Cleveland

[Chris_Bailey]

Let's face it, if Houston is getting one of the 2 teams to be named by the end of the season, they take up a Western conference slot....meaning....(sorry Oklahoma)...Cleveland is likely to be getting the second slot to be in the East.

If so, here is where it would likely be if Wolstein builds his 20k seater:

http://maps.yahoo.com/py/ddResults.py?Pyt=Tmap&tarname=&tardesc=&osd=&newname=&newdesc=&dsd=&newHash=&newTHash=&newErr=&newTErr=&newFL=Use+Address+Below&newaddr=&newcsz=cleveland%2C+ohio&newcountry=us&newTFL=Use+Address+Below&newtaddr=&newtcsz=Boston+Heights%2C+OH&newtcountry=us&Submit=Get+Directions&stp=a&stx=&csz=

"*[Mayor McFall noted a conversation with Bart Wolstein earlier in the day, confirming Mr. Wolstein's interest in putting a 20,000-seat professional soccer stadium facility on the Boston Hills Country Club. (Mr. Wolstein was the principal owner of the old Cleveland Force soccer team, and is reported vying for a Major League Soccer expansion franchise.) The Mayor also stated that he had then spoken with the owner of the golf course (presumably Mr. Arthur W. Treuhaft or another representative of Hudson Park Estates Inc. & Woodale Estates Inc.) who claimed not to have been contacted about this interest.]"


This comes from the info from a Boston Heights village meeting you can find here:

http://www.bostonheights.org/Village/Council/VBHC0304.htm

[Mad Hattah]

this just kind of popped up didn't it? Cleveland?

as Segroves said the cleveland bid does assume the same East/West seperation... you think they could be headed back to the 3 conference set-up? (along with those super sweet logos for east/central/west?) :-P

if they did that it would be a mess with six teams in the "middle" of the US (CLB/CLE/CHI/HOU/DAL/KC) i'd make it four divisions of three to deal with the geography... i guess the split could be...

NE/NY/DC (Northeast)

CLB/CLE/CHI (Mid West)

HOU/KC/DAl (Central)

LA/SJ/COL (West)

then again...

[Sundevil9]

Or they can go with twelve 1 team divisions.

A realistic possiblity is if OKC gets a team is to re-align and move KC East.

As long as they don't go back to the three division alignment.

[Bonji]

I don't see why Houston is automatically a western team. If Seattle get's the nod, then Houston goes east I would think. Cleveland would obviously be in the dark if that happens.

[doliveti]

A little more information. I don't know how recent this is but I found it on http://www.bostonheights.org/

"Grapevine: Soccer Stadium in Boston Heights?
Bert Wolstein, former owner of the old Cleveland Force soccer team, wants to build a 20,000+ seat MLS soccer stadium (Coliseum-size) and 100-acre field facility in Boston Heights. Perhaps in conjunction with the closed hotel on Hines Hill Road, and possibly comparable to the Columbus Crew stadium."

[chayes]

Originally posted by Bonji
I don't see why Houston is automatically a western team. If Seattle get's the nod, then Houston goes east I would think. Cleveland would obviously be in the dark if that happens.

You don't pay attention to much do you?

Seattle isn't on the list.

Its Houston is in.

OKC or Cleveland. Pick between those two. No Seatlle, no Philly, No 2nd LA.
Those are your choices.

[Minnman]

Originally posted by Mike Segroves
That Cleveland Article is from April 9.

What has been happening since then?

Exactly. Amazing that people seem unable to look at the born-on date of the news iems they post.

It is all but impossble that Cleveland could build a stadium by spring 2005. Maybe there's someplace else a Cleveland MLS could play for a year or two. I have no real idea. But I fail to see why anyone's convinced that Cleveland is a logical 2005 expansion city.

[USRufnex]

Garber used the word "Cleveland" in a sentence... that makes them a "finalist", just like the Twin Cities, right???

[FootyMundo]

Originally posted by Chris_Bailey
Let's face it, if Houston is getting one of the 2 teams to be named by the end of the season, they take up a Western conference slot....meaning....(sorry Oklahoma)...Cleveland is likely to be getting the second slot to be in the East.


This logic does not follow whatsoever. They'll add the two markets that make the most sense financially without regard to geography whatsoever. Conferences can be realigned. Kansas City can move east of OKC and Houston get the nod.

[BulaJacket]

The Plain Dealer:
Word is an estimated 15,000 tickets

have been sold for Friday's Boca Juniors-Celtic international exhibition soccer match at Browns Stadium. Yes, that IS a lame number - Browns Stadium holds nearly 74,000. But game organizers are still confident that a huge, flash crowd will show up for the Boca-Celtic match. (Earth to game organizers: It ain't happenin'.)

Boca Juniors, part 2:

The fans who DO show up for Friday's soccer game should see one of the world's top young players: 19-year-old Boca scorer Carlos Tevez, who's being hotly pursued by a top German club.

Boca, part 3:

The Argentine club can expect a warmer reaction from Browns Stadium fans than it often gets in Latin America. During one game last season, Boca coach Oscar Tabarez was punched by an opposing fan who ran on the field.

....

Word is Cleveland

should have a good idea by mid-August whether it will land a 2005 MLS outdoor soccer expansion team.

Hey, small coverage but at least a blurb, bad numbers for that game though. Anyways, if Cleveland gets this team, Wolstein needs to mend some fences and market the hell out of this chance. A team could end up doing very well (especially in the richfield coleseum area) if BW does the team, league, city, and metro right. I hope it it goes Cleveland's way that MLS catches on right away and the outcome is well for MLS, the fans, and the city; and that the Cleveland Columbus rivalry is something that ends up being a long time MLS rivalry.

[BulaJacket]

Also, if it's Cleveland's team, BW might want to get an early start and possibly sign Hector Marinaro to a coaching position, as he is a well known soccer name and mind in the Cleveland area.
http://www.cleveland.com/force/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports/1050831079136752.xml

[Mateofelipe]

Originally posted by chayes
You don't pay attention to much do you?

Seattle isn't on the list.

Its Houston is in.

OKC or Cleveland. Pick between those two. No Seatlle, no Philly, No 2nd LA.
Those are your choices.

Party pooper. I pick Spokane.

[anderson]

Well, is there any sort of large Scottish or Argie community in the area? If not, then 15,000 pre-sold, plus whatever walk-up on game day, really sounds pretty reasonable for a random friendly involving two teams without large local immigrant fan bases.

Celtic and Boca are interesting enough to the likes of BS posters and FSW viewers, but I doubt they register much interest with more normal people. They're just not at the ManU, Barca, or Real Madrid level of appeal.

Of course, that attendance may still not be enough to turn a profit for the promoters, but that's a separate question from whether 15,000+ is a reasonable expectation.

[Joe Stoker]

anderson, most of the Scots turned south when they hit the Alleghenies... but they were largely Presbyterian in background anyhow. More likely QPR material. Not a large contemporary contingency in NE Ohio. And the Irish Catholics here probably prefer ND football. Many, many more Italians. That's why I figured the promoters would take a bath when AC Milan pulled out. Thought Juvy would save the day, but I suppose they're playing elsewhere on the States this upcoming weekend.

Guess the Tribe is also in town Friday night. Maybe the traffic cops will misdirect some of them to Browns' Stadium. And we won't let 'em back out!

[BulaJacket]

Originally posted by Joe Stoker
That's why I figured the promoters would take a bath when AC Milan pulled out. Thought Juvy would save the day, but I suppose they're playing elsewhere on the States this upcoming weekend.

As did I and it has shown.
It is salvagable, especially for those two less than predominent nationalities.
I guess the walk ups determine the success in this case.

[anderson]

Well, who knows, you may draw as well for Boca as they apparently did in Guadalajara last night. This article has says that about 35,000 people showed up at the massive Estadio Jalisco to watch Chivas x Boca [R]:

http://espanol.sports.yahoo.com/030723/1/l4z3.html

And that may be generous - the guys on Radio Unica were watching the game and said that the stadium looked pretty empty. Move Chivas! (to Houston. ;) )

[BulaJacket]

Originally posted by Sundevil9
Or they can go with twelve 1 team divisions.
.....
As long as they don't go back to the three division alignment.

I didn't pay attention to that line earlier...that's a Classic!

As for the second line.....3 divisions is HORRIBLE.

[anderson]

So here's the attendance blurb [R]: Celtic of Scotland and Boca Juniors of Argentina, two of the greatest names in the global game, played an exhibition match at Browns Stadium last night and while game officials announced a crowd of 20,842, pressbox estimates had no more than 14,000 in the park.Match report from The Plain-Dealer [R] (http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports/1059212339250120.xml)What do those of you who went to the game think the attendance was like? I watched on FSW and thought it didn't look bad at all, but obviously you can't really judge well unless you're there.

What do you think about the article's opening line about the implications re expansion?

[BulaJacket]

http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=62950

here's a discussion on it....

[ArtForceOne]

The fact that the Boca-Celtic match only drew 14,000 shows that Cleveland is not yet ready for MLS. The Man U matches in Seattle and Philly are sellouts and proves that they are much more deserving of MLS expansion. These are more soccer-sophisticated cities, plain and simple.

I hope Cleveland doesn't get an MLS team because I'm already a Crew fan and Cleveland is simply too close and would take away from the NE Ohio fans like me who regularly take the 2 hour trek to C-bus. However I do want Cleveland to get an A-League team. I believe this is a much better scenario. I hope a SSS near Cleveland is built, the team is called the Force; they wear blue and gold and are affiliated with the indoor team so that they make a name for themselves year-round just like the Milwalkee Wave. I could root for them and the Crew without conflict. Plus the potential rivalries with Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Toronto and Rochester are appealing too. If this team starts drawing 16,000 a game then maybe be can talk possible MLS expansion.