I'm usually not one to celebrate the end of a team, but in this case it couldn't have happened to a more sanctimonious ownership and management. Good riddance. Soccer in the US, and D2 is better without them and their poisonous desires being whispered in the rest of D2's ears.
I should point out the Eleven are going to formally announce their latest attempt at a new stadium tomorrow. So if the NASL folds, I won't be worried since they'll go to USL. I assume they want to remain loyal to the league based upon the goals they had envisioned four years ago.
Well, Stover is a nutjob. I don't know enough about Seamus O'Brien to form a strong opinion, but he seems to have put forth some fairly hyperbolic ideas. It's obviously not good for the game in this country when teams and/or leagues go under*. That said, owners and management are owners and management and there are several in MLS who are no great shakes, either. But who I will not feel sorry for is Absurd Cosmofan, who has spent the last four years telling us how they're the tip of the spear of a revolution, and who now are casting about for whatever scapegoat a case can be made for. *If only we had pro/rel, it would guarantee your team or league would not fail.
In case anyone out there still has any illusions, yes, they have palyers and a coach on contract and those individuals could have value, but in reality no, they actually don't. Gio Savarese is on contract, and a few players' contracts would still have some value if - IF - they continued to honour them. To state the bleedin' obvious, the value of their staff assets a) will keep declining as the contracts' expiry dates come closer, b) will drop to nothing unless they continue to pay them, and c) even if they did keep payimg Gio's contract in particular, he could resign and claim that keeping him on contract but not letting him work materially damages his empolyability long-term. That applies double to the players. The brand is all they have. The brand that is associated with killing off two not-on-very-stable-foundations leagues that could - could - have done OK with more prudence and realism all round. Thing is, prudence and realism are not what the Cosmos are about, and values that tend go AWOL when the Cosmos show up. Glamour brands are like that.
it does not always spell the end for the entire organization (though usually it does). The Atlanta Silverbacks still kept their NPSL and womens teams when they folded the NASL side.
I feel bad for anyone who loses a team they support. To a point. I mean, if the worst thing that happens to you this week is a soccer team you support goes out of business, you're living a charmed life. From the USFL and the Tampa Bay Bandits to the original NASL and the original Rowdies to a team in a league I actually worked for, I've had it happen, too. It's not "devastating" unless you're 23. It's the nature of the beast.
Empathy, not sympathy. This was not hard to see. Hell, I has season tix for the Metrostars for five years when I worked mostly in Europe. Didn't go to a single game in that stretch. Talk about awful. Few fans, in the old Swamp, on turf, half the time with football lines. Talk about a terrible environment. Those were the real dark days. Business looked done, but if it went I was gonna at least say I gave it the old college try with a few bucks and my Direct Kick subscription. Looked like money being flushed away. Still, didn't want sympathy or for folks to fell bad for me. I gave it a legit shot and I would move on to the next local team....if we had one. I would support the game. Guess what? These "fans" have two damn teams right now they could support, but due to BS ideology, purity, whatever the F reasons many won't. It's why I empathize with them, but I have little sympathy. Gave it a shot with the obvious delusion, in a terrible situation, believing the lies and fantasies (JK fans also I bet). If they want to give up on the game here than good riddance. They really aren't soccer fans IMO. The are ideologist first...soccer fans second. I hope most are fans and help grow the game locally until they get another option. If not...c'est la vie.
There's also the fact that Cosmosfan can suck it up and go watch two MLS teams, unlike many of the other NASL fans losing a team.
I think there's a "delete" button on the bottom of your posts, and you should use it on one of these.
So what was the money on that Emirates Shirt Sponsor deal and Under Armor kit deal. I never saw money figures released. It had to be low if they were having 30 mil in losses.
I doubt it would be much more than Indy's deal, which is $1 million (although it is unclear if that is per season or for the entirety of the deal).
You said it. I felt real bad as a teen when the original NASL and Cosmos folded. It was such a terrible time for outdoor soccer. We went from watching Best , Pele , Chinaglia and Beckenbauer to watching Barney Boyce , Dale Ervine and Bruce Murray. At least today there are many other teams and leagues to go around but all we had back then was youth , high school, college, amateur and the indoor MISL circuit....
You know there was a few members of the borough boys that have and NYCFC fans on twitter have said that Cosmos fans would be welcomed to follow NYCFC to help soften the blow but all they get is "we own you guys so you can suck it" type responses. So while I'm sure they're going to be more then a few fans that start following the RB's and NYCFC the "poseur hardcore's" are going to abstain from following American soccer in their area for the good of the cause.
Going back and reading threads from four years ago is such fun. This guy was a genius: And from fifty7: "There's no way in hell the owner of NY2, whoever it is, won't utilize the Cosmos brand. If it's not the current owners of the brand, whoever gets the MLS expansion franchise will buy the brand." Fun, fun, fun.
I was a season ticket holder all four years, it was great while it lasted. You don't need to feel bad for us, we'll need to figure out whom to support next, Rough Riders, Brooklyn Italians, Red Bull, NYCFC...all options. I personally feel horrible for all those kids in the Academy system, they had a great start hung in there with big time programs, it looked like a great option for good young players in the area, some left good academies and a great situation for what they thought was a better one, now who knows where they end up. It's never a good thing when a program of that nature goes down, big loss for the future players in the area. To me that is the biggest loss for anyone who wants the sport to grow in this country.
TBF, Kelmsley didn't do Blau Weiss any favors. I am a former youth player there, and let's just say the club is happy not to be associated anymore.
I think you're having a different conversation. I'm talking about the kids who are in the academy now. BWG is with NYCFC now.
No, I got ya. I was just adding to what you said about it's the locals who get hurt the most/the kids, when a team goes under. The club can do a lot of hurting also when they are in business or trying to start one. They hurt BlauWeiss.
You'd need someone with the money to sustain the club and since LI is filled to the gills with decent youth teams I think this team may just go away as its not like there's a need for more youth teams, although it may be possible that NYCFC might swoop in and take a lot of these kids for their youth team. I mean if the youth team of NYCFC is good enough for Raul's son it should be good enough for these kids. http://www.marca.com/en/football/real-madrid/2016/11/12/58279627e2704e505f8b461f.html