLS could come to SLC. Checketts, blah blah... Seattle, Chivas, SLC... blah blah 2005 2006, SSS ... I/O, Field Turf, blah blah, Mormons, Sounders, blah blah bleh. JUST MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT I'M DYING HERE
Czar, so am I. Seems they keep pushing the damn date back. First it was a couple weeks. Then it was by the end of June. Then it was the start of July, NOW it's by mid July. Ugh!
Yes.. During the naming brain storming someone said.."Okay..well we are the home of a whole lot of stars in entertainment and such..what kinda name would fit in with that image of LA?" response:" Well, a galaxy is home to a lot of stars."
Wow, and here I thought the Galaxy/ L.A. connection was blatantly obvious. D.C. United is not another blatanly obvious one to you?
Sounds more and more likely to happen. Does Checketts mean he can have a stadium up and running in 5 years, or that he can start on it within 5 years?
I'm glad to know SLC is not MLS' first choise for expansion: "Now, with MLS really needing a second expansion club for 2005, Checketts has stepped up with check in hand and said he can be ready to go almost immediately." I say this not to bash SLC but we need to realize that establishing a team in SLC is going to be harder and take longer because there isn't an established fan base like Rochester and Seattle. For awhile I thought MLS was losing their mind.
Check out some of the other posts, especially those on the other threads. There is a fan base here already. -6000 for Blitzz - Rapids on a Tuesday. -2000 for the Mountain West women's tournament. -6000 for the USL D3 (PSL) final -19000 for the USWNT - Eire WNT Now this is a lot harder to quantify, but some consideration has to be given to all the blond-haired, blue-eyed, Larry Bird-skinned Hermanos & sometimes Hermanas that I see in Chivas or America jerseys.
Not to mention 3500+ last Saturday against the mighty 10-man California Gold. Also an Open Cup match this Wednesday with Portland that we will most likely be adding to that attendance list. The Blitzz outdraw some A-League teams, and have been second in attendace behind Wilmington the last couple years. Two years ago the Blitzz played Seattle in front of 3500+ in a standing room only Cottonwood HS Stadium.
I think the SLC market would really support an MLS team. I'm not even sure that the Blitzz attendance numbers would even indicate the level of support other than show a built-in base attendance. I think there is a major untapped soccer fan base that the Blitzz doesn't really hit. I've spoken to many soccer fans north of SLC that weren't even all that aware of the Blitzz. Some thought they were an indoor team and others weren't even sure that they were a soccer team. These same people knew and expressed interest in the MLS. I just think the potential for a large fan base in Utah is already here. Soccer is by far the most popular youth sport in Davis and Weber county. It would just be a matter of advertising. I've travelled to Denver on a couple of occassions for Rapids games and I've been to a game in Dallas. It's no knock on thier teams but I think SLC could do atleast as well attendance-wise. On another note, I'm planning on doing to the Blitzz / Portland game on wednesday. Where's the best place to park? Is parking usually available at Rice-Eccles or is it best to take Trax?
That's a good question. There is always plenty of parking in the lot west of the stadium for weekend games (except for last year's USWNT double header) and there was lots of room there for the USOC game against the Sacramento Knights. But it's looking like the Timbers are going to be a bigger draw than the amateur Knights or the PSL/PDL clubs that the Blitzz usually plays. You might want to check www.utabus.com then check the Trax schedules. If the game runs late or goes to overtime, you might have to leave early to catch the last train back down the hill.
Yeah that's me, but it's a Roma jersey... I don't know where you are from, Blitzz Boy, nor where you see these jerseys around, but I go to a certain university in Provo and even now during summer term I see AT LEAST ten or twelve soccer shirts every day. The one I see the most is Man U, but I do see some America, Boca Jr, Real Madrid, I saw an Inter Milan just the other day. I still stick with my premise that out of all these jersey-wearin' freaks, a good part of them have got to be like me. I.E. fell in love with soccer while on a mission overseas and now want nothing more than Salt Lake SC to cheer for. The possibility of a team here is getting more and more radio talk. They were talking about it again on 1280... but I need to send them some basic info because they have no clue what they're talking about.
Well, United was one I thought was a little less obvious, only because there are soccer clubs all over the world named United, many having nothing to do with a capital at all. If it were a sport where this name were uncommon, I would have considered this a "not so subtle" name. Still you may be right, perhaps the connection is more obvious to people than I think. The origination of the name Galaxy for LA, while perhaps true, still seems like a stretch to me. Do you think the average non-fan comprehends this reference? All arguments aside, I haven't come up with anything better on my own for a SLC side, so I suppose I shouldn't throw stones. That being said, it would be difficult for me to support a team named the Cougars or the Pioneers. We used to have the Salt Lake Sting soccer team, which I thought was kind of cool. Although I believe that name was originally for a Chicago club. But it does work as Utah is the Beehive State. I also liked the Trappers, the name for AAA Baseball awhile back in SLC. Utah also has a lot of Dinosaur remains (the inspiration for the Raptors of Ogden, another Baseball club), so we could probably come up with a dinosaur name that might be kinda catchy.
yeah, and this was after like an hour and a half of lightning delays! I think it was nine by the end of the game. I was there in my cougar blue! I think if you can get that many out to a BYU game, an MLS game would be no problem. A newspaper article in the deseret news last summer said that on any given fall saturday, 20% of Utah's youth play in a league soccer game. I'm betting that there are MANY, MANY of them that would show up to a Utah game. I would buy 2 sets of season tickets, as would 8 other people on my youth team. I just hope that it ends up here, the attendence shouldn't be a question unless it's on Sunday. I wouldn't be surprised if the Utah whatevadevas ended up with one of the highest attendences in the MLS. As for names - not pioneers not temples not mountains not arches not national parks not sandstone not anything ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ not slickrock... as for Utah, it's monuments and popular sights wouldn't do very good for mascot names. How about the salt lake city greatest snow on earths? I'd be up for SLC storm SLC lightning, something to that affect SLC something that has to do with bees that sounds cool, not stingerzz or buzz (this is probably what we'll end up with) SLC freeze etc. The weather element would be cooler than the other things utah has Austen LONG LIVE BYU! (I'll be going there in 2011, hopefully )
nine being the number of players california gold ended up with, not the time it ended, which was more of 10:45 ish byu won 5-0 though!
amen. these blatant names are dumb. No no no no those are even worse!!! storm?!? lightning?! These are the types of names MLS must get away from to avoid the minor league / XFL / WUSA / WNBA image. I still don't see why we have to be spoon-fed our nicknames. Call it Salt Lake SC and the fans and media will come up with their own nickname(s). Although I would like to see a revival of the old Salt Lake Trappers.
Talk abut lack of class. Salt Lake City hasn't even got a team yet and already they're disrespecting our league tradition of crappy names. Next they'll want uniforms that aren't ugly. When is it gonna end?