MISL in Chicago [Announcement next Thursday at 11.30a]

http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/dssports/pro/252sd5.htm

By Tim Cronin
Staff writer

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There will be a second soccer team in Chicago by the end of the year.
The Major Indoor Soccer League will announce Friday that a group has bought an expansion franchise for Chicago, to begin play in the 2004-05 season. It would be the MISL's 10th team.

Few other details, including the identity of the ownership or where the team will play, are known. In the past, minor league teams in the area have played at the former Rosemont Horizon (now the Allstate Arena) or significantly smaller facilities.

Any team playing in the winter at either the United Center or at Allstate would be third in line for dates, at best. The United Center is co-owned by the Blackhawks and Bulls, and also hosts a large series of other events, including two ice shows and the Ringling Bros. circus. Allstate Arena, owned by the village of Rosemont, has the Wolves, DePaul men's basketball and the Rush from October into May, along with a stint by the circus and other attractions.

Alternative sites are the UIC Pavilion, which seats about 9,000 in a hockey configuration, or the Odeum in Villa Park, where the Sting played exhibition games in the past. It could seat about 4,000 in one arrangement.

This version of the MISL, at least one step below the outdoor Major League Soccer circuit in terms of player quality, uses the same name as the original MISL, which was a major league. That MISL competed for players with the North American Soccer League in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Several of the teams in the current MISL play in the same cities and use the same names as original MISL teams. The nine existing teams represent Baltimore, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Kansas City, St. Louis, Dallas, San Diego and Monterrey, Mexico.

Minor-league soccer teams have tried to make a go of it in Chicago before. Peter Wilt, general manager of the Fire, built the Power into a National Professional Soccer League title team in 1990, but it eventually folded from lack of interest.

The announcement of the new team will be made Friday at the MISL's All-Star weekend in St. Charles, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis.

 

I DO care for indoor soccer, in fact I like it a lot, but I'm not sure naming this MISL team the "Fire" and having a cooperative agreement between the two is really in the Fire's best interest. The MISL as it exists today is decidedly minor-league, even though it is the only indoor league in existance. I guess I could see your scenario if it were considered an agreement roughly akin to an agreement with an A-League (or lower division) club. We old-timers, though, remember that in the early 80's, the popularity of indoor soccer actually eclipsed that of outdoor, to the detriment of the NASL. That is very unlikely to ever happen again, and I know the NASL failed for many reasons not connected to the rise of indoor, still there is that connection, at least to me.

Re: Venue. One would think the Pavillion would be a good location, but unless they can figure out a way to sell beer in that place, I'm hoping that's not their choice. Again, long memories, but that was a depressing place to be in the dying days of the Chicago Power.

In any case, I am looking forward to seeing indoor in Chicago next fall if it indeed comes to be!

 

To this day, I've never had as much fun at a sporting event as I did at those Sting games. Of course, a lot of it was that I was in my early 20's, and it was a drinkfest for my friends and me. Still, I think there was a certain vibe at those games that they've never been able to duplicate. I think part of the charm was the cast of characters on those teams, good players from all over the world, and all easily identifiable at a glance. The post-game parties were awesome, all players attended and mingled with the fans.

Some time back I had heard that Frankie's partner in this venture was another former player, Viktor Jakovljevic. I think Rudy Glenn was on the field this past summer when Willy and Karl-Heinz were honored, so he may be interested in getting involved in professional soccer again. I hope we'll find out some more details today as promised.

 

That arena has been promised for years and they've never been able to get the financing together. I doubt it, unless something has changed in the last month that I didn't hear about. Having said that, this would be my ideal scenario, as that arena would be walking distance from my house!

 

OK, I edited my post to say he may want to be involved in "professional" soccer again.

 

No problem.

Actually, besides talking to Rudy at those afore-mentioned post-game parties, I once ran into him at a gyros joint in Wheeling, and we had about a fifteen minute talk about what was happening with the Sting. In that pre-internet time, it was quite a "scoop" for me! Rudy was one of the most popular players of that era. It would be cool if he was a part of this.

 

We do have some great soccer going on here mutinywxgirl. Here's hoping this new indoor team becomes a reality and is done right. And it seems there are lots of people who fondly remember those indoor Sting games at the old Stadium. Too bad Wirtz & Co didn't do what was done in Milwaukee when the Bradley Center was built. They kept the old Arena and Auditorium for overflow events and events that didn't need the seat requirement of the new place.