Is the NASL dead?

Discussion in 'NASL' started by Rick O'Shea, Aug 31, 2010.

  1. VioletCrown

    VioletCrown Member+

    FC Dallas
    United States
    Aug 30, 2000
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Austin's not staying second division?

    Wow.

    I'm amazed that, based on this one article (where Wellman includes three teams in the NASL application that anyone that keeps up with IMS articles knows are on the brink of failing in one way or another), a number of people are suddenly worrying and wondering about Austin.

    Take a deep breath, folks.

    I expect we'll get solid answers on Austin in the next couple weeks. In the article Wellman is asking the USSF to make a decision by October 1 -- before this season is even done. Unless my memory is wrong (and it could very well be), the decision date that the USSF had set was more like November 1.

    I'm with Mikey. This looks a lot like what we saw a year ago, the NASL going to the media to try and argue their case.

    And, after having watched how things went last year (and seen exactly how solid a couple of those NASL teams and NASL leaders were), I'm not going to get in any tizzy over where Austin will be. There's going to be a lot more whirling before this all settles out.
     
  2. aimorris

    aimorris Member

    May 2, 2007
    Orlando, FL
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You're writing off a "blogger in NC" but yet anxiously awaiting information from a blogger in Minnesota? The dude writes for the N&O and has direct quotes from the party responsible for submitting the NASL bid.

    If you'd like to consider what Wellman's selling as bullshit, that's fine. But I'm not sure why you want to write it off just because it's a "blogger in NC."

    We've never received official word from NASL, USSF, or USL until after the fact throughout this entire ordeal, I'm not sure why you're expecting it now.
     
  3. -ATX-

    -ATX- Member

    Mar 24, 2009
    Austin
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    We should get official word from these entities. Unfortunately, we haven't seen press releases and probably will not in the future.

    As for Austin, I agree with what VioletCrown posted.
     
  4. drSoFlaFan

    drSoFlaFan DEFEND THE FORT!

    Feb 25, 2008
    Plantation, FL
    Club:
    Ft Lauderdale Strikers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Couldn't PR count as technically being in the US though? Puerto Ricans are US citizens after all, so they could probably get away with calling them a "US" team if they wanted to. That would make it 80% US teams.
     
  5. VioletCrown

    VioletCrown Member+

    FC Dallas
    United States
    Aug 30, 2000
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I've wondered that myself. I've heard that the USSF would NOT consider them a US team. But that's just what I've heard. I'd really love to hear something substantial, but as others have said above, we're not hearing anything.

    And I expect the argument against PR counting as US is that they have their own governing body for soccer -- they're not a part of the USSF.
     
  6. Yoshou

    Yoshou Fan of the CCL Champ

    May 12, 2009
    Seattle
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think by US they mean areas covered by USSF. PR has their own soccer federation, so they don't count as US for the purpose of soccer.
     
  7. VioletCrown

    VioletCrown Member+

    FC Dallas
    United States
    Aug 30, 2000
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    For me, I've found the blogger in NC, while he is a reporter, to have been (last time we went round on this), largely a mouthpiece for Wellman. Inside MN Soccer, on the other hand, has managed to develop a good relationship with pretty much all sides in this mud puddle, so, yeah, I'm going to wait to hear from a party a little less closely tied to just one side of the situation.
     
  8. Mikey mouse

    Mikey mouse Member

    Jul 27, 1999
    Charleston, SC
    Club:
    Charleston
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I write off all blogs until they prove otherwise (IMS has gotten it right alot more than most out there), Anyone can write a blog and there isnt much ethics historically with bloggers. this guy might write for N&O but how much has he covered the Railhawks? How much does he know about the history? Maybe he hadnt updated his blog for a while and wanted to get a story up. why wasnt this in the regular paper vs. on his blog. A journalist with any knowledge of the situation should have at least questioned Wellman about the finances teams like ACSTL, Minnesota and CPB. Were the quotes taken out of contexts, were they via email, face to face or just over heard as he was sitting next to them at lunch? I dont know and I dont want to question the intergity of the writer but I spend alot of time reading articles, blogs and the like and this guy isnt one that jumps out as a regular contributor.

    And Im not calling Bullshit on wellman. I just wonder how much Selby actually knows. If these quotes would have been from his son, I might put a little more weight into them. Brian seems much closer to the day to day operations and has a better knowledge of the situation. I can see Selby getting his info from his son and I hope Brian doesnt sugar coat the truth.


    And last fall we did see a flurry of articles by NASL. surprisingly they have been silent almost all season. Even the links to their past releases are dead now. The websites news is nearly all press releases from the individual clubs.

    Im not "expecting' any of the entities to do a simple job of send out press release but until I see some colaboration (back when I took journalism you needed a couple different sources) I dont think people should worry about Aztex or PR or read too much into what is post on a blog

    And you guys better take care of Tommy Heinemann the rest of this season, He is a beast and I can see him pairing well with your forwards. He holds the ball up well and he disturbutes well as well.
     
  9. chapka

    chapka Member+

    May 18, 2004
    Haverford, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    St. Louis and Minnesota don't meet the D2 requirements for other reasons. What the article said is that unless one of those two teams is approved (i.e., the USSF grants them a waiver of the financial requirements), the league will not meet the two-time-zone requirement. The other U.S. teams (Carolina, Miami, Tampa, Baltimore, Rochester) are all in the Eastern time zone.

    So if the league doesn't grant St. Louis and Minnesota exemptions for their other issues, that will create a new problem for the league as a whole.
     
  10. Yoshou

    Yoshou Fan of the CCL Champ

    May 12, 2009
    Seattle
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Check out Edmonton's time zone....

    EDIT: Never mind, just noticed the requirement was for the US based to be in two time zones.
     
  11. aimorris

    aimorris Member

    May 2, 2007
    Orlando, FL
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Of course he's a mouthpiece for Wellman here, the entire thing is made up of Wellman's quotes. It's not some op-ed piece where he's quoting unnamed sources and trying to tell the reader what's going to happen.

    It was an interview with Wellman about the current state of their application. I'm not sure waiting for an official word from NASL.com is necessary when you have one of the principal parties involved telling you how it is.

    I'm not saying you should expect what he's saying to 100% happen, the Wellmans have been extremely optimistic in their comments regarding the league and honestly, their application looks a bit shaky. I just wanted to respond to the "blogger in NC" remark.
     
  12. aimorris

    aimorris Member

    May 2, 2007
    Orlando, FL
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    All of your questions are irrelevant. He's not reporting an inside scoop. The author of the "blog post" doesn't mean anything as all he did was interview one of the main parties involved with the league application and regurgitate the details after the quote. Any Joe Blow Journalist could do what he did and it should be taken at face value.

    Honestly, did you read the blog post?
     
  13. Mikey mouse

    Mikey mouse Member

    Jul 27, 1999
    Charleston, SC
    Club:
    Charleston
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I did, several times. i am taking them at face value which isnt much at this point. Im not trying to say he is wrong, I just wonder if it is such big news of PR switching to NASL, the obvious omission of Austin, and the NASL applying for sanctioning, why isnt anyone else reporting it.

    Maybe its because they cant back up the facts yet.
     
  14. aimorris

    aimorris Member

    May 2, 2007
    Orlando, FL
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I dunno, I guess I'm missing something. When the president of the league says, "Here are the teams in our bid and here are the teams that are not," it seems like a good enough source to report on to me.
     
  15. Mikey mouse

    Mikey mouse Member

    Jul 27, 1999
    Charleston, SC
    Club:
    Charleston
    Nat'l Team:
    United States


    Why didnt the president of the league put out a press release? More importantly why didn't Kartik Krishnaiyer, the PR guy?

    and I thought Nestor was the President?

    Selby is listed as a member of the finacial committe accoring to NASL website
    http://www.nasl.com/page/naslcontacts

    Regardless, if that is the bid, Good luck. I guess we'll see if all USSF talk of improving standards have been just that.
     
  16. aimorris

    aimorris Member

    May 2, 2007
    Orlando, FL
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I may be a RailHawk (and whatever league they end up in) supporter but I'm not stupid. NASL and its PR have not been good. I fully admitted that the bid as proposed by Wellman in that interview looks weak. Nor do I believe everything will eventually shake out exactly like he says in the long term.

    My only point was that you were dismissing the information as bogus because of the source, but the source was straight from the principal parties involved. I guess we can move on now.

    (I thought Wellman was president, at least when it was formed, maybe things have changed now, I dunno.)
     
  17. Mikey mouse

    Mikey mouse Member

    Jul 27, 1999
    Charleston, SC
    Club:
    Charleston
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Im not dismissing the info as bogus. Im just not ready to take it as gospel yet. but like you said lets move on
     
  18. VioletCrown

    VioletCrown Member+

    FC Dallas
    United States
    Aug 30, 2000
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I thought Nestor took over from Cooper... but titles being what they are, I may have had the wrong title assigned to Cooper/Nestor.

    I don't see a President listed on the NASL Contacts page. But maybe they don't want people contacting the President.
     
  19. VioletCrown

    VioletCrown Member+

    FC Dallas
    United States
    Aug 30, 2000
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    For the record, I'm not taking it as bogus either. And I was probably a little harsh with the 'mouthpiece' thing. I just have vivid memories of Wellman using this same avenue to announce a lot of NASL propaganda last fall. So I'm finding myself thinking 'Here we go again.'
     
  20. babykhris

    babykhris Member

    Philadelpia Union
    Nov 30, 2008
    Philadlphia,PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Isn't Austin's loyalty to USL because it's parent club, Stoke City? I heard USL teams have partnerships with European teams thanks to USL.

     
  21. Schapes

    Schapes Member

    Aug 20, 2001
    How did the NASL disrespect Mr. Cooper?
     
  22. Yoshou

    Yoshou Fan of the CCL Champ

    May 12, 2009
    Seattle
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Technically it works both ways. NASL is angry about the black eye Cooper gave them when his team ran into financial problems and for not telling them when he sold the team to the Vaids. Cooper is angry at NASL for not standing by him when his team ran into financial problems.
     
  23. Mikey mouse

    Mikey mouse Member

    Jul 27, 1999
    Charleston, SC
    Club:
    Charleston
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'd say it runs deeper. the USSF isnt happy about the WPS team plug being pulled, and him not being up front about the ownership issues. I wouldnt be surprised if the USSF say thanks but no thanks....
     
  24. VioletCrown

    VioletCrown Member+

    FC Dallas
    United States
    Aug 30, 2000
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The relationship with Stoke has nothing to do with the USL. Phil Rawlins (Aztex owner) is on the board of Stoke City, and was on the board before he started looking at having a team in the US.
     
  25. babykhris

    babykhris Member

    Philadelpia Union
    Nov 30, 2008
    Philadlphia,PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The Austin Aztex will be the lone holdout, team President Phil Rawlins confirmed today, as team owners submit a proposal to reorganize Division 2 pro soccer for next season. Rawlins said the Aztex "will not be participating" in the North American Soccer League proposal, adding that "the bid fails to meet several of the [USSF's mandatory] criteria.”

    The Raleigh News & Observer reported Tuesday that the NASL will submit its bid to the U.S. Soccer Federation this week to operate the Division 2 soccer league starting next year. Of the 12 teams in this year’s D-2, nine have joined with the NASL; with the Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps moving up to Major League Soccer, that leaves only the Austin Aztex under the United Soccer Leagues banner.
    But Aztex General Manager Djorn Buchholz says he's happy with the Aztex’s position; Rawlins has kept all the team's options open, and “as we’ve said all along … we’ll be playing second division soccer next year,” wherever that turns out to be.

    Rawlins clarified a bit later in a written statement: “Austin Aztex are not an NASL affiliated club and as such will not be participating in their proposal. The NASL bid fails to meet several of the criteria laid down as ‘mandatory’ for sanctioning by the USSF.”

    If the USSF does turn down the NASL bid, the feds will likely run the league directly again as the “USSF Division 2.” If they by some chance accept the NASL proposal – and most of its members do meet the USSF’s new viability standards – then I expect the Aztex will join almost immediately, and be warmly welcomed.

    http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Sports/Blogs/index.html/objID1077108/blogID/
     

Share This Page