Philly vs the dreaded TBA, 4PM a week from this Saturday at the Union's crib in Chester. I think we can get 10,000 there, if the Sons of Ben turn out as well as advertising the game heavily, locally. Thoughts, pet peeves, put 'em here.
i'll say it again, if the brand names show up on the tickets, you are good to go for 10k or more. in other words hope solo didn't get mobbed for nothing. try that one with boston or skfc. not hating, just calling what i see.
Keep in mind, Western New York's magic number for taking the Chester-bypass route is one. They still may have to beat Atlanta! So we are assuming they do that and we get the home game 8/20. That's the same day as a Union away game. All the SOB's will ask is where the union game will be screened afterwards. There was some talk of trying to get the club to stay open in PPL Park so that we can doubleheader this properly. Agreed, there won't be 10k if the opponent is Fairweather Skies FC or the Boston Fakers. Go magic hack! Seis a cero! I have lots of questions: How much is parking going to run? Will SEPTA's dinky shuttle be on the go? Will Washington's superfans make the road trip? If Abby plays? If they don't qualify? Will the beer be served? Can I text my order in so that I don't have to wait in line? Will there be vuvuvzela? Will ACME sponsor our corner kicks?
I'll be there, and there are a few others I'd be willing to bet will make the trip regardless of whom they're playing.
I'm trying to get a small group of about 10 friends to come. Hopefully it all works out. Still waiting for my ticket in the mail as a season ticket holder.
I have the parking answer.... Parking will be 10 Dollars for this The Cheesesteak Supporters club is Working on finding out if the cowbells and veluzelas are allowed... because it just would not be a Philly game without them... We are going to play "Where's Dan" if MJ makes it and see if we get him all puffed up
I appreciate your hopefulness, but when you have a side like Atlanta whose next goal they score away from home will be its first, WNY can bring 11 women off the street and beat them 2 or 3-0.
goooo Philly ! anyone know if there'll be a good webcast on this ? Its pretty hard to follow this league
Crystal gave us our playoff tickets at the Season Ticket Holder BBQ. I'm sure they will be in the mail soon.
SEPTA's regional rail schedules change 8/28, so the ones in place now for the Wilmington/Newark line will remain unchanged. These are the times for Saturday departures from Center City, local stops apply. The 3:29PM Market East train would bring you there way too late: Market East: 12:29 PM 1:29 2:29 Suburban Station: 12:34 PM 1:34 2:34 30th Street: 12:38 PM 1:38 2:38 University City 12:40 PM 1:40 2:40 Chester Station: 1:04 PM 2:03 3:04 Hopefully, there will be a shuttle that will take fans from the station to PPL as has been the case for Union games. On the trip back, here are the times from Chester to Center City; again, crosses fingers there will be a shuttle to take fans back to the Chester station: Chester: 6:54 7:53 8:54 University City: 7:17 8:17 9:17 30th Street: 7:20 8:20 9:20 Suburban Station: 7:25 8:25 9:25 Market East: 7:30 8:30 9:30 For those using the 69th Street Terminal, the western end of the Market Frankford El, the Route 113 bus has limited Saturday service to Chester. You would need to signal to get off at Seaport Street and Flower Drive. PPL is 338 feet away. 69th Street Station: 1:05 2:05 PPL Park: 2:17 3:17 On the trip back, again, sporadic service from PPL to the 69th Street terminal: Seaport and Flower: 6:04 7:09 9:14 69th Street Station 7:17 8:15 10:13
Thanks for this transit info. I was waiting to post my usual SEPTA thread until hearing back on the shuttle status. I have put in a request to find out if there is a shuttle and should hear back soon. The alternative is to walk to and from highland ave. station and lot "B". If you must do this, wear hard soled shoes, as the side is mostly gravel and recycled broken bottles. I have also previously used a taxi to PPL from Chester station which costs about $10. There is ususally a cab waiting at the train, but would have to call for one to pick you up at PPL afterward. The 113 bus also serves as a potential go between from Chester station (and 69th Street) and the Stadium. I hope there is a shuttle.
Betting Boston does not get by MJ on Wednesday.... but if the do, we see them in the Semi Boston has a much better coach than MJ and the odds are even for them to advance (SB was in fouth in 09/ Washington in 10 - 50/50 historical split) Philly may have trouble - second place teams in the WPS have never gotten to the final (SB won in 09/ Philly in 10) But going by this first was the 4th place, second was third place, counting on the third to be the second place Now I contend that Philly is the hardest and loudest place to play but we will be limited if we can't bring our Full noise to PPL... We have to pack that place as much as possible and get the yelling and cheering as loud as we can
The Independence made more history; congratulations on being just the fourth team in Philadelphia pro sports history to get to their league semifinal in its first 2 seasons of existence (1983-84 USFL Stars, 1987-88 Wings (lacrosse), 2001-02 WUSA Charge)
I think there's a difference this year, though. The second place team was never in a position to actually be the first place team this late in the season before. Also, in '09 STL was only 8pts ahead of NJ, and in '10, BOS was a mere 2pts ahead of PHI - this year, you guy are eight ahead of mJ and seventeen ahead of BOS. Basically, the difference in overall performance this year between second and third/fourth is much bigger than in previous years. If BOS beats mJ, I think you guys are definitely in to the Championship. mJ might give you more trouble, though. I'd put mJ/BOS at 70/30, PHI/BOS at 85/15, and PHI/mJ at 60/40 - putting you guys at 68/32 for making it into the final.
You can't say that because Sky Blue happened to run the table once that it will happen 50% of the time (and they beat three teams that no longer exist, not to take away from it but it does skew the evidence further). The sample size is very small, and Sky Blue's historic achievement was way more spectacular than a "50/50" outcome. That being said, throw out the regular season and most of the so called home field advantage. Anything can happen in the game of soccer and in the playoffs environment especially. Even though extra rest should help top teams, we know to expect the unexpected. There's been at least one upset in the playoffs in each of the two seasons, and there are no absolute "favorites." It's a roll of the dice, as pasoccerdad likes to imply. A double elimination tournament, as another poster suggested, would confound the travel situation, but would allow teams to play games home and away, and would level the playing field a bit. I'd like to see the change especially if there were more teams in the league.
i'm hoping that this does not happen (the only exception is if the playoffs are so well attended that the finances help to keep the league afloat). double elimination playoffs take emphasis away from the weekly grind of winning each game and winning the league standings - which is a long and strong tradition in soccer that i like, and which is the way that players really get better.
Jonathan Tannenwald, the DN's primo soccer writer has these nuggets of info that may spur the local population to sell out PPL Saturday: *The semifinal will NOT be broadcast live in Philly or the DelVal; *The game will be live on Fox Sports Net affiliates; *Comcast SportsNet will show the game tape-delayed at 11PM Saturday night; *FSC will broadcast only the quarterfinal and the final live.
As I suspected, there will be NO shuttle for the train to the women's playoff game. The front offices sent out a PPL directions form letter that accidently contained "UNION express" shuttle information, but unfortunately this was not the intent for this particular event. I will update the 'SEPTA' thread with other options, using much of the info gathered here.
Not sure why any local fan would have a problem with the game not being broadcast live. They should be at PPL on Saturday afternoon. I know I'll be there.
In my obbsessive compulsive nature it is nice to DVR the game and if I choose to watch something I could not quite see live, then I have that option when I get home... BTW... I heard that many union supporters will not be in attendence because they don't think they could get to the union watch party in time to see the game ? Any one have any thoughts on that, or is it an excuse not to go support this team ?
OK I am not making excuses for other people. Just thought it was an opportunity to pool our interests for one day and have a fan fest like atmosphere for both games. Would have been cool. But apparently the league regulations prohibit the stadium club from streaming live games, so the watch parties will have to take momentum away and be held far away then. Their losss........ But I'm sure the Union fans are still waiting on the front office to announce that playoff tickets have been put on sale... I got the pre-sale memo over a week ago and nothing to confirm the date since