From time to time as you all know we like to post interviews done by former MLSer Jared Montz. If you haven’t gotten into his podcast yet I highly recommend you do so now.
Today he has added a new podcast/video interview with NASL or USSF Div II Carolina Railhawks Brian Plotkin. The two discuss the crazy offseason that surrounded the USL/NASL/USSF Div 2 as well as some other items.
Enjoy.
Crystal Palace Baltimore Stadium rendering. (Photo via CPUSA)
A little mid-day stadium porn for you. And believe me some MLS teams would love to have this stadium right now.
The Maryland Stadium Authority approved a $100,000 study on Tuesday to explore the viability of building a professional soccer stadium in Baltimore. Both DC United and the USSF Division II’s Crystal Palace Baltimore are being looked at in this study.
The renderings though are for CP Baltimore. A cozy little venue with a roof over all the seats with one end open for probably a party deck of some sorts. I like it…a lot.
I waited a while today to get to this news that most of you have already seen. AC St. Louis in the USSF’s Division II league announced it’s first big signing today in hometown boy Steve Ralston.
Big news in some ways and in others, eh, not so much.
First of all Ralston was one of the last MLS originals left on the table. He decided last week to not re-sign with New England and MLS. Now we know it was because he wanted a move to his hometown to be a player/assistant coach with the new D-II club.
That’s all well and good but I honestly don’t buy into the thoughts that this is a bigger deal than some are making it out to be. I’m sure some MLS clubs wanted him but the fact that he didn’t want them should tell you all you need to know. He was ready to make this move, it wasn’t forced on him. Had it been more of a forced move then I would see this as a bigger deal.
It is a bigger deal for the USSF’s Division II or the NASL for that matter. Ralston’s name adds some credibility to this new league but he’s not gonna sell out stadiums in that league anytime soon. His impact will be seen more off the field with his new club than on the field.
As for MLS losing one of it’s originals hurts but only in the short term. I still see him coming back into the league down the road as a head coach…probably in New England for that matter.
Let’s face it even though he was an assist machine in MLS the last two years he was hurt more than most would like to admit. Now we know Revs fans are worried that all the offense is gone and dried up with him gone now. I honestly don’t buy that for a second. Maybe I’ve drank the Steve Nicol kool-aid more than some but I am a big believer in his coaching style, it isn’t flashy or sexy but it does get results. Make no mistake the Revs will be in a lot of low scoring games this season. They’ll find a way to come out on top in some of them.
I’m happy for Steve and hope he does well in his hometown.
The agreement is finally out. The U.S. Soccer Federation, United Soccer Leagues (USL) and the North American Soccer League (NASL) have come to an agreement on the formation and operation of a Division 2 professional soccer league for the 2010 season. The USSF will oversea the operation of the league.
The league will consist of two six-team conferences – the USL conference and the NASL conference.
The USL Conference will include:
Austin, Minnesota, Portland, Puerto Rico, Rochester and Tampa Bay.
The NASL Conference will include:
Baltimore, Carolina, Miami, Montreal, St. Louis and Vancouver.
We will hear back in the coming days/weeks about the league rules, name, schedules, etc.
More on this to come after the conference call…
Some will find this ruling shocking and others like myself will not. The USSF has told both the USL and the newly formed NASL that they will each not be sanctioned in 2010 unless they can work it out within the next week.
According to a press release (see below) sent out by the USSF, both sides failed to meet certain requirements to be sanctioned.
CHICAGO (Dec. 30, 2009) – The U.S. Soccer Board of Directors voted unanimously on Tuesday to not sanction either the USL or the NASL to operate a Division II professional league in 2010.
The decision was made on the recommendation of the Professional League Task Force, which determined that neither organization on its own was able to provide a viable and sustainable operation during the upcoming season. Both organizations were unable to meet U.S. Soccer’s requirement of a minimum of eight viable teams for 2010.
Despite the ruling, the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors has given both organizations seven days to try to work out an interim solution for the 2010 season.
“After carefully reviewing the findings from the Task Force it was clear there are still too many uncertainties for both organizations, which would be extremely difficult to resolve in a timely fashion that would allow them to prepare for the 2010 season,” said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati. “In the best interest of soccer in the United States, we decided to not sanction either league at this point. However, we did encourage both leagues to come together in the next week and attempt to develop another plan which would allow a single league to be approved on a provisional basis. We are committed to finding ways to improve the long-term viability of all leagues and teams and continue the growth of soccer in the United States.”
Now things go back to the board room and both sides will have to some how work together to find a resolution. I think in a way it favors the USL side more than anything. Something about this just lets me think that even though the USL won’t be sanctioned for next year it does help them out in possibly getting some clubs back in their corner. The lawsuits obviously had something to do with this ruling as well.
Again, I’m not shocked by this ruling. I won’t say right now whether or not this is the right ruling by the USSF or the wrong ruling but I will say I am just not shocked by it. I think the USSF wants one single division two league here and not two separate leagues.
I know a lot of folks will not like this ruling but its the hand that has been given right now. Just another fun chapter in this story. I do think both sides need to just hug it out and settle their issues here.
I believe it was only really going to be a matter of time before things got real nutty with this whole USL/TOA/NASL/USSF mess. The Kartik Report found out this morning that the USL is suing the Tampa Bay Rowdies, Crystal Palace Baltimore and the Rochester Rhinos for breach of contract.
The three clubs had allegedlycommittedcontractually to play 2010 in USLs First Division but instead opted to play in the yet to be sanctioned North American Soccer League. (Here is a link to the court filing.)
Seeing the league sue these clubs is probably a bit about protecting their best interest and I don’t think we can blame them for doing so since these clubs were slated to be apart of the USL in 2010.
I’m sure this was one thing the meeting with the USSF wanted to avoid here. Going down this road has to be a troubling path for both sides. This whole time I haven’t really been on either side of the fence between the USL and NASL. I like some things both have done but I’ve tried to stay as neutral as I can here with it. I do think though right now the NASL needs to cool their jets a bit though. They are a very ambitious bunch that still has loads of work to do like putting schedules together, getting a front office, doing some PR, etc. All that and more with only a few months time to do it in.
If the NASL wanted a season so bad in 2010, they should have decided to do a shorter season to get their stuff in gear before doing an actual full season in 2011. Sort of a dry opening before the grand opening if you will.
Now as far as the USSF goes, they need to act quickly here to cool the bad press that will come of this news. We know they put together a little “task force” to over see things here with this mess but really that won’t be good enough here. It’s pretty clear the USSF has no real stance on this situation right now, other than being sort of confused I think.
This messy situation just keeps getting messier.
A nice little media event took place earlier today in the Gateway City with Jeff Cooper and the rest of the St. Louis United bunch to reveal the club’s name and crest.
The club is going to be called AC St. Louis. The logo as you see is pretty basic and I definitely like the colors (I’m a sucker for anything green and yellow). I think some folks will like the logo and others will not. To me it is a simple logo that doesn’t jump out at you, which I like. Elements like the St. Louis Arch are shown in the logo which are a must for any St. Louis team I think.
The teams website can be found here. Not much to go on here so far though for the new club, the website is basic and lacks a little design if you ask me.
Hat tip to Inside Minnesota Soccer for posting the logo.
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