USL / NASL Updates

Our good friend and Miami Ultra Robert Scorca went over the team sites for all the members of the NASL and here is what he found:

Minnesota Thunder has not had a news update since Oct. 15th before the news of NASL broke out.

Atlanta Silverbacks and St. Louis Soccer United have updates mentioning that 7 teams are part of the new league. This is before Crystal Palace Baltimore and Tampa Bay Rowdies joined the new league and before the NASL name was chosen.

Miami FC, Carolina RailHawks, Montreal Impact, Vancouver Whitecaps, Crystal Palace Baltimore and Tampa Bay Rowdies all have the most current info posted. This includes 9 teams and the NASL name. No this is not a typo about Montreal!

The Vancouver Whitecaps team site ties into all the other teams home sites. Also in google if you type in NASL there is the new NASL listed with google links to all the NASL teams. This is good because it mentions the other teams under each NASL team, the reserve teams, and woman's team. Being google there is no guarantee this is correct.

The USL site tells a different story. If you go to the team sites for the Montreal Impact, Vancouver Whitecaps, and Tampa Bay Rowdies they are still members of the USL-1. How do they do this? Under the news for the clubs they are updated prior to their news release mentioning the split. Vancouver team news stops on Nov. 3rd, Tampa Bay's stops on Nov. 18th, and Montreal stops on Nov. 10th. The Charleston Battery team site is updated to Oct. 28 so there is no mention of them dropping down to the USL-2. I guess the USL philosophy is no news is good news.

The USL news site is updated much more frequent.
Nov. 4 there is a post titled "New era under way for USL-1" This article mentions that in attendance are representatives for the following. Austin, Cleveland, New York, Puerto Rico, Portland, Rochester, Tampa Bay, Edmonton, Ottawa, Baltimore and Detroit. With things breaking the way they are I am sure these cities know how to reach the NASL's front office for a place to play.

Nov. 10 there is a post titled "USL Statement regarding USL-1" This came out in response to the TOA's application being sent to the United States Soccer Federation.

Nov. 20 there is a post titled USL statement regarding Tampa, Baltimore. This mentions about both clubs being under contract to the USL. This was in response to Tampa Bay and Baltimore being mentioned as entries of the new league which is at the time of the article being named the NASL.

For further updates be sure to check out:
The Kartik Report
Inside Minnesota Soccer

A special thanks to Robert Scorca for his research on this topic.

The Death of Soccer in Miami... Again?

There is a song by the Smiths that goes like this:

The death of a disco dancer
Well, it happens a lot 'round here

Well, it's not the death of a Disco Dancer but more like the Death of Soccer in Miami, and it does happen around here quite often! It appears Soccer does not live long and prosper in this town ...

Miami FC may become the latest victim in the endless saga of failed South Florida teams. Not only is the team on the brink of extinction thanks to a failed attempt to buy the United Soccer League by parent company Traffic Sports, but the team is in the midst of an eight game losing streak that included a 9-0 pounding by the Carolina Railhawks only a week ago.

As most of you know USL was recently bought by Nurock Soccer Holdings from Nike and in a press release that came out yesterday Click here, it appears that USL founder Francisco Marcos and Tim Holt remain on board. It was mentioned on other blogs and news sources that another group led by a group of current USL teams had out bid all potential buyers and was on the verge of securing the purchase of USL when suddenly there was a press release stating that Nurock was indeed the winner!

Speculation remains that there was an inside maneuver by USL personnel along with Nurock to secure their bid would succeed (even though it was not the highest bid) and as the press release suggests... well, you can come to your own conclusions.

Now USL team owners are not happy. The Team Owners Association (TOA) has announced that it has accelerated its pursuit of all league options for the 2010 season and beyond. It's no secret most USL teams were not fond of Marcos and Holt at the helm of the league, the two would most likely have been out of USL had the TOA led by the Atlanta Silverbacks, Carolina RailHawks, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact, St. Louis Soccer United, Tampa Bay Rowdies and Vancouver Whitecaps been successful in their bid to take over USL.

If the TOA is looking for other options we can assume they might start a League of their own. But how strong a league could it be? Vancouver is on it's way to MLS in 2010 so after next season another team is out. How can they survive? I would think one option could be via MLS. There is no chance all these teams could be part of that league but the fabled MLS-2 could be an option the TOA might look at. Most of us Soccer fans dream of the relegation idea but that's not going to happen if ever for a very long time. An arrangement could be made however whereby MLS-2 teams could become affiliates of current MLS teams. Maybe rules could be less harsh on the MLS-2 teams where they will not have the restrictions of the single entity structure currently in place for MLS teams for the sake of making MLS-2 attractive to the cities they play in.

In this scenario NuRock would lose the majority of its USL-1 teams. Some may say USL can continue with the few teams remaining and by promoting the USL-2 teams possibly even eliminating USL-2 for now, but, it would nonetheless be a much weaker USL. Will USL survive if it loses so many teams next season?

What if all the teams decide to fold? The loser would be Nurock,which might opt to close the league down before they lose more money. But in reality we all lose. US Soccer would lose the structure that keeps feeding MLS and the U.S. national team. I find it remarkable that Nurock and USL management did not think ahead and try to secure an arrangement with the current USL-1 teams instead creating all this drama that might lead to the end of USL.

For the best up to date information on this situation visit Brian Quarstad at Inside Minnesota Soccer and Kartik Krishnaiyer of Major League Soccer Talk.

For now all I can say to South Florida Soccer Fans is to support Miami FC in these last 3 home games. Let's send a message that we want Soccer in Miami. Lets send a message to Traffic that they need to step up and give us Major League Soccer along with other investors out there such as everyone on the committee supporting the World Cup bid for Miami, like Emilio Estefan, Facundo Bacardi, Bacardi Limited; Peter Dolora, senior vice president of American Airlines; George Feldenkreis, chairman/CEO of Perry Ellis International among others.
Support Miami MLS by going to http://www.miamisoccerfan.com/Soccer/Tickets.html

Miami FC vs Minnesota Thunder this Friday at Lockhart Stadium!

The Blues continue their playoff hunt this Friday August 14th against the Minnesota Thunder 8 pm at Lockhart Stadium! We need all fans in South Florida out there to support Miami FC!

Be sure to get out to the stadium early as the Miami Ultras will be offering free beer starting at 6pm at the Tailgate! Just look for the crazy guys in scarves. You better hurry before supplies run out, them Ultras can drink!

Has anyone seen the new Billboard? For those traveling Southbound on the Turnpike be sure to look for it close to the Hard Rock. (Thanks Pieter for the correction)
Vamos Miami! Let's go Blues!

Paulo Jr Scores twice to give Miami FC a victory over the Thunder

Miami FC played a tough match versus the Minnesota Thunder defeating them by 2-1. A group of Miami Fans led by the Miami Ultras along with Miami FC staff and a few players watched the game at Fritz & Franz in Coral Gables and were delighted by the hospitality and great beer! The ambiance was set for what would be a memorable match for Blues fans.

It was Paulo Araujo Jr's night as he proves to once again be the main catalyst in Miami FC's attack. Paulo Jr. is in my opinion the best player so far this season. He has been instrumental in just about every match he has participated in. But enough with the talk check out the video of the second goal.


Picture by Victor Palkaninec
Be sure to check this blog out as we will bring you pictures of the watch party.

Watch Party this Friday at Fritz & Franz 8 pm!

South Florida Soccer fans! Come out and support your Miami FC as they get ready to play an away game versus the Minnesota Thunder Live on FSC this Friday (July 24th) at 8 PM.
The Miami Ultras and Miami FC (non-traveling players, front office and cheerleaders) will be viewing this game at Fritz and Franz Bierhaus located at 60 Merrick Way in Coral Gables.
All Miami Ultras and guests will get a 10% discount so bring everyone and their momma!

Miami FC is currently in 6th place and holding on to a playoff spot. We need a win on the road to stay in the hunt for the title.

Be sure to bring your jerseys, flags, scarves and get ready to scream Goal!
Vamos Miami! Let's go Blues!

Miami FC player pictures and a few links

This week I had everything planned out... I was going to write about the Watch party at Fritz and Franz this past Saturday which ended in a 0-0 tie between Miami FC and the Minnesota Thunder. Read more here. But at the last minute I didn't go.

Then I was going to write about the Open Cup draw that will see Miami FC play vs Lynch’s FC of Jacksonville at Tropical Park on Tuesday June 9, 2009 at 8pm and then I saw the Miami Ultras site already wrote about it. Read it here

Unfortunately I don't have the brilliant creative genius that Burrito has so I decided instead to bring you Miami FC player pictures courtesy of Robert Scorca. Enjoy!

Watch party this Saturday at Fritz and Franz - Miami FC vs Minnesota Thunder at 8pm‏

The Miami Ultras along with Miami FC are organizing a watch party this saturday at Fritz & Franz Bierhaus in Coral Gables. As Burrito says "It's Time to Bleed Blue!" and I think thats the new catch phrase going around on all the Boards and websites!

The following taken from the Miami FC newsletter:

Dear Miami FC Fans,
Come out and support your Miami FC this Saturday night for a Miami Ultras Watch Party. Bring yourself and bring a friend, Miami FC need more dedicated fans like yourself. Game starts at 8 pm, but get there early and have a few brews before the match. Join the Miami Ultras and you will receive a new membership card that will entitle you to 10% off your purchases at Fritz and Franz.

When: Saturday, May 23rd at 8 pm
Where: Fritz and Franz Bierhaus, 60 Merrick Way, Coral Gables Fl. 33134 Tel 305 774-1883
Game: MIAMI FC vs. MINNESOTA THUNDER

Picture taken from the Miami Ultras site