Well here we are, last weekend of the regular season and onto the Playoffs!!! Top two teams in each division qualify and each round will consist of a two game (home and home) series with a game 2 mini game if necessary. Some sound like they like this format, some do not. As for me, I like it. It is short, not drawn out, more easy to schedule, affordable, and a smart way to do it for this league. I also like the amount of teams that are in the playoffs, as they are the ones who deserve to be in it. Tacoma and Cedar Rapids get honorable mentions, but fell apart towards the end of the season and were eliminated from playoff contention. Here is a link for the playoff bracket and schedule. http://www.maslsoccer.com/news/masl-playoff-matchups-set Can't help but notice that the Sockers, KC, and the Blast (all division winners) will play game 2/mini away for the 1st round. This could make things even more interesting! Also, below the playoff schedule I noticed something I have not seen before. Maybe this has been up and I just missed it. But below were it says "About the Major Arena Soccer League" it states: The Major Arena Soccer League represents the highest level of professional arena soccer in the world. The MASL features teams across North America, with teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico. The MASL is currently incorporated as a 501(c)6 not for profit corporation formed to promote the business and sport of arena soccer. I did not realize this league was operating as a not for profit 501(c) 6. I'm far from a business major, but this looks like a perfect way for this league to operate, grow, and continue to be successful! http://smallbusiness.chron.com/501-c-6-organization-60734.html Anyway, Good Luck to all teams in the playoffs and may the Best Team Win!!!
You're right Brian, I saw that earlier when I was researching what a 501c6 was and I could not believe it. Did some more research and found only the league was 501c6 and not the teams. The NFL was still able to save a ton in taxes. Did not know they were 501c6 from 1966 to 2015 though. Thanks for the info. https://www.theatlantic.com/busines...the-nfl-decided-to-start-paying-taxes/391742/
Let's be honest here, MASL is not for profit. Doesn'the matter if they were registered as a 501 (c) 6, a General Partnership, a C Corp, an S Corp, a LLC, a Canadian Entity operating in the US, a Foundation, a Trust, a Sole Proprietorship or an DBA of a current team. MASL is not for profit. Which really puzzles me about their website. Andrew Haines runs a website development company and they could have hired him to redo and host the site. He did a really good job on the IPL website. They could do a soft dollars contract and everyone is happy.
Does anyone know why the Sockers are playing "game 2/mini" away? I just checked the Citizens Bank Arena site and there isn't anything scheduled for Thursday March 9 which is when the Sockers would have played up in Tacoma if the Stars had finished second in the Pacific Division. http://www.sdsockers.com/news/san-diego-sockers-masl-playoff-dates-announced
Andrew Haines had offered to do it for the MASL last year and create a new logo and they never took him up on his offer. you are 100% correct they did a great job on the IPL site. Haynes creative agency does some quality work If I ever decide to relaunch my store I am going to talk to him about designing the site for me.
For Baltimore we will play at home on a saturday in front of a packed house and Then on Thursday in harrisburg in an empty arena. ( more than likey ) A lot of Blast Fans will be at this game since its only an hour and a half drive up I83. Win game one and you put all the pressure on the home team.
Okay, let't throw out some playoff predictions: EAST - Baltimore over Harrisburg CENTRAL - KC over Milwaukee SOUTHWEST - Sonora over Baja PACIFIC - Ontario over San Diego (going with the upset here as Ontario is very hot) EASTERN: KC over Baltimore (B'more doesn't have the offense to keep up with KC) WESTERN: Sonora over Ontario CHAMPIONSHIP: Sonora over KC
What ? Baltimore will be lucky to have 4500 They have 6 days to continue to sell the game, and looks like about 2500 sold so far You're right about the Farm Show though - it will be empty. Sadly, the Baltimore contingent will probably equal the Heats diehard supporters
Divisional Championship East: Baltimore over Harrisburg Skinny:Baltimore has had Heat 2.0's number. I see Harrisburg making things interesting for the first two quarters before the Blast pull away in both games. Central: KC over Milwaukee Skinny: This is the toughest one for me to predict. I am going with KC's recent history of getting to the conference finals. I see this going to the mini game. Southwest: Sonora over Baja Skinny: The closest series we have to a lock. No mini game needed. Pacific: San Diego over Ontario Skinny: Ontario is hot right now, but I do not feel that is enough to overcome the Sockers. Sockers will win with the mini game. Conference Championships Eastern: Baltimore over Kansas City Skinny: If KC's offense is on fire, Baltimore is not going to be able to come back. So I don't that last year's comebacks would be possibility. If Baltimore's defense can offset KC's offense, the Blast will win low scoring affairs. I see the Blast with the mini game. Western: Sonora over San Diego Skinny: Sonora's so loaded that I cannot see anyone in the west beating them. Championship Sonora over Baltimore Skinny: As a Blast fan, that pains me to type, but I just do not see the Blast being able to keep up with Sonora.
Two teams that are 10-10 do NOT deserve to be in the playoffs when you have two other teams with winning records (12-8 and 11-9). The format for the playoffs needs to be fixed. especially when you had 4 of the stronger teams in the MASL all in one division. And you have the toughest division in the league with 5 teams. It needs to be fixed. The playoffs should showcase the best teams in the league. Not the best, and average teams in the league.
Divisional Championship East Baltimore over Harrisburg 2-0 Central Milwaukee over Kansas City 2-1 (this one is a coin flip for me, it could go either way) Pacific San Diego over Ontario 2-0 Southwest Sonora over Baja 2-0 Conference Championship East Baltimore over Milwaukee 2-0 West Sonora over San Diego 2-1 Final Sonora over Baltimore 2-1
I have to agree with you its should be the top 8 teams in the league and they should be seeded accordingly it is the only fair objective way to determine a true champion. When it comes to the playoffs cutting travel cost should not become a factor.
The NBA has the same problem, there are more 'strong' teams in the Western conference, meaning that every year, a decent above-.500 team misses the playoffs. The NBA Eastern conference routinely sends teams with losing records to the playoffs. The NBA knows it is an issue but good luck getting the Eastern owners to vote for a 'single table' playoff format (playoff teams determined on a league wide basis with no regard to division or conference). In the MASL, not only would travel costs be an obstacle, but the weaker western teams won't go for league-wide playoffs either. We can only hope that over time, the MASL teams achieve more parity. At some point, the MASL should introduce a 'salary structure' (e.g., minimum and maximum pay rates, limit the number of higher paid players allowed on each team, etc.). Not happening right away but that would lead to the better players being spread across the league, rather than the financially stronger teams signing up a lot of quality players at will. Also have expansion drafts (each existing team must unprotect some players for a expansion draft when new teams join) and dispersal drafts when teams fold (drafting team holds player's rights for the next season, but player & team can negotiate a longer term contract). The teams with the worst records would pick first in a dispersal draft, but every team could either pick a player or pass.
Well the teams deserve to be in the playoffs according to the way the MASL had the playoff format set up this year. Harrisburg, though 10-10, had a nice run at the end, beat Florida multiple times and a big win in Cedar Rapids. It is a shame Cedar Rapids did not make the playoffs being 12-8. Had they beat Harrisburg at home and beat the Mustangs just one more time (1-3 vs Mustangs), then they would of been in. They did have some big wins against MIL and KC and deserved a spot. Baja did not deserve a spot and should not even be in this league. Baja and Turlock should move to the MASL2 next year. STL and El Paso (until they improve) should also move to the MASL2 next year. The MASL should possibly add some wild card teams into the mix next year, have division winners and teams with the next best record play each other, or have a format like the one I mentioned last September, which is posted below. Here's how I would do the playoffs. -East vs Central Conference , Pacific vs Southwest Conference for quarterfinal and semifinal play. -Two top teams in each division make playoffs with two wild card teams (next best record teams in conference using tiebreaker if needed) So 6 teams in each conference make the playoffs. -The following weekend after regular season ends, the second place teams play one home game against the wild card teams, in one game elimination playoff game. -Playoff weekend two (the following weekend) the winners (from weekend one) play the division winners in a one game playoff game at the home of the division winner. -The next weekend, the semifinal will be played at the highest seed home turf in a single elimination game. -The next weekend, for the Championship, E vs C winner vs P vs SW winner in a possible 3 game series. Here's how it would work: If the home team (team with best record/tiebreakers plays game one at home) wins game one, then they win the Championship. If the visiting wins game one, then a second game will be played, the next weekend, on their turf. If the visiting team from game one, wins game two, then they win the Championship. If teams are tied after two games, then it goes back to the home field (same as game one) on the following weekend, for the final game. Playoff example: East X-Syracuse16-4 S-Baltimore 14-6 Harrisburg 7-13 Florida 6-14 Central X-MIL 13-7 S-KC 12-8 W-STL 11-9 W-CR 10-10 CHI 9-11 SW X-DAL 15-5 S-SON 14-6 W-Paso 10-10 Baja 7-13 Pacific X-TAC 17-3 S-ONT 13-7 W-SD 12-8 Turlock 8-12 X=Division winner ,S=second place, W=wild card Quarterfinals (weekend One) QTRFinal Round Two (weekend two) SemiFinal (weekend 3) CR at Balt (CR wins 6 to 5) CR at SYR (SYR wins 7 to 4) STL at SYR (SYR wins 9 to 8) STL at KC (STL wins 8 to 6) STL at Mil ( STL wins 7 to 6 ot) Dal at TAC (TAC wins 8 to 4) Paso at ONT (Ont wins 9 to 5) ONT at Dallas ( dallas wins 4 to 3) SD at SON (SD wins 8 to 7 ot) SD at TAC (Tacoma wins 10 to 7) Championship Game One (weekend 4) Scenario 1 SYR at TAC (TAC wins 7 to 5) Tacoma wins Championship (series over), Scenario 2: SYR (wins 6 to 5) series goes to SYR for game two. Game Two Scenario: (weekend 5) TAC at SYR (SYR wins 5 to 4) SYR wins Championship, if Tacoma wins game Two, then a game three will be played back in Tacoma on Weekend 6 to determine the Champion. This playoff format gives the teams a week to promote the games. helps with scheduling for available arena dates, and makes each game important. The teams fight in the regular season for the best seed possible. All playoff games to be streamed on ESPN 3 (if financially possible)Youtube, which the MASL ended up using this season after I posted this, is great for the playoffs too.
The NHL used to do a 1-16 format and dumped it. (ie 1 plays 16, 2 plays 15, 3 plays 14 etc....). This was in the 1980s. The first team to exclusively charter was NYR and Montreal in 1987. The problems were numerous. - charter became affordable as an odd match up of say, Calgary v Philadelphia for 25 guys would cost a lot last minute. - you had to fly red eye, 5am and overnights to make it work. - you (sometimes) had a playoff series with someone you saw once a year. The "buzz" of the fan base wasn't the same as it would be against a close division rival. I heard Peter Pocklington say at a meeting that the move from a 16 v 1 format to a division, conference, league format saved him a million dollars in 3 years. He was the owner during the Gretzky in Edmontin years when they went deep in the playoffs for 10 years. Now that is a round number he arrived at. But the point is, if the NHL had a big savings in a division format, the difference in indoor would be lethal to some clubs.
Depending on how many teams are in MASL next season, perhaps adding a 'wild card' team in addition to the 'top two' in each division would be beneficial. The 'wild card' plays the lowest ranked second place team in a one game playoff. Then run the '2 game & mini-game if needed' for the rest of the playoffs. Overall, I think that the # of playoff teams should not be more than half the total number of teams. What does the regular season even mean if a majority of teams get a playoff spot? I am still not sure that a sports league that is (hopefully) moving towards some idea of stability really needs to start a 'second level' league right now. Each MASL team could just sponsor or directly manage their an amateur indoor men's team in their home cities. The teams would play all their matches locally, maybe the MASL team helps buy kits for the amateur guys, or helps them with a van ride to road tourneys on occasion. Or get sponsors to pitch in (free sandwiches from Subway, etc). The Wave did that for years on their own at low cost, with no additional 'second league' needed. Right now, this idea for 'MASL 2.0' just adds more expenses, and won't do any more to develop guys than local recreation league teams could/should already be doing. It is a solution in search of a problem. Having a 'minor league for a minor league' is kind of silly. Maybe someone in the MASL office felt the need to create more importance for themselves by being 'in charge' of this idea.
Maybe the Mustangs could put a team in one of the Chicago leagues. (Seriously, I'm not begrudging the Chicago ethnic leagues.)
The Ambush are now exploring the opportunity to 'partner' with an existing men's amateur indoor team, to serve a similar purpose to what the Wave did with their amateur squad. Have a place for less experienced guys to develop their game or work on fitness, rehab from injuries, have a pool of ready players to call up if needed. All this can be done locally. Really, I wouldn't be shocked if this 'MASL 2.0' is 'delayed' or cancelled. Who pays for travel costs of the 2nd league?
Exactly. Most MASL teams are already bussing it, eating cheap and staying 2 to a room at any hotel that has free breakfast. Overnight bus rides back home where they are lucky if the team springs for pizza.
If your team can not afford to fly to the games come playoff time then you should not be in the league in the first place. We need to stop this crap about oh we need to cut travel cost and players pay and save some money & we can grow this sport because it's all BS. If you can afford to own a so called professional team then you should be able to fly these players out for a playoff game. You are not going to pay arenas playing the same teams over and over again. Maybe if the league got off is ass and started marketing the product and state help selling tickets maybe teams could afford to fly. Right now the league is just collecting fees and fines and paying Josh Schaub. Now granted he has done a good job and he's worth every penny that he is paid. You can not keep putting in teams with a losing record into the playoffs. The best way is to take the top 8 teams and play in a home and home series with a ( 20 min ) mini game changing sides at the half . We need to stop rewarding teams that have a losing record and start rewarding the ones that do have one.
Why on earth is it called the MASL 2. anyway , It's just going to confuse people and confuse sponsors why can't they go back to using the the PASL name and logo for the 2nd division IMHO it should be two totally different Businesses played at different times of the year. This way players would have a chance to play on the pro team in the winter.
No team in the playoffs has a losing record. What the hell are you going on about now? And yes, we need to put a stop to this tomfoolery that is the 15 minute mini-game and make it a 20 minute mini-game immediately. What a huge difference that will make.