Since our state is so vast -The Cal Premier League would be crazy! Damn near every match would be a rivalry game, sad to say maybe even some violence from supporters in-between all the action? All the cities with populations over 200,000 would have a top league team. LA, SF, SD, Sacramento, San Jose, Fresno, Oakland, Bakersfield, Long Beach, etc. Every week you'd have the likes of: LA vs Bakersfield Sacramento vs Fresno LA vs SF Oakland vs San Jose SD vs LA Fresno vs SF etc etc etc -Shit would be wild!
Obviously Long Beach FC would become the Man U of this California Premier League and win every year!!!
There would be real derbies. Would people from Long Beach still follow the Galaxy or would their loyalties fall to Long Beach FC?
This would be a ridiculous idea that would go the way of WPS. Even if Long Beach FC existed, I would still follow the Galaxy. I write about them anyway, so it's not like I'm going to even think about changing loyalties.
I almost did get into a fight at one of these. LAG was playing a USOC game against Fresno Fuego. Fresno took it to us early and we were on the ropes. Their fans, several bus loads of them, were really giving it to us in the stands. Then LAG came back and ultimately went ahead. All of a sudden they were silent. I got up, and yelled "And the worst part of this is, when it's over you have to go back to Fresno." A fellow in bib overalls (I kid you not) took offense and started after me, but was blocked out by security. Good times.
I dont know, the part of Long Beach that I grew up in is about a 5 to 10 min freeway trip to HDC and any proposed Long Beach FC team would be about the same distance the Galaxy are now. Im in love and completely enthralled with the LA Galaxy partly because they are a team that is so close to where I live. If the Long Beach team wasnt in the same level as the Galaxy then the LB team would become my alternate team with the Galaxy still #1. If the Galaxy were in the same league as a Long Beach team, I would still be a hardcore Galaxy fan but I think over time I would slowly become a Long Beach FC supporter.
Well, I was born and raised in the OC, but grew up watching the Kings. When the Mighty Ducks came into being, I couldn't stand the team even before their first game. I thought I'd eventually start following them since they are basically in my backyard, but nope, still can't stand them. Don't like the Angels either. The ironic thing is that I like the Rams over the Raiders and still follow the team. I think it really depends on how much time a person has invested into a team and the trials and tribulations the team in question has gone through.
I hold onto my old California drivers license just in case the Golden State ever wises up and secedes. Between Hollywood, the San Joaquin Valley, Silicon Valley and Humboldt County's finest, it would be the second-biggest economy in North America. And the National Team would qualify out of CONCACAF. Plus, yeah. The league would be great to watch. Anaheim v. LA. Carlsbad v. San Diego. I'd watch the shit out of those games.
The US is not like Brazil: it doesn't have the fanfare, nor the interest and much less the quality and quantity of teams to make State Championships work. However, Regional Championships (Southeast, Northeast, Midwest, West) would definitely work.
OK, so now bear with me on this, but if we did this, there'd be a chance the league was dominated by Bakersfield City. I know, I know, but wait! Ask yourself this: what is currently the driving force in international soccer? Oil Money! Lots of it! It's Middle Easterners and Russians with crap-tons of oil money who are building big teams these days. What does Bakersfield have? The largest oil reserve in the US outside of Texas and Alaska (and maybe North Dakota now). But in any case, way more oil than LA or Frisco, and way more than places that do drill like the offshore stuff in Ventura and Long Beach. So you get local oil oligarchs to own the team (and while there's Big Oil in Bakersfield, there's a LOT of local folks with more money than they know what to do with) and just buy up all the good players at a young age, discard the ones you don't, spend on a couple of great players from other teams, and walla! Then we'd form a supporters group called The Bib Overall Army. Our home field would be impregnable because who wants to play soccer in 110 degree heat? Not sissy players from the Bay Area, I'll tell you that. We'd have to build a stadium and call it The Frying Pan. On a somewhat related note, who would wear bib overalls to a soccer game? I get the whole redneck thing, but really? That seems weird even to me. Maybe he got lost on his way to the tractor pull.
Come on. The guy was from Fresno. It was probably his Sunday best. I bet he wears them to performances by the Fresnopolitan Opera too.
I'm sure there would be a loophole somewhere for "douchebaggery". We could call it the Lenhart Factor, and then make a national holiday celebrating his deportation! D-Day would take on a whole new meaning!