Has anybody heard any NEW news about whose going to be named the next expansion team in 2009? The last thing I heard is that we were waiting on PA congress to make a decision about state funding for Philly's stadium. I haven't heard or seen anything in awhile and noticed there hasn't been any new posts in a long time. I was beginning to wonder if anybody checks this website anymore... hello? Is anybody out there?
Expansion news has definitely been very slow in coming recently. If the deadline of January 31 is true, then we should see new expansion headlines soon enough. Maybe this is just the quiet before the storm.
A big concern of mine is that St. Louis drops farther down the list of possible cities IF we don't get a team for 2009. The league has said recently that Miami is now high on the list and then there's a second team in New York that the league wants very bad.
You better watch it. I've been saying that all along. Now, gregro is going to come in here and let you have it. He'll tell you you're being too pessimistic and how you have to keep the faith and how deserving we are like Seattle was and then he'll let you know how great Seattle is. If we only had a billionare wake up and say, "I want an MLS team, I've got plenty of money to play with." - We'd be as "deserving" as Seattle. No, I agree, if Philly is announced and Garber makes no additional commitment to STL, we screwed.
Last night after the closing: This morning (40@Ballas looking West) The closure is imediately behind the camera. The few cars going West have entered at Ballas. As you see, there are no cars going East. - knowing how this should "normally" look compared with these shots is just creepy. To bring this back on topic: Ballas -> I-170 Closed until end of 2008. I-170 -> Kingshighway Closed end of 2008 until end of 2009 There will be no lane closings during 2010. So if we play in 2010 - this construction is not an issue. Hopefully, this construction makes it even to get to Collinsville. For to 2009 season - I still maintain that traffic and general driving on 40 was so bad that you were better off going south on I-270 and around to get to Collinsville anyway - so there shouldn't be any impact.
Here is what was reported today in the Post Dispatch by Tom Timmerman. There’s nothing new to report on the expansion front. I haven’t spoken to Cooper since before Christmas, but he remains optimistic. The league has set a Jan. 31 deadline for making a decision on the 16th team, and while the Pennsylvania legislature didn’t approve anything before taking their Christmas break, there’s a small window for them to do it before Jan. 31. There’s also, I’ve been told, the possibility of what’s been termed “extra-legislative” avenues, meaning ways to get funding that wouldn’t require the Pennsylvania legislature to approve. I’m not sure what those might be. Cooper’s latest ownership group hasn’t been approved, but I think the reality is that the league won’t approve any group, no matter how appealing it might be, until they know what’s happening in Philadelphia. St. Louis is a fine city, but if the league can get Philadelphia, they’ll take them. And now, all of a sudden, Miami is entering the picture. They’ve approved a stadium plan there — though I’m not sure if there are still variables involved — but they don’t have an ownership group. Again, the league would take Miami over St. Louis - it’s a bigger market. And Commissioner Garber in discussing expansion recently said he thought the league would soon have a team south of D.C. And even though Miami had a team before and failed (OK, it played in Fort Lauderdale), the league feels the market has changed and the new stadium, on the site of the Orange Bowl, would be a better draw. Miami couldn’t be in until 2010. St. Louis remains the only candidate that could be ready to play in 2009.
Wrong SB, that would be a foolish excercise in futility and I have already wasted too much time that I will never get back. You win. Whatever will be will be.
If St. Louis doesn't get announced a team I am going to boycott MLS. I am going to be so pissed!!! Honestly, I wasn't a huge MLS fan in recent years because the play was too slow and boring. The talent wasn't good enough to watch. I was more involved with what was going on across the pond. But with MLS's recent moves, and the Beckham effect, I've found myself watching more and more games. And now with all of this expansion talk, and St. Louis possibly getting a team, I'm really starting to get excited!! I really find myself looking forward to the start of the '08 season. If we don't get a team I'm going to be devastated. How can they play with our emotions like that? So everybody who wants a team in St. Louis say your prayers. Do you think 10 Our Fathers and 5 Hail Mary's is enough?!?
If we don't get the 16th team, we're screwed. We don't even have an MISL team to cheer for anymore, and I doubt Dave Checketts wants indoor soccer at the Scottrade Center. However, Cooper said he is committed to the new women's pro team that's suppose to start play in 2009. If that indeed happens, we had better embrace that team because that's all the pro soccer we'll have in St. Louis.
I'm on it. I prefer the 1 Our Father 10 Hail Mary's. Seriously, I am going to ask if any of the monks I know love soccer and get this on his prayer list. You never know!
I'm not generally petty about things beyond my control, but I must confess this song and dance has me miffed. Garber always talking a good game, about tradition, about "front-runner" status while cynically (and predictably) using the STL bid as a pawn to leverage larger markets. Chasing the big markets is the league's prerogative. Fine. Nice to see that now that MLS franchises are in demand, it's using its leverage to lure big markets rather than chase the latest Tom, Dick and Salt Lake that comes around. Too bad we weren't ready with a stadium deal then. Not that I want this, but I also wonder if MLS also sees the Midwest as well-represented, and STL as an outlet if K.C. ultimately moves? Either way, it's a healthy reminder to not let fan emotions get us too attached or publicly indebted to the scoundrel's game of pro sports and the corporate welfare that helps finance them. It's funny: MLS clearly doesn't need soccer-devoted fans in the merely 18th-largest market ... and conversely we actually don't need it. Now, I want it -- oh yes, I'd love to be able to tailgate before local MLS games. But without it, I'll keep getting up to watch EPL games and getting involved in local soccer, and I'll retain an only passing, distant interest in MLS when better-played and better-televised options are available from elsewhere on this planet. I'm reminded of when the NHL crapped all over the Twin Cities market, allowing a money-chasing owner to piss off the North Stars fan base to lower attendance enough so he could "justify" leaving and chasing a sweet deal in larger-market Dallas. Minnesota was already teeming with other hockey offerings, from youth on up to a great college scene. So when the pro fan base was abused, they said "don't let the door hit you on your way out, we have plenty of other hockey to entertain us." Within 6 years, the NHL was back in Minnesota, spouting its respect for tradition while eating up a new building and deep pockets. Sorry for the downer post. I just keep thinking how a team would be great, but if it doesn't happen, MLS and myself will have no need for each other.
Kansas City is NOT moving. Their owners have very deep pockets and are very dedicated to KC. They're getting set to break ground on a new 18,500-seat soccer specific stadium. It's a DONE DEAL...the Wizards are NOT moving.....and St. Louis probably isn't getting an MLS team. Hopefully the new women's pro team works out in St. Louis.
I will not watch women's soccer. I'd rather watch the grass grow. My 5-6 yr old team is more exciting. And if we don't get a team, I done with MLS too. I believe I wrote it in a previous thread, Garber is a hypocrite. He tells you if you want a team you need to get this, this, and this. Then awards teams to other cities who don't even have this or that. Garber thinks having teams in bigger markets will mean more attendence and more revenue. Completely wrong. There are sports cities and there are cities who have entertainment other than sports. Sports take a back seat to other entertainment. Here's my example: St. Louis is a sports town, i.e. The Cardinals and the Blues. (I dont mention the Rams b/c we're not a football town) We support them thru the good times and bad. Now look at a city like Miami where there are things to do other than sports, like going to the beach and watching beautiful women half naked... Can you blame them! But when their team isn't doing too well their stadiums are like ghost towns. I don't know, maybe I'm just mad at Garber for making me wait this long for an announcement. I mean it's January '08 for crying out loud and they want a new team basically in 1 year?!?! Garber needs to get his head out of his @$$.
Well there's still hope that Dave Checketts will bring the Steamers and the MISL back to the Scottrade Center next year. I've been told they've had discussions about it. Guess we'll see.
Yeah, I might go to a women's game here or there, but I'm not really a "supporter." And Indoor Soccer - it's a kids play game - like wiffleball - and I hope it stays that way. I actually discourage the kids I coach from playing indoor after 12 years old - It creates too many bad habits. Now futsal is well worth it and great for training.
Well you had better embrace whatever form of PRO soccer St. Louis has in the future, but it probably won't be MLS in 2009 or 2010.
I'm not sure why you included the Blues in that statement, when the last two seasons show that the opposite is true. The Blues attendance dipped to 14,000 per game after the cancelled '04-'05 season and plummeted to an embarrassing 12,000 per game last season (last in the NHL). Not what I would call supporting a team through bad times. As for STL not being a football town (or being a great sports town in general), I'd say STL is a GREAT football town when the team is winning. And that formula holds true for almost every city in every sport. While there are exceptions to the rule (ie great teams w/poor attendance or terrible teams that perform well at the gate), I'd say the only exception STL has to the rule is the Cardinals.
Personally I'd rather watch indoor soccer than the women's game. And why would discouraging kids from playing indoor also prohibit you or them from watching the game? While we're on the subject, why would you consider futsal a better form of training than MISL-style indoor ball? I'd think that whatever benefit is gained from the absence of dasher boards in futsal is cancelled out by the size 4 ball (unless you are strictly speaking about training youngsters who already play with the size 4).
I have to disagree. The Blues have had bad years and have still been supported. The last two years are an anomaly. You had the strike followed by owners who wanted out. They sold off the top defenseman in the league and basically cut corners every chance they could while still raising ticket prices. The fans did not fail to support their team, the Blues front office abandoned the fans. Now, that there are really hockey people running things, the Blues and their support will be just fine. This is what bothers me about our situation with MLS. I was psyched to have Cooper running things. He's a soccer guy. He has a passion for the sport. Sure, we may get a team if we get the "money guy" MLS wants, but I'm worried this "money guy" won't share Cooper's passion. The problem is that when push comes to shove, the "money guy" gets to make the decisions.
What's A. Busch up to these days? Has anyone heard anything on where they stand on the STL/MLS issue? With all the money they spend/make on FIFA World Cups I would like to hear an explanation why they wouldn't throw down a few million to bring the MLS to St Louis...
But aren't the factors you listed above specifically part of the "bad times" that STL Faithful first mentioned? And considering the Blues made the playoffs for the previous 25 years before the lockout, have they really had any other hard times in the past two and a half decades...?