Make it 18-4 KiXX in the 4th. They should petition that team to be called the Massachussetts Disasters. Because that's all they are.
The Twisters are joke. This season's Orlando/Columbus. At least Rockford is making an effort by getting some experienced players. Rockford looks good on paper, not that wins matches but looks like they are making an effort. MEMO to Eddie Hale and his buddy Healey: you want attendance, find better teams than Springfield to play. 18-4 - 4th quarter, Kixx over the Twisters. Pathetic!
announced attendance: 580. yeah, the twisters are gonna be just fine, soccer-shill. juuuuuuuuuust fine.
Well I feel kind of silly now trying to impress on 4everstorm that Chicago's average of like 1,600 two years ago was the worst pro indoor team average in 20 years. Now we have about 8 teams averaging less than that. He'll probably come back now and brag about how fantastic their 2,500 average is this year. Until we tell him about the other teams writing checks and then it's back on the meds...
jay heaps wasn't the attendance spiker they thought he'd be? g'wan. hopefully shelts went to the game.
The NISL's stats page is also reporting the 580 number for this game. Rockford's second game attendance hasn't been posted yet. That being said, wow...sadly, the two former AISL teams are still drawing AISL-sized crowds. I hope RavenTerp is right about expansion next year, or we're going to be talking about a three-team league. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with the teams themselves, either. Rockford has some comprable talent to the rest of the league while Mass. clearly does not, and yet their attendance numbers are similarly pathetic. What's even more unsettling is that history suggests that opening nights, especially for "new" teams, are often one of (if not the) best attended games of the season. The (estimated) halving of Rockford's already horrible crowds from last weekend to this weekend agrees with that trend so far. We may be looking at some very lean gate receipts for these teams down the road, and only having to see these kinds of numbers for nine home games might turn out to be a blessing. It seems that these not-so-big cities are, so far, not ready to support an indoor soccer team at this level. I'm not terribly optimistic that the situation can be saved, either. Both teams have decided that they would like to now be "major league" franchises, but that isn't going to materialize several thousand fans out of thin air. Sigh....the more things change...
Rockford had little time to promote (as did the whole NISL). Mass had almost no time. I don't think they expect much this year.
and there's no real reason that crowds in rockford and mass couldn't improve...except for the fact that their respective braintrusts have yet to prove they can sell anything. not that somebody else couldn't get them into respectable land, given enough time and resources. it's a matter of how long the people writing the checks can continue to do so.
580 was close...................... I counted 349 at the start of the game and 384 during the second quarter.. RANDOM MUSINGS FROM KIXX @ TWISTERS. - Philly drove to the game. Thats a supposition not a fact but a nice coach with Pennsylvania plates was idling outside the Eastern States Expo Center. - The building was freezing. The outside temp was 34 degrees as per my cars computer at the start and 30 degrees when I got out of the game. I figure it was about 35-36 in the building. By the 3rd quarter I was wearing my gloves - Maher truly is a skilled player. What a exceptional couple of moves he made. - A family of Kixx fans turned up. 2 parents wearing 05ish jerseys and 2 little girls wearing Kixx t-shirts were in attendance. - The game really was like watching a NHL vs AHL game, or a NFL vs CFL or a MLB vs Double A. The Kixx were never in danger of losing. - The Twisters goalie was wearing shorts and a generic short sleeve red soccer shirt. The man had no knee pads or long pants. The backup on the Twisters bench was dressed in full goalie regalia. Long pants, true goalie shirt, gloves. - The ticket that was sold to me said American Indoor Soccer League at the top and listed no opponent. - There was no program, rather a complimentary photocopied 8 sheet printout that was stapled was available. It listed some adverts (including one to rent the field for $795 bucks), the schedule (cut and pasted from Mass Twisters .com) and the names of the Twisters. - Twisters jerseys had no names - The aforementioned photocopied 8 sheet package listed the players with a bunch of blank spots for number, age, birthplace and position. - I was leaning against the boards (more on those later) and Don D'ambra was there during a short break in the 2nd quarter. I shouted "BRING BACK STEVE RYAN and D'ambra cracked up and looked at me shaking his head. - The announcer congratulated Goalie Peter Pappas on his (and I quote) "400th start in the National Indoor Soccer League" - The boards were unlike any other that I've ever seen in any indoor game anywhere. The side boards had nets around them but every 4-5 feet had a 4inch high circular mound/bump/mole on top of the boards. This building is normally used for show horses. - The end boards were just that........boards. No plex-glass but plywood sheets raising 10-14 feet off of the ground, painted white. Anyone sitting behind these boards had absolutely ZERO view. Luckily seating was not a problem. - I asked one of the workers who Paul LaPointe was and he was on the bench in a suit so I couldn't say hello to AISL. His son is a defenceman on the team. - Lapointe has hired two really nice ladies (both in looks and attitude) to man the souvenir table and sell 50-50 tix. - God it was cold in there - The announcer said the next game was against the Monterrey LaRazor - Jay Heaps sat at a table just past the door. He also kicked out the "cermonial first shot" at the Twisters goalie after a 10 year old kid belted out the Star Spangled Banner. - The Kixx played their backup goalie from the end of 3rd quarter onward. - With the score 16-2 D'ambra could be heard shouting "Work on your 3 pointers" from the field and bench. - Two Twisters (number 15? and 21) had a on-field shouting match at 8-0 over whether or not a foul had occured. I truly have never seen 2 teamates screaming at each other over a (perceived) foul that one of them may have committed. - The only garbage can on the South side of the arena was put right beside the Kixx bench. Kids were coming up and dropping their trash. - A really hot blonde was parading around with some fat guy. The Kixx players all noticed her and thought the same thing the rest of the crowd did. - During the game the announcer (more on him later) announced "We need the other red ball" They only had 2 and played with a white one for awhile. - The Twisters probably have 3 players who could make an NISL roster. The number 31, is a big Italian looking guy with a booming shot. Scored the 3 pointer for Mass at the end. - The announcer went onto the field during a break and was trying to get the masses' to cheer as he had some mini-balls to fire into the crowd. He wound up baseball-pitcher style from the center circle and launched the ball into the crowd. Problem was the ball was a kiddie small ball and he threw it about 20 feet into where the Kixx were meeting. Pappas caught it one handed and pitched back into the crowd. - A red headed guy for Mass was sent to the penalty box. He was shouting at the ref (over the din of 385 people so we could all hear) "you gotta let me play, ya gotta let me play, they are too good at ....aww f*** it" - the announcer was either a really good amateur (ie sounded like a typical indoor soccer announcer - on speed, local dj etc.) or a really helpful pro. His job inbetween announcing was to chase down one or other of the aforementioned 2 red balls - Parking was a trick. There was a big sign on the road saying all cars go to gate 9. Gate 9 looked like the Brandenburg gate, large, forboding and tightly locked. I managed to get in a few blocks down and doubled back on myself. - Heaps was gone by halftime - The field had some lumps and bumps and with the cold was not condusive to sliding or any sort of leaving the feet action. Maher slid a bit. It was simply a 1/8th of an inch of turf over the dirt horse floor. I don't know if the Mass Twisters will make it or not. They need more fans plain and simple. Out of the 384 or 349 that I counted and the 580 that was announced was 14 kids from a local team that played the halftime game and the announcer brought 4 kids who sat behind the goal. At 10 bucks a head I can't see a lot of profits. Its a good thing Ed Hale is bankrolling this thing. I'll go back, it was a good show and you can tell the Twisters want to do what is right but the support just wasn't there. Hopefully they can build on it. I have photos of the crowd (prepare for a lot of empty seats) on my cell phone, but need someones help to figure out how to upload them here. If anyone knows how to upload photos from a Nokia to here PM a how-to list.
Thanks for all the comments, Shelts. I used to go to Springfield a lot because I had a girlfriend in Boston. I was living in Albany, New York and the 1st bus stop was ALWAYS Springfield. A lovely bus station!