http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/382675.html http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/380330.html http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/377414.html
Now correct me if I'm wrong but this meeting will/should determin scheduling, player contracts, and un-paid club fees for the 2009-2010 USL-1 season?
mainly scheduling, here is a link to some insight from past AGMs http://www.a-league.com/features/2001/fea,2001,0042.shtml I know Allison (the author of the piece) has been a guest several times and I know she has some more recent pieces but I cant find them right now.
Well, we should find out a lot of info in the next week or so. Hopefully we'll get some leaks during the AGM.
Anxious to hear the results of this meeting... Saturday, November 1 - 11:30am - 12:30pm - USL Professional Division Expansion "The USL professional division's strategic development over the next three years will include expansion into other geographic regions of the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean. This seminar is a must see for PDL franchises that are interested in exploring opportunities within the USL professional division ranks. In addition to learning about what is required to be a part of the future of the USL professional division, USL senior staff will be on hand to provide the future vision and answer questions."
With the announcement of Tampa moving to the TOA league and CPFC defecting, I'm pretty sure their weekend just got ruined ...
Yeah, I bet it's just a bucket of laughs. Nothing like having the team that plays in the market where the league is headquartered jump ship DURING the AGM that is being held IN THE MARKET where the ship-jumping team plays. Good times. At least everyone can go drown their sorrows at Mons Venus.
"part of the future of the USL professional division" I wonder if that means there will only be one pro division next year?... who knows.
I think they've always talked about the two pro leagues as "the professional division" and the rest as "the amateur division."
It is odd that during their AGM, the "Senior Director of Franchise Development, ... {who is responsible to} guide the USL expansion and development efforts in North America" would quit. Especially at this critical time. http://www.uslsoccer.com/aboutusl/contactus/166756.html Very odd.
Where is the source of the info that he quit? I'll I've seen is vague rumors by BigSoccer newbies (except for you). This is really getting crazy. I'd really like to see a link. Not that I'd be entirely shocked, but I'm starting to find the unsourced rumors a bit annoying.
Imagine this: Matt W may or may not have been let go..but did anyone thing NuRock was going to just take the USL as it is? Believe it or not Marcos is not in the loop anymore. I suspect there will be some USL Spring cleaning before Spring. Let’s not lose sight that the TOA can crank up the PR machine like Tokyo Rose they are still not a sanctioned league. Perhaps they play each other as freindlys until Vancouver & Montreal go MLS next year? Another fact is why would the USL hire one the country's best law firms and the costs associated with it if they did not feel they had a case? I would guess the legal contract that Tampa & Baltimore signed is clear if NuRock is letting the lawyers have at them. Wonder if they have the money to fight as litigation is not cheap. If you look at the prospective new league, it’s still just 4 clubs and two of them are Canadian and have said they will be MLS bound. The two left are an ego-manic and a company called Traffic who wanted to control the league and how many other owners wanted the league run by the people who cannot get 500 to come watch their own team play? Don't get me wrong the USL has had its problems. Look at Cleveland! Heads should roll at USL for that blunder alone. St. Louis I suspect lost the USL bid when they needed and welcomed Traffic & the RailHawks money (because he didn't have enough). I would guess Nike would not sell to any group that included the Blues & RailHawks as they had they lawyers poking at Nike the day after Nike purchased Umbro. Nike is big enough to say #$%^&* you guys. So I think NuRock should get a chance to improve USL. As for the new world order..I meant new league..at this point I cannot see USSF approving a league whose members include one club virtually bankrupt (Thunder) 2 clubs that are clubs without players (Silverbacks & St.Louis) 2 teams under contract to another league (Tampa & Baltimore) and two Canadian teams that don't count, because they are not American and one has officially announce they are going MLS. Let cool head prevail and think. A league is not a league just because of a press release. It take so much more and have it approved and operating in 5 months? Particularly 6-8 solid american teams! Genie where are you?
How is that different than any of your anti-USL rants? I would be wary of hitching my wagon to anything Traffic is running. They have shown no competence whatsoever when it comes to running a soccer team in the US.
I haven't ranted anywhere near that level, thank you very much. I was just sick and tired of being in a league of zero visibility and everyone thinking the league was garbage and refusing to even give Miami FC a chance in what they viewed as a second rate league. And you guys in Cleveland, of all people, should feel very strongly against USL after what they have done to your franchise. They brought you guys up to USL-1 even though you guys were unprepared for the move and forced you guys to endure a horrible season in that horrible stadium you guys were in. And now you guys are probably headed back to USL-2, whatever that might be. Is that what you guys envisioned happening? Is that what a responsible league does to its members? Before this is all over, you guys might be joining TOA/NASL eventually so be careful.
I've never said USL is perfect. There are problems and I do agree with some of the TOA beliefs. However, I think some of the complaints are stupid and that some of the problems lie with the individual teams not the league as a whole. As for moving down to USL2, I could care less. We ran USL2. Cleveland was the hardest place to play in the league. If we drop down, we just go back to being the best team in the league, and I'm perfectly fine with that. Not many people in Cleveland are going to be able to tell the difference between USL2 and some other league that's not MLS.
Yep Let's see what Traffic has accomplished in the US - A USL-1 team that underdrew City - by over 400 per game - A TV network based on a gross overestimation of the extent to which American soccer fans give a crap about UNCAF. Maybe the next breakaway attempt can be led by some guy passed out drunk on West 25th (Cleveland inside joke).