Dilbert

I mean having a team in the same sport and different league isnt anything new for Phoenix. Despite the Coyotes coming to town in 96, the IHL Phoenix Roadrunners played one more season from 1996-97 and were then replaced by the WCHL Phoenix Mustangs from 1997-01 and the ECHL version of the Phoenix Roadrunners 2005-09

Take it with a grain of salt, but wikipedia shows the Arizona Bandits playing in Phoenix. Arena TBD

Nobodys safe in the MLS coaching realm. Red Bulls dump Troy Lesesne. He picked up two yellow cards in his final match. NYRB-Struber and CHI-Hendrickson (5/8, mutual agreement) MIA-Neville (6/1, fired) TOR-Bradley (6/26, fired) MIA- Morales (6/28, end of interim period) POR-Savarese (8/21, fired) COL- Fraser (9/5, fired) NE- Arena (9/9, resigned) and Williams (9/12, mutual agreement) TOR-Dunfield (9/30, end of interim period) MIN-Heath (10/6, fired) DC- Rooney (10/7, mutual agreement) POR- Joseph (11/6, end of interim period) CLT-Lattanzio (11/8, mutual agreement) MTL-Losada (11/9, mutual agreement) NYRB-Lesesne (11/14, contract not renewed)

Why do I have the feeling that they are just gonna play with no team name or logos this season?

I mean this is a league that is putting teams in Salem, Oregon, the VooDoo in Lake Charles, and Chicago in Rockford. They might as well have a team in Phoenix and call them Utah

Thats true however you also said: Glendale is out as its now home of the Rattlers. NAZ and Tucson are out too. That leaves the Footprint Center (not likely, they would probably just stick to the Suns, Mercury, and concerts.), the Coliseum, an equine arena in Scottsdale (that would seem on brand for this AFL), or they will do the whole Coyotes schtick an saddle up at Mulet at ASU.

Prescott (Northern Arizona Wranglers) is in the same league as the Arizona Rattlers and the Tucson Sugar Skulls. At this point if I had to guess knowing how this AFL is going it'll probably be in Phoenix at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Rattlers just left their longtime home at the Footprint Center for Glendale.

Outside of the chrome butthole, it looks like a nice facility.

Best way I saw someone put it was Saputo treats his coaches like his companys dairy products and gets rid of them at the sell by date. Eddie Firmani 1993 Valerio Gazzola 1994-97 Paul Kitson 1998 Tasso Koutsoukos 1998-00 Zoran Jankovic 2000 Valerio Gazzola 2000-01 Nick DeSantis 2001 Bob Lilley 2002-03 Nick DeSantis 2004-08 John Limniatis 2008-09 Marc Dos Santos 2009-11 Nick DeSantis 2011 Jesse Marsch 2011-12 Marco Schallbaum 2013 Frank Klopas 2013-15 Mauro Biello 2015-17 Remi Garde 2017-19 Wilmer Cabrera 2019 Thierry Henry 2019-21 Wilfried Nancy 2021-22 Hernan Losada 2022-23

MLS and Apple want to celebrate Messi becoming the first player in MLS to win the Ballon d'Or award and with the China games cancelled yes. Its all about the money, and MLS and Apple showing off Messi. They gotta makeup for the fact that he is not playing in the playoffs right now. I wouldnt be surprised if another friendly was scheduled. Maybe a friendly to celebrate Messi taking his kid to the park or something absurd like that. Its rediculous. Honestly winning the Ballon d'Or award is nothing special at this point. Outside of three times ( one of them not being awarded due to the pandemic) the award has been won by either Messi or Ronaldo every year since 2008

Another one bites the dust. CF Montreal has now parted ways with Hernan Losada after one season. 19 coaching changes since last season now.

So only 3 series made it to a game 3 for the first round. Add in the "Lets play a game to celebrate Messi" friendly between NYCFC and Miami next weekend for four matches this weekend before we have another international break before the conference semifinals begin. LAFC awaits the Seattle/Dallas winner Kansas City awaits the Houston/Salt Lake winner Orlando awaits the Atlanta/Columbus winner Cincinnati will host Philadelphia in a rematch of last years semifinal. This time in Cincinnati Also this weekend we have the NWSL Final between Gotham and OL Reign and we have the USL Championship Final between Phoenix Rising and Charleston Battery. The fledgling NISA will have its final between City Union and the Michigan Stars

Another coach gone. Charlotte parts ways with Christian Lattanzio. Thats 18 coaching changes since the end of last season. NYRB-Struber and CHI-Hendrickson (5/8, mutual agreement) MIA-Neville (6/1, fired) TOR-Bradley (6/26, fired) MIA- Morales (6/28, end of interim period) POR-Savarese (8/21, fired) COL- Fraser (9/5, fired) NE- Arena (9/9, resigned) and Williams (9/12, mutual agreement) TOR-Dunfield (9/30, end of interim period) MIN-Heath (10/6, fired) DC- Rooney (10/7, mutual agreement) POR- Joseph (11/6, end of interim period) CLT-Lattanzio (11/8, mutual agreement) add the four offseason changes before the 2023 season began: CBS- Porter (10/8/22, fired) HOU- Bundy (11/8/22, end of interim period) MTL- Nancy (12/6/22, signed with CBS) SJ- Covelo (1/3, end of interim period)

NWSL Final is now set as OL Reign will take on NJ/NY Gotham FC. Rapinoe looking to go out a champion.

The womens side in Tampa Bay also released their branding. Both Spokane and Tampa Bay will play in the new USL Super League, who is aiming to be womens Division 1 alongside NWSL, however USL Super League will be follow an August to June schedule with a midseason break to avoid the harsh part of winters.

FC Cincinnati advanced on penalties Saturday night. Kansas City upsets St Louis to sweep their series knocking out the top seed in the west. LAFC swept Vancouver, but not without controversy, as LAFC was up 1-0 in second half stoppage. Vancouver had their keeper up as an eleventh man on offense, leaving an empty goal for Vancouver. PRO official Tim Ford pretty much bodychecked a Vancouver player who had the ball coming right toward him, leaving the ball for LAFC who took it down field for the empty net to seal it for LAFC. Vancouver surrounded Ford furious. Goal was called off though for offsides, but a big chance for Vancouver to tie it was lost. Meanwhile congrats to North Carolina FC who leave USL League One as champions, defeating rival Charlotte Independence in penalties. NCFC is joining USL Championship next year.

End of an era. Reds have declined the option for Joey Votto. https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/reds-decline-joey-vottos-option-cincinnati-signals-seeming-end-of-legends-tenure-after-17-seasons/

Its like how the 1997 Tennessee Oilers were based and practiced in Nashville, but made the 212 mile trip to Memphis for each home game, expecting fans to do the same. We all remember that not only did fans not drive from Nashville for the games, fans in Memphis didnt show up either.

I dont like that there are Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night games. Games 1 and 2 for CBS-ATL are on weeknights, and game three if necessary on a Sunday night. Just horrible scheduling all around.

Agreed. Id love to see Louisville, and Indy in MLS

There are 4 things that are certain in life. -Death -Taxes - Forge FC in the CPL Finals -Louisville City in the USL Championship conference finals Congrats to Forge FC on winning their 4th title in 5 years tonight over rival Cavalry FC Louisville in their 9th season is heading to the conference finals for the 9th season in a row. USL League One Final is set between rivals North Carolina FC and Charlotte Independence. North Carolina will be returning to the Championship next season. MLS playoffs were blowouts today.

Would this be considered malicious compliance? My solution: The team wears throwbacks of their former Florida State League club (1997-00), the St Petersburg Devil Rays.

At a St Petersburg council meeting, the Rays gave a presentation on the new stadium development project. Apparently part of the agreement is the Rays play one game, wearing "St Petersburg Rays" jerseys (pending MLB approval). To me this just screams the whole "Anaheim" schtick, that city forced the Angels to do, where the city didnt want to be little brother to Los Angeles so the team compromised with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim bs. St Pete doesnt want to play little brother to Tampa. I mean, theres a reason why its called Tampa Bay and not St Petersburg Bay. Not to mention the 4+1 rule for jerseys now. Would the St Petersburg jersey be considered a special jersey like the Boston Patriots Day jersey or the Jays Canada Day jersey?

Finalists for MLS awards this year. To no shock Messi is up for Newcomer of the year, despite only 6 MLS appearances with 1 goal and 2 assists (Tournament and international games dont count). Landon Donovan MLS MVP finalists Luciano Acosta - FC Cincinnati Thiago Almada - Atlanta United Dénis Bouanga - LAFC Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year finalists Bradley Carnell - St. Louis CITY SC Wilfried Nancy - Columbus Crew Pat Noonan - FC Cincinnati MLS Newcomer of the Year finalists For this award, “newcomer” is defined as a player who had previous professional experience and made his MLS debut in 2023. Giorgos Giakoumakis - Atlanta United Eduard Löwen - St. Louis CITY SC Lionel Messi - Inter Miami CF MLS Young Player of the Year finalists For this award, any “young player” in MLS who is age 22 or younger during the calendar year is eligible for consideration. Thiago Almada - Atlanta United Duncan McGuire - Orlando City SC Aidan Morris - Columbus Crew Allstate MLS Goalkeeper of the Year finalists Roman Bürki - St. Louis CITY SC Roman Celentano - FC Cincinnati Pedro Gallese - Orlando City SC MLS Defender of the Year finalists Yeimar Gómez Andrade - Seattle Sounders FC Matt Miazga - FC Cincinnati Tim Parker - St. Louis CITY SC MLS Comeback Player of the Year finalists Honors an MLS player who has overcome a severe injury and/or adversity and, as a result, missed a significant portion of the 2022 season – then shown improved performance to achieve success during the 2023 season. João Paulo - Seattle Sounders FC Alan Pulido - Sporting Kansas City Miles Robinson - Atlanta United Audi Goals Drive Progress Impact Award finalists Learn more about the Audi Goals Drive Progress Impact Award and our Players’ community efforts here. Alejandro Bedoya - Philadelphia Union Darlington Nagbe - Columbus Crew Taylor Washington - Nashville SC MLS Referee of the Year finalists Jon Freemon Victor Rivas Ted Unkel MLS Assistant Referee of the Year finalists Michael Barwegan Cam Blanchard Ian McKay

Turrible.