I would say injuries and heavy starter use earlier in the season. There might also be issues of schedule difficulty being greater at the end of the year, but I didn't pay much attention to this.
Yohance Marshall left. He was one of the major players on the field for a majority of the season. When he left they lacked his skill in the back line, he left a few days before September 18th. Just my opinion though but you could really notice it on the field.
I've got some informaiton on the Austin representative at the NASL & USL AGM's at the Chantico's Army website.
Well after reading the Chantico's site....sorry guys but I will be throwing my support 100% behind San Antonio. Too much knowledge to share and don't want to be a killjoy. Best of Luck.
I completely understand. From the stuff I've heard, there are some good people behind putting San Antonio together. And it sure helps to have a stadium of your own to play in.
Well you guys have fun driving down to SA, I'll be supporting local soccer in Austin...even if it's played in the parking lot of an HEB. David seems like a good guy so hopefully he, or someone else, can pony up the dough to get us another team soon!
This is not a good post. It's a "make yourself feel important" post, lacking any substance whatsoever. As far as I'm concerned, post what you know of be quiet. Don't brag about knowing secrets and then keep them to yourself.
Not trying to be anything. I think if you notice, most of my posts have been very supportive of Austin and I unfortunately did have a little previous knowledge of things in Austin. IF this guy has potential investors, where were they when the Aztex was looking for them? This is just one of the many questions you should be asking. AS a minor investor, he let the Aztex go but now a few days later has the potential investors to bring a new team to Austin? Does this make sense? Why is he always hanging around when things go sour? Just posing questions. My knowledge is ancient history in the real scheme of things. If he can bring soccer to Austin, then that history is of no relevance. However, it does sway my support...that is all I am saying.
Or maybe he was, but Donner and cohorts convinced him the move to Orlando would be the best deal he'd be able to find, so he took it. Personally I think it was a mistake. He had a fanbase that was actually on the upswing, not exactly easy to do at any level of pro soccer in this country. What remains to be seen is if the promised land of milk and honey in Orlando is what Holt, Papdakis, and Donner sold him on it being. My money says it's more likely to be a crash and burn, but hey, good luck to them.
If you read the post on Chantico's Army, Markley was contacted by investors AFTER the Aztex left. Does it make sense? Well, I guess it depends on whether you believe that Phil Rawlins really tried to find local investors to join him. But it suggests to me that there are people that are interested in running an Austin pro team but didn't want to have anything to do with Phil, for whatever reason. I'm not sure what you have against Markley ("Why is he always hanging around when things go sour?") My memory is that he was one of the guys that worked to rescue things when the Lightning were stumbling, and then happily handed things off to what most of us thought was a better owner when Phil came around. My take would be that he really loves soccer, and loves Austin, and wants to keep pro alive here. So I'd say he's around when things go sour because he's eager to jump in and try and keep things afloat when others jump ship. But you've been shown to have a line inside the Austin soccer community that I don't have (even though you're in Beaumont), and your perspective has been shown to have a lot of substance to it. So maybe I'm just delusional and out of touch with what's really happening here.
I suppose that means you DON'T know something about why an Austin reboot won't happen? (Trying to get a straight answer on BigSoccer is like nailing jello to a wall.)
No, I don't know why an Austin reboot won't happen. But, I do know that as long as the Lonestars don't like the owners of whatever level of club Austin secures, they will not be successful enough to continue. I have seen it happen twice. It seems everyone in Austin wants to be the one who knows everything, who gets everyone together, whose idea is best, who owns the team, who coaches the team, etc. Because of this, there are many people who sabotage the attempts of those willing to put forth the extreme amount of effort and are willing to bear the monetary loss. Believe me even when a team is subpar or appears to be doing the bare minimum, the sacrifice of those attempting to make a go is substantial. So, while I hope Austin does get a round 2, unless everyone plays nice it will go the way of all before it. Sometimes stumbling is caused by multiple trips. VC...I see now that he says he was approached after Phil left town. But, I just think it is going to take someone else to get a decent level of team into Austin.
I take great exception at this incorrect assumption on Markley. I've known him for years, and has done more for Austin soccer than any of us combined. If you look at the way ownership goes, if you are the majority owner of a club, you have the control. Minority owners have a voice, by unless a group of minority owners has more shares than majority owner, then they're not going to interrupt the flow of the business. David has been working with investors that he knows to get professional soccer back into Austin since he found out about the move, which I believe, was about the same time everyone else found out. I read into this that his investors may not have been approached by Rawlins over the past year, as Phil may not have known about them, and David didn't know that additional investors were being looked at. I would encourage you to have a bit more direct information and knowledge of a situation and people before throwing around such incorrect and malicious comments.
Hm. Twice? You obviously consider the Aztex one of those times. Are the Lightning the other time? They're before I was paying much attention, but I had the impression that the Lightning didn't have very deep pockets, so I'm not sure that having the Lonestars support would really have done much. Or is there some other time you're thinking of? True. But as Markley is the one that's here in town that has the strongest, longest standing ties to the USL, it only makes sense that whoever the people are that approached him go to him as the point man. CR#7 may have been a bit inappropriate in his comments about Markley, but I also think that his comment above regarding the factions in Austin soccer has a lot of truth to it. Sometimes people outside the community have no clue what they're talking about. But sometimes they can see things better than those of us inside it.
Everyone has a right to their opinion until they start accusing people of things that are completely opposite of what they're doing, and the accusations would be altered if they only knew who or what they were speaking of.
I acknowledged that the article did state the investors appeared after Rawlins left town. VC pointed it out and I re-read the article and acknowledged it. I do believe that I am entitled to my opinion of whether or not I feel a certain faction is able to bring to Austin the level of soccer that just left and/or better. Perhaps those of you that were discussing a community owned team should share some of your ideas with him and/or other groups considering bringing a team in....there were some good ideas brought up and things that seemed to be missed in the Aztex org. I think it is very important to get it right this time in order to not muddy the waters for high level soccer in Austin. I don't think a half-baked effort will be tolerated after the level of success and professionalism that the Aztex brought. I was simply trying to get people to question any new efforts to make sure they are the best option prior to throwing support behind them only to feel let down should that group not be the right fit for Austin. There are a lot of people in Austin that have laid groundwork whether supported or not and have done tons for the Austin soccer community. Unfortunately that will not success ensure unless there is significant backing both financially and otherwise from the Latin and youth soccer communities. Best of luck....it only helps all soccer in Texas to have a strong team in Austin. It is great for the local soccer community as well as the larger Texas soccer community. I apologize if you felt my efforts to get all questions answered before again throwing support behind someone was out of line but I do feel it is extremely important.