f#&k it. I know the ownership tried. Hell, they had an investor lined up til the FCGP news. Motherf#*!er.
I'm glad that they didn't outright kill the team. I hope that over the next year CRS can pull together resources to hop back into the 2012 season. Knowing the fans and organization they should be able to turn this hiatus into a positive.
This is a sad day. We had good attendance. We had a solid season ticket holder base. Now all that's flushed down the toilet. Yes. Flushed down the the toilet. Do you think it will be easy winning these fans back next year? I don't think so. In any business it is always harder getting customers back after you lose them. I seriously doubt that we will be back in 2012 and I will not put my hopes in it. I've spent two years emotionally attached to a team that I feel still owes us Chicago fans something. A winning season. Aren't we the only one of original franchises who never made the playoffs. There is unfinished business here. We never got to feel really good about our team like all the others did. I'm pissed. Disappointed. Exhausted. What a shame.
Really bad news for Chicago fans and those of us in the midwest who want to follow WPS. Chicago had one of the most loyal fanbases in the league. At least there is some hope of a return in 2012. We can only hope. From a personal standpoint, it really sucks too. Even after Saint Louis folded, I drove to Chicago to see three games because I enjoy the league and the friends I have made up there. Chicago is fairly convenient to get to. Now the nearest team for me is Atlanta, a 9 hour drive. It's getting harder and harder to attend games in person. To all of my Chicago friends, I feel really bad for you. Hopefully...2012. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
Maybe this too soon after the fact, but even if they do decide to come back in 2012, it will be a hard sell to get me to buy season tickets again.
LMAO MRAD you will be first in line! Besides you shouldn't blame the team------THIS IS A LEAGUE PROBLEM. I don't care what the others in this league say..there was not a league effort to keep these teams in...IF it was come out and explain to the fans how?
I agree 100%. read my other post down below in the Red Stars nor returning thread. IMHO, I doubt the other owners give a rats ass if Chicago folded or not. If there was a strong commissioner, something could have been done. Let them have the New England Womens Soccer League. Good luck.
This sucks. I'm sick to my stomach. Hopefully we'll be back for 2012, but as MRAD said, once a team "suspends," who's willing to take the risk? I'm not even talking investors, I'm talking fans. It sucks losing your team. I wish every single Red Stars player the VERY best of luck and hope to see many still playing in the league. I know I'll be following them.
Can't say I didnt expect this based of the past few weeks. Maybe teams like Atlanta and WNY will gobble up a group of our players. Let's just say, I know where Boquete's going
From a business standpoint, sports is a crowded, competitive field in America. My hat is off to all those who gave their all in the CRS effort. I'm an MLS fan also, and that league is barely making it - it has yet to turn a profit and much more money has been thrown at that league keeping it alive. So I don't fault the WPS or the CRS for coming up short. When you consider sports in the US, it is not like there is a saturation point for football, you're going to get loads and loads of it in every media ... pro, college, even high school. It'll be on 3 channels all weekend. Same goes for basketball: 7 nights a week, pro, college and high school. (If you roll your eyes at the high school, remember many of their games outdraw the CRS.) Keep in mind, I'm not criticizing. I'm amazed at the disparity. 81 times a year, clowns pay $50 and up to pack the bleachers to watch the Cubs underperform. Amazing. I read the interview with the FCGP owner, Nancy NeSmith, and I agree with her. The support for sports is weird. I don't know what the answer is, a beefed-up Wleague? Maybe with corporate-owned teams and an open cup? It seems as if the support for women's professional sports is just not there yet. It's too bad. Especially with so many girls playing soccer on the youth level.
Arnim, When can season ticket holders who have payed for the 2011 season expect to get their refunds back? Thanks.
MRAD, First a personal note to you and the others we know so well. We are sorry - you must know we want the Red Stars on the field as much as you do. We are still working to be on the field in 2011. We haven't shut down. Our plan is to issue the refunds in January. We need to get through what we are trying to do this week and the holidays then we'll reach out to everyone. CRS Owners
Thanks. First of all, my frustration and anger is not directed at the owners of the CRS. I've come to know most of you guys and I have lots of respect and like for you guys. As you know me and some of my friends like ratdog, we came to the games and put our full support and passion behind our team. And it is no different now in this difficult time with our team. If there is anyone one that I have come to know in the CRS Ownership that I have faith can hold this organization together through this off year and give it a fresh start in 2012, is Arnim Whistler. IMO, not just any owner, but a passionate fan as well. Not as loud as me at the games, but just as passionate . Good luck and thank you for keeping us informed. And once in a while please keep us informed of what's going on.
MRAD12--you had good attendance and a solid season ticket base?? REALLY? 4,025 a game is good to you? It's pathetic. WOOHOO 425 over the league average! yeah that was special. In a city like Des Moines, Iowa, 4,025 would be nice, but for a city the size of Chicago and how they portray themselves as a rabid sports town, 4,025 doesn't come close to cutting it. Attendance to get into the good area needs to be at least twice that. Until that happens, I will calssify all the teams as struggling. Here's hoping they pull their collective heads out and can come back in 2012, but the team and league overall is still in the very sad state of affairs.
Hawk is telling it like it is--He is right! We may not want to hear it but he is right! That should be a W-League goal not a pro sport goal for attendance. But Mrad was speaking I believe compared to the teams that are around today!
I was comparing attendance of the Red Stars vs. the other teams. Philly is committed in playing in 2011 and yet they can barely average 2,000. If that. And yet one of the top teams in attendance is allowed to fold.
To me if anything then that proves that it takes a combination of things, not just attendance, to make a team successful. Keep in mind last year was Philly's first. They pillaged their way to the top part of the rankings. I think they'll be more Cheesesteaks and batches of their little fries there next year. I got to give them credit they really started out the way one would want a first year team to do so.
I also wished that we had started off that way. But Emma Hayes experimented a year and a half with this team and did nothing. I don't know if she was trying to be the female version of Jose Marinho or what. But the CRS never got off the ground. And that's one of the worst parts. We as fans got to remember few good things about this team on the field. That's why to me it's unfinished business. We are the only original team who did not make it to the play-offs.
I agree with that. Don't ever think that the fighting spirit of the team, organization, and it's fans has gone unnoticed. That's why I believe that the organization and fans will do what needs to be done in this upcoming year (heck they've probably already started to),and everything will fall into the right place. Rest up and come back in full force! You know you guys (or any fan of any team whether it's playing this upcoming season or not) are always welcomed here.
OTOH, I hear the Fire are interested in signing Carney, Engen and Boquete... OK, that's laughing through the tears as it were. I'm gutted but not surprised. This is truly a loss to the entire soccer community here in Chicago and, even more so, to the Red Stars staff and players. I personally had a better in-stadium game experience at Red Stars games than at most Fire games and we had good crowds but TP must have cost a bundle. The trouble is where else really could they play that would have been as good? It's just sad that the USA which really was a global leader in women's soccer can't support a real professional league even if it has most of the best players in the world. Also, let fans of the men's game take note: just because you have the best national team apparently doesn't matter to your domestic league. Oh well, thank you to the entire Red Stars organization for fighting the good fight and giving us two fun seasons.
I haven't been able to get on BigSoccer a lot recently, but I've been following the league and the CRS situation as much as I can. I just wanted to say I think the loss of CRS is a big hit for the league and they will be missed next year. The CRS had the best front office and staff in the league IMHO and I truly hope that something can be done so the team can return in the future. I feel bad for the fans because I know you had one of the better fan bases in the league. I have even gotten to know some of you personally and I consider MRAD12 a friend. I was hoping to make it up to Chicago this year to make a game because I bought a set of season tickets to show my support (although I was going to donate most of them obviously since I am in DC). I just wish I could have done more.