Article from the Baltimore Sun: http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/soccer/bs-va-sp-blast-recap-20150403-story.html MASL league meetings are scheduled for April 24-25 in St. Louis.
What are the odds they go to one scoring system? Soccer Sam has made noises about needing a new carpet. Should he get it, perhaps he'd be willing to listen to SPS teams…
With Milwaukee getting black carpet, and Syracuse hinting (although may have been April Fools late) at an orange carpet, would Rochester try for a blue carpet? I think that could be something different and exciting seeing different color carpets around the league. More importantly though, single scoring system, SPS or MPS, I dont care just make it the same across the board. Also, figure out the playoff setup prior to the season, and work around arena availability when it get's there.
I read somewhere on here that the MASL franchise fee was $100K. Seems pretty steep for a league that features teams in rec centers, allowed in Seattle & Oxford City, tolerated wildly inconsistent officiating, offered online broadcasts of mostly below average quality, lack of national sponsors, and a weak commissioner who is best known for saying that reviewing the background of team owners was 'above his pay grade'. How much would you pay to be a member of this league? My answer would be $25K, at most. I hope that indoor soccer at the semi-pro level succeeds long term, but the prior season was not confidence inspiring (let's call it what it is, though some players can work at the owner's bank in the off season & may do better).
That's not what he said. The interviewer asked him a legal question and he said that was above his pay grade.
I hope the owners can get together and agree on SPS and a standard playoff schedule for MASL Season 2. Just my opinion, but I think from an overall standpoint this past season went pretty well. The bad: The two high-profile (to us) bad owner situations were unfortunate, and hopefully TPTB learned their lesson from those. One franchise did not finish the season. A few teams continue to play in sub-standard facilities and with sub-standard players, but that may be necessary until and if better options surface as travel partners. Refereeing was uneven, perhaps part of that might be addressed by a simplification (get back to basics) of the rules. The good: There was decent level indoor soccer played by most of the teams. Here in Chicago for instance, I personally thought the Mustangs played at least at the level if not higher than previous incarnations like the Soul, Riot, and Storm. I'm impressed with the Mustangs, and their play is comparable to probably 3/4 of the league, with the roughly other 1/4 being a level or more below. As was evidenced by the commentary here on BS, the playoff rounds (while convoluted from a scheduling standpoint) produced some excellent games, and the finals series was by most accounts top-notch. A lot of people enjoyed decent indoor soccer in a lot of cities this year. Hopefully we'll have a good deal of franchise stability for next season and the league can take another step forward.
goals need to be single point, playoffs need to be home and home series with a 30 minute minigame if necessary. overtime needs to go until someone scores, in both regular season and playoffs.
I think finals need to be 3 full games, personally. Semis and Quarters can have mini-game... but 3 games, especially in a series like this year, would have no problem selling tickets for the finals.
We'll that is a good idea but it's predicated on the notion that two big teams will get into the final Now I think for the next 4 years we will see either two MISL teams or MISL v SD/Dallas/Monterrey. However if some team like a Turlock gets in then it could be the Niagara Falls of attendance disasters.
Let's say it's best of three and San Diego and Baltimore are in the finals. That's two flights for someone. Or if you did one game in San Diego on a Friday and the following Saturday and Sunday in Baltimore there's no way you can sell tickets for Game 3. The only other thing would be to do it over three weekends. But that's assuming the dates are there. As it was this year the Blast beat the circus by one day.
Precisely. If you continue an East vs West final, it's a non-starter. Even over 3 weekends, you're punishing one team with a week of hotel costs. Then the question of arena availability for both teams to practice, etc. Besides, let's face it, the league has much bigger fish to fry right now. Getting all teams on the same page and under the same set of rules. Hiring a real commissioner (hopefully). Establishing some business standards for franchises, etc. Then of course, there's that 'new ... whatever it is' thing that Beau referred to earlier. It may turn out to be a nothing thing, but it's there nonetheless. I suspect the league will be a few teams lighter next season too. I'm sure we can all guess which ones.
pretty safe assumption over the years that will actually happen yes? And if some small fish manages to get in and they don't have the proper infrastructure, move their games to a neutral site then...move along with progress or move out IMO
Is their any reason a two legged home & away playoff match can't be decided on aggregate score? You could still have the mini game if the scores are level after the 2 games.
So you're saying Baltimore or Monterrey or San Diego or Missouri couldn't sell back to back nights for the MASL championship on the line? Especially if the series was anywhere near what this years was? I disagree and believe a 3 FULL game series is what is best for the teams, league and fans in the finals.
Oh and for the record, the Blast beat the circus by about a week. The circus did not come to town until the following Friday after the Blasts home game.