The Comets are just like the blast they are a 2nd half team , They see your mistakes and capitalize on them. I think once again you will see a blast VS comets conference final.
My God, you're so dumb. COSTS ARE ALWAYS A FACTOR IN THIS SPORT. That's like saying, "When it comes to vacation, calories consumed should not become a factor." Or, "When it comes to my big night out, the cost of dinner and Wayne Newton tickets should not become a factor." Why do you DO this? You can't seed 1-8 and potentially have an east coast team play a west coast team in the first round and have them fly back and forth on short notice. Early round playoffs HAVE to be regional. I would say I cannot believe you don't grasp this, but I actually do believe you don't grasp this.
No, it really isn't. You have no idea, NONE, about the business of this sport. You think you do, you pretend you do, yet you are wrong EVERY TIME you talk about how things ought to be. Where is the money going to come from to do this? From a lucrative TV deal? Where? No, you can't, really. You can't. Not in this day and age. Do me a favor: price sending 20 people or so from Baltimore to San Diego with, say, four days' notice. I assume you meant "fill" arenas, not "pay" arenas. The identity of the opposition has virtually nothing, in most cases, to do with how many tickets you can sell. And almost no one can fill an arena to begin with. Because the sport just isn't relevant to enough people anymore. Because there are almost no players worth paying to see. Or maybe if the freaking teams did it themselves! How does a centralized league do a better job of marketing teams in their home markets than the teams themselves? That's a local problem. "Marketing the product." That's funny. You have no idea what that would look like. So they're doing nothing but paying a guy who's worth it? Wow. Fun fact: One (1), ONE team with a sub-.500 record has made the MASL playoffs in the three years of the league. Brownsville went 8-12 in 2015-2016 and lost to Las Vegas in the second round. If this were a Strat-O-Matic league, sure. Great plan. You act as if this is a legitimate freaking competition, and that it MATTERS if the cobbled-together playoff system produces what you perceive to be a "legitimate" champion. The last six indoor soccer champions and their regular-season records: 2016 - Baltimore (15-4, third best in the league, beat numbers two and one to win) 2015 - Monterrey (18-2, tied for 2nd best in the league, beat the other 18-2 team who beat the 20-0 team to win) 2014 - Missouri (14-6, third best in the league, beat numbers two and one to win) 2013 - Baltimore (21-5, tied for best in the league) 2012 - Milwaukee (18-6, tied for best in the league, beat the other 18-6 team to win) 2011 - Milwaukee (15-5, tied for best in the league, beat the other 15-5 team to win) That's right, boys and girls, the teams that win the title have done so legitimately. So tell me again what the freaking problem is? Teams that aren't Baltimore and Milwaukee get to stay in the playoff race longer or make it in and have some excitement? Yes, wow, what a tragedy that is. Again, ONE losing record. Please stop, Lewis. Just stop.
Despite the fact that the last six champions have, arguably, been "true." Stop with the top 8, seeded 1-8 thing. It's fine if it works out geographically (and this year it would not be that bad). It's not fine if it doesn't. And it is absolutely not a guarantee of getting a "true" champion, which, again, if you look, we're already getting.
Remember the genius who insisted the Blast bussed to Monterrey and that he heard an advertisement for fans being able to go on the bus on the radio? Good times.
Sounds like a fun trip. Sorry I would miss it! I'm sure the Blast would be in tip top shape to play after a ride like that. Looks like a two day trip (28hrs according to google maps) hopefully they would be using a motor coach type bus and not a school bus (or a vehicle the Waza used to travel with)Don't forget about that bus ride back either! LOL Pictured below is a bus that would be perfect for the trip and a vehicle that is similar to the one the Waza would travel with.
Later today will be the last time that you see either KC or MIL play this season. KC has had a lot of success against the Wave in the past and has an advantage by winning game one. But on the other hand, this year, MIL has been very successful against the Comets at home during the regular season and are much improved from last season. Should be quite the Battle in Brew City!
Milwaukee should be able to win the first game. The mini-game is always a crap shoot. Just ask Chicago from last season. Milwaukee is a tough team to play at home, Give them the edge to win both.
You were right on Sting, the Wave won the series! Great game/plus mini to watch and a fantastic effort by both teams. The games went back and forth and I didn't think MKE would pull through. They are just another team which has really improved this season. Now it will be a good match up against either the Heat or Blast, but I must admit it would be nice to see another Wave vs Blast rivalry series!
Some games the refs do a good job, other games not so much. I was hoping that Kansas City would not win the game because of the terrible two minute call during the Min-game. Milwaukee deserved to win the series. Tough to win two at home, but they managed to do it. I am really interested to see how Baltimore responds on the road.
Milwaukee announcer made a great point after the Wave pulled out the win. Comets GK Paterson spends a lot of time roaming up the field, more than most GK do. He commented that Paterson's up-field runs could have worn him out towards the end of the game. The Wave also pooch kicked a goak right over his head when he had wandered off his line later in the game. Not blaming him for the loss, he had some great saves. It was way longer than a regular game, I am sure all those guys were wiped out by that point. I guess I think Goalkeepers should spend more time defending the goal, just a philosophical difference.
I agree. I think that the Milwaukee keeper was player of the game. Having a sixth attacker is great, but it involves a tremendous amount of risk. Don't play with fire unless you are ready to deal with the consequences. The KC goalie had no reason to be as aggressive as he was at that point in the game. Have some patience and let your attacking players do their job.
Do the Comets lack confidence in the ball handling and passing of their defenders and midfielders? I agree, let the field players handle and pass out of the back end. Lots of veteran players at those spots. I noticed that last season's Comets GK Pardo wandered out of the box a lot too. The Comets need to review this risky strategy of goalkeeping, it was definitely part of why they lost today. Maybe you get away with it against the below average squads but a good team with scorers can exploit the up field goalkeepers.
The "Fly Keeper" as they call it in Futsal started with Danny Waltman when he was in KC. KC used it with Pardo as well, and now with Patterson. They've figured out how to use their keeper to break pressure from opposing teams (as opposed to lacking confidence in other field players). All 3 keepers mentioned have exceptional feet and are comfortable with a ball at their feet. I think that a lot of KC's success this year came from Patterson being an option in the back to break pressure. They would run out the defender on Patterson's right side so he had the space to move forward. The opposing player typically had to track the run of the defender running out (which created space for Patterson). Patterson did get beat over the top by Ruggles yesterday. Nice goal. But it was rare for Patterson to get beat over the top this season. He knew when to pull out of the play and get back to goal. I would say he definitely had some tired legs going into the sudden death period. That long range goal from Leite would have been a routine save for him earlier in the game. You can't predict the game going that far into OT, so it would be hard to say that Patterson should have stayed home more often to save his legs. He's an effective part of KC's offense. So they weren't going to change that. KC missed Leo Gibson last night. He played some shifts in KC in game one, but it looks like he's not fully recovered from his recent concussion. You have to wonder what a healthy Gibson would have contributed to yesterday's game. Maybe a different outcome? would have been interesting to say the least. It was a great game(s). Both teams played to the end. Wish there would have been more people in the crowd to watch. It was a showcase game for the league.
Kansas City lost to Baltimore last year, in large part, because Pardo and a defender were playing catch in their own end like Russian roulette and the Blast picked one off and scored an empty net goal in their playoff game in Baltimore.
........and transportation to the hometown airport. You forgot about that too. Also despite your point about being "sure" they are under $100 per room, that is pretty cheap. For a metropolitan, clean hotel with breakfast to house 20 professional athletes for two nights.....$100 per room, per night is a deal. So the Blast are sponsored by the Embassy Suites by Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor. The average rate there is $179 per night. Also Embassy Suites usually gives out Hilton Honors Points and has a free drink happy hour where beer and wine are dispensed. So lets say the players don't drink and the rooms are not eligible for points, MASL and the Blast are still getting a great deal at $135.00 per night. You have 20 players coming from SD to Baltimore and you have rented one 15 person van. That is not going to work.........unless the other 5 guys are going to walk to the hotel, or travel on the roof like some sort of Pakistani railway. Short of that you need to double up and order two vans. CardshopMD. The Conference finals were just announced. The first game is 5 days away. The cheapest I can find to go from SD to Baltimore leaving in four days and coming back in 6 days, is $803 with a 2 hour layover in Atlanta. $803 x 20 =$16060 for flights alone. MASL needs to be a bus league for the near future, with the exception of the final. The above (hypothetical) trip alone has doubled from your $10000 estimate to be more than $20000
Carl better get his down payment for that bus.. cause that's one hell of a trip to SD or ....... MEXICO
1st I never said that this is what anyone pays , Unless you are cutting the checks you have no idea what they are paying. 2nd I just showed the cost of a van15 passenger van. I never stated they were only going to use one van. Technically if they flew into BWI airport they can all jump on the FREE shuttle bus to the inner harbor. As for the cost of the flights I spent about 30 seconds on google and came up with the numbers. Last year the Blast used the Holiday inn express and rates were only $109.00 a room & I am sure they received a discount off of that price. So I can not see them moving to Embassy suites without getting a better deal.
I think it would be fair to say this is cost a team $3,000 to $6,000 to drive Bus to a away game in their own division and 10,000 to 20,000 if they need to fly depending on the city they are going to.
I think the "Fly Keeper" strategy is also very fun for the fans to watch, as it increases opportunities to see goals scored. You do not see a lot of teams using it, as much as KC did this year, but I would like to see more of it. The bad news is that you give the other teams that long range goal opportunity or an easy repossession goal. One thing about Paterson too is that he has a very hard shot, he is a weapon! I remember , during certain indoor seasons, when you could put the 6th attacker in on the fly and teams were using that strategy early in the game. Hats Off to all of the rookie GKers who came in this year and did a fantastic job. Such as Paterson, Hugo, Lemos, Petricik, and Sliwa. Might be leaving some out, but those are the ones who come to mind. Cannot remember a season when I've seen so many new GKers. A healthy Leo Gibson could have been the difference maker for KC. As their leading scorer, he was surely missed. Not sure why he was out. Although, the MASL website this year is the best that I have seen for Pro Indoor Soccer, I would like them to add an injury report category for next year.
During the Milwaukee/KC game 2, the announcer said Leo Gibson was having 'concussion issues' as the reason he wasn't playing. Agreed, the Comets missed Gibson but they still almost won. Paterson is an excellent goalkeeper, he does have a very good shot, excellent ball handler and passer, good quickness. He scored a couple times this year. The 'fly keeper' concept only works well if the GK has all those skills shown by Paterson and also the defenders and midfielders need to be strong on the ball and accurate passers. Any inaccurate pass or forced turnover likely is a goal for the other team. A skilled defender or two could wreak havoc on the 'fly keeper'. Unless you have the right personnel, your team probably can't do the 'fly' strategy as frequently as the Comets do. They have the right guys to pull it off. Injury reports would be very useful. Example: at a home Ambush game (yet another factory of sadness/loss), two of our regular players were not suited up. I talked to the interns at the merchandise stand and they said, "those guys aren't injured, they got benched by the coach and are unhappy about it". Both guys played games later in the season so their only injury was a bruised ego. Kind of silly that fans have to sleuth around on social media or ask the 20 - something year old interns for player status. I would suggest that any injury report system require definite update from teams of whether a guy is 'out' or 'available' 24 hours prior to the game's kickoff. The NFL still allows 'game time decisions' about a guy playing or not, which allows unscrupulous coaches to 'hide the ball' (pun intended) about the player's true injury status. If a player is ruled 'out', he can't be on the bench and can't communicate with coaches during the game (but could sit in the arena and watch with the fans). A 'disabled list' and 'injured reserve' system could also be set up, being careful that the rules can't be exploited (to hide a player until late in the season for playoffs, etc). The MASL has improved a lot this year, I agree that more transparency on injuries is needed.
Well said SteveCo, you have some great points! Even if the MASL website would list the injuries at the start/or close to the start of the games, that would let the fans know what is going on and not give the opponents any kind of advantage to prepare. Getting back to the Playoffs, game 2 between SD/ONT is tonight. I wonder if ONT has a good game plan or even the talent to win game 2 and force a mini. SD handled them with no problem in game 1, but ONT had been on a tear in the regular season and the game is being playing in Ontario, so that may help. I hope to see a competitive game and not a game dominated by the Sockers. Should be interesting!
This 20-minute rest period may be the first time Ontario's announcer has shut up tonight. Holy jeebus, this guy.
I agree with Powerplay, this was very well stated SteveCo. I've never even thought about injury reports and MASL. It might be a case of running before you can walk as there would be little to no enforcement of any rules surrounding injury reports but simply from a fans perspective it would be informative.