Cooper...LOL. Just another snake oil salesman in a long line of lower division charlatans. Funny thing is you know which posters here, that were not around then, would champion the great Jeff(!), just like they champion the current set of hoodwinkers. Sucker born every minute of course. For folks who don't know the Borden guy is basically ignored on every Canadain board. He has had different names but plays the same game. Even Canadians want absolutely nothing to do with him. Play with him at your own whim and time.
In his mind I think Cooper thought was legit. He honestly believed. But his wealth was on legal settlements that he was never going to collect. In a sense he's somewhat of a tragic character who got in over his head.
More Horowitz then.....still, he could really talk. It isn't unusual of course for someone not to be able to cash those checks their mouth is writing, but whether he believed or not it was almost impossoble to take him seriously. At least I couldn't after learning a bit about him, and what he wanted to accomplish. Whether snake oil salesman or tragic figure, they have one thing in common. The grand plans they lay out always leave out/gloss over/ignore/minimize the nitty gritty dirty work that needs to happen.
I owe you an apology Andy. I misunderstood you and I'm man enough to admit when I'm wrong and out of line.
NHL was founded in Montreal, Quebec in 1917 You're right about the other leagues, except MLS who's a local phenomenon, not national. Not sure about lacrosse
USL Division 2 will have new teams in 2018. How Many total ?? Are there any that will fold ? Please give me a list of who you think for both questions please. I know some teams are coming in 2019, like Birmingham and is Memphis and Austin ?
The USL expansion teams for 2018 right now are Fresno, Las Vegas, and Nashville. It is unlikely that any other expansion teams will join that list at this short notice. It is possible that there could be teams coming over from the NASL or that more MLS2 teams could be announced. Those need less lead time. It is possible that Ottawa Fury might leave for the new Canadian Premier League but it is looking more likely that that league will start in 2019. We shall see. I haven't heard any other rumors of teams leaving the USL but that could still happen. The teams announced for 2019 are Austin and Birmingham. More may be added. USL3 starts in 2019 so that could also affect a few teams currently in USL. We just don't know right now.
Yes, it was founded in Montreal, but no one would say that it is a predominantly Canadian league in 2017. It started has a Canadian league but has evolved into an American league with a few Canadian teams.
The majority of players, are Canadians. 7 teams amount for over a third of the overall revenues of the league, Canadian TV contract is almost double the value of the US TV contract. The major stars and coaches are Canadians. Sure there are more teams in the US but even US media's scratch their heads at Gary Bettman philosophy on the matter. Canada should have at least 10 to 12 teams, but the man's anti-Canada so what can we do. Without those 7 teams, that league folds but this is a soccer thread, we discuss this enough in NHL threads elsewhere, NHL has so much potential but Bettman "American-centric" vision hurts the league
Thanks for letting me know. That's actually very good for the NHL that more countries are able to get players in the league, but Bettman vision is a failure still. The NHL should be much bigger than it is globally instead of trying to compete with the NBA. Best to go back on USL topic... Not much to say on my end as TFC II, VWCII are drawing flies and Ottawa Fury fans are hoping for a better league to compete in.
10-12 teams in Canada would just expose the NHL to enormous risk if the Canadian dollar tanked again like it did when it put Quebec and Winnipeg on the ropes.
I agree that the NHL should be bigger in more places than it is. It took getting an AHL team in Iowa, where the majority of the USHL (Tier 1 Junior) has resided for over 40 years, for people in Des Moines to notice hockey. Even that took a few stabs before becoming the Wild's farm team. As a player and fan, I spent so much time in high school educating my classmates about the sport. To this day, I still get nothing but Mighty Duck references from most people... Hockey and soccer have a lot of parallels. Isn't that why they left the NASL?
Yes but the bizarre decision to be affiliated to Montreal Impact rubbed them the wrong way. Ottawa is on par with Montreal and Toronto in the NHL and CFL. They really dislike being "Montreal's little brother"
And unless you plan on putting 4 teams in Toronto and 2 each in Vancouver and Montreal, you start getting into markets of half a million people or less - where the potential for corporate sponsorships and broadcast revenues, not to mention five figure season tickets at the current going rate become almost impossible to sustain.
Those were 2 different times. Back then, there wasn't a salary cap nor a revenue sharing model where wealthy teams helped poorer teams. Upon reentering the league, Winnipeg became a "have team" contributing to "have not" teams. Quebec City being of similar side would be the same. So were now at 7 teams Toronto Montreal Vancouver Ottawa Calgary Edmonton Winnipeg The league would heavily contribute from adding these: Quebec City (Florida having 2 teams and Quebec only 1 is ridiculous) Toronto 2nd team (NY Region have 3 teams and Toronto, the hotest and richest hockey market in the world can't have 2??? I kid you not, Bettman said on national TV that : "he wasn't sure about Toronto having a 2nd team was viable". That's a F'N insult. Hamilton (GTAH Team): The Greater Toronto & Hamilton Area has over 8.2M people. 3 teams can easily thrive As you can see, 10 teams still make the Canadian side very solid. Some would argue Halifax and Regina. I don't have an opinion on them for now but the 3 above are no brainer. Bettman & the NHL will always bear the "anti-Canada" label as long as these 3 don't enter the league, which will be whenever Bettman leaves the league.
I can buy that. I thought it was an odd pairing too. So it's not the league as much as being Montreals farm team? I agree, except maybe a Hamilton team or a second Toronto team. NYC having three and LA having two makes no sense without Greater Toronto doing the same, considering Toronto's financial impact on the game. The question is, would a second Toronto team build a fanbase after so much time with only the Leafs? I'm guessing with their overall shittiness, the answer would be yes.
A bit of both, mainly being Montreal's little brother much more. As for the league, it has a lot of "B or II" teams. That immediately sends the message of "subpar". Nothing wrong with that if the Fury were in Kingston, Sherbrooke or Windsor, but that can't work very well in Ottawa who view themselves as a major city. Also, they play teams from towns most people haven't heard of or care about...makes it harder to get invested in the league for casual fans which you absolutely need to make the team a resounding success. Those are comments from die hard fans who still supports the team, however, it's understandable why they can't go beyond that ceiling in terms of assistance, viewership and overall interest. Not even sure they are televised and it's not like the league does a lot to get people here interested in the product. A 2nd team in Toronto would sell out every night. Getting a ticket to the Leafs is either next to impossible or ridiculously overpriced. The team could be in North York or Markham. Lots of people are from the rest of Canada and they hate the Leafs but they could support a new team. The NHL doesn't want Hamilton, not because they feel it isn't viable, but because they are worried that Southern Ontarians would stop supporting the Buffalo Sabres and flock to Hamilton. To me, that a ridiculous reason to not have a 3rd teams in the GTHA. It should be Buffalo's job to attract northern New-Yorkers to their team, Hamilton shouldn't be paying the price for that. Hoping Bettman leaving one day will change things.
You guys realize Ottawa is not a farm team for Montreal, right? They are an affiliate. That means Montreal loans them a few players and Ottawa can use them or not. I believe that the Fury have 1 player currently on loan from Montreal. Through the course of the season Montreal has loaned three players to Ottawa for various lengths of time. The Fury also had a player on loan from FC Dallas That is typical of many affiliations. NASL teams also get players on loan from MLS teams. As a matter of fact, the Fury had an Impact player on loan in 2014 while still in the NASL. The USL has 12 "B" or "II" teams if you count Reno. Only 4 of those are in the Eastern Conference so Ottawa mostly plays against independent teams. Some of those are affiliates but, again, that does not make them farm teams. 5 teams in the Eastern Conference are not even affiliates.
I know all that, just bad optics. The die hard fans still go but they like their clubs to be "non-affiliated" and by understanding the city's history in other sports and it's importance in Canada, it's understandable. It's a turn off for most casuals, which you need to take the team to the next level, which I believe CPL will be in a much better position to make happen Die hards like you and I understand that, casuals, not so much. Also, playing towns nobody knows about isn`t a great sell in drawing more fans. Not saying USL is a bad league, it's just incompatible with the Canadian market
So incompatible, in fact, that Ottawa's average attendance has declined by a massive 68 people per game since they affiliated with Montreal. FOH with this garbage.
Oh stop being so sensitive. If you took a second to read my post, I emphasize that the market of Ottawa-Gatineau should have DOUBLE the attendance + viewership. No one is saying it's bad as it is, but it could be much better. There's doubt that it can drastically improve through the USL. That's all and that's Fury fans and members of the Supporter's Group saying that as well. My god... take a pill and relax
I'm not being sensitive. I just think all of your posts are full of pie-in-the-sky bullshit, and that you generally have no idea what you're talking about.
Then ignore me otherwise, you're being sensitive or you just can't entertained that Canada can be successful without the US, which seems to tick you off beyond belief, but whatever. I have nothing against US Soccer, however, there's nothing wrong with saying Canadian Soccer can succeed without the US System.
Not sure how the "casuals" even know enough to know that there's an affiliate or anything ... or that B Steel is a "farm team" ... I get the "unknown cities" argument though. Either way, hope Ottawa is solid until they jump to CSL.