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Chivas can't find a place to play. Every other expansion candidate is on the drawing board. In Rochester you have a team that packs its stadium, has ownership and will have its own SSS in 2004 sometime. Rochester is the bird in the hand and I think MLS should grab it. It may not mean an infusion of cash into MLS thru means of an expansion fee, but Rochester is a profitable franchise that will diliute the incestuous pool of 10 MLS teams playing each other over and over. And after seeing Dragon Stadium, no way Frontier field can be said not to be up to MLS standards. They market themselves better than all MLS teams except maybe Chicago so while this may not immediately add cash to the league it will add something MLS needs desparately: A new team and maybe a few new ideas. Bring em on.
I forget off the top of my head, how many will Rochester's stadium hold? It was only 15k or something like that, right?
17,500 to start. 13k fixed seating with 4.5k bleachers. http://www.rhinossoccer.com/newstadium.asp Construction was delayed due to some artifacts being found at the dig site.
I don't think the problem is the expansion fee... it wouldn't surprise me if the league was willing to waive that for a team that would almost certainly be profitable from the beginning (or at least break even) in their own crib... the problem (and the problem with Horowitz in FL) is the willingness/ability to cover cash calls since all of the I/Os are on the hook for league losses (read, "the Meadowlands")... while losses are certainly much less than initially, allowing a weak sister I/O in the league only generates whining (and hand wringing) when it comes to covering current losses of at least several million per year... that is why the I/O group has mostly consisted of billionaires up to now... people who can afford to take a longer look at the situation... rand
Specific to Mathis' case, we can not forget the vicious, unnecessary foul on Jay Heap that got Mathis the yellow. It may or may not have deserved a direct Red, but why do something like that in the playoffs. The man is troubled. I hope he can resolve them.
Poll: Americans Still Don't Care About Soccer - The Spoof In the wake of the week - Mercury News (you'll have to search for it...)
I'm not sure. It's been mentioned as a roadblock in the past by Rhinos management. As have the cash calls, as you point out. But there've been some mutterings from MLS in the past couple of years that single entity was modified somewhat so that teams had greater control of their revenue and costs.
I wonder if the Rhino's situation means that Chivas is a lot closer to finding a place to play than is commonly supposed. It would seem to me that MLS won't expand "unevenly" for the Rhinos, so there would be another team coming in. And somehow, I don't think it would be Cleveland. So imagine a secnario like this: 2004: Rochester, Chivas de San Diego 2005: Cleveland, Seattle/Houston/OKC/San Antonio/some other city we're not thinking about 2006: Harrison, Rapids Stadium, Fire House all come on line This MLS Cup may have more action off the field than on it, for once. Sachin
I have only one reservation about Rochester (and it's unfair to those from Rochester, but that's how I feel): I feel the A-League is an important part of the soccer landscape in this country, and I have some concerns for its future without Rochester. One other thing to consider: The Raging Rhinos are a profitable independently run business. Their absorption into the SEM monolith means... ...I don't know what it means.
Or maybe it's a backup because Chivas is ready to go next year, Cleveland isn't, but MLS doesn't want to make it a go with 11.
hopefully the additional presence of MLS will help the Rhinos get through all this BS they've been trying to fight recently and break ground on PaeTec Park.
Re: Re: 11/8 The Foods Tastes Better Minor league journalistic hacking is what I call that article.. Good job Aris and it's about time that MLS start thinking about Rochester as a viable option.. They have shown without a shadow of a doubt that they will sell out each and every week..
Well, the AP did a re-write (for the most part), and it's up on CnnSI's front page. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/soccer/11/08/mls.expansion/index.html
This Rochester stuff didn't come out of nowhere, a month ago it was reported on a News Channel in Rochester, saying that they could have a team in MLS as soon as 2004, news people didn't know if that meant relocation or expansion...I posted here and the other board and got flamed for the most part...
Re: Re: 11/8 The Foods Tastes Better Jesus Christ. It was a foul, a little hard? Yea, but Heaps never shuts his trap with anyone.
this article deserve it's own thread, but i don't know which forum to put it in. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/soccer/11/07/bc.sport.soccer.iraq/index.html
Is this guy delusional? Hellooooo! He's got balls for taking that job, but his distorted view of self-worth is astounding. It's called prioritizing!