I honestly can not think of a way it is not far superior to Dilboy (unless you live next to Dilboy). Parking, central access, infrastructure, no football lines, tailgating and beer sales all come quickly to mind as ways it has Dilboy beaten soundly. With regard to whether it was in the original plans or not, I can only offer conjecture. Perhaps the Breakers had hoped to exceed 4,000 in attendance with the move back to Harvard? Or more likely, it was in the original plans, and use of the Mausoleum for a season was always temporary until the referenced funding and planning came together?
I am biased by attending games there on cold rainy nights with about 1,000 other people in a 30,000 seat facility
Spoke to staff yesterday, they are very excited and indicated they have exclusive use through August. Referred to it as a "place of their own". Very good news indeed.
So how on earth do we dig ourselves out of this hole of a roster we've got? I think the only potential we really have is to sign some internationals or Americans playing abroad and go from there. I've got less than no faith in Billiard and, by extension, Durkin. Would not be surprised for us to hit the bottom of the table again. Not surprised at all.
The strategy is clear, just keep signing Brazilians until they find enough that will stay. Billiard and Durkin don't seem to be going anywhere, despite the considered opinion of those on this board. Other than the venue change, my concerns remain with regard to the whole operation.
Come in last place. And don't trade away their first round draft pick, unless they can get Sam Mewis in return... (but don't do a 2 for 1 trade!). Then do it again in 2016. Then do it again in 2017. And then finally there might be a decent team out there for 2018... Seriously though, if I were GM, I'd concentrate on finding the 2 best DMs that I could from abroad (whether internationals or domestic players abroad, doesn't matter). Build up a solid defense to support Naeher, who is already one of the best keepers. Then try to win every game 1-0. But right now with the roster they have, it looks more like they want to win every game 5-4, which isn't gonna happen.
Always nice when the press box/TV cameras face the crowd, for visual and atmosphere reasons. I'm impressed by the logistical moves the Breakers have made this offseason. Roster moves on the other hand...
Well, having the logistics in place is much better in the long run than putting together a good on-field season.
As a STH, I am concerned about the move to Soldier's Field. It fixes many problems (expensive stadium, empty stadium, gridiron lines, fans far from field, etc.) but there are still many issues (no permanent toilets, no close-by locker rooms or facilities, not a huge number of seats) so I'm curious to see how they fix these things. I'd really like to not be using a Port-a-Potty from April through September for games...
I think the restrooms will be the biggest problem. There are some pretty fancy portable restroom trailers, that have normal flushing toilets. But I don't know if the Breakers will want to pay that much for them. Locker rooms at the stadium isn't really an issue, it's only like a 3 minute walk to where they are and the fans don't have to do that walk, only the players/coaches. As to the number of seats, well they only surpassed 4000 once last season. Shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Video on life in the reserve team. Includes mention of the job opportunities they have to keep them from starving.
Really short Breakers vid as Preseason begins VIDEO w/@catwhitehill4 @KristieMewie @Mevans018 @rmwood24 @KetlenWiggers @BiancaBrinson2 @smccaffrey9 #NWSLpreseason pic.twitter.com/SUA1aAAtUF— Boston Breakers (@BostonBreakers) March 9, 2015
Preseason roster: GOALKEEPERS (5): *Paige Burnett, *Tori Christ, Jami Kranich, Alyssa Naeher, *Samantha Whitney DEFENDERS (9): Amy Barczuk, Bianca Calderone, Kassey Kallman, Julie King, Samantha Lofton, Mollie Pathman, Bianca Sierra, Cat Whitehill, Rachel Wood MIDFIELDERS (7): Maddy Evans, *Chanel Johnson, *Lauren Lazo, Kristie Mewis, Suzane Pires, Katie Schoepfer, Beatriz Vaz e Silva FORWARDS (8): Bianca Brinson, Nkem Ezurike, Jamia Fields, Morgan Marlborough, Stephanie McCaffrey, Rafaela Travalao, Stephanie Verdoia, Ketlen Wiggers *Non-roster invitees
Updated preseason roster. Chanel Johnson was moved from midfield to forward (Like the needed more forwards.) GOALKEEPERS (3): *Paige Burnett, *Tori Christ, Jami Kranich, Alyssa Naeher, *Samantha Whitney DEFENDERS (8): Amy Barczuk, Bianca Calderone, Kassey Kallman, Julie King, Samantha Lofton, Mollie Pathman, Bianca Sierra, Cat Whitehill, Rachel Wood MIDFIELDERS (6): Maddy Evans, *Lauren Lazo, Kristie Mewis, Suzane Pires, Katie Schoepfer, Beatriz Vaz e Silva FORWARDS (9): Bianca Brinson, Nkem Ezurike, Jamia Fields, *Chanel Johnson, Morgan Marlborough, Stephanie McCaffrey, Rafaela Travalao, Stephanie Verdoia, Ketlen Wiggers *Non-roster invitees
Forgive the brain fart, are we expecting anyone else at this point? We're allocated Naeher, Mewis, Ezurike, and Sierra, all four of whom are in preseason. I don't recall any rumors of further signings (with our luck there aren't any...). And I don't recall anyone who's due to arrive later on.
Women's Soccer Zone preview of the Breakers: https://audioboom.com/boos/3044734-women-s-soccer-zone-nwsl-season-preview-boston-breakers
*LINK* http://www.bostonbreakerssoccer.com/home/865500.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston Breakers announce partnership with Moody Street TV (March 5, 2015) – The Boston Breakers announced today a partnership with Moody Street TV. Based out of Waltham, Mass., Moody Street TV will produce a short documentary on the Boston Breakers to air on New England Sports Network (NESN) as part of the network’s Celebrity Spotlight Series. It will reach 4 million homes in New England and more than 5 million nationwide (via DirectTV and the Dish Network). The 30-minute episode will feature exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage, player profiles, and more. They will run three to four times each month. “This is a very exciting moment for our organization. The exposure we will get from this documentary through NESN is something we have all dreamed of for many years,” Boston Breakers general manager Lee Billiard said. “I think the viewers will really enjoy a behind-the-scenes look of the team and our organization. It is something that is seen in the men’s game a lot, but not so much in the women’s game and now via Moody St TV and NESN, we are able to profile women’s soccer and the Boston Breakers under a captured spotlight.” Moody Street TV's content has aired on ESPN, ESPN2, The Style Network, The NHL Network, Comcast Sports New England, and Bravo, to name a few. Moody Street’s Emmy Award winning production includes the popular Boston Bruins reality series “Behind the B.” "We are excited about taking viewers behind the scenes and showing them what it means to be a Boston Breaker,” Moody Street TV executive producer Steve Sera said. “The Celebrity Spotlight Series, now in its eighth season on NESN is looking forward to this unique opportunity to showcase an all-access look at road trips and game-days, and spending time with players and coaches away from the field to see the full spectrum of this exciting brand of women’s pro soccer.” Production on the Breakers series is set to begin in late March/early April and the first episode is slated to air in late May/early June.
I hear rumor the Breakers played on Saturday and lost. (We could use some email buzz for the old folks amongst us who don't do Twitter.) Feels like it's going to be a long season given the weakness of the roster. What has me scratching my head is how every other team in the league has name players from the USWNT that they can showcase and that add true fire power on the field. What's wrong with us? I love Alyssa and god bless her for keeping last year from being worse than it was but only a deranged, abusive, media-hound of a goalie will bring in fans. Last season many other teams in the league brought in some awesome international talent. Do we have a smaller budget than other NWSL teams? Why no field USWNT players on the roster?
You seem to be forgetting Kristie Mewis, who is Boston's other USWNT allocation... doesn't matter that she hasn't gotten a cap recently, she's still allocated. As to why they only have 2 USWNT members, let's look at their allocated player history: Sydney Leroux -> Traded for Mewis Heather Mitts -> Retired before season started, given Klingenberg as replacement Heather O'Reilly -> Traded for 2 non-allocated players Meghan Klingenberg -> Taken by Houston in expansion draft Kristie Mewis -> Still with team Alyssa Naeher -> Still with team So why is Mewis the only field player? Because they traded away HAO and Kling was taken in the expansion draft. Bringing in quality internationals in a WWC is almost impossible. As to why didn't Boston bring in any last season? Because they had traded away 2 of their 3 international slots, and their only remaining one was used on their 1st round draft pick (which you'd understandably expect to make the team). This year they have all 4 slots and all 4 are taken by Brazilians not good enough to be on their NT.