USL Breakup Imminent

Last week it was rumored that there would be an announcement as to where Miami FC and the rest of the TOA would play. If it would be in the USL, MLS-2 or their own league. Today it seems the last two options are more probable.

TSN reports that both the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Montreal Impact will be out of USL. Alex Papadakis in an interview was quoted:

The negotiations are finished," Papadakis told CKAC. "We decided to continue our preparation for the season 2010 with the teams which wished to remain with us.

Read more HERE

With Vancouver and Montreal out its almost a sure thing Miami FC will follow. No official word out yet from the Blues.
Stay tuned!

More links:
Miami Soccer Fan
WVHooligan
MLS Rumors
Inside Minnesota Soccer
Match Fit USA

UPDATE 10/30/09 1:20 PM:

Our good friend and Miami Ultra Julio Caballero pointed out the following link from INDY Week Blogs "Triangle Offense".

In an interview Thursday afternoon, Carolina RailHawks president Brian Wellman confirmed that the dissident group of USL-1 club owners known as the Team Owners Association (TOA) would be submitting an application to the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) to form a new league

Read more at HERE

UPDATE 11/3/09 10:13 AM

Kartik Krishnaiyer over at the Kartik Report states that Attorneys are getting into the picture in the seemingly never ending saga of USL vs TOA. It's a good read so check it out HERE
Whatever the outcome, we can only hope this gets resolved soon. I would rather be writing about the new players being signed at this point.

Miami FC puts together dream team. Signs Jason Taylor and other superstars!

Hola amigos y amigas! Burrito here with the latest Miami Soccer news!
We still no know in what league Miami FC will play next years. Will it be USL? Will it be MLS-2? We don't know, pero the team has made a commitment that they will play next year and Burrito has found out from drunken sources in the last tailgate at Lockhearts stadium that Miami FC plans to build a superdupper teams consisting of young and veteran players !

South Florida fans will flock to the stadiums next season to see the latest signings led by Miami Dolphin Defensive End Jasons Taylors! Si Señores y Señoritas, Burrito has learned that Jasons will be on loan from the Dolphins once the Gringo Handball game they call Football season is over! Coach Zinho was not availables for comments pero Burrito believe Jason will play in Defense and will tackle any Forward Estupid enough to get close to him! Expect many yellow and red cards compadres!
Another surprise signing is that of "El Presidente" Pieter Brown of the Miami Ultras. Pieter will play with #12 symbolizing the fans as they are known as the 12th man! Brown will most likely be the Captain... of the bench. Coach Zinho will have him on bench to chant player names, tell them how great they are, pat them on the back when they go on and of pitch, pass them towels, water and give them massages with happy ending! Since drums are not allowed on the field Pieter will be playing the "Maracas" whiles chanting "Vamos Miami" and "Viva Mexico!" (ok, ok not viva Mexico pero you get the picture)

Miami FC also make surprise announcement that Peruvian superstar Teofilo "Nene" Cubillas will be coming out of retirements and be the new creative midfielder Miami FC needs! Cubillas will play with the famous #10 jersey and assures fans that after a good Peruvian "Ceviche" he will jump on the pitch and score a hat trick every game!

Also coming out of retirement is everyones favorite Gol TV commentator, one time Ft Lauderdale Striker player and Miami Fusion coach Ray Hudson! Ray will be playing with the #4 that made him famous! When asked about Soccer, Ray said the following: "It keeps you a young man, doesn't it? It’s the game that will keep you living young and you look at these faces, there’ll be a lot of old men in there, there’ll be a lot of grandmothers, and they are getting the thrills of their lives, this is orgasmic stuff!" Hudson will revolutionize the game as he will be playing with a microphone and will be commenting the game while playing! Ay Chihuahua!

In his quest to reach 1 million goals in his career, Brazilian legend Romário de Souza Faria better known as "Romario" will again play with Miami FC in 2010. For you vatos who don't remember; Romario played with the Blues back in 2006 scoring 19 goles in 25 games! He helped Miami FC reach their first ever USL First Division Playoffs. Romario vows he will play until 110 years old and if neccesary will come back from grave to reach his mark. Romario say he will start a church to rival the one that Maradona have in Argentina and he will embark on crusade that will begin with stopping ugly Argentinian accents and will culminate once he score 1 million goles sometime in the year 2525 at which point he claim the world will end with final Brazil vs Argentina game. (Brazil of course will win)

Due to the high cost involved in bringing the before mentioned players (except for "El Presidente" Pieter Brown, who will pay to be on the bench) Miami FC's mascot Hotshot will double as a backup goalkeeper. When asked how he felt about becoming the first ever Mascot/Player, Hotshot gave the same blank stare he always gives and did his usual pointed finger thumbs up.

For more on the Blues go to http://www.miamifc.com/

Pictures stolen by Burrito from Victor Palkaninec, Robert Scorca, Jessica Nasib and other sources and poor fools Burrito too lazy to mention. If you want Burrito to take your pictures off this blog please send email to youarestupid@pictures.bye
Expect Burrito to not respond and ignore you as the email is fake and after all, Burrito is a dog.

Claure willing to team up with Beckham and Traffic to bring MLS to Miami

Once again MiamiSoccerFan.com seems to be the site that gets all the exclusives concerning Soccer in Miami. The site lead by "El Presidente" Pieter Brown of the Miami Ultras has scored yet another interview with Brightstar owner Marcelo Claure who lead the failed Barcelona Miami MLS bid.

Claure graciously answers questions and gives South Florida hope as to its future with MLS and soccer in general. Claure states that he is willing to team up with Beckham, Traffic (owners of Miami FC) or both. Here is an excerpt from the interview:

MiamiSoccerFan: If David Beckham calls you would you consider starting an MLS Miami team with him?

Marcelo Claure: Absolutely. David Beckham would bring immediate credibility to a bid and I think Miami would be a perfect match for David to own a MLS franchise. Also, and as I have said repeatedly, I’d be open to pursuing another franchise bid in Miami with the right partners.

MSF: What do you think of Miami FC? why don't you join forces with MFC?

Claure: Miami FC has done amazing things for soccer in South Florida, and I think very highly of the Traffic organization. I have a good relationship with the guys at Miami FC and Traffic so there could be an opportunity where we do something together in Miami.

For more go to MiamiSoccerFan.com

In a perfect world this dream team up would have taken place already. But it is up to the fans to make this happen. We urge Soccer fans in South Florida who want an MLS team back in Miami to write to the following emails and send it out to friends.
David Beckham / 19 Entertainment: oliveira@19.co.uk or simon@19.co.uk
Also email the following possible investors:
Marcelo Claure: marcelo.claure@BRIGHTSTARCORP.com
Traffic / Miami FC : adavidson@trafficsports.com
For those people out there who can't think of anything to write... following please find a sample letter you can copy and paste to your email. Now you have no excuses! Let's do it Miami!

Dear Marcelo Claure, David Beckham and Traffic

I am a Soccer fan who is ready to support a new MLS team.

I believe that with the right ownership group willing to invest in this area, with a competitive team and playing at either FIU or Lockhart Stadiums that our soccer team would be successful. I want Professional Soccer in South Florida!
I ask you to do whatever it takes to make our dream come alive.

Yours Truly,
South Florida Soccer Fan

Lets do something about it Soccer fans!

***I need to voice my concern with local media for not even mentioning the Beckham story nor this interview with Claure. Many criticize South Florida fans for being fickle, demanding and soccer snobs. But this attitude also comes from those that bring us the news. If soccer is to be embraced then the media needs to pick these things up. Not even a mention on the Miami Herald Blog! I invite soccer fans to reach out to our local media and voice your opinions. Please write to the following:

Adam Beasley
abeasley@miamiherald.com
Michelle Kaufman
mkaufman@miamiherald.com

Jeff Rusnak of the Sun Sentinel
jrusnak59@aol.com

TOA meets with MLS? Could this be the beginning of MLS2?

A few sources have stated that the TOA (Team Owners Association) is meeting with MLS this week and both groups are trying to make some deal that might create every promotion/relegation lovers wet dream... MLS2. I must point out that no one has come forward and confirmed this news yet. I bring it to you only for the sake of argument and will leave the breaking story (if in fact this meeting took place) to the actual journalists.

That being said I find the prospect of a possible MLS2 intriguing. The fact that both parties are willing to talk is a good thing and in my opinion this would give better credibility to MLS and the TOA in the eyes of the soccer world. But for something like this to work the TOA has stated in the past that they want control of their new league. Would MLS want the teams to buy into the league? How much would they ask as an entry fee? Will the TOA be forced to work under a salary cap? So many questions.

It appears the TOA are aggressively looking at all the options. But I think starting a League from scratch would be very difficult and costly. They either talk to USL and make up or pursue an agreement with MLS.

I think the MLS option is a good one. MLS gets a second division for free, as opposed to buying all the USL (which included USL1, USL2, PDL, etc) All MLS would have to do is give the TOA the name (for which they pay a fee) and let them run themselves. The relegation/promotion idea though ideal for many wont happen anytime soon so forget about it people! MLS doesn't have to cherry pick teams off of USL anymore. They have many teams to pick from now. So if say San Jose or Kansas City can't continue in MLS anymore then they can pick a team from MLS2 that has a good ownership group, a SSS and a large fan base. I make it sound easy and it's not but this is my fantasy damn it!

Would South Florida fans support an MLS2 team? I've read on this blog all the comments and on other sites that fans want MLS in Miami and not a USL team. The Fact is Miami FC/Traffic has done a terrible job to get the word out that there is a team in Miami. I have spoken to many Soccer fans who have told me they never knew the team existed. Miami FC fans have done their part. I started this blog and I have done my part to get the word out. I have even given away my own season tickets to get some of these people to the stadiums and so have other Miami FC fans most notably the Miami Ultras, but fans can only do so much, it's not enough. Next year if we have a team, Traffic needs to prove they want Miami FC to exist and spend some money and put some signs out in front of the stadiums and out in the city. If Miami FC actually puts some effort, spends the money and still fails then I'll be the first to say "Ok, this market sucks!" But I'm convinced that if the product is good. If the effort is made and if the organization is there, that South Florida will succeed like the Strikers were successful back in the NASL days and like the Miami Fusion were becoming in their final year in MLS.

I can go on. But I'd like your take on all this. Do you think MLS2 is a good idea? Would you support a South Florida team in MLS2?

UPDATE 4:54 PM - 9/16/09:
As Burrito noted in a comment below. It's confirmed that Miami FC spoke to MLS!
Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald reports it is Aaron Davidson of Miami FC who is in NY but he is not sure if it is in representation of the TOA. Read more:

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/total_futbol/2009/09/miami-fc-in-new-york.html

Other Links:
Kartik Report:
http://thekartikreport.wordpress.com/2009/09/16/update-breakaway-mls-or-usl/

MLS Rumors:
http://www.mls-rumors.net/3677/2009/09/report-usl-team-owners-association-met-this-week-with-mls/