Dilbert

I hope they do on Wednesday. Let Miami have the Leagues Cup. The US Open Cup belongs to FCC!

I saw earlier this week someone mention that an American Atheltic- PAC merger could be an option, with the merged conference becoming the PAC 18. I cant see that being a power 5 conference though.

MLS season resumes tomorrow, and for me with "Hell is Real" FC Cincinnati vs Columbus Crew. Today their 2 teams face off in MLS Next Pro action and I just learned their derby name is known as "Heck is Plausible"

Something very rare today. The Dodgers, Angels and Padres are all hosting doubleheaders today, moving tomorrows games to today with Hurricane Hillary getting ready to hit Baja California and Southern California.

Knowing MiLB they'll probably go with something goofy like the Rome Gnoman Emperors with like a garden gnome as an emperor

I believe Big 12 said they were done. What Im hearing now however is Cal and Stanford to the ACC but now emerging for the ACC is SMU, who was rumored to be one of the replacement teams in the PAC 12

Because, Louisville and Notre Dame are located on the Atlantic Coast so why not?

So NCFC returning to the USL Championship is kinda like pro/rel....right?

Apparently Sunday is the Chicago Bears Family Fest and first practice at the stadium. I believe SeatGeek is still their practice facility and is the home of their MLS Next Pro team. Charlotte meanwhile played their home game in Frisco, because Beyonce took over their stadium. Im surprised they didnt try to find another suitable venue in North Carolina or even South Carolina.

Apparently the USL pro/rel vote is now on hold

Daddy Garber will find a way.

In that case I hear a school on Mars is joining Conference USA

They recycling the Vermilion County Bobcats?

Am I the only one who doesnt really care about Messi in MLS? In his second match with Miami he was subbed out in the 75th minute, and thousands of fans began filing for the exits. They were just there to see Messi and as soon as he's off the pitch, it was like no one cared about the rest of the match. Honestly, its not a good look for Miami or MLS.

That Cincinnati game was wild. An own goal, and a goal off a set piece put KC up 2-0 in the first 12 minutes. Then Alan Pulido headbutts Yerson Mosquera for a straight red in the 30th, putting KC down a man. Cincinnati would get on the board just four minutes later with an own goal to make it 2-1 KC, but before they could kickoff again, the game hit a weather delay, only lasting 30 minutes. Restart, play 11 more minutes, then stop again for halftime. Brandon Vazquez would tie it up in the 56th minute, but a handball in the box by Alvas Powell would put KC at the spot for a penalty in the 69th minute. KC would convert to go back up 3-2. Just when you thought it was over, in the final seconds of the game (96th minute), Cincinnati would go to the spot for a penalty as KC actually committed two handballs in the box. Luciano Acosta would convert to tie it for Cincy and send the game to penalties. With this being a tournament game, Roman Celentano got some rest tonight, as backup keeper Alec Kann was in net for FCC. With FCC converting all four penalties, KC only made two, with one going over the crossbar, and Alec Kann making the winning save with his legs, to win it for FCC. Wild game. Officiating was poor. 5 yellows each side plus the straight red for KC, missed several hard fouls, yet called several fouls that were very soft. Overall, Im not a fan of the Leagues Cup. FCC needs to stay focused on the Open Cup and the supporters shield. We need to give our guys some rest, and get our injured healed during this tournament. FCC is already in a prime spot for a Champions Cup spot through other means (Supporters Shield, Conference Champion, Open Cup, MLS Cup). Outside of a cash prize and hardware, we really shouldnt put our focus on this tournament.

Whats going on in DC? Two DC United players have been suspended by the team on the same day their trainer was fired for displaying a racist hand gesture. Taxi Fountas was accused of using a racial slur towards Nigel Robertha in a match last season. Fountas played for Miami at the time. Now Fountas used the language again at Robertha in a recent training session. Roberta responded by physically assaulting him. Meanwhile, their trainer Reade Whitney, was fired for displaying the OK symbol in a staff photo at an MLS All Star Game training session. https://nypost.com/2023/07/22/d-c-united-suspends-two-players-over-alleged-racial-slur-altercation/

This makes sense. It seemed kinda weird that the league would have teams in cities like Chicago, St Louis and Austin, while also having teams in Salem, Lake Charles, and Bakersfield

I thinking these cities revealed yesterday are merely where the AFL wants a team, rather than will be a team. Since the announcement arena officials in Salem, Lake Charles, and Cincinnati were unaware of the league coming to town.

Id wait to here what cities exactly from the AFL themselves. Using TMZ as a source is about as reliable as using Wikipedia.

I know many of us were on Boiko watch in Chicago, but he apparently had an okay game. Instead the referee of the night was in Cincinnati and once again, Nashville was on the wrong side for the official. Ramy Touchan, had no control, missed several fouls both sides, called several soft fouls on both sides. He tried to get a fan kicked out because he didnt give the Nashville player the ball, after it went out of play and he instead threw it back on the field beside the player. Held up play to yell at the fan and Pat Noonan. (Rule says you have to return the ball to the field, doesnt say you have to hand it to the player). Then he yellow carded a Nashville player, completely forgetting it was his second yellow and had to run back over to show the red. Nashville then lost their composure and another player picked up a second red. Thats two straight games for Nashville to lose 2 men to red cards. Cincinnati won 3-1 but it was a strange game. Week after week its one show after the other when it comes to PRO referees.

I retract my statement. After seeing the mess of last weekends Columbus-NYCFC match, and last nights Nashville-Philadelphia match, Sergii Boiko is the new Ted Unkel. Dude has no control over any of his games. in his 11 games this year (2 USL) he has issued 67 yellows, 9 reds, has called 261 fouls and awarded 7 penalties. 1 yellow was on the coach for USL Birmingham, and two reds on the Columbus coaching staff. His last two games alone he has issued 17 yellows and 6 reds. EDIT: Add another yellow. Not in the report, but Nashville coach Gary Smith said he also got a yellow for dropping the f-bomb.

Ive heard about a major shakeup in the indoor football landscape this offseason, including a possible merger of the IFL and CIF. With the NAL down to 5 teams and the AFL, Arena League (the one with the Ozark Lunkers and Waterloo Woo) and the AIF also restarting, next year could be very interesting.

Im interested in how this plays out. Especially with the USSF division standards. Some teams dont even meet the standards of moving up to DII, and dont even have their own venue to make renovations to meet those standards. Plus USL has for the last several years been trying to get teams out of baseball stadiums and into their own soccer specific venues, but it has been a very slow and tedious process, that as a result, Reno and Fresno dropped out of the USL Championship entirely (Fresno has since returned to USL1 at the 1,000 seat Fresno State Soccer Stadium, while picking up where Fresno FC left off in trying to build a new stadium). Efforts for new stadiums are underway for El Paso, Indy, Iowa, Memphis, Milwaukee, New Mexico, Oakland, Oklahoma City, Pawtucket, Sacramento, Fresno, Greenville, Lexington, Knoxville, Omaha, Santa Barbara, Spokane, and Brooklyn, as well as Northwest Arkansas announced today, but most of these projects has seen little movement, public funding support and other issues that are slowing down the efforts. Projects in Queens and Fort Worth have recently failed entirely and have been abandoned. DI DII DIII Indoor Men Women Men Women Men Women Teams 12 8 8 6 8 6 (Year 3: 14) (Year 4: 10) (Year 3: 10, Year 6: 12) (Year 3: 8 Req. Participation All eligible CONCACAF competitions Open Cup Geographic Coverage Eastern, Central, and Pacific time zones Two time zones (Year 6: Eastern, Central, and Pacific time zones) Market Population >75% with >1mil >75% with >750k >50% with >500k Min. Stadium Capacity 15,000 5,000 2,000 1,000 Lease Lead 180 days 120 days Bond $1mil $100k $750k $50k $250k $20k Time Guarantee 5 years 3 years Primary Owner Worth $40mil $15mil $20mil $7.5mil $10mil $5mil $3mil

The fact that fans in St Louis had to watch Mustard vs Ketchup in the final Rams game in St Louis is an absolute crime

I firmly believe that VAR should make the final call, and not the on field official. Why would you make an incorrect call, be shown video evidence that your call was wrong, and still be like " Nah, I know the call is wrong, but Im gonna keep the original wrong call ruling, despite seeing video evidence I was wrong."