North American Soccer 2008

[Run DMB]

New MLS jerseys for 2008 season:

The Chicago Fire jersey looks like something I could have created on my PS2 with Winning Eleven.

 

[::shinji::]

what's up with the San Jose kit? The black top with blue shorts just looks odd..

 

[Bobby]

Why is Red Bull's long sleeve?

 

[$teauA]

http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20080128&content_id=136757&vkey=pr_mls&fext=.jsp

Finally

 

[::shinji::]

Canada also has the Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact who are arguably MLS calibre teams.. but it's a good question, I wonder what the qualifying process will be and who exactly would be eligible..

 

[Bobby]

A Canadian Cup surely. Could the CSA operate it though? Better question may be if the CSA could eat a bowl of cereal.

PCSL Teams [9]: Fraser Valley Action, Kamloops Excel, Khalsa Sporting Club, Okanagan Challenge, Peace Arch SC, Surrey United, (University of BC) Vancouver Thunderbirds, Victoria United, Penticton Pinnacles

PDL Teams [6]: Abbotsford Rangers, Ottawa Fury, Thunder Bay Chill, Toronto Lynx, Vancouver Whitecaps Reserves (maybe not included?), Victoria Highlanders

CSL Teams [13]: African Icons (?), Brampton FC, Canadian Lions (Scarborough), FC Quebec (Quebec City), Italia Shooters (Vaughan), London City, North York Astros, Portuguese Supra (Toronto), Serbian White Eagles (Toronto), St. Catharines Wolves, Toronto Croatia, Trois-Rivières Attak (Montreal reserves), Windsor Border Stars

Those are the non professional teams. And yes, the CSL (disgustingly) is trying to stir racial tensions to promote ticket sales.

 

[::shinji::]

Yeah, the CSA is pretty horribly organized and I'd suspect their treasury department consists of a piggy bank and couch cushion change

I've seen a couple London City games, it basically looks like a sunday afternoon pick-up game with about 30 onlookers standing around smoking cigarettes..

 

[Bobby]

 

[Bobby]

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080129/NEWS01/801290344

Rochester have defaulted on, get ready, $11,000,000 in loans.

 

[::shinji::]

haha wow! that's insane

I'd expect this sh!t in Batavia or Niagara Falls, what's going on there Rochester_Rhino?

 

[easyeasyeasy]

I'm a firm fan of the Champions League, and am glad CONCACAF are getting in on the act by replicating the European model ...


the only qualm/question I have is based on this:



so will Toronto FC, as a member of the MLS, be considered a "USA" representative should the team qualify? or will they be ostracized from the competition due to the fact that they are the only top-level club from Canada? I really doubt that the latter is the case, but I just want to confirm that the former is what will happen ...

I'm very sure that Toronto FC are members of the Canadian Soccer Association and therefore would be ineligible to qualify for CONCACAF competitions via the MLS, as the decision to enter teams into the competition would be the role of the USSF. It's very much like the situation for Welsh clubs playing in the English league system who have no means of being able to play in continental competition, because they are members of a different national association and as such are considered foreign teams in the league system.

 

[Bobby]

Yea, the four American slots are designated as USA and not MLS, so the CSA is actually going to have to do something for once. They won't be happy.

It's a shame because despite the CSA's misfires and errors the sport actually has a good base in Canada. If it was run properly they could do really well.

 

[Rochester Rhino]

Steve Donner, CEO, has ruined the entire RSG (Rochester Sports Group who own the Rhinos, the indoor and outdoor lacrosse teams, and an AHL hockey team). More than likely the team will go bankrupt.

Guesses now are that the city or Shifty Williams will buy the stadium and create a new team from scratch.

I have already put a deposit on my season tickets. I wonder if I will get my money back. This is truly a sad and embarrassing time for Rochester. I don't know what I'll do if there is no team here, they were one of the few reasons I like Rochester. (the others being that most of my relatives live in the area and RIT, where I go to college)

 

[Avalanche]

Steve Donner, CEO, has ruined the entire RSG (Rochester Sports Group who own the Rhinos, the indoor and outdoor lacrosse teams, and an AHL hockey team). More than likely the team will go bankrupt.

Disembodied voice: Congratulations Steve Donner! You now own four professional teams that are up sh*t creek! What are you going to do next?

Steve Donner: I'm going to Disney World!

Yes, I know what I just said is in horribly bad taste (at least for Rhino), but its the best I can come up with under the circumstances.

 

[Rochester Rhino]

Well actually, it is believed he used money that RSG didn't really have for his own personal family vacations, which makes the joke worse for us but even better for you.

 

[Bobby]

Bumping this.

The USL seems to be expecting Rochester to go bust and has drafted two fixture lists, one with them, one without them. There's a second, local, investment group made up of a restaurant owner, a car dealer, and a dunkin donuts franchisee if the English guy's deal falls through. They may also decamp their current stadium because of all the debt surrounding it, which would be a huge shame and black eyes all around.

Also, the USL First Division is getting a team in Austin next year, the shockingly named Aztex, owned by Stoke City. No word of a venue, but lots of signs are pointing to this. They're also talking to investors in San Antonio, TX, Edmond, OK (suburban Oklahoma City), Omaha, NE (a soccer hotbed, believe it or not) and Arizona (either Phoenix or Tucson) which I'm sure Paul will enjoy hearing. Also there's talk of an LA (Fullerton) team which would play at Titan Stadium, it seats 10,000 and has hosted US national team games.

Also, if Tucson or SA get a team, expect El Paso to move up. The Carolina (Greensboro) Dynamo are also an outside candidate, they're expanding their 1,500 seat stadium to become a 7,500 all-seater in August.

 

[::shinji::]

Aztex? ugh..

 

[dimo]

A Canadian Cup surely. Could the CSA operate it though? Better question may be if the CSA could eat a bowl of cereal.

PCSL Teams [9]: Fraser Valley Action, Kamloops Excel, Khalsa Sporting Club, Okanagan Challenge, Peace Arch SC, Surrey United, (University of BC) Vancouver Thunderbirds, Victoria United, Penticton Pinnacles

PDL Teams [6]: Abbotsford Rangers, Ottawa Fury, Thunder Bay Chill, Toronto Lynx, Vancouver Whitecaps Reserves (maybe not included?), Victoria Highlanders

CSL Teams [13]: African Icons (?), Brampton FC, Canadian Lions (Scarborough), FC Quebec (Quebec City), Italia Shooters (Vaughan), London City, North York Astros, Portuguese Supra (Toronto), Serbian White Eagles (Toronto), St. Catharines Wolves, Toronto Croatia, Trois-Rivières Attak (Montreal reserves), Windsor Border Stars

Those are the non professional teams. And yes, the CSL (disgustingly) is trying to stir racial tensions to promote ticket sales.

"We don't care if we win lose or draw,
Darn the hair do we care,
For we only know that there's going to be a show,
And the Windsor Border Stars will be there."

border stars! border stars!

 

[Rochester Rhino]

Bumping this.

The USL seems to be expecting Rochester to go bust and has drafted two fixture lists, one with them, one without them. There's a second, local, investment group made up of a restaurant owner, a car dealer, and a dunkin donuts franchisee if the English guy's deal falls through. They may also decamp their current stadium because of all the debt surrounding it, which would be a huge shame and black eyes all around.

Yes, right now, Shifty Williams and NBT Bank are discussing a price for the team/stadium. The team owes 10.8 million. Shifty Williams is looking for the team to go bankrupt and then leasing the stadium for now at least.

The local group of investors will only buy if the deal with Shifty Wiliams doesnt work out. They have about 5 million dollars all together. They will most likely not be playing at PaeTec Park if they buy the team, and most likely a local high school, which is an utter embarrassment to Rochester and US Soccer to have a soccer specific stadium with no team to play in it. This group honestly is just a band aid to the problem. They will only be able to keep the team a float for like 2 years.

I'm really worried.

 

[Bobby]

I think the best option is to let the current team go under and give Williams an expansion team and first option on all Rochester's players.