Announced this morning they are officially playing at Hofstra: http://www.nasl.com/index.php?id=3&newsid=3333
Yes thats true. Can sb tell me, who is the manager of the cosmos? Are there some about the front office and the coaching staff? Thanks!
Anyone know if the football lines are still on the field? I know they suspended their football program a year or so ago.
Well I've seen pics of LAX games there, either Long Island Lizards MLL or Hofstra NCAA, where the football lines are not there(but the obnoxious big blue endzones still are). It looks to be the same kind of "washable" turf that Seattle and Portland have. Considering they have no football, I would imagine they will not have the football lines for Cosmos games. The pro and college lacrosse seasons overlap so they'll probably be on there for some of the games(but considering that there aren't that many lines that would need to be washed off, they might want to just repaint as necessary). Part of presenting a quality soccer product is not having another sport's markings on the field in my opinion.
It's possible they could be the Mayor of Hempstead, NY and the President(?) of HOFSTRA...Just my guess.
http://www.bigapplesoccer.com/teams/cosmos2.php?article_id=31610 I know it's been posted elsewhere, but I thought it really belonged in this thread. The article states the Cosmos are hoping to hire a coach and GM by the end of October which is good to hear. More importantly, IMO, it was good to hear O'Brien say a few reasonable things like...they have to earn the respect of the fans.
Hofstra cut their football program in 2009 but the stadium still has football lines and end zones cut into the turf surface along with lacrosse and soccer lines. The Cosmos would not comment at this time on the gridiron lines and if they had plans to deal with those. O’Brien told Michael Lewis of Newsday, “I come from a very conservative business side. I want to fill it, but we haven’t set our business plans on filling it because we’re realistic. We’ve got to earn the respect of the fan base. Having not played for 30 years, it would be arrogant beyond belief to just turn up and think that people are just going to fill the stadium.” O’Brien said he expects that core of that fan base to be from Long Island.
This is good to hear. Low expectations on turnout, yet from previous interviews he seems ready, willing and able to market the team.
They will really need to addres the gridiron lines though, this amoung other things was one of the biggest turn offs in the Metrostars days at Giants Stadium...it made the product look vey vey amatuer and low budget. Since they no longer host football program I see no reason why they cant pay to remove the lines and adapt it to soccer. Presentation is going to be key for this franchise, they need to exhibit a profesionalism in their approach and package this product they best they can. SOmething as simpel as removing gridiron lines should be a standing requirment.
If the Cosmos wanted to pay to resurface the field, I'm sure Hofstra would not complain... The problem is, you're talking about something like a half million investment for the Cosmos when there is a very real chance they won't be playing at Hofstra within a few years.
I sure hope they do a better job than in 1975 For Pele's debut against the Dallas Tornado, the groundsman Stan Cunningham even spray-painted the pitch green when he heard CBS would be covering the game. "Pele had this sort of green fungus on his leg," recalls Clive Toye, general manager and later president of the Cosmos. "He thought he had caught a disease in his first 45 minutes playing in New York but all it was the green paint coming off."
no doubt about that, Pele arrived in 1975 and the Cosmos only played the 72 and 73 seasons at Hofstra
Announcement for GM and coach by end of the Month according to Seamus O'B. Hoping for Peter Wilt at GM and Colin Clarke at coach.
Couldn't possibly do better than that..I know the Peter Wilt talk is not based on anything, but Seamus seems like the type of owner to hire him. "We have to earn the respect of the fans" comes to mind. It'd be a miracle, and i'm really taking his words much further than I should, but we can all dream as long as we realize they're dreams (some people forget this second half).
The guy for the COsmos was Jeremy - he is running the day to day right now. He is looking to work with the fans closely - met him and he seemed to say all the right thigns...but they all have. That being said - the announcement of the GM/COACH should be before October is out