The Sidekicks arrived for our 7 P.M. match at the Texas Strikers this evening to discover that the goals had yet to be installed at Ford Arena, a building that has literally no other professional tenants and therefore was available to have the field installed long before game time. It should also be noted that the carpet being used in Beaumont is not marked to regulation, either (goal box instead). The expansion team reportedly purchased the non-regulation turf from Cincinnati rather than make a good impression by purchasing a new one. The Internet encoder that would have allowed a cybercast of tonight's now-delayed match has also not been delivered to the Arena. This is the exact situation that concerned me about adding teams less than 60 days before the season. Dallas' credibility with their fan base and the media will be damaged because of this unprofessional behavior.
What's the term? "You get what you pay for". You do realize that you still have to go to the Mustangs and Grand Sports? Place is a dump. Sucks that you guys are doing everything right. But the league standards are minimal at best. Sidekicks should have never chosen the cheap route of the Pasl.
In defense of the Mustangs they are doing some work there and trying to spruce the place up a bit. It is not the worst place. It looks a lot better than it used to. They are trying and putting the effort in. They have made some improvements inside and out. They switched out the goals to whatever they were told to, they are working on a VIP area, hopefully moving the announcers and media to the other side of the field which will open up some seating area. They do have a plan to make it a better aura. Just saying - They are putting the effort in there and it could be worse and I am sure it is not the worst out there. They are trying to make it right.
Any pics anywhere? The attendance is listed at 500. If that's all they can muster fan wise against the biggest name in soccer in the state of Texas, they have bigger issues than goal installation. At that clip around game 4 or so they won't even need those. Congrats to Dallas for 5600 or whatever the other night.
Saw some photos on Facebook. Another team missing glass in the corners. Please tell me they aren't trying to emulate Anaheim !
We went over this months ago: probably not quite as much as you think. The vast majority of people who have or will purchased tickets to go see the Sidekicks in Allen are only vaguely aware that they play road games and are almost certainly not concerned with what happens in Beaumont. If you go to a 'Kicks game in Allen and have a great time, do you really care what happens on the road? The media - if they cover this story at all outside of the freak show aspect of it - won't stop covering the team unless people stop going to games in Allen. Which doesn't appear as if it'll happen because of this because the Sidekicks take care of their own shop. I know it sucks. I know it's disappointing. But its actual impact is being overstated. Again...tickets...don't...sell...themselves. The Sidekicks' name probably has less cachet in Beaumont, 300 miles from Dallas, in a population of 118,000 folks, than you might think. No question, Beaumont's a messed-up franchise, as are many in the PASL. That's not my point. My point is you expecting the Sidekicks name - basically dead for ten years and effectively dead for longer - to have an impact on ticket sales in Beaumont is naive.
So you say most fans don't care that the Kicks play in crap venues on the road, and some of the teams coming to Allen are nothing more than glorified rec league teams? I don't think so. It's no fun to go to a game where the score is 13-1, and it also is not great to look to schedule a road trip for you and yer friends, and the next road game is at Barneys Soccer World. Sure it doesn't have a huge effect, but down the road the luster of your revamped Sidekicks is tarnished just a little.
As I have said before, the PASL is where we are. The Sidekicks had to start somewhere. I am convinced that the arena-based teams in what are now two leagues will be based in one circuit eventually with a financial system that makes sense. Right now it does not make financial sense for San Diego and Anaheim to be in the MISL. Right now it does not make competitive sense for the Sockers to be in the PASL. Eventually the budgets and the travel will come into line. I have no delusions that the PASL is near perfection. Far far from it. How long it takes us to get there is debatable. My personal goal for the Sidekicks this year is to break even or make money financially. If that happens, we can prove it is possible. If we can compete with the Sockers, so much the better. I said on my Facebook page, 4-0 means nothing right now. The franchise just needs to get better and better with each home and road game. I will be happy if the top 8 attendance figures belong to Dallas. I will be ecstatic if our attendance records are beaten by San Diego or Rio Grande. That will tell me that we are building a fan base around the league.
Along the same lines... does it make more financial sense for the Sidekicks to travel to Chicago to play the Mustangs (PASL) in Hoffman Estates than the Soul (MISL) in... Hoffman Estates? Dallas & San Diego could be/should be in the MISL tomorrow... perhaps not Anaheim, but the Big D and the 19-time world indoor champs for sure. Then, let's promote Harrisburg back to Farm Show I (from the Bovine Pavilion next door), and guess what, TEN TEAMS. At that point, let's place a call to AEG, see if we can pencil them in for two -- maybe Manchester (rivals with Rochester & Syracuse) and Ontario (it's a suburb of Los Angeles with an airport) -- from all the properties they own and/or manage? Does anyone know if AEG needs a write-off? TWELVE TEAMS WITH GEOGRAPHIC RIVALS! San Diego - Los Angeles (Ontario) Dallas - Wichita - Kansas City Chicago - Milwaukee Syracuse - Rochester - Manchester Baltimore - Harrisburg Isn't it great to speculate... about spending other people's money?
Looks like Rio Grande fans had a blast tonight. Arizona in town with apparently 6 guys with the same name ("new player"). 16-2 was the final score. Yeah you are right Kenn......it doesn't matter who the opponent is. Nice.