I've always thought that having a minor league club play its game before the MLS game would be a great way to get folks to come earlier and spend more money in the stadium. If 2 or 3 thousand show up at 5 and stay for the double header, they're all going to buy dinner at the game. Three or 4 thousand more might come in at halftime of the first game and buy an extra drink. Make it a season ticket holder benefit. I like the idea of a top level minor league team in Cleveland and a 2nd tier one in Columbus. Having 35 18-22 year old prospects in the "Crew Pro System" would be great for the long term health of the club.
That is correct. He also originally wore it to project the fracture skull but as you noted he just got used to it so kept playing with it.
I have to admit that I've not followed the lower professional leagues all that closely in recent years. I intend to dedicate a little time doing so now, primarily to see what other MLS teams do, if there seem to be best practices in place, etc., so that I can better assess what the Crew ends up doing... when they eventually end up doing it. To your point, though, don't NYRB and Seattle both have two reserve sides? NYRB II and Tacoma Defiance - Play in the USL Championship NYRB U-23 and Sounders FC U-23 - Play in USL League Two There could be others, I suppose. There's so much change from year to year, especially at the lower professional levels, and names don't always make clear affiliations/ownership. Some MLS clubs operate a USL Championship side, while others (like TFC, Dallas and Orlando) are one step down in USL League One. Making things more complex, you have clubs with an official affiliation with - but not ownership of - a lower division side (Chicago, Montreal, Houston, San Jose, Colorado in the USL Championship, for example; Minnesota in USL League One), and of course a bunch of MLS clubs that fully own and operate their lower division affiliates. I even see one USL Championship side (Phoenix) that owns and operates a USL League One side (Tuscon). Some MLS affiliates play in their MLS club stadium (Portland, LA Galaxy, Philly, DC, KC), but not all, even when they play in the same metro area (NYRB II, for example). RSL owns a separate 5,000 seat stadium located at their training facility in Herrimann, Utah (outskirts of the SLC metro area) that their USL Championship team plays in. Atlanta United's USL Championship side plays in Kennisaw, GA at a stadium owned by the university there, BUT it's really close to the MLS team's training facility in Marietta. Orlando City seems to have a similar set-up for their USL League One side. Bottom line: I don't see one MLS side that seems to really care about and invest in lower division pro soccer that operates that team any real distance from its MLS base. Not one. Their lower division affiliates are owned by the MLS club and either play in the MLS stadium, at the MLS training facility, or in a stadium located near to/in the MLS metro area. The only MLS clubs with more geographically distant affiliations are those that don't own their lower division affiliates and, frankly, we wouldn't want to emulate. It's fun to talk about placing a Crew owned USL side in Akron or Cleveland, but in doing so aren't we conflating the purpose of having such a team? It's really about one thing: preparing talent for the MLS club, and that's best done close to the MLS club. If the Haslams want to make the Crew Ohio's team, I'm doubtful that sticking a minor league soccer team (playing in Steelers colors) in NE Ohio city is the way to go about it. Closer to the point, none of the teams that Porter and Bez are likely to be looking at as role models in setting up our own USL side have taken such a path.
Also, this page is pretty useful and seems to be reasonably up to date: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_soccer_clubs_in_the_United_States Not that it might not contain errors, of course.
🔄 Trade:🖤&💛 acquire up to $400,000 in allocation moneyFC Cincy receives rights to former #Crew96 player Kekuta Manneh➡️ https://t.co/36GZwZ9kNN pic.twitter.com/8nrvre980d— The Crew (@ColumbusCrew) February 13, 2019 Crew getting $300k in xAM guaranteed plus another $100k xAM possible with performance targets.. All for Manneh's rights. That seems like a great move.
Do we now officially have "metric fucton" of GAM and TAM? Certainly extracting a really good price from Cincy for the asset. That's really good news. Basically something for nothing.
I'm just used to one of MLS's stupid anti-competitive roster rules actually working in our favor. And I sorta imaged we might get, oh, maybe $50K for his rights. In 2017, we got him from Vancouver for $225,000 in TAM, $75,000 in GAM and Tony Tchani, which seemed fair considering his numbers with the Whitecaps. But considering how badly his career has fizzled in Mexico and Switzerland, I don't see how his rights command $300-400K in allocation funds. Then again, what do I know?
https://www.dispatch.com/sports/201...eper-crucial-spot-with-zack-steffen-departing This writer’s insightfulness level can only go up.
Just to clarify: I wasn't disagreeing or doubting your statement. My "huh" was meant as a "oh, wow. I didn't know that." I should have said more than "huh." I hadn't really given it much thought. Your posts--and Bill's--does make one wonder how beneficial helmets really are, for pointyball and for hockey. Sure, they help with contusions/bruises of the skin and soft tissue, and probably protect against skull fractures. But not so much with concussions.
What? I found it very illuminating to know that it is crucial for Crew to find a replacement in goal.
I will say that article made me realize we have even less time with Zack than I had originally assumed. I completely forgot about the Gold Cup so instead of Zack leaving after the July 6th game (20/34), he will be on international duty starting June 3rd through July 7th for the Gold Cup. So it looks like June 1st vs NYCFC (16/34) will be his last in Black and Gold. Plus he'll be missing the March 23rd match vs Philly (4/34) for the March friendlies. So we have 15 games left with Zack between the pipes. Seems like Bendik is our 2 keeper. Wonder how much playing time he'll get in Charleston.
I figured that much as I went back over the response. The truth is there are actually safer helmets for pointy ball to use but they aren’t developed by major manufacturers so they don’t get selected as the official gear of the NFL.
I personally believe they will only eliminate some concussions by reducing the size and weight of the helmets. Too many players are taught to use it as a weapon, long before they even get to the pros, which also results in neck and back injuries, as well.
There was a suggestion about 10 years ago to go back to the old leather helmets for that reason. My question would be to see how concussions in football match up with similar tackle sports like the various forms of rugby.... Might give a partial clue--though rugby players do not tend to be as large.
Reportedly, Rugby has more, but I'm not sure neck injuries are included (think Ryan Shazier), and what are the reasons for the concussions? I've watched some Rugby, but haven't really seen a lot of slobber-knockers, more grappling tackles for the most part. That's at the pro level, maybe more impacts at lower levels?
No need for this. I know we are all uptight here but don't worry. New Baltimore will be open soon enough.
That's similar to what a lot of veteran hockey players, coaches, and observers say about face shields: when everyone's eyes were exposed people felt a greater responsibility to be more controlled.