http://www.latimes.com/sports/socce...833.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-soccer-gal Hopefully, that's new investors AEG is selling to, and not the league. I know someone will say it's not official, don't plan the trip yet, but what the hell... Cleveland will make a damn good rivalry. And it's something we could certainly do without needing hotel rooms. If it's a early game Soccer Saturday, 4 PM, game done by 6 PM and be back in time for MLS Wrap. Of course, that'll all be different in 2005, but WTF? And Brad Friedel once said that the only MLS team he'd play for is Columbus...
Gotta love the man. As for the rivalry, I'm excited. It'll give me a chance to visit home and watch us play. The drive although boring wouldn't be bad at all. Did it many times before I started school. Still a little worried about Wolstein. My dad being a old Force fan I was raised w/ that. Still waiting for official word from the league though.
Forgive me for posting on your Forum. This is a post from the LA boards. It basically confirms what the paper said, as well as giving some more info.
They’re going to create a 24/7 soccer channel with MLS and MLF. I don't know if this is sarcasm or what. Real Madrid will tour the US next year. Who?? Who's Real? HDC will host some World Cup Qualifiers, etc. Against who? Canada? Or will Mexico be playing quallies in the USA? There is no freakin' way USA will have any home-field against hispanic teams in LA. They've "bought" the Copa Libradores qualifying round (?) Probably some TV thing. This may go good with their "soccer channel", although i'm sure there's some rights issues. Could this "soccer channel" also potentially pick up Euro and Champion's League games to fill the winter void? I like that sh!t with the horns though. We could (and probably should, IMO) limit our horns to the south end.
So this will be in place for next season? I'd welcome a Cleveland rivalry with open arms. I just hope that they can support it. I'm not very familiar with the scene up there. I know they have decent youth leagues up there but that's about all I know.
Cleveland is a good soccer town Cleveland has done a fine job of supporting its indoor soccer team and gets good coverage in the print media. I do worry about having two teams so close to each other. I live in Cincy and would love to have a team here but never thought they would put 2 in OH. Though I think the Cleveland team will be better supported than any team in Cincy ever would be. I have family in Cleveland so I will definately stop try to catch a game up there as well as the few I catch in Columbus every year.
If (when?) Cleveland gets a team, I hope MLS doesn't schedule their home opener on ABC against Columbus. A franchise debut is a slam dunk, so they should schedule that against a West Coast team whose fans are less likely to travel that far. Leave the Columbus matches for later so as to better capitalize on the cities' closeness.
True. They'll probably end up playing a few games in Browns Stadium, and even if that's downsized, they could still open more seats. Have their first few games against west coast teams, then bring Columbus up more towards the summer. (end of June, or July.)