Unless we get some kind of major news, I figured we could post general discussion and news from the offseason in one thread. Hopefully this year is a nice change of pace and we get smooth sailing league-wide from now until kickoff next April.
First thing to discuss I suppose, the overall attendance average for the season. Ran my figures for the 17 home games(counting the playoffs) and it came out at 3,985, just 15 away from 4,000. Mother Nature did not cooperate on a handful of occasions, most notably the May 14th FCTB rainout and this Saturday's Championship game. Easily would have had 8-10K for both of those games if not for the rain, and would have bumped the average up. All in all a very successful season at the gate, basically 4x better than the crowds for Miami FC, if not more considering an announced crowd of 1200 for MFC was really like 500 people at best.
A very successful season overall, IMO. Much improved at the gate & on the field, too. Even moving the Ultras to the end zone worked out well. My congrats to all the folks involved with the Strikers for a job well done. I had a blast from April until the end of October... Now, please do it even better next year...
If you haven't done it yet, please go listen to Ultras Alive #30. Pieter's interview with Ray Hudson is fun and worth listening to, but his extended interview with Striker's Head Coach Daryl Shore is priceless. Coach Shore's comments on traffic Sports & their view on MLS is an eyeopener. As are his comments on what the team itself is thinking of for next season. Pieter also discusses WPS and our loss of magicJack, the league simply took the franchise away from magicDan & didn't even allow him to sell it, and how that might affect the sport here in SoFl.... Spend an hour checking this out. It's one of the most informative Ultras Alive done so far. The topics it brings up could keep us posting at least until March all by themselves....
Thanks Antique. Here's the link for the show. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/miamiultras/2011/11/01/miami-ultras-alive-30
Decent show this week, Pete. It was still interesting, but last weeks was a tough act to follow... Next weeks should be a gem since your guest to be interviewed is: Tim Robbie! Everyone EMail Pieter or chichi their questions for the man. Hopefully he's as open as Coach Shore was last week. Maybe one of you 2 should tell us all how to tune in for the podcast & how to follow in the chat. That might improve the number of folks tuning in...
Just a couple questions/ideas I'd present: Will there be an online Striker Store on the Striker site any time soon? It could be useful for Christmas presents. Could you retire the uniform #12 from club use and reserve it for fan use only? The teams 12th man and all that. Possibly fans that order that jersey could get a discount on the price for doing it? What ideas are the front office considering to increase attendance next year? Say a 7 game half season package or an FCTB only package? Can you guys think of any others?
I'd say steal an idea from the Portland Timbers USL days - they used to have what I think was called Beer Thursday's or something like that. They basically reduced beer prices to a steal on weeknight games when compared to beer prices for weekend games. They usually had very good attendance on these days. Another idea would be to offer a 4 game package for $40 in GA only. I'd suggest this include the Rowdies games but then get 2 more games where they had these same fans coming out to help attendance.
What are the supporters groups plans to increase their numbers for the 2012 season? I think increasing their numbers would also help increase the desire for casual fans to go to the games.
Since Garber mentioned a "Florida group" wanting into MLS in his "State of MLS" address & it seems that group is based in Orlando, perhaps you could ask Tim about the Strikers & MLS. Shore mentioned it in his interview & perhaps he could expand on it.
All the stuff mentioned in posts #7, #8, #9 & #10 have been passed on to Uncle Ed via EMail & should be presented to Tim on Monday, properly attributed, of course. If you have more try EMailing them to chichi or pb9000.
Good interview, guys. Very informative, even if Ed did not ask Tim about the 12th man jersey... What do you 2 have in store for us next?
We couldn't ask everything. If you want to make sure your question gets answered you have to call in. We're still working on next weeks guests. Any guest requests?
Yes you could. You asked every other question I submitted but that one. So I EMailed it to Tim this morning......We'll see if he has anything to say about it. If ever I have a question I'll send it to you or Ed. I'm getting my beauty sleep by 10PM. Make that Garber person your next guest. For the full hour. We'll apply some enhanced interrogation techniques on his person until we get the answers we want. The same with that Claure fellow. Let him step forward to face the wrath of the tri-county fans he let down so woefully awhile back. Aaron would be a good victim..uh...subject, too. Let him give a "State of NASL" speech on Ultras Alive. Maybe he would be a bit more forthcoming about Traffic & MLS than anyone else around. Or at least let us know what gives for NASL for next year. Perhaps you get get some articulate 305er to explain what happened to the Southern Legion this past season. Will they ever return? Or get the Mayor of Sunrise to explain why he'd not attend Striker games at FAU if that becomes their temporary home. I'm looking forward to next Tuesday morning to find out what guest you got to appear....
A little Traffic related rumor I just came across: http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/soccer/post/_/id/13333/ronaldinho-to-replace-becks I hope Traffic's money issues don't affect the Strikers.
I think we saw these storm clouds earlier, but if Ronaldinho is indeed looking to leave now, that definitely doesn't bode well. The question is, how much will Traffic try to ask MLS for?
Greetings fellow Striker Likers! Hope everyone has enjoyed the holidays! Thought I'd toss out a few questions and gerenate a little discussion on the team during this quiet period of the year. Anyone heard anything from Strikers personnel about how season ticket sales for 2012 have gone so far? When I bought mine a couple months ago, I was told they were closing in on 600 at that point. So far I like the re-signings the club has made. I'm hoping the club isn't looking at Morales, Quinones, and Pecka as players to fill holes created by some of our guys moving on. I see them all still on the roster on the website. I was unimpressed with Pecka, and downright dismayed by Quinones and Morales. Would like to see Abe back again, but if not, they definitely need to give Santamaria a chance to pair with Shriver up front and see what he can do. Stahl coming back is huge, he was excellent in the back, and I liked the improvement I saw in both Laing and Gordon in the second half of the year. (Both still need to work on their crosses though.) Also love Restrepo coming back. He provided a spark for the team in midfield when he joined and did a fine job. Still wondering about the stadium situation. Really hoping they have an announcement soon, and that the Schlitterbahn deal gets done. I know it'll be a hassle in the short term for the team, but in the long run it will be great for this organization that have the FAA out of the picture and an upgraded Lockhart to play in. Ok, what have you guys got?!?
A sanctioned NASL? Games at FAU? A roster/staff capable of beating Tampa? Hope springing eternal? New year, new ideas......maybe a new reason to care again.....dunno. No news is good news I suppose. Hope your holidays are going well S&M.
Well assuming no craziness happens with team ownerships in the non-Traffic markets(TB, San Antonio, PR and Edmonton), they will be fully sanctioned when the USSF has their AGM in March(which happens to be in Miami). Right now they are provisionally sanctioned for next year.
I am most curious to know where the Strikers will be playing...Lockhart or not? I really hate plastic pitches, so I selfishly hope it won't be FIU.
Definitely won't be FIU. Tim Robbie has said multiple times that this club is not going back to Dade County. New FAU stadium seems like their first choice for a backup, or possibly the cricket stadium in west Broward.
If I understood the latest rumor, stemming from Tim's interview w/Ed & Pieter, it will be FAU if Lockhart is not available. He is not at all in love with the cricket stadium. As for now, & the forseeable future, FIU does not exist, but Aaron has said that the Strikers must push to get Miami-Dade fans to attend this year. If we're not at Lockhart that could be a very interesting challenge...