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Is the NASL coming back? This poll is closed. |
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| Yes |
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2 | 9.09% |
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16 | 72.73% |
| No, but NISA lives |
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4 | 18.18% |
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 In 2009, Nike sold their stake in the United Soccer Leagues to NuRock to the dismay of nine club owners in the USL. These nine clubs formed the North American Soccer League and created a whole mess of the American soccer pyramid that has raged for nearly a decade. Well, back in December the NASL, down to four clubs, announced they are moving to a Fall-Spring schedule. Whether or not the season actually happens is unknown, but I can tell you that this thread is about the United Soccer League, which kicks off its eighth season in its current form on March 16th. It's the only second tier league in town (for) now! What's changed since 2017? Well, they're now up to *puts on reading glasses* 33 squads, having expanded by four, added two from the aforementioned NASL, lost one, and has two on hiatus. We're down to nine MLS O&O clubs (from ten), and a third tiered league is the works. Will the MLS O&O clubs go down to D3? They should, but nothing's official yet. Interestingly enough, one of the cities with a team on hiatus, Rochester, will host several neutral-site matches this season. EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlanta United 2 - no comment (Atlanta) Bethlehem Steel FC - Cool historic name, but really an O&O club (Philadelphia) Charleston Battery - With the hiatus of the Rhinos, tied with the Kickers for oldest operating USL club Charlotte Independence - Permanent stadium built! (Colorado) FC Cincinnati - Potential MLS expansion slot Indy Eleven -NASL refugee. Playing at Lucas Oil Stadium! Louisville City FC - Defending league champs Nashville SC - Joining MLS in a few years New York Red Bulls II - no comment (RBNY) North Carolina FC - The other NASL refugee Ottawa Fury FC - Future CPL squad, perhaps (Montreal) Penn FC - Formerly the Harrisburg City Islanders, now with a less 2000's-y name Pittsburgh Riverhounds - New logo is 1000% better, and it's STILL only OK (Columbus) Richmond Kickers - Go to these games instead of their affiliate (D.C. United) Tampa Bay Rowdies - Do over Ham's favorite club! Toronto FC II - no comment (Toronto) WESTERN CONFERENCE Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC - Uhhhhh....should be affiliated with the Rapids? I dunno, this club is just kind of there. Fresno FC - Basically a relocated Whitecaps FC 2 (Vancouver) Las Vegas Lights FC - Tall logo, lots of Mexican nationals Los Angeles Galaxy II - no comment (LA Galaxy) Oklahoma City Energy FC (Dallas) Orange County SC - I was going to say they're the LAFC of the USL, but the Wings might deliver the goods, so....yeah. (LAFC) Phoenix Rising FC - Just got a big investor, so expect some big things in the desert Portland Timbers 2 - no comment (Portland) Real Monarchs - Last year's regular season champions (RSL) Reno 1868 FC - The other team in Nevada (San Jose) Rio Grande Valley FC Toros - The most inexplicable name in the USL. Hosting some CCL games due to Honduran strife. (Houston) Sacramento Republic FC - The old hotness of MLS eyes Saint Louis FC - The other team with a Fleu-de-lis logo San Antonio FC - SPURS (NYCFC) Seattle Sounders FC 2 - no comment (Seattle) Swope Park Rangers - At least the Wizards are TRYING with their junior squad's name (SKC) Tulsa Roughnecks FC - Another cool historic name (Chicago) FUTURE TEAMS Austin - 2019 Birmingham Legion FC - 2019 Chicago - 2020 El Paso - 2019 Memphis - 2019 Oakland East Bay - 2021 Orlando City B - 20?? Rochester Rhinos - 2019 San Diego 1904 FC - 2019 If you live in a city with a USL club, go see a game! Sure, it's not on the level of other second-tier leagues around the world, but it's soccer in your hometown! I know when Austin gets it's team back, I'll go to as many matches as possible, depending on Major League Soccer potentially coming to town. If you want to talk about your semi-pro, amateur, or other non-MLS, non-USL club in the US or Canada, be my guest, I'm not going to judge you. Your city could be in the third division soon! Edward Mass fucked around with this message at 02:49 on Mar 2, 2018 |
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Feb 27, 2018 02:30
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Picked up season tickets to the LV Lights, the pre-season games against MLS squads were rough, but the team seems to have gelled a bit better. The team needs to remind their goalies that they are not actually defenders, and that it's really not a good idea to pull straight red cards every game. Really hoping they sign Freddy Adu for the year and make him their long term project. He played 30 minutes in the game against DC United, and even through the rust he did quite well, assisting on a goal and coming inches from scoring an equalizer. The game-day environment is kind of... weird and Vegas-y, and there's a lot of polish work that needs to be done. but it works. I feel like the town is responding really well, though the real test will come during the summertime games. At least the 8pm kickoffs will make the heat less of an issue.
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Feb 27, 2018 09:26
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In further proof of why I should post threads 24 hours later, the NASL is not going to play in 2018 at all. e: and San Diego 1904 has defected to USL before even playing a match in the NASL! Edward Mass fucked around with this message at 22:43 on Feb 27, 2018 |
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Feb 27, 2018 22:03
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Penn Fifteen Club
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Feb 28, 2018 01:02
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Edward Mass posted:Tampa Bay Rowdies - Do over Ham's favorite club! Giving me a reason to live since 1975!  The Rowdies Suncoast Invitational preseason tournament at Al Lang just finished up this past weekend. Rowdies are looking good so far, but they looked good early on last year too and simply couldn't win enough on the road to keep up with their early season success, so who knows. Rowdies' owner Bill Edwards is looking for additional investors to get the Tampa Bay Rowdies MLS bid back on track. That video of Lockhart in the 2017 thread was pretty sad. Ft. Lauderdale Strikers fans deserved better than what has happened these past few years. Rowdies fans were pretty spoiled their last year in NASL having three in-state NASL rivals, plus Orlando City outside NASL. Florida could easily support five or more teams in divisions 1, 2, and 3, and it is a pity USL and NASL didn't overcome their differences. NASL's demise was self-inflicted however and Bill Edwards was wise to get out when he did. Also no Orlando City B this year so no in-state rivals for the Rowdies, at all. Florida apparently must have either too many soccer teams or too few. Right now we have too few. Let's see...the exports of Florida are numerous in amount. One thing they export is soccer. Or, as the Limeys call it, football. Another famous Limey was Rodney Marsh. In conclusion, Florida is a land of contrasts. Thank you. #COYR     
Do over Ham fucked around with this message at 04:53 on Feb 28, 2018 |
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Feb 28, 2018 04:50
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Detroit City FC announced they'll be hosting St. Pauli FC in May this year, one of their two international friendlies (the other being Liga MX side Club Necaxa, a less well-known but still decent get): https://twitter.com/DetroitCityFC/status/971445576234602496 Arguably bigger news for them is that it'll be broadcast on TV through Fox Sports Detroit, their first televised match ever. Bundesliga will also have German broadcast rights, though I don't know what the situation is over in Europe, not sure if it'll make proper TV. Considering the Detroit MLS bid is stalled at best and dead at worst, this is a good time for them to try to capitalize. It's a shame lower leagues are a bit of a mess at the moment, as DCFC (and probably their home-and-home opponent, Chattanooga FC) have outgrown the NPSL.
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Mar 8, 2018 04:05
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sleepwalkers posted:Detroit City FC announced they'll be hosting St. Pauli FC in May this year, one of their two international friendlies (the other being Liga MX side Club Necaxa, a less well-known but still decent get): Very nice. Need to make sure I'm at that one. It's nearly season opener time already!
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Mar 8, 2018 04:07
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sleepwalkers posted:Detroit City FC announced they'll be hosting St. Pauli FC in May this year, one of their two international friendlies (the other being Liga MX side Club Necaxa, a less well-known but still decent get): Speaking of stalled MLS bids (below): "Plus don't miss out on our special guest, who be revealed as we inch closer to the event". Could be anyone, I supposed, but Bill Edwards did announce he was talking to "five or six" potential MLS investors almost a month ago. 2018 will also be the last year for the Rowdies to have Joe Cole and Marcel Schäfer, so hopefully they can put together a championship run this season. No time like now.  quote:https://www.rowdiessoccer.com/news_article/show/894150?referrer_id=2929375-news-archive quote:https://www.rowdiessoccer.com/news_article/show/891522?referrer_id=2929375-news-archive quote:https://www.uslsoccer.com/news_article/show/894929 quote:https://www.rowdiessoccer.com/news_article/show/888843?referrer_id=3130031 quote:https://twitter.com/kkfla737/status/971384297490993153?s=21 quote:http://www.mor-tv.com/article/tampa-bay-rowdies-season-preview-march-14th-on-mor/19153526 quote:http://www.theunsubs.com/wp/2018/03/09/unused-substitutes-off-season-roundtable/3489 quote:http://www.theunsubs.com/wp/2018/02/28/episode-150-break-stuff/3474 quote:https://www.news-press.com/story/sports/2018/03/06/pro-sports-united-soccer-league-visits-fort-myers-possible-d-3-expansion-team/400443002/ quote:https://twitter.com/TampaBayRowdies/status/969583596553015297 Do over Ham fucked around with this message at 07:06 on Mar 10, 2018 |
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Mar 10, 2018 05:18
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saw some tweets about a new nisa club called Rubber City FC and i hope i go to my grave without ever learning where that is
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Mar 12, 2018 22:35
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awyeahz posted:saw some tweets about a new nisa club called Rubber City FC and i hope i go to my grave without ever learning where that is I looked it up, and my guess of location was exactly correct!
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Mar 13, 2018 02:18
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awyeahz posted:saw some tweets about a new nisa club called Rubber City FC and i hope i go to my grave without ever learning where that is Edward Mass posted:I looked it up, and my guess of location was exactly correct! I didn't have to look it up because I recalled a certain city known for rubber, in the same state that FC Cincinnati and Columbus Crew are in. It's the city nickname of course, not the actual name of the city. You'll never guess what their minor league baseball team is called! Well, maybe you will.
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Mar 13, 2018 03:26
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Rowdies will have some local competition in USSF Open Cup this year...quote:https://www.uslpdl.com/news_article/show/896899 quote:http://www.lakelandtropics.com/news/lakeland-tropics-qualify-for-2018-us-open-cup quote:https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2018/03/14/14/40/20180314-news-usoc-2018-lamar-hunt-us-open-cup-format-finalized
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Mar 15, 2018 03:57
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Las Vegas signed Freddy Adu.
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Mar 16, 2018 20:57
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Edward Mass posted:Las Vegas signed Freddy Adu.  ...so the last of the bad karma from the Rowdies Thomas Rongen era is passed on to a new holder... Meanwhile Rowdies win their first game of the season, on the road, in North Carolina, 1-3. Not sure I want to get my hopes up just yet, but the idea of the Rowdies actually winning on the road is encouraging. Edit: Speaking of Rongen, anyone remember Bill Edwards firing him before the Rowdies were even eliminated from the 2015 NASL playoffs? Good times.... quote:https://deadspin.com/screeching-moron-in-charge-of-u-s-soccer-scouting-offe-1823815287 A little over the top, but then this is Deadspin... Do over Ham fucked around with this message at 08:53 on Mar 19, 2018 |
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Mar 19, 2018 00:13
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17,535 at Lucas Oil tonight to see Indy Eleven get thoroughly owned by FC Cincinnati. At least 10% of that was FCC away fans. It was loud as hell Jack McInerney hit the post and later had a penalty saved. Emery Welshman scored a goal on an actual Welshman https://twitter.com/bweiss14/status/980254416321368064 https://twitter.com/USL/status/980262943253176320
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Apr 1, 2018 03:52
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Vegas came back from a goal down to beat SPR off a set piece and an unlucky own goal. Crowd was a solid 7888. Apparently because they scored two goals, fans get free pancakes tomorrow at Denny’s.
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Apr 1, 2018 06:10
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STLFC actually looks somewhat competent this year, and this may be because they did what every struggling mid-table club should do and hired a Pulis as their manager. It's Anthony, Tony's kid. I haven't been to a game due to work commitments but I am curious if he wears the hat.
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Apr 1, 2018 17:59
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A nice article about the 1970s era Rowdies and new era Rowdies: quote:http://www.tbo.com/sports/rowdies/2018/03/30/rowdies-career-scorer-derek-smethurst-ready-to-see-his-record-broken/ quote:http://www.theunsubs.com/wp/2018/04/01/coffee-talk-yep-we-definitely-still-prefer-winning/3557 Rowdies lose away game on tiny baseball field. Hmmm, this story sounds familiar. quote:He took his shoe off waved it in the refs face and then punted the ball into the stands. It was absolutely crazy. If Ralph's Mob doesn't do a shoe-themed tifo when Louisville visits in July, I will be very disappoint.
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Apr 3, 2018 02:00
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FC Cincinnati got the permission to build the stadium in the West End, which was the location the MLS seemed to prefer. Likely going to be moving out of the USL and into the MLS.
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Apr 6, 2018 15:54
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USL broadcasts are going behind the ESPN+ paywall on April 12th.
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Apr 6, 2018 20:57
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Edward Mass posted:USL broadcasts are going behind the ESPN+ paywall on April 12th. It sucks that so much currently free content is going behind the paywall, but I can’t complain about $5 a month when it includes MLS and will hopefully encourage ESPN to get the rights to more obscure sports and leagues (like hopefully the A-League again)
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Apr 6, 2018 21:09
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Today is the first home game for FC Cincinnati!!! Can't loving wait, to bad it's going to be cold as poo poo, but I am going to be drunk, so who cares! Let's do this! https://twitter.com/DieInnenstadt/status/982550647294881792
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Apr 7, 2018 16:34
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It would seem USL-meisters Louisville City are still cool and good as hell.
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Apr 8, 2018 02:00
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paddyboat posted:It would seem USL-meisters Louisville City are still cool and good as hell. I can confirm this.
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Apr 8, 2018 05:40
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paddyboat posted:It would seem USL-meisters Louisville City are still cool and good as hell. Good, yes. Cool, no. Sorry popoi!
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Apr 9, 2018 18:20
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With the ESPN+ paywall coming, here are all the matches broadcast on national television and ESPN3 for no additional cost.
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Apr 10, 2018 20:32
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quote:https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2018/04/11/16/29/20180411-news-usoc-second-round-pairings-host-scenarios-2018-us-open-cup I don't know what a SIMA Aguilas is. I'm pulling for a matchup with The Villages simply because of their name. You are number 6.
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Apr 12, 2018 04:24
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SIMA Aguilas rhymes. Do you hate rhymes?!?
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Apr 12, 2018 04:35
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Do over Ham posted:I don't know what a SIMA Aguilas is. I've actually been to a Villages game. They play on a polo ground. It's pretty sweet.
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Apr 12, 2018 04:54
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King of False Promises posted:I've actually been to a Villages game. They play on a polo ground. It's pretty sweet.
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Apr 12, 2018 05:35
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https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/lights-fc-soccer/lights-fc-partner-with-las-vegas-marijuana-dispensary/quote:The Lights FC hashtag #LightItUp just got a whole new meaning. 
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Apr 14, 2018 05:02
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There look like there might be 100 people at this Bethlehem Steel/FC Cincinnati game, based on the camera angle
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Apr 15, 2018 21:06
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gtkor posted:There look like there might be 100 people at this Bethlehem Steel/FC Cincinnati game, based on the camera angle Yeah its pretty terrible. You can hear the players yelling at each other..
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Apr 15, 2018 21:54
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Edward Mass posted:SIMA Aguilas rhymes. Do you hate rhymes?!? Possibly. Unless SIMA Aguilas is some kind of alcoholic drink; in which case I approve.  King of False Promises posted:I've actually been to a Villages game. They play on a polo ground. It's pretty sweet. Crazy Ted posted:I love South Florida just for their stadiums for sports that you wouldn't think had a dedicated venue. That area also has the United States' only cricket stadium. The Villages is in central Florida though, a bit north-west of Orlando. It's true about stadia in Florida in general though; I would not be surprised if polo fields in Florida date back to the late 1800s when the railroads came in, and rich people started to winter in Florida. Back in the 1970s I also recall Tampa had a jai-alai fronton (quick googling says it was open from 1953-1998). I also wouldn't be surprised if that cricket stadium in Lauderhill wasn't the first one in Florida, either. There were a lot of cricket stadiums up north in the 1800s though the sport had mostly died out in the USA by 1900 (but held on to its Philly stronghold until the 1920s). It's possible that cricket might have been played in Florida by some wintering rich northerners in the late 1800s. Heck even soccer has a longer history in Florida than most people realize. St. Petersburg Kickers were founded in 1957 and won the US Open Cup (the only Florida team to do so) in 1989. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Petersburg_Kickers Also Rowdies go back to really sucking on the road; I am disappoint. 
Do over Ham fucked around with this message at 06:39 on Apr 16, 2018 |
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Apr 16, 2018 05:51
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Vegas finally lost on Friday, San Antonio beat them 3-1, and things came close to going sideways. At halftime someone threw a soda bottle at the referees as they walked off the field, and after the third goal was scored another soda bottle was hurled at the celebrating players. The game was halted for 10 minutes as security tried to eject the person responsible. Oh and as usual Vegas got a straight red card and a bunch of yellows.
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Apr 29, 2018 19:53
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Is Freddy Adu actually playing for Vegas and if so is he any good?
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Apr 29, 2018 21:07
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Yes he is, and so far no he’s not. You can see he still has the skills and the vision, but it rarely clicks. They’ve stuck him as a forward for the last couple games and he’s getting muscled off the ball (he always has IIRC) and not getting any service, since the team sucks at possession and offense. The coaching staff has faith though, and he has a fire in his belly again. Keeping my fingers crossed.
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Apr 29, 2018 21:48
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Bentai posted:Yes he is, and so far no he’s not. You can see he still has the skills and the vision, but it rarely clicks. They’ve stuck him as a forward for the last couple games and he’s getting muscled off the ball (he always has IIRC) and not getting any service, since the team sucks at possession and offense. Adu was unimpressive with the Rowdies and if Rongen couldn't get anything out of him then, I doubt anyone else will now. Still, best of luck to him. I'm assuming those were plastic bottles being thrown? Surely they aren't crazy enough to sell sodas in glass bottles at the stadium. At Gillette they take the caps off when they sell you a plastic soda or water bottle, so you can't easily throw a full bottle at anyone; though I guess you could smuggle in your own plastic bottle caps if you were really determined to get banned for life from the stadium... Speaking of Gillette, on the slight chance that there is a Ralph's Mob goon reading this who was at yesterday's Revs match, I saw your car with the Florida plates, Ralph's Mob widow sticker and Tampa Bay Rowdies car magnets in the P5 parking lot, right in front of the Patriots Pro Shop.... #COYR  Unfortunately the Rowdies continue to suck on the road. Reminder that success in lower league USA soccer can be fleeting: quote:https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2018/04/27/14/55/20180427-feat-usoc-rochester-river-dogz-feature-2018-first-round quote:https://www.frontrowsoccer.com/2018/04/25/new-naming-rights-partner-marina-auto-group-will-adorn-rochester-stadium/
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Apr 30, 2018 01:01
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Do over Ham posted:
And now I realize we're friends on Facebook.
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Apr 30, 2018 05:06
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Do over Ham posted:I'm assuming those were plastic bottles being thrown? Surely they aren't crazy enough to sell sodas in glass bottles at the stadium. At Gillette they take the caps off when they sell you a plastic soda or water bottle, so you can't easily throw a full bottle at anyone; though I guess you could smuggle in your own plastic bottle caps if you were really determined to get banned for life from the stadium... Yeah they were plastic bottles. Not sure about the bottle cap situation, I have to assume they were capped because I don't think an empty plastic bottle would have made it the 70-80 feet from the stands to the field without liquid inside. I have a feeling there's going to be new rules and more security at the next game because of this. The stadium management has already been on edge because of the rowdy nature of the crowds at these games, which is of course vastly different from the sedate fans that come out to watch baseball the rest of the time.
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Apr 30, 2018 06:48
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