Nyk33 Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 1 hour ago, Gothamite said: Everything that currently makes the NASL the NASL, from its stupid "independent teams!" model to its desire for D1 to the lack of institutional oversight, must die. For the good of the sport in this country. Let the name and logo survive to be used by a responsible league, but the league as it stands now should not. I think there are people, such as Steve Malik with North Carolina FC & Peter Wilt, that realize the whole D1 push for NASL is a bad idea. Let's give NASL some time with this reprieve from the USSF to get their act together before we clamor for its death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothamite Posted January 8, 2017 Author Share Posted January 8, 2017 i like Peter Wilt. But as recently as this year he was parroting the "another league" nonsense. So I'm not sure at all that he realizes how irresponsible that is. The Green Bay Packers Uniform Database! Now in a handy blog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyk33 Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 4 hours ago, Gothamite said: i like Peter Wilt. But as recently as this year he was parroting the "another league" nonsense. So I'm not sure at all that he realizes how irresponsible that is. I haven't seen Peter Wilt make that kind of statement recently but as I said before Steve Malik seems to have a pretty good head on his shoulders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothamite Posted January 8, 2017 Author Share Posted January 8, 2017 Last August, as the NASL was already falling apart, with bounced paychecks and crumbling ownership groups, Wilt was quoted as saying this: Quote “If the (NASL) continues its improvement at a similar rate of the last five years over the next five years,” he said, “I think we'll be positioned as a first-division league in the United States and Canada.” That's either delusional or disingenuous. And I don't think he's delusional. The Green Bay Packers Uniform Database! Now in a handy blog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyk33 Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 3 hours ago, Gothamite said: Last August, as the NASL was already falling apart, with bounced paychecks and crumbling ownership groups, Wilt was quoted as saying this: That's either delusional or disingenuous. And I don't think he's delusional. I think he was just trying to hold the company line, at the time, since he was working on getting the Chicago NASL team up and running. It wouldn't look good if he would have said things that clashed with that narrative at the time. Hopefully with him and Malik taking more of a prominent role while Peterson doesn't say much means that there will be a shift in rhetoric. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashcarson15 Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 2 hours ago, Nyk33 said: I think he was just trying to hold the company line, at the time, since he was working on getting the Chicago NASL team up and running. It wouldn't look good if he would have said things that clashed with that narrative at the time. Hopefully with him and Malik taking more of a prominent role while Peterson doesn't say much means that there will be a shift in rhetoric. He was quoted as saying this, too, in 2016 in a FourFourTwo piece about the Eleven… “The progress of the NASL has been such that there's reason for optimism, that achieving first-division status in Indianapolis and playing at the highest level in North America in Indianapolis is possible within the North American Soccer League.” I really have no desire to see Wilt in charge of anything with the NASL and, further, have no real desire to see the revolving door that is the NASL continue. There’s absolutely nothing about the league I find interesting anymore — with Minnesota gone and the Cosmos being different, there’s not a single team on the fixture list for next season that is remotely intriguing, and I grew to hate the league over the last few years as the Eleven front office continued to peddle the “we can be D1 in the NASL” line, which is far from a thing that could ever happen. I’m sure I’ll go to an Eleven game or two next year, but if you would’ve told me a few years back that I’d be living in Indianapolis post-graduation and not holding Eleven season tickets, I’d have told you that you were crazy. But it’s just hard to passionately care about something trapped in the clown show that is the NASL. And what’s the alternative? It’s either a drawn-out march to the league folding, at which point I’d rather get to USL and rivalries with Saint Louis, Louisville and Cincinnati before one or two of them move to MLS, or the NASL is actually going to be “saved” — but it’s probably falling behind USL anyway. Thank our legislature didn’t approve an $82 million stadium for a team in that joke of a league a couple years ago… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyk33 Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 1 hour ago, crashcarson15 said: I’m sure I’ll go to an Eleven game or two next year, but if you would’ve told me a few years back that I’d be living in Indianapolis post-graduation and not holding Eleven season tickets, I’d have told you that you were crazy. But it’s just hard to passionately care about something trapped in the clown show that is the NASL. And what’s the alternative? It’s either a drawn-out march to the league folding, at which point I’d rather get to USL and rivalries with Saint Louis, Louisville and Cincinnati before one or two of them move to MLS, or the NASL is actually going to be “saved” — but it’s probably falling behind USL anyway. I can understand this conundrum. It's sort of similar to how I feel about the Cosmos. I kind of like them since they, to me, are more tolerable than the two MLS teams in NYC but at the same time the stupid Pro/Rel zealots in the Five Points and the arrogant ownership that's been at the helm of Cosmos 2.0. makes it very hard to sympathize with the team too much. However I still wanted the NASL to retain D2 so that the players and staffers could get paid by new owner Rocco Commisso who wouldn't have bought the team if NASL had gone down to D3. I also didn't want teams to be left in the dust if NASL folds and USL refuses to pick some of this which is what Sunil Gulati was also concerned about since it was reported he was trying to get USL to accept all the NASL teams at a reduced expansion fee when USL only wanted a few of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothamite Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 1 hour ago, Nyk33 said: I can understand this conundrum. It's sort of similar to how I feel about the Cosmos. I kind of like them since they, to me, are more tolerable than the two MLS teams in NYC Just out of curiosity, why is that? The Green Bay Packers Uniform Database! Now in a handy blog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyk33 Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 15 minutes ago, Gothamite said: Just out of curiosity, why is that? I'm not the biggest fan of RBNY & NYCFC due to their ownership and the fact that they feel like outposts for Red Bull and Man City to me. There is also issues with NYCFC's ownership which we've discussed before although the nebulous nature of the Cosmos's ownership does raise some eyebrows. That and the fact that the Cosmos put out a strong feeling of "We really like the view up our own asses so hope you don't mind if we cease to exist in the meantime." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothamite Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 7 hours ago, Nyk33 said: There is also issues with NYCFC's ownership which we've discussed before although the nebulous nature of the Cosmos's ownership does raise some eyebrows. I've heard this from Cosmos fans, people who don't like the Middle East ownership for the regressive policies of its country, ignoring the very inconvenient truth that the Cosmos are owned in part by the government of Qatar. Not that it really matters, of course - we all make our choices and they don't have to be logical ones - but it's always kind of ironic when Cosmos fans tell me they could never support NYCFC because it's "owned by bad people". Doubly so after recent events, when we've learned what a scumbag Seamus O'Brien really is. The Green Bay Packers Uniform Database! Now in a handy blog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyk33 Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 2 hours ago, Gothamite said: I've heard this from Cosmos fans, people who don't like the Middle East ownership for the regressive policies of its country, ignoring the very inconvenient truth that the Cosmos are owned in part by the government of Qatar. Sela is a part of the government of Qatar? I hear different things about them from Cosmos fans everyday. One minute they're Saudi and then they're ran by Indonesians or Malaysians. I don't really know much about them besides the fact that they did some shady things with the Asian Football Confederation. 2 hours ago, Gothamite said: Doubly so after recent events, when we've learned what a scumbag Seamus O'Brien really is. Seamus O'Brien always came across as a toolbag to me just because of how zealous he was about the whole "NASL can beat MLS" thing. The only person I know who was a bigger mark for the NASL was Ted Westervelt and he's called "Tin Foil" Ted for a reason. Trust me there's reasons why I wouldn't call myself a fan of the Cosmos and put them in my sig with the other teams on there and its not because they aren't "special" enough to be in there. The logo of the freaking New York Knickerbockers are at the front and they're... them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothamite Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 1 hour ago, Nyk33 said: Sela is a part of the government of Qatar? I hear different things about them from Cosmos fans everyday. One minute they're Saudi and then they're ran by Indonesians or Malaysians. I don't really know much about them besides the fact that they did some shady things with the Asian Football Confederation. Sela Sport is Saudi Arabian, and we don't actually know who they are. They're a privately-held company that doesn't have to tell us anything, so they don't. Who are their investors, where the money comes from, total mystery. Could be clean money, could be dirty. But the other owner of the club, sometimes reported as a minority investor and sometimes reported to be an equal partner, is World Sport Group. That's where Seamus O'Brien came from. World Sport Group is owned by the Lagardère Group, whose largest investor is... the Qatari government. So any Cosmos fan who wants to talk about Sheikh Mansour or his relatives is standing on some pretty shaky ground. The Green Bay Packers Uniform Database! Now in a handy blog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyk33 Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 22 minutes ago, Gothamite said: But the other owner of the club, sometimes reported as a minority investor and sometimes reported to be an equal partner, is World Sport Group. That's where Seamus O'Brien came from. World Sport Group is owned by the Lagardère Group, whose largest investor is... the Qatari government. I honestly didn't know this. I just thought that it was just Sela running the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothamite Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 38 minutes ago, Nyk33 said: I honestly didn't know this. I just thought that it was just Sela running the show. They've really gone out of their way to keep their ownership group secret. They don't even openly acknowledge Sela anymore. This is included in all the problems I have with the NASL's business model. Leagues should require a basic level of transparency. The Green Bay Packers Uniform Database! Now in a handy blog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wences Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 5 hours ago, Gothamite said: I've heard this from Cosmos fans, people who don't like the Middle East ownership for the regressive policies of its country, ignoring the very inconvenient truth that the Cosmos are owned in part by the government of Qatar. Not that it really matters, of course - we all make our choices and they don't have to be logical ones - but it's always kind of ironic when Cosmos fans tell me they could never support NYCFC because it's "owned by bad people". Doubly so after recent events, when we've learned what a scumbag Seamus O'Brien really is. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates are three different political realities. I am lucky to had been there and I can say that U.A.E. is very very different from the theocracry from Saudi Arabia. Qatar isn't like U.A.E. but is more close to the Emirates than Saudi Arabia. Anyway, what do you think the people around the world think about US or, where I live, EU? In a lot places, they don't see us as countries who cares about the hapiness in the world. And they are right in a lot of situations... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bosrs1 Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 On 1/8/2017 at 7:16 AM, Nyk33 said: I haven't seen Peter Wilt make that kind of statement recently but as I said before Steve Malik seems to have a pretty good head on his shoulders. On the plus side for NASL at least they finally canned Peterson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bosrs1 Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 Reports coming out of the Indianapolis press that San Diego along with 2 other cities are on tap to be expansion sides in 2018 for the now D2 USL. For San Diego in particular this is interesting as it comes in addition to previous mentions from NASL, which is also still D2, of placing teams in San Diego, Orange County and Atlanta for 2018. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothamite Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 10 minutes ago, bosrs1 said: On the plus side for NASL at least they finally canned Peterson. I hadn't heard that - it's fantastic news. Now they just need to eliminate any vestiges of his entire agenda from the league. 1 hour ago, wences said: Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates are three different political realities. I am lucky to had been there and I can say that U.A.E. is very very different from the theocracry from Saudi Arabia. Qatar isn't like U.A.E. but is more close to the Emirates than Saudi Arabia. Anyway, what do you think the people around the world think about US or, where I live, EU? In a lot places, they don't see us as countries who cares about the hapiness in the world. And they are right in a lot of situations... I wasn't the one who started talking about Middle East ownership. I was responding to those who were criticizing my club's owners while conveniently ignoring their own. The Green Bay Packers Uniform Database! Now in a handy blog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBGKon Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 NASL going to Atlanta around the time MLS hits Atlanta screams desperation....like they went back to the old Silverbacks ownership and begged to return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyk33 Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 20 minutes ago, bosrs1 said: Reports coming out of the Indianapolis press that San Diego along with 2 other cities are on tap to be expansion sides in 2018 for the now D2 USL. For San Diego in particular this is interesting as it comes in addition to previous mentions from NASL, which is also still D2, of placing teams in San Diego, Orange County and Atlanta for 2018. Are we really going to have another Oklahoma City situation? 22 minutes ago, Gothamite said: I wasn't the one who started talking about Middle East government ownership. I was responding to those who were criticizing my club's owners while conveniently ignoring their own. Just wanted to clarify. I don't think anyone has a problem with random people that have nothing to do with the actions of their governments buying and owning teams. It would be like getting mad at Americans for owning and buying teams because of the actions of the US government. 5 minutes ago, AstroBull21 said: NASL going to Atlanta around the time MLS hits Atlanta screams desperation....like they went back to the old Silverbacks ownership and begged to return. They're not trying to bring the Silverbacks back into the fold. This is a different team that's most likely, as of this point, to bring back the Atlanta Chiefs name from the old NASL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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