Is there any truth that the Menace will become and indoor team when the new downtown arena is built in Des Moines???????????? I heard this on talk radio today. . . .
I think that would be a good idea. As far as I know there really isn't any other competition for them in the winter. How big is the new arena to be? Also they would be farily close to two of the other teams; St. Louis and Kansas City. Also has there been any updates on the outdoor stadium lately?
Don't even go there...too many angry people here that have been waiting and waiting and waiting on that thing. Suffice to say that for now things are in a holding pattern and it appears it will stay that way for awhile.
On a different side note. Later this fall (ok winter) I'll be making my yearly trip to Des Moines for Thanksgiving. Is there any place to catch the weekend EPL games? Or will I be paying for a month of Fox Sports World at my sister's again.
If the food at your sisters is good then pay for the fox sports world at your sisters and save on that bar tab. Otherwise SnakeEyes or LotharDSM are the locals that know the sports bar scene in Des Moines.
I suppose on the face of this it could all make sense. The Menace want to move up to the A-league and if they also own an indoor team they could have players playing year round for them. Finantially this could work better than just paying them to play A-league or just playing indoors. But I think ultimately the owners just don't have enough money or are in the process of burning too many bridges to corporate/community support in this area. It's a nice idea and a model I think could work either here or in other areas, but I don't see this happening for the Menace. There have been many players that have been able to make more money playing indoors say for Cleveland and then go and play A-league ball in the summer for a Rochester than they would have been able to make in MLS. And if they could stay in the same city and for the same owners I think some players would find that extremely attractive, but again I just don't see this happening yet in Des Moines. I also just don't see myself getting too excited to see indoor soccer...and this coming from a fan that went to many St. Louis Steamers games in my youth.
Rookies in Waukee was the only bar in town we could find that had Galavision (for the Confederations Cup). They might be the best bet. Lothar and SnakeEyes might have more info.
As of right now there would be nowhere for the Menace to play an indoor league game in the Des Moines area since they tore down the 2-field indoor facility in Johnston a couple years ago (went from bad management of an indoor soccer facility to terrible management of an indoor soccer/roller hockey facility). The closest indoor field I know of is in Cedar Rapids (Hiawatha), but coming soon to the area is a new indoor all-purpose facility with 12,000 sq ft of turf for various uses: http://www.presscitizen-shopper.com/Waukee/story/0828202003_wau1.asp It doesn't sound like it's necessarily going to be for an indoor soccer field, but a weekend setup for Menace games might work(?). If they don't incorporate boards and plexiglass into a permanent structure though it probably wouldn't be worth the effort. The other option would be for them to play futsal, there's a new~ish 2-field facility just NW of Des Moines that's nice.
Hey Lothar...I think we now are most interested in soccer friendly bars in the area for ButlerBob over Thanksgiving...that seems to be where this thread has gone. Do you know of any or will ButlerBob be drinking in the basement at Casa de IaSocFan in late November???
I would think The Nest in Johnston would get it, they have a pretty big system, but it's pro-ISU so it would depend on whether they had a game on or not. I was able to go there and they put various Champions League games on and even opened early for the WC. Possibly the Okoboji Grills, but again it would depend on time of day and what other games are on. Damon's in the Holiday Inn hotel has a big screen set up and I would assume they'd have all the sports channels, but I don't know for sure. Limey's Pub might actually have it, he's talked about hosting some watch parties. If I find anything out for sure I'll post a message that might actually have some valuable content.
Unfortunately, Casa de IaSocFan does not get FSW. My wife and I have discussed it, but she's too much of a soccer widow already.
If they could translate the current outdoor size crowds for a indoor team, they would be about average in the MISL. Thanks for the information on places to see EPL. At the very least maybe we could get a bunch of people together for pint. My sister lives in Woodward.
Last I checked with Damons they did not get Fox Sports World. I know Okabojis don't have the Fox Sports Net package but FSW may be independant of that. While i haven't watched a FSW game there the manager of Rookies in West Des Moines said they got it when I asked him while there for the U-17 World Championship. They open at 11am, perfect for Saturday EPL matches.