hamiltonfan Posted November 21, 2003 Share Posted November 21, 2003 i like the games on FSW but they could do both couldn't they. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cooks Posted November 21, 2003 Share Posted November 21, 2003 Looks like Rochester is staying for one more year. Fans in Montreal and Toronto will have the Whinos to taunt for another season. http://www.ussocceruk.com/news/?CatTypeId=2&ContentId=1098 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamiltonfan Posted November 22, 2003 Share Posted November 22, 2003 i wonder how TO is doing with the season tickets?? They have a great deal for youth $90 will get you a jersy and season tickets. does anyone know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamiltonfan Posted November 25, 2003 Share Posted November 25, 2003 so it's offical,USL Expands to Puerto Rico Islanders newest A-League franchise http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/64724.html Tuesday, November 25, 2003 BAYAMON, PUERTO RICO - United Soccer Leagues, in conjunction with the city of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, introduced the Puerto Rico Islanders as the A-League's newest expansion franchise at a press conference at Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium, the club's home field, Monday afternoon. "We are excited to welcome Puerto Rico to the USL family," said USL CEO Dave Askinas. "The Islanders presented us with a unique opportunity to continue to expand our horizons internationally and enhances our link to the Caribbean beyond the handful of players who play in the US and Canada with our other franchises. We feel that USL has played a critical role in developing the game in both the US and Canada and that through the Islanders, the Puerto Rican soccer federation and the city of Bayamon, we will be able to do the same in Puerto Rico and the greater Caribbean area." Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium is currently undergoing a renovation to be converted from baseball to be soccer-specific and is part of an overall three million dollar project that also includes a recreational park and road improvements. The two-month field renovation is nearly complete and will be ready for the start of the 2004 season. Bayamon is a major city within the greater San Juan metropolitan area with the stadium within 20 minutes of San Juan International Airport. Vitor Hugo Barros was also announced as the Technical Director/Head Coach of the club and is expected to bring in some Brazilian and Argentinean talent to accentuate their roster noted Islanders President Joe Serralta, who also serves as President of the Puerto Rico Futbol Federation. Trials for the team are anticipated to begin the second week of January at the Efrain Calcano Alicea sports complex. The franchise, with permission from the governing bodies of FIFA and CONCACAF, is the first outside of the US and Canada for USL, which began as a five-team indoor league in the southwest in 1986. USL first expanded to Canada in 1997 when the A-League and its member franchises in Vancouver and Montreal became members of USL. Joining them as an expansion franchise in 1997 were the Toronto Lynx, who are tentatively scheduled as the opponent for the Islanders' home opener. Bayamon Mayor Ramon Luis Rivera also expressed hope that the addition of the A-League franchise to the city would help develop lower levels of the sport in the region. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coppercanuck Posted November 26, 2003 Share Posted November 26, 2003 insane...[:0] I wonder which teams will agree to make the journey: Vancouver...no Seattle...no Portland...no Calgary...no Edmonton...maybe?[V] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamiltonfan Posted November 26, 2003 Share Posted November 26, 2003 that stadium looks really nice. even though its only on half the field it still looks great. how much do you think thathseats? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarnCherry Posted November 26, 2003 Author Share Posted November 26, 2003 quote:Originally posted by coppercanuck insane...[:0] I wonder which teams will agree to make the journey: Vancouver...no Seattle...no Portland...no Calgary...no Edmonton...maybe?[V] Why should these teams make the journey? In the regional scheme of things there is hardly any crossover of Eastern teams west and Western teams east in the A-League. Theres always the exception of the Canadian teams travelling east or west to play their Canadian counterparts but not much otherwise. Put it this way, how many times did Rochester, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Montreal and last year Syracuse travel to El Paso to play? The answer is none. Puerto Rico in the East is no different than El Paso in the west. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
argh1 Posted November 26, 2003 Share Posted November 26, 2003 Soooooo.......when does the league announce St.Pierre et Miquelon or Grindstone Isles de Madelaine or Godthab Greenland[:)I forgot the west ......Whitehorse or Juneau[}] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarnCherry Posted November 26, 2003 Author Share Posted November 26, 2003 quote:Originally posted by hamiltonfan that stadium looks really nice. even though its only on half the field it still looks great. how much do you think thathseats? It looks similar to Portlands PGE Park in size and shape (since they both are/were baseball stadiums). I'd say it seats at least 16000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarnCherry Posted November 26, 2003 Author Share Posted November 26, 2003 quote:Originally posted by hamiltonfan that stadium looks really nice. even though its only on half the field it still looks great. how much do you think thathseats? It looks similar to Portlands PGE Park in size and shape (since they both are/were baseball stadiums). I'd say it seats at least 16000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coppercanuck Posted November 26, 2003 Share Posted November 26, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Krammerhead Put it this way, how many times did Rochester, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Montreal and last year Syracuse travel to El Paso to play? The answer is none. Puerto Rico in the East is no different than El Paso in the west. Your absolutely correct. There are a number of issues with teams like El Paso and Puerto Rico: no hope of a balanced schedule it is not the visiting teams one trip a year it is their team and its 14 trips a year that will cost the big bucks by spending so much on operating costs will they have enough money to feild a competitive team? By the way I did read one article that their home opener will be against Toronto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coppercanuck Posted November 26, 2003 Share Posted November 26, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Krammerhead Put it this way, how many times did Rochester, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Montreal and last year Syracuse travel to El Paso to play? The answer is none. Puerto Rico in the East is no different than El Paso in the west. Your absolutely correct. There are a number of issues with teams like El Paso and Puerto Rico: no hope of a balanced schedule it is not the visiting teams one trip a year it is their team and its 14 trips a year that will cost the big bucks by spending so much on operating costs will they have enough money to feild a competitive team? By the way I did read one article that their home opener will be against Toronto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettermirror Posted November 26, 2003 Share Posted November 26, 2003 i really think this is great. puerto rico doesn't have the strongest national team, but they do have some skilled players. this will enhance the a-league. let's hope they can play more than a year or two. i expect decent crowds at their matches. maybe even a cuban club!!! haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kibby Posted November 26, 2003 Share Posted November 26, 2003 hey i was at Isles de Madelaine in the summer it could surely support a-league soccer! kiddin' surely but beautiful place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarnCherry Posted November 26, 2003 Author Share Posted November 26, 2003 quote:Originally posted by coppercanuck Your absolutely correct. There are a number of issues with teams like El Paso and Puerto Rico: no hope of a balanced schedule it is not the visiting teams one trip a year it is their team and its 14 trips a year that will cost the big bucks by spending so much on operating costs will they have enough money to feild a competitive team? By the way I did read one article that their home opener will be against Toronto. Okay I'll have to repeat this once again. Puerto Rico will not be making 14 road trips a year. No A-League team plays one road game and then travels home again. They will probably be 4 or 5 road trips for them which is no worse than, say, Vancouvers numerous road trips each year. I'm assuming they knew what they are getting into. Their converted stadium looks nice, and I've learned it will seat 15000, hopefully they will fill many seats. Hopefully the A-League will be moving from team that are run on shoestring budgets (we all know which teams they are) to teams willing to do a little travel and think a little bigger. The A-League has lost some of it's glorified semi-pro/amateurish teams such as Indiana, Charlotte and Cincinatti and hopefully teams like the Islanders will be superior replacements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted November 27, 2003 Share Posted November 27, 2003 According to this article, the original Puerto Rico Islanders in the USISL suffered from poor attendance before moving to Houston (for other reasons), and the baseball team that played in the Loubriel Stadium also suffered from low attendance before moving to San Juan (for this reason). I'm not saying that this necessarily means much, but it's the most relevant information about attendance that I could find. I noticed that in the Puerto Rican league there is a team called "San Juan Islanders" and there is already a team playing in Bayamón. Just an observation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettermirror Posted November 27, 2003 Share Posted November 27, 2003 maybe it's the same club? personally i think this is a good thing for the a-league. it's getting more international exposure, and it's getting closer to a league table instead of two conferences. the a-league can only get stronger from this experience, even if it lasts just 2 seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alberto7 Posted November 27, 2003 Share Posted November 27, 2003 quote:Looks like Rochester is staying for one more year. Fans in Montreal and Toronto will have the Whinos to taunt for another season. No surprise here. They haven't even started construction on their new stadium. IF this ever gets under way, MLS will expand to Rochester as they have an excellent fan base. I think the 2005 time frame is quite realistic. MLS does not need another team playing in a crappy non-soccer stadium. I'm sure the big guns at MLS were turned off when they saw pictures of Frontier Field(especially with the baseball bases uncovered). Ugh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamiltonfan Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 http://www.kenn.com/361/pdf/threesixonedec2003.pdf page 6 New USL team born, self-relegates, then folds, all at introductory press conference Las Vegas United owner Jack O’Keefe announcing the birth, relegation, and folding of his new team. LAS VEGAS - In a drama that demonstrated just how hard it is to make money with a soccer team in this country, the owner of a new A-League team in Las Vegas announced the formation, relegation, and folding of his franchise within an hour’s time last week. Jack O’Keefe, a corrugated paper mogul, announced at an 11 a.m. press conference that his team, Las Vegas United, would compete in the upcoming ALeague season. By 11:30, he had announced that due to massive losses in the first half-hour, he would be forced to relegate the team to the third division Pro Soccer League. However, by the time lunch was served at noon, O’Keefe had had enough of losing money, and folded the team without it ever having played a game, signed a player, or taken an 18-hour trip to Edmonton by minivan. “This was a great timesaver,” said a league spokesman. “You knew it was going to happen eventually anyway, so now we can hit the casino and still get home in time to catch CSI.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sounderfan Posted December 25, 2003 Share Posted December 25, 2003 If the Canadian teams formed their own league then the biggest rivalries of most teams would have to be reinvented: Seattle-Vancouver would only play "friendlies" Montreal-Rochester would likely not play each other at all, same for Toronto-Rochester, or even Portland-Vancouver. It seems to me the best "Canadian" rivalries are actually American-Canadian ones. Montreal-Calgary...woo-hoo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamiltonfan Posted December 25, 2003 Share Posted December 25, 2003 Edmonton and Calgary are going to be rival just like they are in all the other sports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted December 25, 2003 Share Posted December 25, 2003 quote:Originally posted by sounderfan If the Canadian teams formed their own league then the biggest rivalries of most teams would have to be reinvented: Seattle-Vancouver would only play "friendlies" Montreal-Rochester would likely not play each other at all, same for Toronto-Rochester, or even Portland-Vancouver. It seems to me the best "Canadian" rivalries are actually American-Canadian ones. Montreal-Calgary...woo-hoo! Hi and welcome. Just want to say, as a longtime Caps fan, I agree entirely. I used to travel for Whitecaps games at the Kingdome, think that was late 70s, and that was an authentic rivalry, one of the best in North America. But who knows, if there was a Canadian league we may be able to come up with some real rivalries over time. I think Montreal-Toronto is a natural one, as it has existed in other sports for decades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamiltonfan Posted December 26, 2003 Share Posted December 26, 2003 where are the Impast going to play next year? Are the going to move to Molson Stadium? i would like to see how many more fans the attract when the play at molson stadium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.