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.