The "Thoughts That Don't Require Their Own Thread" Thread XVI

I'm wondering too how they will accomplish this, what with all the snow. Last week at the STM event there was just sand put down.

 

Sad stat of the day:

In the last 16 seasons, the Revs have finished in the top half of the Eastern Conference only 5 times. Three of those were under Jay Heaps.

 

But it probably won't be here, because we have ... Curt Onalfo.

 

Is Marco in over his head?

 

It's ben one game... He might be but it seems really early to try and make that call.

 

I ask because we looked so, so bad last Saturday. Like, we looked like a team not measuring up to MLS standards and I questioned some of his positional choices and when (what minutes) he used some players.

 

I think he will have a learning curve for sure. Everyone around the US Soccer says he is a good coach, lets see if he can mold this blob of players into something respectable. Big questions is how long of a rope do they give him. My guess will be a few miles long like they gave Porter

 

Fair question. It was his first game, on the road, with a 2nd team back line, against a legitimate MLS Cup contender. He started the kids he knows and they were manhandled by a much better team.

Forgetting the odd lineup decisions, I was more concerned about the lack of tactical adjustments from this so called experienced coach. If he's going to make it we need to see evidence.

Taking that all into consideration, we need more data to be able to judge him.

Let's see how they look today in the swamp.

 

Boston 2026 says Kraft Group backing World Cup funding - ESPN

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Two weeks before a licensing deadline, Boston World Cup organizers told Foxborough town officials they would pay for about $8 million in security costs, but the two sides remained at odds at a town meeting Tuesday evening.

 

I don't blame the town for wanting them to guarantee the funding up front. Infantino is a weasel, and I wouldn't trust him if he "promises" to pay later. The town taxpayers shouldn't be left holding the bag.

 

Mega-yawn. SSDY. They create the most boring teams.

 

Ah, yes, under the "feeling irrelevant category" here we sit, another faintly heard start to a season. The league is 3 games in. After not learning our lesson, we've hired another coach with no head coach experience. Mitrovich looked like a deer in the headlights at Nashville. Curt is still on the payroll. We stand at 2 losses, no wins and no ties and a postponed home opener because the WC grass delivery never made it through the blizzard. We have one measly goal scored on the season. And, kind of a freak goal at that.

We've started another season away from home, against a contender, at a later start time and another tree falls in the forest where it can't be heard.

We have injuries to key players before the campaign even started. We have our home opener postponed because we don't have a SSS.

Another typical Rev-o season start. Another year supporting an unserious team run by an unserious cheapskate owner. Life is grand in Mudville.

 

Watching the Red Bulls VS Clubbed Foot de Montreal, today and I would like to address the elephant in the room... That being Red Bull's poor attendance, every single game that doesn't have that guy with the #10 pink jersey.

 

Remember when the Revs signed Jermaine Jones, the team suddenly went on a winning streak before he even arrived?

That's what I was reminded of when Toronto won this weekend.

 

So, Bilello has become ever less visible, perchance with aspirations of reaching "invisible", on all things FIFA/WC related since he was enjoying the limelight in those heady days just after Boston being named as a host for WC26.

Looking back at coverage, especially by @jonchesto Jon Chesto, shows that Mike Loynd took the "President" or "CEO" or "Chair" role for Boston Soccer 2026 (yes, that is "BS26") sometime in 2023.

(Unlikely but possible that ISN'T the case, as there's not a lot of consistency in the reporting around that org - there are probably 5 or so variations on the org name; and there are at least 3 variants on the name of the "in charge" role, so it's not simple to track/search for news on either)​

Implication is that Bilello is no longer holding the bag on that steaming pile of disarray as the fundraising/planning fiasco is slowly exposed. (Jon Chesto said back in Sept 2023 that "While Loynd’s event management expertise will be instrumental, he’ll also be in charge of fundraising.")

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/09/12/business/boston-2026-world-cup-funds/

--------------------------------

We now move ahead to current day:

"‘Can’t seem to get their act together’: Boston’s bold dream of hosting World Cup is on shaky ground"
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/03/10/metro/boston-world-cup-struggles-foxborough/

"Business leaders around Greater Boston say the drama around the security issue points to deeper dysfunction and looming financial troubles within the organizing committee, which is now scrambling to pull off the event in less than three months."

"It’s unclear if organizers will be able to pull off their grand vision, or if plans will have to be scaled back, perhaps dramatically, in the face of funding shortfalls and logistical snafus."

"Concerns range from logistics to optics: Will there be enough security? Will fans have trouble getting from Boston to distant Foxborough? And what if an event meant to be a showcase for the Commonwealth, with glitzy parties and festivals, is something far more muted and pedestrian?"

"Some would-be sponsors wonder why they should contribute to an event they see as orchestrated by the Krafts, who they assume will bail it out if money runs short, according to members of Boston’s business community."

"The big question everyone is asking is, ‘How did we possibly get to this point so late in the game?’” said Pat Moscaritolo, former president of the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau, who played a key role in bringing the World Cup to Boston in 1994"

"Regardless of who’s to blame, a money shortage creates the risk of a poor product.
The Fan Fest slated for Boston’s City Hall Plaza, a standard feature of World Cup tournaments, once had grand ambitions; renderings show multistory stages swarming with hordes of fans. If money falls short, it may have to be dramatically downsized."

“All the negative noise surrounding the event has probably played a role” in dissuading corporate sponsors, said D’Alessandro, the former John Hancock CEO. “Donald Trump making noise about threatening to move the World Cup didn’t help. It cast a negative pall over it.”

"The extent of Robert Kraft’s involvement in Boston 26 has been unclear, though he was an honorary chairman of the US bid and attended the televised World Cup bracket draw in December. It’s unclear if Kraft has put any money into the committee other than the promised payment to Foxborough" ...
(...but but but....

​

So, who takes the brunt of the finger-pointing and blowback when WC26 struggles and/or fizzles? Could one of many people, but maybe most likely one of these:

Teflon Brian Bilello, who was the most-recognizable face of this thing during the bid and during the related public relations victory laps when the games were awarded, and who might be remembered as "the WC Boston guy" by some of the public even now

BUT​

who has otherwise enjoyed the air cover that comes with his relative anonymity amongst the general populace - despite 3 decades of results-free MLS "participation" by Revs, and despite the puzzling and eminently mock-able multi-decade "stadium search"

(Even his Wikipedia entry is nearly a stub-only. Although it acknowledges that he exists (yay) , there are no references to WC26 nor the stadium-search:

OR
​

Will it be Mike Loynd, of whom Jon Chesto says "Loynd is much closer to the end of his career than to the beginning. He’s thinking about how he can leave his own legacy for the community and state that he loves"​

I can imagine at this moment Bilello silently standing off to the side in the shadows, with a newfound respect of the power of the Air Cover he's received through the years, and how it could make people forget that he was on point for this thing from 2018-2023.

And in those shadows, the faint grin on his face is still "just visible" as he ponders the fact that instead of him, that Loynd instead will likely be scapegoated and will likely "be retired".

It is good to be Brian.

 

Oh, yes, and Bruce, the guy we chased out for reasons you and I still don't know is 3-0.

 

It's a shame, I've been to that stadium twice and it's gorgeous, and the commute from NYC proper is actually pretty easy. I know RBNY has also had its ups and downs, but they're only a couple years removed from a MLS Cup appearance. It's disappointing that they've never been able to build a big fanbase, or decent attendance outside the Thierry Henry years.

 

Completely agree with you!

 

Foxborough refuses to back down over World Cup security funding dispute - ESPN​

 

Somehow in the context of the Olympics and even the recent NWSL fubar stuff, this seems like it should have been expected.

Everyone must have just been counting on the feds to pay for everything for some reason.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/71...cup-kraft-foxboro/?source=user_shared_article

Apparently, an agreement was reached,

 

White Stadium lawsuit: SJC justices appear split after oral arguments - masslive.com

 

Fascinating arguments both for and against the stadium. In Boston, nothing is ever easy.

 

I now think it's an option to scale the project back. The current project after community feedback is more impactful to the park in the ways the judges seemed interested in than the original plan.

Of course if the court rules against, they could go to the legislature as well, which comes with all the usual difficulties, but I don't think the legislature would be as opposed as the opponents are, as long as they aren't asked to spend any money.