I hear what you're saying. But you brought up LAG II. They are the first full reserve team to be in USL-Pro. And what we're hearing is, that number is set to increase in the next few years. Now, sure, teams can choose to affiliate with an existing USL franchise and send 2-4 players down. But, if Gals II is succesful at this level in developing their young players, i see more and more teams going that route. Now, if more and more MLS teams are putting their full reserve side in USL-Pro there will naturally be less and less reserve teams outside of that to play each other and give the young players experience. So, one of two things will happen; 1. Most, if not EVERY, MLS teams will choose to operate their own USL-Pro side 2. MLS teams will negotiate to send MORE players down to affiliate clubs. Are you going to argue then about what constitutes a "farm team", when it is comprised of 6-8-10 of the MLS team's players? Also, if/when there are 6, 8, 12, 16 MLS teams with full reserve sides in USL-Pro, when do they start becoming the 800lb gorilla in the room? When a full majority of the board of governors are MLS teams? I don't know...
Hey, if every MLS team gets a MLS B squad in USL and those teams outnumber the USL stand alone teams? Sure ... if teams end up having more starters being paid by an MLS team than the USL team itself? Sure. There is going to be a point where teams (or the entire league) could constitude as a farm team/league. But NASL fanboys have been trumpeting this "we're not a farm league/team" as soon as the announcement was made ... well before The Galaxy II ... calling Energy FC a farm team WELL before the team signed their first player/recieved their first loan. It's fine if you're worried about the "threat" of it happening, but MOST are trumpeting it like it's already there and has been since they announced the "deal". That's why I don't know where people draw the line between it being ok to have a couple of loaned players on the squad ... to name calling a different league and calling it a farm league/farm team before it's any different than what they are rooting for in their own club. Also ... I'm not sure there is a great deal of pride difference in cheering for a NASL club full of MLS has beens (guys that have been cut by MLS) vs cheering for a USL club full of a bunch of young developing MLS hopefulls? Yes, both of those things are generalizing things WA to much (I fully admit that). But there is some truth behind it, especially when the best signings of the NASL this offseason have seemed to come from former MLS players (Hassili, Kleberson, Pickens, etc). At the end of the day ... 10% of the fans in the stands at a NASL/USL game will care if a player is on the way to retirement after a checkered MLS career bouncing around teams ... or on their way to MLS stardom.
I know I bring this up alot, but to me, it's like the difference between the OKC Blazers, and the OKC Barons. Blazers were a team of castoffs, wannabe's, has beens, etc... and we loved them! They were OUR team. Guys like Joe Burton. He never had a chance to make it in the NHL, but he was a legend here. They even retired his number. Should we not have followed him? Just becasue he was a "Has Been"? The Barons are a team of guys on their way up to the NHL, and people apparently don't give a rats ass. How can I say that? Attendance numbers. And i REALLY don't put the Thunder up as the main reason their attendance is crap. I truly believe that people just don't care that much. I know I don't. What's the difference?..... And if you want to carry this argument out to it's logical end, why should I then root for an MLS team full of EPL wanna-bes and guys who could never make it at a top world club?
I'm certainly not telling you which to be a fan of or that you can't be a fan of both. I hope you don't take this discussion as me telling you how to be a fan because I'm not. I'm not sure which I'd prefer if I were in a different situation. I like Sporting KC players being EPL/Europe wanna-bes because they are aspiring and training to be better and I try to follow them on to their next location. It's fun seeing Kamara and Espinoza and others go off to Europe ... yes, it hurts KC in the short term due to the loss of a talented player, but I also like watching the process of them replacing that talent and still continue to trend towards being a better team. I could see some value as a fan in watching a USL team (or NASL team) and having a player get signed by an MLS team and enjoy following that players career unfold. I think there is some draw in that. I prefer to go to AA baseball games to see the young up and comers instead of watching a AAA team full of guys nearing retirement trying to get one more MLB contract by playing well in AAA and guys who bounce back from MLB to AAA (the AAAA players so to speak). But I also see the value in rooting for a Crash Davis type of player (actually lived in Durham, NC and went to a lot of Bulls games and had a great time). The point I was trying to make is that if we're honest ... 10% of the people watching USL and NASL games know the difference or care enough to feel that one is preferred to the other. The best thing for them is to be for the ownership group for whichever league they're in puts together a good product to watch, markets it well, puts it in some decent facilities, and engages with the public (players/coach's accessible to the fans as much as possible). And from an "outsiders" perspective, Energy FC seem to be doing as much of that as possible and that's all you can ask for IMO. Fans will LOVE Jimmy Neilson. Players will LOVE to play for him and I think he'll bring in a good group of players that put a ton of effort out there on the field and will make the jump to the next level (affiliation or not). I appreciate the way you look at being a fan though, different than mine, I can appreciate it a lot. Hoping that the fans can back a group enough to make it a truly enjoyable experience in OKC (whichever group that ends up being). And I am of the opinion that the NASL should respectfully back out of OKC. It was a battle, they "lost", no sense in bringing both leagues down by dragging it out. I understand that the USL group may not have "won" in a manner that doesn't sit well with people, but at this point, it just hurts both leagues for it to continue. I'd say the same thing if it was the other way around as well. Heck, I wish USSF would come out and put some limits on what league can expand where ... maybe get them all in a room and tell MLS to pick 10 cities, NASL to pick 10 different ones, USL 10 different ones and say you can't expand into a city on another person's list for at least 6 years or something ... I don't know ... do something though!
To the topic at hand, I feel that the moment of ol' Timmy Boy made be the first nail in the coffin for the NASL side. While I have heard that they have new ownership, who will step forward and be their deep pockets. But there is something else to consider, too. For all the attention SOS gets about owning the PDL team (which is now the NPSL side) they weren't the only owner. One of them was Donna Clark, whose son (Jennings) played for OKC FC last season. Now he's on the Energy's final roster: http://www.energyfc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.article&articleID=1EA6075F-C4B5-E311-A1F9-000C296FBAA9 Looks to me that has been more than one defection from OKC FC as of late. But what do I know since I was just reporting on this CF for the last year. Yes, that's for those who think all of the OKC media is clueless about the situation. Oh and just so you know, none of the parties involved are 100% clean or whatever. They are all just looking out for number 1. From what I've seen from the highest levels of the leagues to the highest levels of the teams they really don't care about the fans so I won't be giving anything of them another dime.
From what I heard, Donna Clark was the first of the ownership group to find out that Tim McLaughlin was trying to sell out the others to Bob Funk, without even consulting them. And where did she hear this news? At Skinny Slims, the center of the soccer universe in OKC And who did she apparently hear it from? @Brother Badgerjohn from Big Soccer Lines intersecting....