North American Pro Soccer 2015

[-kj]

I haven't. I expect a full report. (Also, going to a game but watching another game instead of the one in front of you that you paid to get into? Tsk.)

[Gothamite]

I hope they aren't trying to match the USL team for team. Quality needs to be the rule, not quantity.

I think they are looking for replacements for Minnesota (leaving for MLS), Atlanta (probably gone), and San Antonio (good chance they might leave for MLS eventually).

They need to relocate Atlanta. It's still owned by the league, right? Move it to the West Coast and try to sell it once it's in place.

[bosrs1]

I don't mind having lower division teams with MLS affiliations (like Orlando did with SKC when they were in the USL) but I don't think lower division teams that aim to field actual teams should be mixed with "2" sides.

That's the thing, I think we're heading toward all teams being "2" teams. Be it direct owned 2 teams or affiliated teams, not unlike how you have a similar mix in MiLB. I mean D3 USL is already there (and it may soon be D2 USL). NASL seems to be the odd duck out right now with it's independent teams, but I can see them eventually falling into the same model once they give up the ghost on their dead dream of competing with MLS (or USSF finally makes them adhere to D2 standards which they so far fail to do).

I think the NASL can be a good D2 league without having a bunch of affiliates and reserve squads.

Peterson also stated at halftime of the Jacksonville-Cosmos game that they would be announcing more teams during the fall season so a West Coast team might pop up then.

Not sure where. He already admitted a month or two back that San Francisco's two ownership groups and the LA ownership group all fell through. They're literally back to square one on the west coast.

Tonight I'm going to see the Earthquakes host Sacramento Republic FC at the new barn in San Jose. Pretty excited to see the new spot!

I hope they have a decent lounge area too, because I'm sure im gonna miss at least the first part of the first half watching the Warriors game.

Anyone been to the new stadium yet?

They don't have a lounge area at Avaya Stadium. What they do have, and what might suit your purposes, is the LOBINA (Longest Outdoor Bar in North America).

[MJWalker45]

I hope they aren't trying to match the USL team for team. Quality needs to be the rule, not quantity.

I think they are looking for replacements for Minnesota (leaving for MLS), Atlanta (probably gone), and San Antonio (good chance they might leave for MLS eventually).

They need to relocate Atlanta. It's still owned by the league, right? Move it to the West Coast and try to sell it once it's in place.

I think they'll let it die off and replace it with another team somewhere else. It's a shame since they are one of the first teams with a soccer specific stadium. I could also see Blank buying them out and using the stadium for the womens team that currently plays there.

[-kj]

The new MLS entity apparently has no interest in the Silverbacks, which is a damned shame. The stadium is also owned by a different entity than the team.

I'd say you'd need to line up an owner for the west coast before trying to move out there.

[Gothamite]

I agree that would be the prudent course, but the league has made some creative choices before. And the team would be worth much more as a San Francisco or even San Diego club rather than a lame-duck Atlanta one. Or maybe they simply bundle the club with pre-approval to relocate.

The stadium is owned by the former owner of the team. The NASL had to buy the club from him, but he kept the real estate.

[bosrs1]

I agree that would be the prudent course, but the league has made some creative choices before. And the team would be worth much more as a San Francisco or even San Diego club rather than a lame-duck Atlanta one. Or maybe they simply bundle the club with pre-approval to relocate.

The stadium is owned by the former owner of the team. The NASL had to buy the club from him, but he kept the real estate.

Problem is a team in San Diego or San Francisco would run into an even worse problem than Atlanta has now. No stadium in either city for the team to call home. At least they have a stadium in Altanta even if they don't own it and they have an MLS team about to come stomp them out.

[MJWalker45]

The big problem for NASL is they are running that team. That is something the league will not want to continue doing.

[Gothamite]

Of course. It's worrying that they can't find anyone to buy the team, even if to move it.

[bosrs1]

Of course. It's worrying that they can't find anyone to buy the team, even if to move it.

Even more worrying is that the league is about to own another of their teams with Carolina being owned by Traffic Sports (the majority investor in NASL) who have now been banned from football and from the league. So they need to find two new owner investors for the Atlanta team, but also for Carolina as well. And they need to find someone to buy out Traffic's shares in the league on top of that.

Meanwhile the league is dicking around with exhibitions in Cuba, extra Florida teams, and a team in PR that couldn't find any additional investors except for Carmelo Anthony (who doesn't have the financial wherewithal to run the team long term on his own).

[sportstar1212]

Watching the NYCFC-Cosmos US Open Cup game, and the pitch at Hofstra looks like absolute :censored:. Good god.

[crashcarson15]

Oh, NYCFC. You’re the best thing to happen to American soccer in one hell of a long time.

[sportstar1212]

:censored:, I don't know what to say... Up 2-0 at one point, and ending up losing in PK's.

It was a great game, but this loss is going to be tough to swallow.

[FiddySicks]

I haven't. I expect a full report. (Also, going to a game but watching another game instead of the one in front of you that you paid to get into? Tsk.)

Well, it turned out we pretty much blew off the game in order to catch the Warriors win at a bar down the street. After the game we decided to just drive by and see what the place looked like, and it just so happened they went into overtime. We caught the entire overtime period and a pretty crazy shootout. Quakes won on a missed PK by Sacramento.

GREAT little stadium they've got there in San Jose. Very small and intimate, but also really nice and clean. Sort of reminds me of Levis Stadium on the other side of the city. It was also pretty rowdy despite a relatively small crowd.

I have a buddy who sells season ticket packages and he showed us around and we got to step on the field for a bit.

I'd definitely go back for another game!

[Gothamite]

, I don't know what to say... Up 2-0 at one point, and ending up losing in PK's.

It was a great game, but this loss is going to be tough to swallow.

Yeah, this is a rough one. Ouch.

I could complain about that awful pitch, or the shocking officiating, but we did it to ourselves. We couldn't close out, missed far too many chances.

[Burmy]

You know the Cosmos fans will NEVER shut up about this...with the rivalry this might have laid the groundwork for, I think maybe NYC CAN support three MLS teams...

[DG_ThenNowForever]

, I don't know what to say... Up 2-0 at one point, and ending up losing in PK's.

It was a great game, but this loss is going to be tough to swallow.

Yeah, this is a rough one. Ouch.

I could complain about that awful pitch, or the shocking officiating, but we did it to ourselves. We couldn't close out, missed far too many chances.

Plus the Cosmos keeper was incredible in the shootout. There's different schools of thought about how keepers should approach shootouts -- Kasey Keller says the pressure's all on the kicker -- but I was watching the Cosmos/NYCFC and Orlando/Charleston shootouts simultaneously, and Charleston's keeper was basically giving up.

I was hoping to see some hot takes about this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJpTuoOnghM

I watched the game and the ref was awful all night. It's not a surprise, either. USSF has limited resources, there are a ton of games going on, and resources are spread thin. But if there's only one Open Cup game featuring two MLS teams -- and a heated rivalry at that -- maybe don't put a scrub in that's going to make players walk back five yards to redo a throw-in 10 minutes into the game.

Clint Dempsey shouldn't be tearing up referee scorecards, but at the same time, there needs to be accountability for the refs. When you call a bad game, it puts the players at risk -- Oba Martins had a terrible groin injury in the extra period -- and it takes away from the sport of the match.

There's talk about Dempsey missing Gold Cup, but I'd be surprised if that happens. I think he ends up getting a slap on the wrist and will have to sit out next year's Open Cup games. And hopefully USSF rethinks both its scheduling and referee assignments for rivalry games like last night.

[Kevin W.]

The USSF's laws call for a three-month suspension of a player who assaults an official. The definition of assaulting an official includes damaging his or her equipment.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

The USSF's laws call for a three-month suspension of a player who assaults an official. The definition of assaulting an official includes damaging his or her equipment.

Yeah, and we'll see if/how it's enforced.

Caveat: I'm a total homer for the Sounders and Clint Dempsey, so I'm not looking at this objectively. Not even a little bit.

[-kj]

I've only seen the highlights, but from what I can tell, all of the reds were pretty legit. Also, I'm not sure you can attribute the injury to Martins to the officiating, since he wasn't hurt by way of any contact by an opposing player.