Jesus Christ, I understand the points both of you are making, but you don't need to be so aggressive/defensive/obnoxious about it. It's also completely off topic! Why not just PM each other and leave it off this board?
Heh, funny guy. Maybe you don't know, but it's against Kenn's religion to not try to publicly humiliate someone on these boards.
Ha, you shouldn't count a loss in the W column . . . Unless you don't have 100 wins. Then maybe you can chalk it up as your best loss.
Back on Topic: At the Supporters Summit, Orlando City Front Office guys announced that season ticket sales are up 188% from last year. I'm not sure what this means but it sounds good and I'm sure this figure will be mentioned to Garber later this month at Disney.
I see the pre-season schedule is shaping up nicely as well . . . 3 MLS Teams, 6 College squads, and an International team . . . not bad. Do you guys think the attendance for the MLS teams will rival, or even surpass those of regular season games?
City is playing the Union at the Citrus Bowl on 2/18/12. This will be an important test. Will the usual crowds of 5-6K show? Will all 11K from last season's championship match show? Probably not. But we should beat last year's Union friendly (announced attendance 3,100 and, BTW, the first ever match played by O.C.) by at least a couple thousand. The other MLS matches will be played at Disney's ESPN Complex. Orlando Rays may correct me if I'm wrong but I think that stadium only holds around 3,000. All Orlando City vs. (Insert MLS club) matches are expected to be sold out.
We hope so. An 8k average is probably more realistic. Play off matches should bring close to 10k. We'll see.
That would be quite the feat. No DIII team has ever averaged 10k (Orlando's 5,415 last year is the record) and the only DII teams to do it are Rochester (nine times), Montreal (seven times) and Portland (once). To nearly double their average would be quite significant.
I don't think we'll average 10K. But the numbers will go up. There has been good media coverage. There's a good buzz in the pubs, the work places, and schools. People I know, who up until now were not interested in soccer, are asking questions about the matches. We expect to see alot of new faces in 2012. One key factor, IMO, is neither the team nor the supporters think of Orlando City as a "Division III" club. We don't act like it's just D-3. To us, it's the best thing to hit our town in over twenty years. It's a state of mind. It may not be the big leagues (yet). But it is great fun.
I certainly can't give you an accurate percentage # of fans in the stands that are in the know, but I'd be willing to wager that definitely over over 50% of them don't know the difference between D2, and D3. All they know is that they are at a minor league game. I'd also venture to say that over half of them don't even know what the U.S. Open Cup is. Granted, I'm counting spouses, children, etc . . . but the point remains. The average person that makes their way to one of these games is not the kind of avid fan you'd find on these boards.
I can buy that the supporter groups themselves view the club as something bigger than your run of the mill D2/D3 team, we by default take our teams and the sport more seriously than most, more casual fans, but don't fool yourself into thinking the fan base at large is under the delusion that they are playing in the big boy league. They most likely know next to nothing about D2 vs D3 and the circus that is lower division soccer as a whole. And with an owner who talks about MLS constantly instead of at least doing a little to help promote the league you guys actually play in, who can blame them?! The bonus is that as long as the product is good, they aren't likely to care much either.
True and true. What I think is going on here is that a long-overlooked void has been filled. Orlando continues to expand (based on census data -the Orlando / Daytona area is projected to surpass the Tampa / St. Pete area in population by 2020). Yet, we've had only one big league team to cheer for all these years. The soccer nuts are in the supporter groups. The general sports fans are steadily filling up the rest of the lower bowl of the CB. You guys are correct. People love a winner. And our cause was well-served when O.C.S.C. won the D-3 Championship. But, win or loose, a foothold has been established here in Central Florida. And despite all the MLS talk, everyone I know would love to see the Lions get in on that Rowdies-Striker action. The only thing better than a two-way rivalry is a three-way rivalry.
It'd definitely be a fun rivalry, but I don't see it ever being likely. Either you guys get MLS, which would likely limit the chance that the Rowdies and Strikers also get it down close to zero, or you guys somehow miss the MLS boat and Tampa Bay or Ft. Lauderdale/Miami somehow get in. All three of us playing the same league just seems like a pipe dream, unfortunately. Rawlins says he wants MLS and if he somehow doesn't succeed in Orlando I think he'd be more likely to either find a new market or sell the team than he would be to join the NASL.
I wouldn't call it a pipe dream, if the Magic trade Howard, the Dolphins, Bucs, Marlins remain mediocre, the Rays go back to being the Devil Rays, and the Heat ends up having their big 3 experiment imploding, suddenly there is a lot of sports space. The first two are extremely likely, #3 depends on each season, and #4 always has the potential. I've noted something in the following of the 3 florida clubs, unlike the MLS clubs a decade ago, these teams aren't trying to shoehorn themselves into the sports market. They are creating a natural evolution of fans that have begun to demand soccer in their area. Additionally, that's been the issue with pro-sports in Florida, most of the teams have been forced upon the residents and not built by them. If the 3 of Florida build a strong soccer community, I don't see why they could be the first Florida non-American football teams to incite consistent passion with their fans.
Can you tell me what other states or areas have had the residents "build" pro sports teams as opposed to having them "forced" upon them? I'll hang up and listen for your answer.