I was referring to this year as well. But I understand your point since I referenced last year in the part you quoted. Because I've seen both leagues this year as well since the Rowdies and Armada are about equidistant from our place NE of Orlando. (BTW, I have NOT been to the Orlando City stadium for a A team match..yet) I noticed you cherry-picked the USL/NASL record in the Canadian Championship. Have you checked the records for the last two years between the two leagues in the U.S. Open Cup? Did you see that Vancouver just loaned a player to Edmonton, instead of sending him to it's own USL affiliate. I wonder why they did that? Agree on Matchcenter, but for the NASL it would be useless since there are, at most there are four games that could be shown at one time. With one of them being on beIn Sports, that cuts the number to three. For the league, every match is on ESPN 3 anyway, which offers a quad box feature. As for the game day experience, the Rowdies have always done a pretty good job and the Armada were league owned, so there is a difference. I think with Mr. Palmer in charge things will change for the better in Jacksonville. I see your point about sustainabilty, and I guess that's the bottom line isn't it? I think the U.S. is ready for an independent model for it's lower levels, some people don't.
I'm shocked...shocked...that I'm the first person to post this. That is, unless I missed it somewhere else...
It was the only two-legged series. Home field plays a big role in determining who wins in one-off. It's also particularly salient as it was a former NASL team, currently in the lower mid-table of the USL Eastern Conference, facing a current NASL team. It strongly suggests that the lower middle of the (must larger) USL is at least as good as the bottom of the NASL. Yes, and the year before that too... 3-1 when the NASL hosted three games is basically a draw. Swing one result to the USL and its literally a draw. It's consistent with my thesis that the leagues are fundamentally more the same than different. Because they have a good relationship with FC Edmonton, and they want to test him in a different environment where he won't presume that he's preferred as a send down from the first team? There are probably a ton of reasons. What stops teams from being independent, if they value that, in the USL? If the second teams don't provide a high enough calibre of opponent, why don't the independent USL teams have an easier time beating them?
Just die already Deltas. Just a bunch of transplant wankers thinking they know what's up in the Bay Area LOL
I found that blog post interesting, though shifting responsibility to the fans is odd. At the end of the day, it's your responsibility as a front office to make your product relevant to enough people. If you can't, well, St. Louis AC and Crystal Palace Baltimore are over there waiting to greet you inside the terminal. But it's also yet another example of how it's easier to put together a team of 18-23 guys who can be competitive in a league (and potentially even win it) than it is to put together a sustainable organization. Which is why a season's worth of results (especially in a lower level league) is a silly way to decide who moves up to a higher level. I notice teams that don't play well aren't writing blog posts asking, "Do you have any friends who could potentially play left back? We have a real need for a left back. If everybody brings a left back to training next Wednesday, we would have enough left backs."
Frankly to me the begging friends to bring friends, and pester local investors to partner, just shows how out of ideas these guys are. In less than six months they apparently ran through every idea they had to save the team so now they're moving on to the soccer equivalent of crowd funding... They are true newbie Bay Area tech bros. And there in lies their problem at the core, the Bay Area, and SF in particular, hates Tech Bros.
And really, aren't the MLS2 teams technically independent as well? I don't get this supporting a league stuff. Didn't the ProRelegates tell us that we should support teams and NOT a league???? I'm so confused with all of this goalpost moving. First they drone on and on that we should support our local independent soccer club....but not if they are in league A because there are B teams in that league, so we should only support teams from League B......it's all very convoluted and delusional if you ask me! Here's an idea....support your local team, lain and simple. A rising tide should raise all boats. Competition can be healthy. But, but, but....EUROPE!!! Yeah...like promoted teams aren't dependent on that sweet windfall of TV & sponsorship money that comes from playing in the Top division. Oh, and those relegated PL teams??? Fairly certain that they depend on their Parachute payments to stay viable.............
What can you say? Nothing...just nothing. I really wish the ages of people were next to a posters handle/name. Would keep me calm/give me perspective knowing what I am dealing with. It's why on the wrong day at work , dealing with the wrong idiots, I can come here and snap. I would have patience for the younger crowd, but even at work it is incredible how many 50 year old idiots you have to deal with. The US is one of the few places eve where true dolts can make a good living. I know I am dealing mostly with kids, but I see those 50 year old fools in my head and .... sigh.
It's truly astounding. In general young, inexperienced minds at work. It's why JK struck a cord with the younger demo....it really is their mentality. We are at A........we want Z! Forget about everything it takes to get to Z....just get there. Done! I'm a genius! This has alway been the case, but in social media world it is simply magnified times 100. The good news is that the social media world is much smaller than it may sometimes seem. Thank goodness.
They're the same folks who champion "open competition" in the same blogs that they decry "predatory practices." It's all totally incoherent. What is frustrating is that they can't even perceive success when it happens. They use it as evidence of underperformance compared the dream world they live in.
No, not really. No, you can support a league as long as that league is not MLS. Or USL. Because MLS is evil (obviously) and anti-competition and USL is tied at the hip to MLS and a farm league and blah blah blah blah. And it's hard to support the NASL anymore because they're no longer trying to break up the D1 monopoly through the courts or something. So, basically, you have to support teams that are "grassroots," defined as "fielding college players at a high school stadium as many as six times a summer," and the only league you can support is the NPSL because their teams are going to be able to be promoted to the NISA, even though CD Aguiluchos USA is probably going to have to have a bake sale or sell plasma to travel to Connecticut to play in the NPSL semifinals. But they're totally going to be promoted based on results on the field, you guys. It's amazing how people who supposedly love the game put so many restrictions on how and where you are allowed to enjoy it.
just for the record the NPSL used to help teams with travel expenses to their final 4...not exactly sure if they still contribute towards travel expenses for the semis or not...
Pretty much. Worst part was, the signs were there that even with a good plan that they were gambling big time given the history of similar teams in San Francisco. But they apparently didn't even research the market they were looking at never mind having a viable plan with which to attack said market.
Huge blow for the SF Deltas. Probably the only player they really needed on the field every week. Let's see how they respond: SF Deltas’ Cristian Portilla lost for season after ACL tear
Deltas Home Attendance Record vs Indy 11: 4133 vs NCFC: 1739 vs Cosmos: 3302 vs Jacksonville: 2201 vs Indy 11: 1441 vs Edmonton: 1894 vs Puerto Rico: 1915 vs Miami: 2723 vs Cosmos: 3369 Average: 2524 -- Club sources suggest that the Deltas need about 5,000 in attendance for their remaining home games to survive.
They don't pad their attendance, though, like those teams that double or triple their actual figures.