ESC Membership Drive/Meet the Coach & GM Party- Wed. Feb 18th (now with USA- Holland)

sup playa's.

Fresh from our appearance on stage during the parliament funkadelic gig at the grammy's, the ESC leadership is back in action, working on some more off season events for the metro faithful. It's been a long and cold winter, but the mercury is rising up to the 40s and the partial thaw has allowed the Metrostars off-season to shake off the icicles and get cracking on the 2004 season. We'd like to let you know about our next event coming up next week, as well as gauge some interest for some March activities.

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Contents
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1. Metro Coach and GM to speak at February 18th membership drive
2. February 11th is the last day to order season/half-season tickets and guarantee souvenir ticket book
3. Feb. 18th membership drive will allow you to get an ESC membership and buy season/halfseason tickets
4. Jersey-based Metro fans, holla
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1. Metro Coach and GM to speak at February 18th membership drive

First and foremost, the February 18th Meet the Coach & GM/Membership Drive the First event will go off as rumored at 7pm next Wednesday from Nathan Hale's Bar and Grill. We encourage all members to head down to Hale's for some quality food, some serious fun, the USA- Holland match on tape delay and a bunch of Metro hot stove action. We realize that a midweek event in the city isn't possible for all to make, but due to scheduling conflicts it is the only date available to make this happen.

Where: Nathan Hale's Bar and Grill - 6 Murray St. New York, NY http://nathanhales.citysearch.com(map:http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?address=6 Murray St.&city=New York&state=NY ). You can click on the link above for a map if you need one, or click http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/nyct/maps/submap.htm for a subway map. You can take the 1/9/A/C/E/J/Z to Chambers St., the 2/3 to either Chambers or Park Pl., the 4/5/6 to Brooklyn Bridge, or the N/R/W to City Hall. There are Path/NJ transit options as well. Anyway, it's accessible. If you are driving from Jersey, take the Holland, there are parking lots nearby.


Date: Wednesday, February 18th

Time: 7- 10 pm

7-8pm Talks by Metrostars head coach Bob Bradley, Metrostrars GM Nick Sakiewicz and your questions on the 2003 season, our off-season acquistions, the upcoming campaign, and all things Metro.

8-10pm Not entirely live from Amsterdam, the USA takes on Holland in the "Manhattan naming rights" superclassico. The game kicks off at 3pm EST, but we'll be showing it on tape for those with day jobs, so please don't ruin the score if you know it. The game is set to feature a lineup of Euro and MLS based US nationals, and will be the first game for our "A" team as we head into Concacaf qualifying later this summer.

Please bring:

a) questions for the coach/GM
b) $ 15 for your 2004 ESC season membership
c) some dough for the great food & spirits Nathan Hale's has to offer
d) extra cash type money for the fine waitstaff, folded goodfella style into the palm of your hand

Bring questions, thoughts, etc, but be respectful and considerate. Please remember that meeting the coach and GM is a privilege, not a right. We are here to show our support for Metro, let's keep it on track.

You can get 2004 ESC memberships, ESC scarves, and other goods at the event. Also, if you have not purchased 2004 season/half-season ticket packages, there will be flyers on hand and likely some Metro Staff to take your order. As buying a season or half season ticket package is the cheapest way to see Metro games (down to $ 13/game for full season tickets), we welcome you to take advantage of a great ticket deal for our members.

2. February 11th is the last day to guarantee souvenir ticket books for season/half season tickets. Speaking of ticket deals, for those of you out there who are buying season tickets, if you order by February 11th, you can guarantee the souvenir ticket book for the 2004 season. Some limited quantities of souvenir ticket books may be available after February 11th for those of you on the payment plan(s), but in order to guarantee the limited edition, larger size tickets, the Metrostars front office is requesting that you order your tickets by February 11th. Sorry about the short notice, we were just informed of this deadline.

If you would like to order, please call 1-888-4Metrotix and ask for the 2004 ESC package in Section 101.

3. In case you weren't sure, the point of the February 18th membership drive is to get more members. Really, it is that simple. We'd all like a stacked 101 for all home games, to give our team the best support in the league. If you are on the fence about renewing, or have friends that are considering becoming members, please come down to Nathan Hale's on the 18th and check us out. A couple of notes about 2004:

- All 2004 membership cards have your name and membership # on the back. When buying day of game tickets at Gate C, you will be asked for photo ID to match the name on the back of the ticket. Limit of 4 tickets per member.

-The 2004 season/half-season ticket packages do not come with a replica shirt. As Nike is only able to provide us with the same shirt many of us got last year, we have foregone the mandatory replica jersey to provide a lower season ticket price to members. You will still have the opportunity to buy a replica shirt at a significant savings over retail, if you buy the season ticket ESC package (bronze metromembership).

-The membership fee has increased to $ 15. Might seem steep, but it is inline with the rest of the league's supporter's clubs and the increase in fees is designed to give the club more flexibility in getting new members and achieving member goals of growing the club and providing more service.

-More details on our plans to follow.

4. You lost the Nets, but you are getting an ESC membership drive!

We are in the early stages of planning a second membership drive for March, to be held in New Jersey for club members west of the Hudson, those hardest hit by the midweek membership drive next week. We will let you know the dates and venues as soon as we have them, as well as what special events we are planning. We will keep the event close to public transportation so that the NYC guys can make it too, but we did want to balance the scales a bit and host an event local to the bridge and tunnel warriors who trek into the city for the majority of our events which have been (and will continue to be) based at Nathan Hale's, the one and only Metro bar. If you are in for the Jersey membership drive, please shoot an email to empiresc@verizon.net so that we can get a gauge as to how many people would be willing to show up.

Thanks to everyone for your support, and we look forward to seeing you next week.

Take care, stay warm, soy de Metro, go USA, beat Mexico, eat your vegetables, remember the Alamo.

Thanks.

 

All,

Due to a scouting trip that requires his attendance overseas, Metrostars coach Bob Bradley will be unable to attend the ESC event to be held Wednesday, February 18th. Metrostars General Manager Nick Sakiewicz will still attend, and we will have a discussion with him prior to airing the USA- Holland game.

Bob had been scheduled to attend the event between the end of spring training in Florida and the departure of the team for Spain this weekend to compete in the La Manga cup, however a change in those plans caused him to depart early and miss our event. His priorities, of course, lie with the team, and while we regret missing the chance to speak with him, we completely understand the decision. We have been able to obtain Bob's commitment to attend another ESC event prior to opening day, and we apologize for not being able to have him turn up when we said we would.

We realize that this means a number of people may now choose not to attend. Obviously, that is fully within your rights. We ask that you come out to all ESC events, both for us and for you, but we do so to have a good time, not to browbeat anyone against their will to show up for our benefit. If Bob's attendance was the dealbreaker for you, understood, we hope to catch you next time. If it wasn't, we thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you Wednesday night. What we don't want is people turning up at Hale's upset with the circumstances, looking to take it out on either the Club, Front Office, or Nick. Our goal is to have a membership drive and a professional and constructive dialogue with the General Manager about our team and it's direction. If you feel you'd like to be a part of that, please turn up. If you cannot be a part of that, we hope to see you next time.

If you are able to come, as with the reporter's summit, we ask that you bring questions on Metro, MLS and other topics relevant to our discussion.

The original times remain unchanged. We will start the talk with Nick shortly after 7pm, and we will start the USA- Holland game when we are done with our discussion, likely around 8pm. Following up on a note from the original e-mail, we did receive enough responses to pursue an ESC event in New Jersey for March, so look for more details on that in the future.

Thank you again for your support, and please feel free to shoot an e-mail to empiresc@verizon.net if you have any questions.



Mods, please update thread title to "ESC Membership Drive/Meet the GM/USA v. Holland Party- Wed. Feb 18th- Updated "

thx.