I can always suggest it, but i believe that either we, the Menace, or the players have a set play list that they like to hear. As for the dancers, well... Right now the Menace organization is going through a lot of changes. We did hire Adam Small who will be taking over for Tawnya at the end of the year. He comes from the Burlington Bees Baseball Club and has a lot to add. You can see more about him on our website. Right now, the main focus is a place to play and a new GM. Other than that, it's day to day business for us.
Sounds like the RIGHT FOCUS! Good luck, and I hope Mr. Small has some sense of Soccer atmosphere and mid-game soccer activities! One of my few complaints about the Menace was that these activities greatly interfered with my enjoyment of and ability to watch the game!
I agree. There have been far too many distractions during the games for the last few seasons. I don't remember all the dance nonsense at Hoover. What, the team moves to a suburb and now they have to provide fan interaction? I don't see that crap during Man U games or even MLS games. Is there any way to limit the distracting fan crap to Pre-game, post-game, and halftime? I pay to watch the Menace, not the kids who can't dance try to get a free frisbee from Valley West Mall... At least get the junk to move out of the center of the field. Have the dance contests and whatever move to the endzones or something. No one really wants to watch some one else's kid (or adult) make an assclown out of him/herself as much as they want to see the action on the field. If that garbage continues to disrupt the view of the game, I'm going to need beer in the stadium or follow the team on channel 22 and the internet... I agree that the hick music needs to go. If fans want to hear "Cotton-eye Joe," they can go to Texas Roadhouse where the song is played every hour and beer is available at your seat to help you cope with its annoyance.
BUMP to keep us on the front page. Hmmm.....come to think of it, I haven't seen any Chill fans on thier thread lately. Didn't they claim that they weren't just jumping on a band-wagon and would be around to post? POSERS> I noticed that the TB Chill Reserves played at Shattuck St Mary's (vs. the U17B) and LOST 7-0!! Quality program at S-SM, but come on.....7-0?! The Menace U17s only lost 3-1. The Menace U18s beat S-SM 4-0.....maybe we should put the U18s on the field vs. the Chill PDL squad? When there is nothing else to talk about....I like to discuss how much I dislike the Chill. I like the name Thunder Bay Thugs, much more catchy...and more fitting!
Thunder Bay Thugs is a badass name. It is fitting and respectable. I always though "Chill" sounded girly. Kind of like Iowa "Energy."
Somebody see if they can raise the maniac from the dead.........aetraxx-- I think you can raise him (and don't snicker at my choice of words).
Seems too quiet in the Menace camp....methinks something is afoot. I sense a big announcement coming up in the next week or so, anyone else feel this way?
Here's some guesses at what an announcement might be: 1) - announcement of home field for 2008 season 2) - announcment of new GM 3) - announcment that the Menace is folding their youth academy and working with all the other Iowa youth clubs to launch a combined youth academy. All club pro coaches will be part of the academy coaching staff - so all the egos can be satisfied. In exchange, all clubs agree to actively support and market the PDL team to their club families. The Menace do this in anticipation of a jump to USL1 in 2009. 4) - menacemaniac has agreed to come out of retirement after agreeing to terms on managing the NE district for Kum and Go. 5) ????
Hope everyoen had a good turkey holiday. Glad to see that there is a lot of off season activity here. I do have a few items for you. Adam and interm GM Kevin Krause went to the AGM in Tampa, FL the weekend before Thanksgiving. Adam has mentioned that it was a beneficial experence and that things are looking good for 2008. We have the prelim-schedule, but your out of luck trying to get that from me yet . It will most likely be released sometime mid-January (I think). I will do my best to answer the above: 1) Still in talks. We're at a standstill at the moment. 2) No idea where we are but I've heard a rumor that there are two possibilities. 3) Not a chance. 4) You guys are on your own for bringing him out of retirement. 5) Can't answer if I don't know the ???? Have a great Holiday Season and I'll be checking in from time to time.
FYI, the Chill Reserve Team that played those games consisted of a group of good hearted kids who did not make the roster for Ontario Cup, but still wanted to take a trip and play some games out of town. But you already knew that. Glad to see that you are showing interest in player development. Maybe you guys should bring up all your youth players and put them on the PDL squad. Whats the worst that could happen, miss the playoffs maybe? P.S. Hey menace fanatic, what are you doing on the computer anyways, I thought I told you to go practice.
First of all, nice to hear from you bc chill fan-- I guess the internet suddenly blacked out for you immediately after your loss in Chicago? Glad to see you are back up. Great to see that you are giving good-hearted players the opportunity to play under your banner. I think that we could probably send our U20s up to play your team. Then MAYBE you could get back into the playoffs again (not sure your PDL side could take them) if all the Divisional teams did this? But, why would you want to do that....you already saw that your style of "play" doesn't fly outside the Canadian "Bush" league. Lastly, maybe you did tell me to practice....but that was like 6 months ago before you went into hiding after the disgraceful appearance in the playoffs.
Or how about the big elephant in the room. Is Coach Mann staying or leaving? Rumor places him with the Thunder next season. Why does everyone beat around the bush? This seems to be a very wide-spread rumor which comes from the higher levels within the Thunder.
Just heard a rumor down here in Omaha, that the Spitfire just folded???? Have any of you guys heard that...also heard (for like the 4th year in a row) that someone from Omaha is looking to bring in a PDL team here...
According to Wikipedia they have suspended operations, and their website doesn't work, so I'd say that is correct. It seems likely that Chicago will be shifting back over to the Heartland Division next season. With Sioux Falls out of the picture, we're down to six teams, and there are new teams in Kalamazoo (the Ourage, ugh) and Cincinnati (the USL-2 Kings are moving down) it seems likely that they would want to balance the Heartland and Great Lakes Divisions...
Here's the alignment. It does not seem to favor the Menace or the Heartland Division for travel vs. the Midwest Division that has no road trip over 2-4 hours. http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/216804.html
Here is the official alignment. Looks like it got tougher for Des Moines with no easy matches, tough travel, and only one guaranteed playoff spot for the conference tournament from the division. PDL Alignments and Playoff Structure by Conference Central Conference Great Lakes Division: Cincinnati Kings, Cleveland Internationals, Michigan Bucks, Toronto Lynx, West Virginia Chaos Heartland Division: Colorado Rapids U23, Des Moines Menace, Kansas City Brass, Springfield Demize, St Louis Lions, Thunder Bay Chill Midwest Division: Chicago Fire Premier, Fort Wayne Fever, Indiana Invaders, Kalamazoo Outrage, West Michigan Chaos Central Conference Playoffs: The regular season conference champion receives a bye to the conference tournament semifinals. The remaining top two teams in each division will play a divisional round midweek to determine the three other qualifiers for the conference tournament. The number one seed will play the lowest seeded non-divisional opponent in the conference tournament semifinals. The winner of the conference championship advances to the PDL Semifinals. Eastern Conference Mid Atlantic Division: Fredericksburg Gunners, Hampton Roads Piranhas, Northern Virginia Royals, Reading Rage, Richmond Kickers Future, Virginia Legacy New England Division: Cape Cod Crusaders, New Hampshire Phantoms, Rhode Island Stingrays, Ottawa Fury, Vermont Voltage Northeast Division: Brooklyn Knights, Long Island Rough Riders, New Jersey Rangers, Newark (TBA), Ocean City Barons, Westchester Flames Eastern Conference Playoffs: The three division champions and the top second-place club (wild card) advance to the conference championship tournament. The number one seed will play the lowest seeded non-divisional opponent in the conference tournament semifinals. The winner of the conference championship advances to the PDL Semifinals. Southern Conference Mid South Division: Austin Stampede, Baton Rouge Capitals, DFW Tornados, El Paso Patriots, Houston Leones, Laredo Heat, Mississippi Brilla, New Orleans Shell Shockers Southeast Division: Atlanta Silverbacks U23s, Bradenton Academics, Carolina Dynamo, Cary RailHawks U23s, Central Florida Kraze, Nashville Metros, Palm Beach Pumas, Panama City Pirates Southern Conference Playoffs: The top two teams in each division advance to the conference championship tournament. The division champions face the second place team from the opposite division in the conference semifinals. The winner of the conference championship advances to the PDL Semifinals. Western Conference Northwest Division: Abbotsford Mariners, BYU Cougars, Cascade Surge, Ogden Outlaws, Spokane Spiders, Tacoma Tide, Vancouver Whitecaps Residency, Yakima Reds Southwest Division: Bakersfield Brigade, Fresno Fuego, Lancaster Rattlers, Los Angeles Storm, Orange County Blue Star, San Fernando Valley Quakes, San Francisco Seals, San Jose Frogs, Southern California Seahorses, Ventura County Fusion Western Conference Playoffs: The top two teams in each division advance to the conference championship tournament. The division champions face the second place team from the opposite division in the conference semifinals. The winner of the conference championship advances to the PDL Semifinals.
Actually I think it helps us a little, it helps everyone. The Spitfire contributed to flukey situations over the years with their spotty play from week to week. Their folding increases the overall quality of the division and in a way evens out more of the matches in a season. As for the playoffs, I don't mind the play in game of #2 and #3. With such a competitive division it's not inconceivable that we end up #3 and need that play-in game. Having said all that, the earlier point is erased if teams STILL don't have to play at Boulder and if we don't see a more balanced schedule. With only 6 teams and the same number of weeks in the season it should not be hard to get it right this year.
The Conference Champion gets the bye. The #1 and #2 in the other divisions will playoff to go to the semis. In only one division will #2 and #3 play for a spot in the semis.
Oh well now see I need to start reading for comprehension. Yeah, I don't like that at all. Obvious the advantage will go to the weaker division. More stupidity from the USSF.
Looks like USL has a typo. West Michigan Edge should be in the Great Lakes and West Virginia Chaos would be in the Midwest. And if I had anything to do with it, I'd put Thunder Bay in the Great Lakes. The entire divison, as whole, is closer to Thunder Bay. It would allow Thunder Bay to have a more balanced schedule and travel easier. It would allow the Heartland to be more balanced as well. Given the problem with Thunder Bay, why are we stuck with them as team number #6, compared to 5 teams in the other divisions.
In response to earlier, we always hear rumors of Omaha getting a team. I wish they would. It would make a good road trip. Choose your own labels but here is how I would align them: Cincinnati Cleveland Michigan Toronto West Virginia Colorado Des Moines Kansas City Springfield St Louis Chicago Fort Wayne Indiana Invaders Kalamazoo Thunder Bay West Michigan Perhaps swap Michigan and Fort Wayne so that the three Michigan teams are grouped together in a rivalry.
I guess it's still better, it makes it possible to qualify in third place. I do think it's dumb to compare records across divisions.