Rumor: Hammerheads to Move to Baltimore?

According to a recent article in the Washington Post, the Wilmington Hammerheads are considering a move to Baltimore, with some details including playing at Johnny Unitas Stadium, the home of Towson University football and lacrosse, and they would play in USL, the current 3rd division of US Soccer, which includes MLS teams. Currently, the Hammerheads have a relationship with Manchester City's NY affiliate in MLS, and I don't see that changing given the information available about the Hammerheads owner. I would love to sit and talk with the ownership group to discuss their plans and help them in any way possible with this transition.

Like I've said before, time and time again, Baltimore deserves a professional soccer team. However, I have major concerns about USL's structure and its allowance of MLS reserve teams (think Sounders 2, not Bethlehem Steel) and how that would impact how well the team can do here. I also think that the Bohemians are left out in the cold if the Hammerheads come up here as they will have built the framework for soccer branding here, despite the club's issues. I feel that a "merger" or a buying-out of the Bohs name and usage of their staff would be a great idea for the Baltimore USL group, but I can see how Bohs fans and ownership would be resistant to that. However, I don't think the Bohs can be as successful as they are with a pro team in town. They did not play at Bonvegna Field in Canton due to a sharp increase in rent. It had nothing to do with a lack of fan support.

Back to the point, though, if this is what it takes for Baltimore to get a professional soccer team, then I don't know if I can be completely happy with it, but I will come out to Towson to watch this team and cover it, either here or (hopefully) with a professional newspaper to where I could get paid to do it.

United States Secures Spot in Hex

The United States men's national team have won 4-0 against Trinidad and Tobago in front of a crowd just short of 20,000 in Jacksonville. Sacha Kljestan scored the opening goal late in the first half, but that was not the first chance the US had in front of goal as Hershey's Christian Pulisic hit the ball off the inside of both posts and away from the goal. He would not score, instead he would have two assists in his first start in a World Cup qualifier. Jozy Altidore scored a brace, and Paul Arriola had the fourth goal.

What struck me the most was Pulisic's movement on the ball and his creativity. He hit so many low crosses perfectly that I could see why Dortmund would not send him on loan. In fact, all four goals in some way or another were well-created team goals in which Pulisic was involved in one way or another. In my opinion, he was the man of the match by a mile.

In terms of defending, I thought the US played reasonably well until the latter stage when Trinidad and Tobago used all of their substitutions on attacking players to bring in fresh legs and to see if they could crawl back into the game. Bradley played his defensive midfield spot well enough, but Kljestan definitely played himself onto the field against New Zealand in October at RFK.

What I want to see more of: the patience in and around the attacking penalty area. The US took their time and carved the Trinidad and Tobago defense like a Thanksgiving turkey when they wanted to. I also want to see Pulisic get more starts for the national team.

What I want to see less of: the reliance on the goalkeeper to bail out the defense in certain situations. Howard played well tonight, but his defense was shaky at best when they truly had to put a shift in and challenge for the ball. Against better opposition like Mexico and Costa Rica, those opportunities go in more often than against the likes of Trinidad and Tobago.

Kings Fall 1-0 to Annandale United

The EDP champion Baltimore Kings men’s U-23 suffered their second and final loss in their EDP season in the finale to Annandale United 1-0 in Virginia, the make-up game for the game Annandale rescheduled when they were supposed to come up to CCBC Essex. The captain David Warburton could not attend due to his car breaking down on the way to Virginia, and that was the start of the Kings’ woes on this final day of the season. David Neuberth scored a goal that was controversially ruled offside, which set the tone for the rest of the game. Officiating a soccer game is a very difficult job, and I respect the people willing to put themselves out there to do it. However, this particular official was inconsistent as compared to the other officials in the league. While that is not necessarily a bad thing as each official has their own style, that is a learning curve this club needs if they are to go professional. I also note here that the official in question was being assessed.

Difficulties with the officials and player attendance aside, the performance reeked of apathy. It must also be noted here that they did not train on Thursday, a day they usually do so. If you saw them play in the first week and this week with nothing in between, I think you’d say that there were no changes and you’d assume that the club were on an almighty losing streak. However, the club has shown marked improvement throughout the summer as the players played together, and they have finished in first place in their inaugural season. That, no matter the league, is no easy feat. On the other hand, a performance like this was not their best performance, and the attitude, quite frankly, started from the top. Head coach EJ Jackson argued with the official numerous times throughout the game, and was sent off in the second half. After he was sent off, it snowballed as another player was also dismissed from the bench for foul language, which was, again, a personality quirk of the official who called things tighter than previous ones. The rain did not help matters, either, but the performance was poor, and it was done with a bad attitude.

Let’s hope the Kings can learn from this experience, and come back even stronger next season.

Kings Extend Unbeaten Streak in 1-1 Draw with Maryland United

Greg Bechard put the Baltimore Kings on the board with a well-executed goal from a throw-in play near the penalty area. However, the Kings could not hold that lead to the final whistle as they drew 1-1 with Maryland United in Upper Marlboro, MD earlier today.

Before I go into the details of the game, I must make an administrative announcement: the Annandale game that I had marked down as a potential forfeit victory has been rescheduled to next Sunday, when the league championship game was to take place. The league will no longer have that game take place in favor of rewarding the best team in the regular season with the league title. The game Sunday will take place at Annandale High School in Annandale, VA, which is close to Springfield and Alexandria at 4PM.

The theme of the game was the somewhat disjointed effort from the players in the desert-like heat. It seemed the players were going out to do their own thing and not truly buying into the system EJ Jackson, the head coach, wants to play all the time. It seemed that the ugly bout of lack of conditioning plagued the Kings in the second half. Players were gassed more than usual, with one player getting overheated during his time on the pitch today.

The goalkeeping was excellent today. Neither keeper made any match-changing mistakes. The Annandale goal was a total team breakdown after a costly turnover in the midfield. Which brings me nicely to my next point. The midfield has to learn how to remain calm on the ball and retain possession, especially the defensive midfielders. All season long, they have turned the ball over numerous times, some of which led to opposition goals.

The forward play was as good as could be expected under the circumstances, but at the professional level, some half chances are the best chances in the game, there was one play in the second half where a Kings player had the ball at an acute angle very close to the net and shot it wide.

Kings Roll Past Next Level Soccer in Friendly 5-0

After Annandale cancelled on the Kings on Thursday, the Kings invited Next Level Soccer to play at CCBC Essex today. As you can see from the headline, the score was the most lopsided in Kings history, with both the most goals scored in a game and the first clean sheet in the club’s history, joint-owned by Camdon Kook and Bryan Csee, who played a half each. Next Level Soccer finished 8-0-1 in the Spring Season in the Maryland Major Soccer League. The most memorable goal was the last one, a SportsCenter Top 10 worthy goal from Tommy O’Keefe. He struck the ball from 30 years out into the very top of the net, giving the Next Level keeper no chance.

There’s not much to say about this game, except that it was a good overall performance against a slow team that looked like they weren’t truly fit to be a professional side. There were some professionals playing for them, but they did not seem like professionals.

Next week, the Kings travel to Bowie to take on Maryland United. Should the league determine Annandale forfeited today, the Kings have clinched the division championship in their league.

Kings Rule Over SAC Premier 4-2 in Early Season Rematch

The Baltimore Kings men’s U-23 team picked up a statement win over SAC Premier today at Covenant Park in Ellicott City. The goals were scored by Juwon Kearson, Joel Teston, Neuberth, and Njuki. The Kings displayed an offensive threat that was not seen before this game, creating chance after chance, and finishing those chances that came their way. The club gave their man of the match award to the defenders Chris White, who had an assist, Eric Dorsey, Chris Garcia, and Pete Ostergen, however, I would like to name someone else for that award, and that is Michael Peprah, the architect of two of the goals. He scored one himself, but he was ruled offside by the referee. He was a dynamo out there, making runs and creating chances for his teammates. While he was not perfect, he was positive with nearly every touch of the ball. He has the technical ability to make the passes that are there, but sometimes he dribbles the ball too much instead of picking out that pass everyone knows he can deliver. It’s all a matter of decision-making in the end, and usually he decides well.

The communication in the backline was better than it was last time out, despite the lack of captain David Warburton, who could not be there. There was constant communication with all four members of the backline supporting each other and placing high pressure on the SAC attack. I can see why the club gave the defenders the man of the match award, due to how unstoppable they were for the most part. Their first goal was a rebound goal off the crossbar, and their second was a decent strike.

Finally, the attack was very fluid, with several players swapping positions throughout and contributing where they were needed. There was a lot of communication between the forwards and the midfielders that they played (dare I say it) the most Barcelona-esque performance I’ve seen (though they have a long way to go to match the technical ability of Barcelona). This is their style of play, and they are trying to play it to their utmost.

The Kings return home on Sunday, July 17th against Annondale as part of a doubleheader with the women’s team at CCBC Essex. The game has some title ramifications should they win and other results go their way.

Nashville Loses Independence

Today, it was announced that Nashville FC has been taken over by a group called DMD Soccer, which is run by Marcus Whitney, a former NFC board member in its old incarnation, Chris Redhage, co-founder of ProviderTrust, who is their kit sponsor for this season, and David Dill, President and COO of LifePoint Health.

To most Nashville FC shareholders, it was a matter of time before pro soccer came to the city, so instead of riding it out and developing a relationship with a politician who wanted to take them to the holy grail of soccer independence, they sold out to one of their own, flanked by 2 rich friends, that put them in the MLS feeder league known as USL. Because the vote was so lopsided (my source tells me the vote was 163-10), it is understandable that people regret their vote. My source regrets his yes vote, calling this "a fate worse than death". I wholeheartedly agree, and on a weekend when we celebrate our nation's independence from Great Britain, a team sells out its supporter-owned model for a more traditional model in the feeder league of the MLS system.

Today is a dark day for Music City soccer fans who wish to declare independence from the establishment, but it is happy for those who want pro soccer without a care of how it is obtained.

Kings Rue Missed Chances in 2-2 Draw with South Central PA Lions

The Baltimore Kings traveled to Gettysburg, PA yesterday to take on the South Central PA Lions, the same team they defeated 1-0 last week, and drew 2-2 after being down 2-0 at the half. This game, if anything, showed the mental fortitude that these players have to grab something out of a game that looked lost at halftime. However, that was not the full story.

The referee missed several fouls by the South Central PA team that could have turned the tide of the game in the Kings’ favor. For example, Chris White was tripped inside the penalty area by a South Central player and the referee waved play on. The opponents looked tired and lost after the Kings finally got their wits about them and started to tackle the Lions hard toward the 60th minute of play.

Communication, once again, was a key issue. In the Lions’ second goal, one of the centerbacks failed to clear the ball out of the penalty area, which resulted in a goal. However, when he got substituted off, he said that the goalkeeper said “Keeper”, which means that the centerbacks are to drop and allow the keeper to pick the ball up. The keeper failed to do so, and the goal was scored. If the keeper says that and fails to come out, that is a major communication issue and needs to be addressed immediately. Also, on the opponent’s first goal, the centerbacks both went up to attempt to clear the same ball out, and both missed, resulting in an open Lion and a goal. If the centerbacks are not talking to each other, it will cause the team lots of problems in the future, especially in 2017 if those particular two come back for the pro team. Also, on the free kick that was just outside the penalty area, the kick taker had time to do whatever he wanted to do, but everyone told him to shoot, so he did. This requires an amount of soccer IQ that is needed at the pro level.

Finally, the headline speaks the biggest issue at hand, and that is finishing the opportunities created by the crosses put into the penalty area. A striker’s finishing has to be clinical at the professional level, as most pro teams would not be giving the Kings the amount of opportunities this South Central team did in the second half. This game could have easily been 5-2 at least, had the Kings taken care of their chances.

The Kings next game is on July 10th at 6PM ET at Covenant Park in Howard County, MD against SAC Premier.

The Consequences of the UK Leaving the EU for US Soccer

In case you're just getting around to the news, the referendum has just been called and the British public have voted to leave the EU. This is a momentous day for all of us that study politics (for the obvious reasons), and it is also an important day for US soccer, as the path of least resistance for an American to play in Europe has officially closed for those without a British parent according to UK citizenship law. This means that for all future contracts and player signings, an American like Matt Mizaga, who does not have a British parent, would require a work permit to play for Chelsea. This would apply to all Americans who play for a professional club in the UK, which effectively closes out the door for Americans with EU passports access to British clubs. The knock-on effects will be outstanding, and I will list the approximate effects below:

- More US kids will be turned off by soccer. Yes, you read that right. They will turn away from soccer mostly because they (or their parents) do not have the time or money to pay for a tutor in another language, which would be a de facto requirement of the American soccer player in Europe... that is, if they possess that elusive EU eligibility.
- Those players that have been playing for British clubs (Zelalem, Cropper, et al) may have to move back to the US to salvage their careers as UK clubs will find Americans with EU passports less attractive due to the work permit issues. Zelalem may be an exception to this.
- More kids that do play soccer will be encouraged by pretty much everyone to learn Spanish, French, or German if they posses an EU passport to assimilate easier into a foreign country that does not speak their language, leading to more bi-lingual soccer players

I cannot stress enough how much of a blow this is for US soccer as a whole. Not only has a key development path been taken away from Americans who do not have the patience to learn a second language but possess an EU (not UK) eligible parent, this will only put more talented Americans in the hands of less-than-qualified coaches whose goals are to win State Cups and not to develop professional-grade players.

Teston Scores First Goal in Kings History in 1-0 Win

Joel Teston etched his name in the history books of Baltimore pro soccer as he scored the first goal in Baltimore Kings history in a 1-0 win over the South Central PA Lions at John Carroll. The visitors were down to 10 men as one of their players was injured after some contact to his knee as he slid in to recover a ball and they had no substitutes available to them. There was a lot to analyze from this game, both positives and a large negative. The first mention I would like to make is that John Carroll did not have any extra water dispensers available to the team when they ran out of water, but that is a venue issue, not an on-the-field issue. The first on-field comment from me today was the amount of passing done and the improvements made within the span of a week to address some key possession issues. The Kings played the ball very well and made that small field theirs from the start. There wasn’t a single thing South Central could have done to stop them, with the exception of reacting quicker to Baltimore’s possession.

The second take away from me with regard to this game was the amount of chances created by turnovers for the Kings, which was lacking last week because SAC never let go of the ball. They were very incisive with their passing, which led to some goal-scoring opportunities. This could have (and should have) been a wider score margin with the amount of chances the Kings got throughout the game.

There can also be an argument made that South Central deserved something out of this game due to the amount of pressure they put the Kings under from about the 75th minute on. It looked like South Central, a team with just the 11 players required to play a game, was fitter than the Kings, who had a whole 18 players with them, and that is flat out unacceptable. It seemed that they collectively got a second wind at the same time to mount a continuous attack for the last 15 minutes of the game, and it looked like South Central were the ones with 18 players. It also must be said that the Kings were just waiting out the time at that point, but if those players wish to move up to the professional ranks, they have to take every minute as seriously as any other -- in other words, do not let up when you are up late because that lead can disappear in a flash. That is the most important thing the Kings need to work on in practice: fitness. They closed this one out… barely. Had that game gone on for another 5 minutes, I could see South Central scoring due to the momentum shift that occurred.

Next Sunday, the Kings travel to Lancaster, PA to play the same team. Time and venue to be confirmed.

Kings Fall in Club Debut to SAC Premier 1-0

The Baltimore Kings U23 men’s team lost to SAC Premier 1-0 in a closely-contested affair at Covenant Park in Howard County, MD. The Kings showed some positives, with Carlos Caro picking up some key saves toward the end to keep the boys in the game. Some other observations are that they had most of the ball throughout the game, but they could not capitalize on that possession with a goal. Another key factor in determining the outcome of this game was the turnovers in the defensive part of midfield. One of those led to their goal, scored on a quick counterattack. The game started off with a bang, as the Kings played their style and did not let SAC have much possession of the ball as the Kings knocked the ball in and penned SAC deep. The problem was that they could not maintain that style of play for the whole 90 minutes, but that can be addressed with practice playing together. Another observation was that they did not use the width of the pitch to full effect. In one play in the second half, the left winger had the ball at his feet and there was no supporting run down the left side, so he cut into the middle and gave the ball away. The wind was swirling today, so it is sort of understandable that the winger did not go out to the sideline to attempt a cross into the penalty area, but that should be the goal of that play. That was just one example of how playing together can fix an issue that can be resolved before their next game. Another more tactical flaw is the lack of a “fulcrum” in the midfield to connect the forwards with the midfielders, as the midfielders had a lot of ground to cover to get to the forwards, also causing some turnovers and negative play.

Also apparent to me watching that game was that there was more talking on the bench than on the field, and that is a major issue with a team that has just started playing together. Communication is key not just in soccer but in life, as with just a simple phrase or wording from teammates out there, balls can be played better than what were played. Also important is that the team act as one when communicating, as when people talked to one another on the field, they were telling the player on the ball to do different things. While it is OK to disagree with what a player should do in any given situation, the player has to have the intelligence to look up and assess the situation for himself, especially if that player wants to move up to the professional level, so that he can make his own decisions.

Overall, I think the Kings played well in the defensive third of the pitch, marking well enough for this level but not for a professional level. Their wingers were open all day long if SAC wanted to use them, and use them they did, as their tactical strategy was to go toward the outside of the penalty area and lob in crosses. That is generally the play style of every team that the Kings will face, so they will have to practice defending that, which they clearly have done.

The next game is next Sunday at home to South Central PA Lions. The venue and time are to be determined.

Bohs Draw 1-1 with Evergreen FC

In a repeat of last Friday's encounter at Cedar Lane Park in Bel Air, the Baltimore Bohemians drew with Shantilly, VA-based Evergreen FC, who has an "affiliation" with West Ham United. The attendance was (by my own way of counting) around 200. There were no "hardcore supporters" at the game, and the renters of Bonvegna Field charged the Bohs $3,000 for the season, which they could not pay. Evergreen scored the first goal due to a Bohs player missing his hair tie when it fell out during play. When the equipment manager attempted to hand the tie over to him, he did not realize that coach Mike Marciano, who is an assistant coach at Loyola, had the wingers swap. The Bohs got the game-tying goal in the 2nd half, and they had more chances, but did not convert.

Overall, I think the biggest problem with the Bohs is their shape. If the equipment manager (who has been with the team since day one) cannot name the tactic the coach is playing with, this is a bad sign. (Not for the equipment guy, but for the coach.) Their number 5 (no one got a roster sheet) was running up and down the left wing all night, and did not receive any passes until the 2nd half late. This is a bad sign if they continue to play this way. Their next home game is June 5.

10-Man Minn United Beats Cosmos 1-0; Strikers Attendance Unacceptable

The New York Cosmos are slowly turning into Everton with their late goals allowed, as they allowed a 90th-minute goal to Minnesota United's Christian Ramirez, who has given United's most important win in their season. This is not the first time that the Cosmos have allowed a late goal, as they did so against Indy and Ottawa earlier on this season.

However, from the Minnesota perspective, this game will be remembered fondly for years to come, as Ramirez gave them a win against the biggest club in the NASL. Ramirez will be key to United's success this season and moving forward when MLS will grant them a place.

The main headline for this week, however, was even more attendance issues for the Strikers. An official attendance of 1,097. This is not a typo. There were reports of lightning in the South Florida area that affected Miami's attendance tonight, as most people left during the 90-minute lightning delay. I am fully convinced now that the Strikers must pull all money spent on marketing in Brazil and reinvest it into marketing for their area. I think it is highly unacceptable that 1,000 people show up for a professional soccer game in South Florida, and the Strikers (and Miami) need to figure out that formula quickly. Regional rivals Jacksonville and Tampa Bay have figured it out somewhat.

Here are the results from this week of NASL play:

Strikers 1-1 Armada (Strikers down to 10)
Tampa Bay 1-3 Carolina
Minnesota 1-0 Cosmos
Miami 2-3 OKC

NASL Week 1 Recap

The first week back with the NASL saw Rayo OKC sell out Miller Stadium, with an attendance of 6,416, and a local derby that showed all the signs of becoming a true derby. Here are the results from the games I selected to be features for this week:

Carolina and Minnesota were the curtain raiser at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, NC. They played to an announced attendance of 4,159, which I find to be incredibly generous given all the empty seats I saw on my ESPN3 feed. However, those people were treated to 2 world-class goals that I'd put down as Goal of the Year contenders. The first was a screamer from Christian Ramirez from about 20-30 yards out that was calmly placed into the net. The second great goal was from Tiyi Shipalane who chipped the ball past Sammy Nojock, the United goalkeeper. The game winner was scored by Austin da Luz. All 3 goals were scored in the first half.

Next up was the South Florida Derby between the Strikers and Miami, who played to an announced attendance of 2,129. More on that later. Those people saw an intense derby with a referee named Jose Carlos Rivero who was very inconsistent with his calls. He awarded a penalty to Miami FC that was absolutely perfectly taken by Dario Cvitanich, who placed it into the bottom corner out of the reach of the 6'5" Strikers keeper Bruno. While watching it live, I thought the penalty was undeserved and that the Miami player went down very easily. Jorge Luis Corrales was booked twice in that game, earning him a suspension and earning the Strikers a one-player advantage. However, their last-minute goal was not from the run of play, either. That was another penalty awarded (this time I did not think it was dubious), and the penalty was converted by Maicon Santos. The referee called a total of 44 fouls in that game, some of which were extremely dubious.

Before I get into the Cosmos game, let me address the Strikers attendance (or lack thereof) for a few minutes. Several Strikers fans who posted in the Reddit matchday thread have said that the Strikers did not put an ounce of effort into their local advertising, instead their focus is on their international marketin to Brazil and China. To me, that is inexcusable. How will you be able to afford all of these trips to those places when you can't even get 4000 to show up to your stadium? If those posters are to be believed, and I have no reason not to believe them, the Strikers are really dropping the ball on their local advertisement, virtually conceding their market to Miami FC without making an effort to reach out to their local community. That kind of approach in this league is unacceptable and wrong. I will be looking very closely at the Strikers' attendance over their home games throughout the first half of the season, and I will see if they improve. However, some blame must also be placed on Flight 19's shoulders for not getting the word out to their members and their friends that this is the biggest game of their season because this is their derby. I would expect an absolute sellout with lines demanding tickets for a derby, especially on opening day. Just a brief message for them: if your club is not putting any marketing dollars into South Florida, you have to pick up the slack somehow. Call people, make posters and hang them up in businesses around the city, have rallies on gamedays, etc.

Now, onto the Cosmos game. The Cosmos and Ottawa played to an announced attendance of 5,094. The Cosmos scored 3 past their Soccer Bowl opponents. Newcomer Juan Arango scored 2 past the Fury, while Adam Moffat came off the bench and scored the other one. That game was a beautiful display of what the Cosmos can bring, and even with all the problems with Hofstra and the lack of public ransit, they should be getting more than 5000, especially since they are the defending Soccer Bowl champions. Hopefully someone (hint, hint, Albany) makes a ruling on the Cosmos stadium proposal as soon as humanly possible and approves it so they can get out of that dump. The fact that it was a Sunday night game is no excuse for who is in my opinion the biggest club in American soccer.

The 2 games I did not choose to write features on (Indy-TB; Rayo-Edmonton) both finished 0-0. Indy and Tampa played to an announced attendance of 5,740 at Al Lang Stadium in Tampa, which isn't ideal, and Rayo sold out Miller Staium, with an announced attendance of 6,416.

Offseason NASL News, and a Week 1 Preview

Major news has been released about the NASL this week, including 2 TV announcements, first with Bein Sports and second with CBS Sports Network, plus an extension of the ONE World Sports and ESPN3 deals. There is also a team announcement to get to.

The deal with Bein Sports will carry at least one game each playing week. Bein is available on Comcast, Dish, DirecTV, Fios, and many more providers. Here is a list of the games that will be broadcast on Bein.

For the first time since the demise of the league back in the 1980s, the NASL is back on CBS (Sports Network). They will broadcast select games throughout the second half of the season, and a list is available here. The important part: games on CBS Sports Network supersede local broadcasts, so the game will not be available to you locally if you do not get the channel. Channel Finder

The Cosmos games will all be available on OWS and will not be given air time on CBS Sports Network. All NASL games not on national TV will be available on ESPN3; Bein games will be available to local markets.

Lastly in the offseason news, I would like to welcome the San Francisco Deltas to the NASL. I laid out an expansion plan earlier in my blog, and it seems they are following it... for now. We must wait and see if they target more West Coast markets (as they should be doing).

The TV deal with CBS is a big one because not only could this be a ratings boost for the league, it could get so big that CBS decides to shift it back to CBS and put a domestic soccer league back on over-the-air TV for the first time since the original MLS TV deal with ABC/ESPN. I understand that its reach is about the same as Bein's, but this brings more marketing opportunities. I pray that CBS advertises the NASL during the Final Four and the National Championship game for college basketball.

Now, here are my score predictions for the Week 1 games to start this weekend: The game(s) in bold are the games I will be going into detail about next week.

Carolina 1-2 Minnesota
Ft. Lauderdale 1-1 Miami (Bein)
Tampa Bay 0-1 Indy
Rayo OKC 1-0 Edmonton
New York 2-1 Ottawa (OWS)

(Sorry, Rayo fans, but the first South Florida Derby takes precedence over your first home game ever. Your time will come, I promise.)

RIP Atlanta Silverbacks

I have refrained from blogging about this for a couple days now so I can process what has occurred... but I cannot wait any longer. On January 11th, the Atlanta Silverbacks died, and Don Garber has secured another victory for MLS and SUM, In any other circumstance, in any other way, in any other market that had no true grassroots at all, I'd feel sad. This makes me sick.

I have been going on and on about how the Silverbacks need an owner for the past year or so. They have had passionate supporters from all across Atlanta and the nation that were willing them on to succeed. They have had players like Chris Klute, the man handpicked by Eric Wynalda out of the rec leagues to try out for the reserves, then made his way onto the first team and became a Silverbacks legend. The Gorilla Ultras, the Silverbacks Alliance, the Atlanta Ultras.... and the city of Atlanta deserved better than this. The players deserved better than this. They say there is a special ring in hell for murderers and rapists.... and Arthur Blank deserves to have his own section, for that is the man that destroyed real soccer in Atlanta and put in its place a bastardized version with byzantine roster acquisition rules reminiscent of the NFL and MLB and not of the EPL, La Liga, Serie A... need I go on? After this announcement, Atlanta has bowed down at the altar of holy MLS. They have lost their identity, their history... their pride. If we had promotion/relegation, this would NOT have happened. In fact, "Atlanta United" would not have been born. And in the current system, I blame Bill Peterson for literally giving up on finding an ownership group for the city that has a lot of the world's richest corporations sue it as their HQ. I blame the original owner for giving up on soccer in Atlanta and selling out before the club ould even take off. I guarantee you if you looked hard enough, someone would have gladly bought the Silverbacks.

For all the things US soccer and MLS have taken away fromus, like the ability for clbs to rise and fall on their own merits, this is the most egregious. It's like saying, "We're going to close down a diner to build a Denny's". Absolutely sickening, and to show off how mad I am, I am dedicating this month to the Silverbacks memory by redoing my background in black as a sign of mourning and of rememberance.

New Year, Same Problems

Happy New year to everyone, and may 2016 be a prosperous one.

However, one of the richest clubs in terms of history in US soccer has had to sell out to USL (read: USL "terminates the Rochester ownership group") due to financial concerns and operations flaws, which would have been undoubtedly washed away by promotion-relegation this year as they won the USL championship and the playoffs. Rochester shocked the world in 1999 by winning the US Open Cup as a non-MLS team in the era of MLS by beating the Colorado Rapids 2-0 in Columbus. On a personal note, my father spent some of his childhood in Rochester. One of his favorite memories as a kid was when his grandfather (the man for whom I'm named) took him out of school and drove him down to Baltimore to see the Orioles play in the playoffs. I think it is a considerable note that I have an affinity for Rochester since the Orioles' AAA team was located there for many years -- the Rochester Red Wings, currently the affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.

Rochester is a hotbed for soccer and has been since the inception of the team. Rochester boasts one of the earliest "soccer-specific stadiums" in the modern history of US soccer. their most famous player is Pat Onstad, who is currently an assistant with the Columbus Crew. So, while Rochester has not produced anyone of top-level European talent by any means, they have produced some people who have played in MLS during their time.

However, USL claims to be taking ownership of the team, taking away the community involvement of the Rochester supporters and the like, at least on its face. The USL group led by Tom Velt has had some dealings with the Philadelphia Union and PPL Park. They have claimed that the Rhinos are "open for business", but that is a farce. No club can truly be in business with league ownership in myopinion, so the sporting merit of the Rhinos' season is in jeopardy of being for naught, just like the Atlanta Silverbacks of NASL are right now, and have been for the past year. The San Antonio Scorpions have suffered the same fate: closing down when their owner sold the stadium to the city of San Antonio, allowing the Spurs-backed USL San Antonio side to reap all the benefits of the Scorpions' hard work. However, it cannot be ignored that noted NASL writer Kartik Krishimayer has repeatedly called out the Scorpions' group as being unprofessional after the original owner stepped down. It seemed as though they were giving up, and they have. I pray to God that Rochester supporters are up in arms today and every day until a new owner can be found for their historic club, and I urge you to join me in using the hashtag #StandForRochester to make sure this doesn't happen.

Author's Note: I would like to extend my deepest apologies to the Silverbacks fans who may feel alienated that I did not give them a hashtag. I did not think of using a hashtag until now. So, if you prefer #StandForAtlanta, you may use it to full effect.