Any news on returning players or coach? I read in the Chivas forum that they were going to give Carlos Borja another chance, so I guess he is not going to be suiting up for the Blues in 2013.
Friendly vs Chivas USA on field 4 at the HDC this morning at 11 a.m. I won't be in town, but plan to go to more matches this year. Anyone know if there is an actual supporters group for the Blues? We went to the friendly against Mexico U20's and I didn't notice any.
Supporters group for the Blues. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blues-Brothers-Orange-County-Ultras/183695264994409?fref=ts We will be there for the home opener. Decided to sit back and relax for the U-20 match since it was so far in pre-season and we have quite a few members that are also El-tri fans. Come stand with us on the 23rd. We'll be easy to find.
The Los Angeles Blues opened the 2013 USL PRO season with a 2-0 victory over expansion Phoenix FC on Saturday night thanks to goals by George Davis IV and Chris Cortez. Ghanaian veteran Anthony Obodai was sent off for a reckless tackle on the Blues’ Juan Perez, leaving Phoenix with 10 men in the second half.
They didn't list attendance on the box scores on the league site. Did anyone on here attend the site and hear the announced attendance or have a guess on what it is? Thanks
1436 according to the USL box score http://www.uslsoccer.com/scripts/runisa.dll?M2:gp::72013+Elements/Display+E+47107+Stats/+3684667
yeah the photo in the attendence thread I counted close to 400 (yes I counted them....and yes I did have that much time on my hands) I did note that it looked like the photo was just at kickoff (or possibly right after a goal. so I would say there is another 100 or so that you cant see. All that said, teams usually announced tickets sold. no telling how many were sponsor tickets, group tickets that weren't used or something
( a ) That was from right at kickoff. ( b ) I know someone who was at the game who said there was no one on the camera side at all. ( c ) The chances of the Blues actually selling 1,436 tickets to a game aren't very good, either.
( d ) They've only ever "distributed" that many tickets one other time! (I can do this all day, yes.) The complete and utter history of LA Blues attendance: 5/01/2011..Antigua.....1,061 5/12/2011..Charlotte.....671 5/14/2011..Charlotte.....623 6/24/2011..Harrisburg....353 6/26/2011..Harrisburg....312 7/15/2011..Dayton........704 7/17/2011..Dayton........248 7/29/2011..Antigua.......317 7/31/2011..Antigua.......308 8/02/2011..Antigua.......146 8/12/2011..Richmond......294 8/14/2011..Richmond......246 4/14/2012..Rochester...2,432 4/20/2012..Rochester...1,388 5/04/2012..Wilmington....200 5/06/2012..Wilmington....847 6/15/2012..Dayton........276 6/17/2012..Dayton........239 7/06/2012..Orlando City..365 7/08/2012..Orlando City..673 8/09/2012..Antigua.......305 8/11/2012..Antigua.......470 8/17/2012..Harrisburg....124 8/19/2012..Harrisburg....928 3/23/2013..Phoenix.....1,436
Damn! I saw that 1436 on opening day and was hoping that it was a sign of improvement. Not likely, eh? That's too bad. Then their next game had only 337? And is Sherbeck Field Cal Fullerton's soccer stadium? And any idea how many seats it has? I'm not finding much on-line. I want to see these lower division teams succeed, but I'm not sure what they need to get more fans out to their stadia, or more sponsors, or get a TV contract. (Yeah, clearly if they spent a ton of cash on a big media push and built themselves a new stadium, they'd get more butts in the seats, but I meant something practical. And yeah, the Riverhounds did it, and Northern Virginia and the NeoCosmos have plans, but not every team can do that.) Bummer. - Mark
They have used Sherbeck Field in the past, it's at Fullerton College, not Cal State-Fullerton. It has those three things of metal bleachers, so you aren't going to get many people there, nor is it designed for that, really. You know that old joke that the Cubs are three players away from winning it all? Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Sandy Koufax? They need lots of things. They need resources. They need vision. They need realistic goals and patience. They need more boots on the ground. They need proper stadiums. They need to present themselves in a professional manner. They need a league around them that doesn't have Antigua Barracuda in it. They need to not play at 4pm on a Tuesday at a juco track. They need all these things. And then some. It is not simple.
I think the Blues need to drop Los Angeles from the name and embrace Orange County. I'm not saying that will instantly draw in more fans and the Blues will all of a sudden have big numbers, there are multiple issues that need to be addressed and other things at stake. But playing in Fullerton and marketing to Orange County soccer fans as Los Angeles is a bit of a turn off. I know it was to some of my friends who would love to go to games, but don't want to support an LA team, that includes the Galaxy. But I have been a Galaxy supporter since '99, long before the Blues were developed, but since the Blues play basically in my backyard, I attend games as much as I can to help support the team and lower leagues. I'm just not sure if the Blues are marketed enough and are relevant enough in Orange County. Maybe they need to think about branding to Orange County, because Los Angeles doesn't seem to be working. I even e-mailed the Blues FO and they responded by saying they consider themselves an Orange County team, but the lure of having LA attached to the name was important to the owners. Trust me, I understand there is a lot more to the Blues and USL relevancy, but I think the LA-OC rirvalry is a little underestimated. Some OC fans don't want to support and LA team, just like LA fans wouldn't support a team in LA called the Anaheim Blues. Just something for them hopefully to considr. I'd love to see an Orange County team thrive.
Man, that's provincial and small, innit? It's not the name. Anecdotal evidence aside, their problems go waaaaaaaaaaaay beyond the name.
Which is what I stated. But would it hurt the team more than the state they're in now? My thought was that it might be worth considering.
At this point, worrying about whether your tie is on straight so you look nice for the paramedics when you're bleeding out on the sidewalk is not something you should be doing. You don't do things that are, at best, neutral when you are in desperate need of positive things. That would be change for change's sake, because you think things can't be worse. (They actually could, there's a cost to rebrand and reprint everything, any business that rebrands goes through that.)
We have a battle of the "Small crowd" teams this Sunday as the VSI Plant City FC (longest name in American soccer I think) play host to the L. A. Blues. I am taking 4 cousins who live in Plant City. Who knows maybe they'll get to 500 this weekend with a week to beat the bushes for fans. I counted 252 at last weeks game even though the crowd was 1,000+.