I love how the Atlanta sports fans' solution to everything is having Arthur Blank buy the team. Considering that the Silverbacks come at a cheap price (I heard $1.1 million) I wouldn't rule it out. Blank could find $1.1 million by scrounging through his couch. He could easily buy the team and create a franchise worth 20-30X that amount, just by moving it to the MLS. That said, there's plenty of wealthy people in Atlanta, it could be anybody. The hint given by Wynalda makes me excited. Sounds like something is imminent. I'll be there tomorrow, maybe we'll see a surprise.
It's a total disaster. There's one two-lane road into and out of the place. That's it. You can show up way early to avoid the bottleneck getting in but there's no way to avoid it going out if you've stayed all the way to the end of the game. It can take 30 minutes just to get off the property. You're right they can't handle 15K. They can't handle 5K. It's as if they took a site best suited for a local kids' league and built seating ten times too large for the available space. They actually use the smaller playing fields as parking space because there's nowhere else to put all the cars. Expansion would require a complete renovation of the area just to get a grip on traffic flow. Considering where it is I'm sure the adjacent properties would be pricey.
BigAppleSoccer.com, and other sources, reporting that Wynalda is back in talks with RBNY for head coach position now that Sousa has rejected their offer.
I believe I voted for the one that the ATL wordmark on it instead of the SAFC. But this is good. Classy, modern, but has the look of age to it, which is appropriate since Atlanta has been playing for, what, 13 of the past 14 years?
Have to agree with Brian Straus. It really looks like a baseball team logo. Don't like it. Next year the name will probably change anyway and the gorilla will be just a memory.
I don't understand why they would have a fan vote, then have another one a year later. Whether its the same poll/questionnaire put out by the current ownership, or a forced name change by new owners it would be a terrible way to make the fans feel like their voice matters. The gorilla kicks and Silverbacks is a clean and simple team name with lots of local lore attached to it. Not sure what the resistance is.
I wasn't able to make it to the fan forum. Does anybody have info on what came up besides the crest, which BTW I could really care less which they picked.
Issues that came up at the Fan Forum: No word yet on the new ownership; Boris said there were 2-3 interested buyers. I had read that there were 6 interested parties a couple of weeks ago. Season ticket sales are up. The focus of the front office is on naming rights for the park, jersey sponsor, winning the spring season and selling out every game. Planning to have two exhibition games during summer break. The idea is for one international and one MLS game. Player signing announcements are coming very soon, they said within a couple weeks. Contracts just went out. They wouldn't or couldn't commit on whether Wynalda was or wasn't in talks with NYRB about coaching job. New jerseys for both home and away are coming soon. Away jersey is now white with some secret that Boris hinted at. The new home jersey will more full commit to the hoops or bumblebee look. Boris gave his opinion about moving to the MLS; by basically saying that there could be two division one leagues in the US. He wouldn't commit on what other NASL owners or the NASL themselves were thinking regarding MLS. Boris said he doesn't believe that the US will ever have pro/reg without FIFA coming in and demanding it. There was some discussion of having a team sponsored trip to some away games. Possibly Tampa or NY Cosmos. There was explanation of why the Cosmos and the Islanders were only going to be in for half a season. The Cosmos ownership told the NASL when they joined they could be ready by 2014 or by the latter half of 2013 at the earliest. Puerto Rico's team is largely subsidized by the government and they are going through and election cycle and it's unsure right now if the new administration will be willing to subsidize the team. He claimed that they may actually play in the spring season should they get the government funding they need. The NASL is pushing more to have their games on devices like the Xbox 360, Apple TV, Playstation 3, etc. then trying to have them on TV. They think there is a better market going straight to consumers vs going though cable providers. That's all that I can remember.
That's really interesting to read right there. Almost sounds like the Cosmos wanted shovels in the dirt for a stadium before starting in the NASL. Shame if the Islanders go away. Good team with great history. The travel cost won't be a loss, but it's always sad when a team goes under
Thanks for the update. For the new owners the AJC said 6 possible. After the first round of meetings it sound like 2-3 groups. The two top division theory has come up before. I remember reading a pretty good blog supporting two pyramids in the US. Part of the argument was once you get past 20 teams the size of the league gets a little large for true competitive scheduling. All the other US major leagues are split into two conferences with about 15 a side. Not crazy about the hoops bumblebee kits, that's just me though. I've always like the vertical stripe more. I really do hope they can improve the video feed this season. It looks fine on a computer screen, but looks like hell blown up on a HDTV in a bar.
I hate the hoops I have been thinking about how NASL is positioning themselves, and I had been wondering if they were pushing for a American League/National League, AFC/NFC type of merge eventually with a "Soccer Bowl" at the end of the season. When the NASL first came out I thought it was ridiculous, but now I'm starting to think it will be reality someday. Biggest issue in that kind of merge is that NASL has independent owners while MLS teams are essentially owned by the league and franchised out. They should look at CONCACAF TV's broadcast of the CCL. For the most part it looks fairly low cost, but has good reception and clarity even when played in the Caribbean.
A year or so ago, the Ft Lauderdale owner said something about NASL eventually returning to D1 status, and the Cosmos definitely seem to be hoping / planning for that as well. Not sure how US Soccer and FIFA would react to such a request, but I find the whole thing very interesting to watch as it unfolds. Hoops are growing on me. Hated the Yanks' red n white American flag hoops at first, and wasn't thrilled about ATLs hoops either, but now they seem kinda cool. Celtic style... One more random thought: the club name abbreviation as it appears on the new logo, ASFC, has a nice ring to it.
I dont see why you couldn't keep both leagues seperate / run exactly the same , and have them play each other in the playoffs / Soccerbowl or what ever. As someone said he us is big enough for at least 30 major teams, but that many is far to much for 1 league if you ask me.
The whole thing is fascinating. You have a league set up for independent club owners vs a single entity system where the league signs the players. Was reading an interview with a pro/rel proponent recently and he pointed out that, if it were ever to happen here, MLS would have to abandon the single entity model. I wonder if this will eventually force the pro/rel issue 5-10 years down the road? I could see the leagues merging at some point (or partnering) and then dividing all their teams into two divisions based on their records. Pipe dreams at this point, I know. But fun to think about.
I know, thats what I was getting at. I just try to avoid the NFL analogy cause it brings out the Boo birds so to speak.