NASL Future teams?

That was worthwhile, thanks.

 

The impression I got was that St. Louis is one of the higher cities on the list for one of the three teams that will join within the next year or two... So I'd say St. Louis will probably be one of the three, with a slight chance that it might not be.

 

Just the whole "We're looking for an owner" thing should give everybody pause.

 

If it were easy and profitable, there'd be a line out the door.

 

Considering the splash Wynalda's Cal FC team is making, with a roster that isn't exactly a typical PDL roster, anyone besides me speculating that (with some investor behind him of course) this team could launch from this USOC run right into an announcement that the team is rebranding to the LA Aztecs and joining the NASL next year? Obviously they'd need a big money investor, and I have no idea about a stadium situation. But the other pieces seem to fit together well enough...

 

Yeah.

This guy.

 

So nothing constructive Kenn, back to just antagonizing people? You're always claiming to be an expert, give us a real analysis of someone, anyone doing something with that LA Aztecs trademark...

 

I'm not sure, I kind of get the impression that the Cal FC players who aren't 'typical' of amateur soccer are probably happily retired with this being a last hoorah. Then again, maybe you're right. I think it'd be interesting to see LA Aztecs back, or even just a NASL Cal FC.

 

I wasn't antagonizing you. I was tweaking you. You're so freaking sensitive.

I'm all out of constructive today. You're the one pulling things out of the ether.

 

Do you know how old these people are?

Eder Arreola is 20 and played at UCLA. Artur Aghasyan is 24 and played in the PDL and had trials with Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake (with whom he played four games) and also played with the LA Blues of USL Pro. Mike Randolph is 26 and played for the Blues last year but played three years for the Galaxy. Diego Barrera is 25. His brother Danny is 22.

This isn't the "last hoorah" for these guys. These guys are young professionals on the edges of the pro game who are trying to show that they shouldn't have slipped through the cracks. Cal FC is not, as some have termed it, a "pub team."

 

And by "some", you mean "one guy who had been banned for ignoring the moderators advice to stop trolling."

 

Obviously I didn't. Everyone has made a big deal about them being former pros, so I said "I get the impression that..." But thank you for informing us.

 

Oh, did they ban him? Good.

Other Cal FC guys:

Derby Carrillo is 24 and played 6 games for FC New York last year after playing at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Cesar Rivera is 25 and played for the LA Blues last year.

Point is, this isn't a bunch of old guys out for a run about before they do into the sunset (though it would be a great story if they were). It's a bunch of young guys from a fertile area for soccer players who, for one reason or another, haven't been able to stick in professional soccer. John Spencer said they wouldn't be able to compete week-in and week-out in MLS, but they don't have to in this format. Anything can happen, even winning when you get out-shot 37-8 and a guy making $1.25M misses a penalty with 10 minutes left.

As for the "constructive," well, I just found some: at startup, the NASL got hold of a bunch of trademarks, some old NASL names, plus names for the league, the championship, stuff like that. The LA Aztecs one they didn't get until March 2 of this year, apparently, which is either an indication of something going on, or was a tremendous oversight at launch, because that's a great name (better than Detroit Express and Atlanta Chiefs, which they got at launch).

If they grabbed it to be in a good position if and when they find a willing potential owner in Southern California, I'd say fair play to them and well done. The timeframe may be an indicator of something, we'll see.

But nostalgia is only worth so much, as they have discovered in Tampa Bay. Just calling a team the LA Aztecs (which, apart from when they had Cruyff was never an organization that resonated with Los Angelenos) isn't going to get it done unless (as I keep saying) there's a committed local owner with money and patience and the willingness to lose it, who presents games in a professional environment and devotes the manpower and money on sales and marketing to buttress the investment. Like anywhere else.

You could see, surely, some of the guys on Cal FC winding up playing for an LA-based NASL team. Wynalda has said part of his raison d'etre is to help this type of player showcase themselves and move on. That doesn't mean this team (which no one had heard of two weeks ago) would just be that expansion club. Nice story. Doesn't mean it's going to happen that way.

 

The club should just be Cal FC. They could market themselves after the California state colors and flag, and could be the expansion club in Sacramento.

 

Is Cal FC playing in the greater Los Angelas area or are they near Sacramento? I think Sacramento has been mentioned by Downs and would be a good place for a west coast team to play.

 

Thousand Oaks, California.

 

Anyone who thinks Cal FC is an expansion candidate needs to go take a cold shower or maybe a sedative. I wish there was an idiot filter on this site.

 

Actually, Scott French did a nice story on the Cal South championship between Cal FC and the winners: PSA Elite.

And, honestly, the PSA Elite roster wasn't very much different from the Cal South one. A different opponent and a different day and we could be talking about PSA Elite instead of Cal FC - though not as much as Wynalda makes this run 100 times more newsworthy than it would otherwise be.

 

It is not the dumbest idea out there. Have you read some of those pro/rel suggestions?

Just give them a place to develop their identity (like Sacramento, the capital city). With the local government already carrying interest (although it is MLS interest), NASL can use Cal FC to expand to the west coast.

Also, as someone who has seen the new Baltimore Bohemians, state and city colors can really help market a club.

 

An idiot filter would be bad for business.

You should be glad they're only being touted as an NASL expansion team and not MLS #20.

 

[El Jefe]Boy Howdy[/El Jefe]

 

Good point, if Cal FC upsets Seattle then these folks can interbreed with the Cosmos fanboys and start dreaming about Wynalda moving his team to Manhattan where the Wilpons build the best stadium in the land and the reborn NY Cosmos/Cal FC (plus Messi of course) start their complete domination of MLS in front of 70,000 average attendance.

 

BAHAHAHA. That's awesome.

 

I'm not opposed to the Blues owners joining the NASL. I think having money is the first hurdle to overcome with any ownership group - but that's all it is. If the Mansouris have the money, then hey they pass the first test. I would hope and expect that the NASL brass has more than wealth as criteria for expansion teams.

 

Yep.

But IF MLS doesn't happen for them and they accomplish all they can in the third division, then what? It's a different situation than Charleston. Charleston isn't selling anybody on being a nationally-prominent club, while Orlando seemingly has to be aspirational as part of their appeal. And the NASL is going to need more teams going forward. So while today, June 3, 2012, they don't see a reason to join the NASL, I could see that changing before I could see Charleston just waking up one morning and deciding to move back up. There's no impetus with them.