Dominic DiGironimo steps down as CSL commissioner

[TFCRegina]

http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/content.php?703-Dominic-DiGironimo-steps-down-as-CSL-commissioner

Unfortunate news.

[PJSweet]

How will this effect the process of CSL expansion all across Canada? This is what I'm concern right now. Under DiGironimo's administration, this was a number #1 priority. With his resignation, has expansion across Canada suffer a serious blow?

[Richard]

Maybe he saw the writing on the wall for the CSL's national aspirations with the CSA seeking to introduce a new cross country D2 pro league. A CSL dream shattered.

[Juby]

Maybe he saw the writing on the wall for the CSL's national aspirations with the CSA seeking to introduce a new cross country D2 pro league. A CSL dream shattered.

or maybe your taking your imagination to seriously..

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Obviously could be something personal going on but the timing definitely suggests otherwise and will inevitably lead to speculation. Maybe Quebec City fell through again for soccer association politics reasons? My guess would be that the BC expansion thing was also going nowhere fast so it may have been the D3 aspirations rather than the D2 ones. The D2 thing always looked a bit pie in the sky given a crowd of 50 or so is the norm at CSL games a lot of the time in the GTA. Coast to coast D3 in divisions centred on each major city is doable but there are better ways to do it than using the CSL as the template.

[TFCRegina]

Maybe he saw the writing on the wall for the CSL's national aspirations with the CSA seeking to introduce a new cross country D2 pro league. A CSL dream shattered.

God you must hate your life. Do you wake up every morning with piss in your cornflakes or are you just a miserable old man?

I've never read more pessimistic **** out of anyone ever.

[TFCRegina]

Obviously could be something personal going on but the timing definitely suggests otherwise and will inevitably lead to speculation. Maybe Quebec City fell through again for soccer association politics reasons? My guess would be that the BC expansion thing was also going nowhere fast so it may have been the D3 aspirations rather than the D2 ones. The D2 thing always looked a bit pie in the sky given a crowd of 50 or so is the norm at CSL games a lot of the time in the GTA. Coast to coast D3 in divisions centred on each major city is doable but there are better ways to do it than using the CSL as the template.

Please read what I wrote for Richard.

[Juby]

Obviously could be something personal going on but the timing definitely suggests otherwise and will inevitably lead to speculation. Maybe Quebec City fell through again for soccer association politics reasons? My guess would be that the BC expansion thing was also going nowhere fast so it may have been the D3 aspirations rather than the D2 ones. The D2 thing always looked a bit pie in the sky given a crowd of 50 or so is the norm at CSL games a lot of the time in the GTA. Coast to coast D3 in divisions centred on each major city is doable but there are better ways to do it than using the CSL as the template.

I'm not at all going to a terrible prik, but honestly

A) Your just making negative assumptions, I can make a reasonable assumption for any negative one you make (btw, I don't think anyone expected any BC CSL stuff to happen fast, and you really think he'd resign if Quebec City falls through? seems your reasons are rather light for someone who successfully helped growth in the CSL)

50 or so fans in the gta was a norm a couple years ago, this isn't a huge difference but the gta teams with poor attendance tends to still pull in about 100 fans. Also those poorly attended games aren't as common anymore. Not huge improvements but it's definately growing (for example, this might surprise you but the Astros probably averaged 200ish this year which pulled them out of the 'no one cares ranks') and some teams are doing decently).

C) lemme fix the last sentence of your post so you don't come off as arrogant:

Assuming this has to be their plan, then Coast to coast D3 in divisions centred on each major city is doable but I think there are better ways to do it than using the CSL as the template.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Please read what I wrote for Richard.

Posts of this type are out of character for you so I'll let it slide this time. All I'll add is that I find it hard to believe that anyone in Saskatchewan could get this distraught over the inner working of an amateur/semi-pro league in the GTA. It has zero relevance to your part of the world. If you want a team in your province to support you would be much better off looking to what has happened in Thunder Bay in recent years and what will soon also be happening in Winnipeg as the way ahead in your part of the world.

[Richard]

God you must hate your life. Do you wake up every morning with piss in your cornflakes or are you just a miserable old man?

I've never read more pessimistic **** out of anyone ever.

Not at all, I am a pragmatist. Also, the fact that I opened my post with the speculative word 'perhaps' obviously flew right by you in your zealous rush to condemn me as a pessimist.

[Juby]

Not at all, I am a pragmatist. Also, the fact that I opened my post with the speculative word 'perhaps' obviously flew right by you in your zealous rush to condemn me as a pessimist.

no, we saw it, and actually it says 'maybe' not 'perhaps', people were probably mostly creeped out by you using your imagination to fantasize about it having something to do with your negative opinions. I really think he has come across alot better then Cary Kaplan so why he would be shamefully bowing away after what looks to be another consecutive season of expansion is beyond me...

edit: and for bbtb, are you really that confused, why a canadian soccer supporter might be more interested in the idea of a canadian semi pro league rather than in an 4 month amateur midwest league?

[Alex D]

Maybe he saw the writing on the wall for the CSL's national aspirations with the CSA seeking to introduce a new cross country D2 pro league. A CSL dream shattered.

First off Richard, shut up. Second, why do you see a national D2 league as a detriment to a national D3 league? The potential D2 teams would need somewhere to play their reserve teams. Both leagues would/should work together. So stop slagging the CSL and go back to kicking puppies and spitting at babies or whatever it is you do in your free time.

[Macksam]

The funny thing is that in order for Richard's argument to work, it must mean the CSA's efforts for a national D2 league must be really serious. However, it's pretty evident on this board that he has sh*t on the CSA's ambition for such a league. He can't have both view points.

[ray]

The resignation is due to differences of opinion about the direction the league is taking for the future. Nothing more specific right now.

http://canadiansoccerleague.ca/news_archive.php?news_id=346403

I hope each of the parties will be willing to speak about where they wanted to see the CSL go.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

The snippet that is interesting here is:

The commissioner tendered his resignation to the CSL board of equity owners Sunday and the resignation was accepted, effective immediately.

the use of "of equity owners" clearly has significance in all of this even though its meaning isn't fully spelled out. I think that must be a way of referring to the original franchises that still effectively own the league (i.e. City, Astros etc) and have full CSL franchise rights as opposed to the playing memberships that the recent expansion teams (i.e. Milltown, Galaxy, Hamilton Croatia) have received. That suggests a serious rift has opened up between those two groups with Di Geronimo perhaps being ousted by the older full franchise teams for siding with the more recent arrivals.

The board has asked league administrator Pino Jazbec to continue the work now underway for the immediate future, including the 2011 season, as well as the various tasks for long-term expansion and development. He will be the league spokesperson for clarification of issues as they arise.

Some googling reveals that Pino Jazbec has a Toronto Croatia (an original 1998 franchise) background and it's perhaps also worth noting the "long-term" inserted before "expansion".

http://www.mississauga.com/article/21516

“The game was very even, but we had no luck,” said Croatia spokesperson Pino Jazbec. “We had bad breaks, including hitting the crossbar on a few occasions. We just have to learn to take advantage of our chances.”

[Richard]

First off Richard, shut up. Second, why do you see a national D2 league as a detriment to a national D3 league? The potential D2 teams would need somewhere to play their reserve teams. Both leagues would/should work together. So stop slagging the CSL and go back to kicking puppies and spitting at babies or whatever it is you do in your free time.

Why are you so sensitive to a critical eye being cast over such events? Oh, and I'm not going to shut up, even if you ask nicely.

[TFCRegina]

Posts of this type are out of character for you so I'll let it slide this time. All I'll add is that I find it hard to believe that anyone in Saskatchewan could get this distraught over the inner working of an amateur/semi-pro league in the GTA. It has zero relevance to your part of the world. If you want a team in your province to support you would be much better off looking to what has happened in Thunder Bay in recent years and what will soon also be happening in Winnipeg as the way ahead in your part of the world.

Yes, so I could support a team that doesn't give two ****s about supporting Canadian talent.

Oh and for the record, I might be concerned because I spend at least a third of my time these days in the city of Ottawa, Ontario. The CSL is very much relevant to me.

And even if I didn't, the existence of a semi-pro football league in ANY part of this country is important for the Canadian game, regardless of how you and Richard do your best to marginalize it. Posts out of me that attack you guys for being angry people are uncommon because I generally don't feel the need to get in pissing matches with trolls. I'm just a little fed up of reading stuff out of you and Richard REPEATEDLY denigrating the CSL.

If you don't like the league, ignore it, it's incredibly simple.

I could care less about the CIS and think it doesn't do ANYTHING for Canadian soccer...in fact it probably has negative impact, but I think I've made a grand total of 5 comments on this board about the CIS since I've joined. I can't say the same for you (or Richard) about the CSL.

Thanks, and that's all I'm going to say on the matter as a pissing match is not optimal for anyone.

[futsal]

Firstly, The Astros do not pull in 200 fans a game, that would be an over estimation by a country mile. I live beside the stadium and watch matches frequently.

The average attendance is still under 100 per game with the GTA teams. Brantford and Hamilton are consistently the best ones with hundreds if not sometimes thousands going to big games, while the Serbs and Toronto Croatian's have around 100-400 a game depending on who their playing or weather conditions.

The Shooters average maybe 30 a game, 50 if they play the TFC Academy - as parents come to watch - and Brampton does about 60-100 for their home games. TFC Academy, when at Lamport, gets I would estimate at 50-75 and Portugal FC has numbers similar to the Astros which is not much.

I cannot for the life of me see how Pickering SC or Erin Mills will draw anymore than parents of players past the opening home match. Anxious to see how Ottawa does this time around.

Also, why the negative comments towards each other, anyone should have taken Richard's comments with a speculative nature as opposed to what some of you guys spat his way.

[futsal]

Pino is a good guy and as an interim operations person will be be alright. They will need a visionary that is able to work with the so nicely branded 'equity owners' to make it progressive. That is going to be a tough challenge indeed.

[Alex D]

Why are you so sensitive to a critical eye being cast over such events? Oh, and I'm not going to shut up, even if you ask nicely.

It's not a critical eye, it's you being an arrogant dick just to be an arrogant dick

[Alex D]

I still don't know what to make of this. It's unfortunate to see Dominic go, I really had a lot of faith in him. Without knowing what the differences were it's impossible to create an informed opinion on the matter.

I hope that the league's intentions are still to strengthen are grow. If the old owners are trying to drag it back down I think the CSA needs to step in and administer the 3rd division themselves.

[TFCRegina]

It's not a critical eye, it's you being an arrogant dick just to be an arrogant dick

Hey, let's keep the tone to a dull roar. No need for personal insults. We can criticize his unbending pessimism and facetiousness without calling him names.

[Alex D]

Hey, let's keep the tone to a dull roar. No need for personal insults. We can criticize his unbending pessimism and facetiousness without calling him names.

To be fair it wasn't really calling him a name but describing what he was doing.

I'm over it. moving on...

[Juby]

Firstly, The Astros do not pull in 200 fans a game, that would be an over estimation by a country mile. I live beside the stadium and watch matches frequently.

The average attendance is still under 100 per game with the GTA teams. Brantford and Hamilton are consistently the best ones with hundreds if not sometimes thousands going to big games, while the Serbs and Toronto Croatian's have around 100-400 a game depending on who their playing or weather conditions.

The Shooters average maybe 30 a game, 50 if they play the TFC Academy - as parents come to watch - and Brampton does about 60-100 for their home games. TFC Academy, when at Lamport, gets I would estimate at 50-75 and Portugal FC has numbers similar to the Astros which is not much.

I cannot for the life of me see how Pickering SC or Erin Mills will draw anymore than parents of players past the opening home match. Anxious to see how Ottawa does this time around.

Also, why the negative comments towards each other, anyone should have taken Richard's comments with a speculative nature as opposed to what some of you guys spat his way.

ummm, this year they really did do better, a few astro's games's I saw were easily over a hundred. Also, I haven't really seen many under 50 attended games this year. That was true a couple years ago but I think the 'gta averaging 50' is selling last season a little short. I may have been optimistic with 200 however they went from being a family and staff followed team to actually having some fans show, all without actually improving results (ahah), I think it was fairly noteworthy.

[Redcoatsforever]

Did nobody mention that you're not allowed to discuss CSL? If you do you're just setting up a thread for BBTB and Richard to come on and attack you for various reasons.

Either way, I'm confused as to Dominic's exit. Is he still going to be holding the position on the CSA's professional soccer board? If so that could mean that he's going to still be involved with the CSL in some capacity.

I really hope extra-Ontario expansion stays on the agenda though.