cool. Would love to get a Mob road trip put together for one of our games vs you guys next season. We'll see.
To play devil's advocate, what do you expect them to say? Do you think they'd come out and say that the team was about to close up shop? I don't know what's going on, but having some people from the FO say the team is returning doesn't mean it's going to happen. I know most of us from the City Stars thought the team would be back for this season... ACSTL may very well be back next season, I'm not trying to say you guys are going to fold.
I like Rawlins from Austin's comment. They aren't part of the bid for NASL because he thinks USSF will reject it. But if they do accept it he will then immediately apply to join the NASL.
I don't think the USSF has a choice here. With Portland moving up and Puerto Rico jumping to NASL (evidently), that leaves the USL with one D2 team (two if they want to count the Battery, which is unlikely if they're trying to reduce travel costs), and that team will evidently jump ship if the USSF gives tentative approval to NASL as the D2 league for next year. That is, of course, assuming they're unwilling to go without sanctioning a D2 league next year...
Do you think the 'Backs are done for good, or are they just biding their time and waiting for the D-2 situation to get resolved? Me, I think it's time to stick a fork in 'em. I'd rather somebody else start a brand new team, especially since it doesn't look like they'll be required to own their own stadium (but a 5,000 seater with a 110x70 yard field will be a tough find ). They need to wave "buh-bye" to DeKalb County, and set their sites somewhere around Cumberland/Galleria, or somewhere off 400 (the "Pill Hill Hypochondriacs?" ).
The Front Office has not told me either way, yes or no. This is my belief from seeing what the FO has been doing.
Not sure how or why Baltimore is on that list, and I'm a season ticket holder. We've never gotten any information from the team about their financial issues, even from departed field and office personnel. That said, I'd love for us to be back next year. As for the new USSF D-2 requirements are they all phase in by five years or does that just apply to the stadium?
There has been no report of any kind suggesting any phase-in of any of the standards. And the "stadium requirement in 5 years" was from a report that came before the official standards were released. There is no 'stadium requirement within 5 years' in the final standards.
I wonder why. Dropping to D3 wouldn't really save them much travel. Even if there are enough new teams to break up into regionalized divisions, they're going to have huge distances to their nearest opponents.
So when will the USSF make a decision? When will we know if NASL is sanctioned by the USSF as the D2 league?