2010 Des Moines Menace

I just finished a peice with Lamar up today.

http://give-em-no-quarter.blogspot.com/2010/09/one-on-one-withlamar-neagle.html

It doesnt have any DM mention but thought I would share it.

 

Menace night at Drake is Septbember 28 against Western Illinois. This is Hus homecoming and should be a great night overall. Let's help the Menace celebrate and show up in red.

 

Now it is time to shine! Andy is poised to have a strong finish to this season between MLS & CCL. Could a major breakthrough be in the cards?!

 

Thought I'd add some excitement to this thread. You guys will be getting a new rival next year. An announcement will be made in December.

How would I know? I'm part of the group starting this new PDL team.

 

Wonderful, I hope you're within reasonable driving distance.

Guess it's time to start putting the feelers out and find out where this team is going to be located, before the announcement

 

Winnipeg is a good guess

 

Oh lord. Not another team of Canuckleheads! Isn't Thugger Bay enough?
I was hoping for Omaha, Cedar Rapids, Sioux City, Wichita, Fargo, or another Minnesota team....

 

Ugh, dealing with one team from Canada is bad enough.

 

I have heard that Winnipeg's in and the Rochester is out. Sad to see the boys have to travel so far and to lose a close competitor. Should be an interesting schedule and Open Cup with only 5 US based teams in the division.

 

Rochester is out? Damn. Wanted to make that trip this season.

 

Rochester Thunder Fold PDL Team after Two Short But Good Years
Posted: 15 Nov 2010 08:16 PM PST



After only two short years, the Rochester Thunder Premier Development Team have made a decision to not renew their contract with the United Soccer Leagues.
Todd Penz, son of the PDL team owner Dan Penz, released a statement to IMS late this afternoon.
“Due to unfortunate circumstances, the Rochester Thunder will no longer be able to continue. With the economy the way it is and only a handful of sponsors –we could not make it work financially. This is a hard decision, but one that needed to be made. We appreciate the support of the Rochester fans, Rochester Youth Soccer Association [RYSA], Neil Cassidy [head coach] and also the soccer community that rallied around this team,” said Penz.
Penz told IMS today that the team lost a significant amount of money this past year. They were still planning on bringing the Thunder back in 2011 and were working hard to secure sponsors. They had found what they thought was a major sponsorship but that person/organization backed out even after giving a verbal commitment. The team searched but were unable to find another sponsor to help underwrite the team. With the losses incurred over the last two years, the Penz family decided to fold the team.
Penz said he left the door open for the Rochester Youth Soccer Association to take over but there just wasn’t enough time to get the deal done.
Neil Cassidy has been the coach of the Rochester Thunder for its first two seasons. He gave a few more details of the offer saying they were willing to gift the franchise to RYSA but just couldn’t get it done with the limited time. Cassidy stated that Penz contacted the RYSA just 7 hours before the USL deadline which didn’t leave the non-profit volunteer board nearly enough time to gather the information and fill out all the forms needed to register with the USL. PDL franchises are believed to be worth $75 thousand dollars.
Last year, after the Minnesota Thunder folded, the Rochester Thunder PDL team struck a deal with a benevolent United Soccer Leagues after the Rochester Thunder had been left high and dry. USL president Tim Holt made a statement to IMS last year saying that both the senior team and the PDL team had lost their franchise after Johnson failed to make payment to the USL. At the time, Todd Penz reported his father Dan had met the contractual obligations to Johnson but the St. Paul native never came though with his payment to the league.
Johnson, who owed the senior Thunder team, disappeared and never made an announcement of the team folding and never filed bankruptcy, leaving tens of thousands owned to many small businesses and former employees who charged up thousands of dollars on their own accounts after Johnson promised to pay them back.
The USL was believed to have cut a deal for the Rochester Thunder PDL team to allow them to play in the 2010 season.
Despite Rochester’s on-field success in 2010, the Thunder only averaged 322 fans per game.
Cassidy said he was very saddened by the news and had hopped the team could survive. He believes that the team was beneficial to the Rochester soccer community, allowing coaches who helped him with the team move to a higher level and giving players a chance to improve and showcase themselves. He explained that it was great for the RYSA players to see high level soccer being playing in their own city.
Cassidy said he was very proud of some of the Rochester Thunder PDL team’s alumni after only two years.
Teal Bunbury is one of those former Rochester Thunder PDL players. Bunbury went on to win the Hermann Trophy after finishing 2nd in the nation with his college team the Akron Zips. Bunbury was drafted 4th overall by Major League Soccer’s Kansas City Wizards and had 7 goals on the year. Bunbury was recently called up to the US Men’s National Team and is currently in South Africa training with the Nats.
Kentaro Takada is another Thunder PDL team alumni. The Japanese midfielder who played an important defensive midfield role for the first year NSC Minnesota Stars, played for the Thunder PDL in 2009 and was called up to the senior Stars team that same summer when the team played Guatemalan team Comunicaciones. Takada showed well and earned himself a contract after attending the NSC Stars combine this spring. Takada featured in 20 games this past season and helped his team become the only expansion team to make the USSF D2 Pro League playoffs.
Ben Sippola is another former PDL player who is currently playing for Butler University. The Butler Bulldogs are nationally ranked, with Sippola being the team’s top scorer. He was recently voted Most Valuable Player in the Horizon Conference and Best Offensive Player. Sippola recently expressed to IMS the desire to play professionally.
The Rochester Thunder under Cassidy’s direction finished 10-3-3 in league play this past summer and finished 2nd in the Heartland Division. The team made it to the playoffs in their second season but were eliminated by the Thunder Bay Chill.

 

Just heard that the Menace have put together a special season ticket price and discount code for the Red Army. I tried it and got mine and it works pretty good. They're selling tix for $50 compared to $80 for everyone else. Code to use is RED ARMY in all caps with a space between red and army. you have to go through the online store to get the deal.

 

If this is true, then its CRAP!! Not taking anything away from the RA, but there are OTHER fans that have been putting their own butts in the stands since the very beginning and we do not get any discount??? Abbie, is this true??

 

Umm, why not just use the Red Army code to buy your tickets? It is all GA anyway and it's not like the FO knows who is and is not sitting with the Red Army...

 

At every opportunity it seems like you complain about whatever the RA is doing. It really is tiresome.

What an overreaction here. Anyone buying RA tickets that intend to stand with the RA will be in the worst seats in the house, behind the net. So basically the Menace FO have created two season price tiers. Sidelines are $80, behind the net is $50. Except you have to use the Red Army code to get the price. This makes things easier than actually printing up separate tickets for us.

If you want a lower price, organize a group and work with the FO to try and get a discount or buy the $50 seats and stand behind the net.

 

It's really $22 over 10 games, if you buy at the current early sales rate

 

Just heard that the discount was not created to alienate but to assist those great fans. Not sure how deeply the FO tracks RA vs non RA tickets but that if you know about the discount you can use it. Hope this helps.

 

So you made it personal Snake. Overreaction? As I stated, "NOT taking anything away from the RA" in my post. But since you brought it up, yea, the RA is handed everything like they have earned it. Okay, so you try to sing and beat drums. very impressive. Does that make the RA better fans?? Red Army should stand for a large group of fans, not just a very (select) few. There are other fans that attend that are just as loyal as any RA member, and to a point, I would bet that there are twice as many of those loyal fans that would rather sit away from the singing and banging. There are other fans that also promote the club and team. If the RA is so important, then why doesnt it show up for academy games (State Cup) and sing and beat drums to support them and the club?? Kinda like what the Hollywood Hitman (PDL) crew does to help support the WL and smaller teams involved with the same club. There is alot of room to improve Snake. Tiresome, it sure is!! I know that you have seen me and my family at some of the pre-game events/venue's, but, it seems that the RA is not intersted in making others feel welcome or recruiting others to join in sitting with them. Oh noooo, those streamers are ours, we arent going to give you guys any. Go get your own. Im sure, but I could be wrong, but doesnt the FO supply some of those to the RA?? After having a child go thru the academy, I think I have spent more on the club than most RA members. Does that make me more special, no it does not. Nor do I demand any extra attention. I can say that for a large loyal group that have no children with the academy any longer that still attend the PDL games. If the club wants to promote the RA, so be it. But they should not lose focus on the rest of its fan base.

As for the sitting behind the net instead of the sidelines and that is the difference in the price, oh come on, who is stopping you from walking over to the sidelines and sitting?? Hint, no one!! mmmm, then the FO should sell tickets and police where you sit. If you buy a 50 ticket, then you can only sit behind the net(s) and you cannot come to the sidelines. There is nothing in place for that. Overreaction?

Snake, I wasnt the one to make this personal, IM all for the RA and what they try to stand for. I visit this site as much as the next fan, and I sit here and watch you and the RA rag on other teams/clubs/players ( and agree with most of what you guys post LOL) but if someone post's something not to your liking, then OMG, you cry about it. I admire your commitment to the team and to the sport. You have passion, but guess what, your not the only one. There should not be any group held on some pedestal. We all wear Red, and I think the FO likes to hear and see that. Some are not more important than others. $50 tickets v $80 tickets..so be it, then enforce where people sit then. Simple as that. The majority of the fans have zero idea that there is a discount with the RA title in the small print.

IM done with my soapbox. I will not reply ref this again. If you want to have the last say, the forum is yours.

 

I'm sorry if you took what I said personally, I was making an observation on previous posts. My intention was not to offend. I'm going to point by point things not to be confrontational but to hopefully respond clearly and clear up any misconceptions.

May I ask what it is we have been handed, other than the original drum and now a $50 season ticket? We really haven't been "handed" much else.

I'm not sure where the us vs them, or better than them, mentality is coming from but I can assure you the Red Army does not have this view. We recognize there are fans that aren't into organized support. We understand this is not Europe where there are more that are. One of the benefits of having been able to move down behind the net was that we were able to do our thing without interfering with/bothering others that wanted to sit at midfield.

The reason the Red Army stands solely for us singing and drumming fans behind the net, and not the larger group of fans, is because it's not an invention of the FO. The Red Army was independently created by Alonzo and myself, as an organized supporters group/section, at a bar during preseason in 2004. It's the name of our supporters group.

All I will say to this is we are a PDL team supporters group. At this level of soccer there are only a few out there. When we formed, we were the first. Organized support for the academy exists virtually nowhere in the US and isn't very common overseas either. I think you're expecting too much here. If I could get people to do it, I'd organize something for a big game or a few. But I don't have the people interested. So my concern right now is growing the PDL team support.

Let me stop for a second and comment on importance. We don't even take ourselves too seriously. We are just a bunch of soccer fans wanting to have a good time at games that are passionate about the Menace, soccer, and creating atmosphere at American games. The only additional importance that we take is the players that excitedly thank us after each game and those that have said we were part of their decision to come to play, or continue to play, for the Menace. And Mr Krause likes what we do too.

To the contrary! We want as many people as possible to join us and make us bigger and louder. We post on BS of our pre-game and ask others to join us there and inside. We've asked the FO to make announcements over the PA. We think they do because we've heard us mentioned before but we only occasionally hear the PA. Every time I notice new people I always go over and welcome them and hope to add them to the email list. A few times every year someone, usually Alonzo, will go up into the stands to try and entice others to come down; usually snagging a youth team. I'm hopeful you'll respond and let me know what has given you this impression. Although I thought you were one that didn't like sitting near organized support. I'd like to know if there is something we can do to change people's belief that we are exclusive. That is the last thing we want as it stifles our growth.

Now I don't know how you can think this. I know you've been going to games for more than two years. Especially when we used to be at midfield, you had to have seen us do streamer throws after the anthem where we walked through the stands around us and handed out a lot of streamers (anywhere from 50-100 each game) and some of the kids would be running to us to give them one. We used to do it before most home games. In 09 we did it a few and this past year we didn't do it at all. The reason is because I decided I wasn't going to pay for it all. Up until 09, all streamer throws were because I bought them out of my pocket from Hobby Lobby. Starting in 09, the FO supplied some, but not for each game, and the numbers they provided weren't enough to do big throws. So we decided to keep them behind the net for goal celebrations. Streamer throws from the sidelines is something I want to start back up again this year but only if I can raise some funds or get the needed help from the FO.

But this isn't losing focus on the rest of the fan base. It's sports marketing. They FO sees our group and the atmosphere and support we try to add as an asset and wants to see it grow so they promote us just as MLS clubs do with their supporters groups.

I said basically we are getting an endline price, in that the price is for Red Army members and we stand behind the net. While yes, there is no policing, what is stopping us from coming to the sidelines is the same reason we have been behind the net before the price deal… we like it there and think that is where a supporters group belongs. Only those in this thread and on the Red Army email list know about the code. You've even said most won't know so, since most using the discount aren't going to abuse the circumstances, why be upset over it?

There is no reason for the FO to bother printing up separate tickets for our small group and station someone at the sideline ramp to check everyone's ticket given the small likelihood of abuse.

Again, I don't see us being put on a pedestal. The players like what we do, so do lots of other fans, so does the FO, and that's why the FO has done a few things to help promote us in the hopes that it helps us grow but that's it. Again, that's sports marketing. Other clubs with fan groups do the same as well. It's not them saying "only these people are good fans". It's saying "We like what these guys are doing at games, see value in it for the organization, and want to encourage and grow it. What can we do to help?"

I actually hope you do respond as I welcome additional dialog in the hopes it will improve our efforts.

One last thing to all… THE RED ARMY IS NOT EXCLUSIVE… please, join us if you feel inclined to do so. We want and welcome all!