Alex D Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 The CFL is a bad example for you to use because it is not driven by the big markets. Nothing would change if they lost those teams. For a minute their I thought we would have a (semi)rational discussion on the matter but you have just gone back to your shell of "won't work, don't waste your time". As for that peace offering I sent you, it's off the table. You just don't get it. Going back to ignore now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Still no official or unofficial statement from the Impact? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Not something I am going to lose any sleep over, Alex D, particularly given the remark above that implied that future abusive posts were still possible. Clearly you have learned nothing from the moderator intervention that your earlier behaviour led to. Beyond that I think most people on here would grasp the implications of the CFL being left with 5 teams even if you don't. With those three markets gone putting together a national D2 league drawing the sort of crowds jloome regards as "realistic" is very much in the realms of an irrational faith based belief system. This is all probably going to turn out to be an absurd tangent anyway. By the sounds of things on the latest ICF interview only clip the NASL still expects to be able to proceed this summer one way or another. Ben Rycroft indicated that we should be hearing from Joey Saputo on this issue soon. http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/content.php?1039-ICF-Interview-Only-with-Brian-Quarstad-on-NASL-sanctioning Think Richard probably has it right above. The USSF is applying pressure on the NASL to get a couple of issues sorted out. Puerto Rico and Carolina appear to be the prime suspects in that regard based on what is said in the clip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex D Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Not something I am going to lose any sleep over, Alex D, particularly given the remark above that implied that future abusive posts were still possible. Clearly you have learned nothing from the moderator intervention that your earlier behaviour led to. You don't get jokes much eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Getting back to the issue at hand here's a blog entry (not by me) suggesting MLS should step in to save the day: http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2011/1/24/1950254/nasl-needs-mls-mls-probably-needs-nasl-heres-how-it-could-work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tovan1 Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 obviously a bit of an 'if' post (because NASL isn't done yet right?). But if NASL won't fly... As much as it might be ad hoc to create a league like this, I don't really think there would be a better opportunity. I don't think any of the feasability stuff talked about in previous threads meant for 2011 to debut a league so they would have to work alot faster then they planned because this would be a glorious opportunity. The Impact are mls bound but they would be a huge draw league wide. FCE would have a far better league to compete in then the PDL. We have two groups interested in NASL teams (Hamilton and Ottawa) who might now be wooable, that is halfway to a decent enough 8 teams. Maybe one of the CSL teams can drum up enough partners and sponsors to make a go at it. Calgary and Quebec City are still completely open markets for this level. Maybe the Vancouver area (or Victoria) could field a team (probably more of a prexisting club stepping up like the csl example). Maybe Winnipeg could jump up from PDL after the impact leave and maybe Montreal could support a second team in that league. (Saskatoon, London, Halifax and St. John's are I think the more obvious areas that you might also be able to put a team but you'd probably have to adjust your attendance expectations and budget in those areas). The potential exists to put together a small league, I was always hoping we could have enough regional infrastructure when we made a league so we could have a few more teams and promotion and relegation (to get rid of failing teams without killing them and bring in rising teams easily ) but with an opportunity like this, I won't complain if we eventually had the same results done the exact opposite way (big teams having good youth teams and eventually these teams being a part of a decent regional league). The main thing I keep thinking is if they got a league together for this year, their bound to make a few mistakes in the rush so I would think they would need to be open to adjusting things for a second season. The biggest concern I have is that I think jloome's hopes for 7 000- 10 000 might be too optomisitic. If we can get the money together I would say go for it and see if it takes, but let's say attendance was more in the 5000 range, that's still not a bad figure so some teams would have to adjust their budgets (Which is easier if your prepared for it and hopefully without comprimising the level of play much). In the past I showed a model of a very bare bones pro league that would probably need about 2000 fans a game (I was thinking we would be building, not leaping, up from our current level) so I was honestly thinking tossing around more vague figures like 4 000 - 10 000 would be a better idea (opens up the field to a few more communities and investors, it would probably be more of a regular 'minnows and powers' table then a typical north american salary cap league though) Now if they couldn't get a league together and NASL failed, I still see that as an opportunity. For Montreal, not so much, the USL second division is better then the CSL and would be a decent enough league to play in (not so much for some of their veterens) however I think attendance would drop pretty decently. If they are stuck in this position they should probably loan our their decent aged guys and field a youth team to see if they can 'make' a few extra players. If they did this, then CSL would no longer be such a crazy option, much less travel, probably even less attendance than USL, they could put their reserve team in another Quebec market and double their chances of developing a youngster in a 'youth year' and it would probably create a bit of spike in the attendance for the other CSL teams on their road games. It is probably still be in their best interests to field a USL team though. FC Edmonton has me thinking, they seem alot more screwed, they would have to join a short PDL season at the look of it. Their too far away from even the CSL (it would cost too much for the CSL teams to go to Edmonton). But here's were the idea comes in, maybe they can convince some existing teams and eager investors to pool together, say, 6 teams from BC to Saskatoon. This league would have alot of disparity, I'm imagining FCE on top, maybe a new team is close to pro, 3 or 4 teams stepped up to semi pro and 1 or 2 is still amateur but can afford to travel. If they could get a league that's semi pro on average together they would have created a better and more local option for themselves. And when the dust settles and they have a better place to go, hopefully the infrastructure of a western league will remain. Then 'boom', FCE would have used their credibility to get others to spend their own money and we would be left a de facto western csl. edit: I know it's a bit much expect 6 teams to just appear as it'd be a big undertaking but it's not exactly a terrible grandiose idea. This is mostly just a bunch of open speculation to try and flesh out all the things we could do if 2011 if NASL can't operate this year. I thought of something similar about a month ago, we're actually not that far away from having a domestically organized D1 and D2. Most teams are already existing or proposed. With D2 in disarray in the US, it could be the right time to act. WRT D3-semi-pro, it would take some more time to organize regionally and nationally but clubs/teams could easily continue using the PDL and CSL infrastructure until something more permanent can be worked out. http://www.cansoc.org/showthread.php?41348-Something-we-should-aim-towards With lower divisions in the US in disarray and with the CSA moratorium on new teams in US leagues, this is probably the best opportunity we'll have in awhile to get the ball rolling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coppercanuck Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Some real interesting developments. No matter what happens, Canada needs to start looking out for Canada. 9 teams in the PDL now and MLS has no interest in developing Canadian markets or players. I'm not saying the CSL is the only option but Canadian teams need to consider Canadian options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Some real interesting developments. No matter what happens, Canada needs to start looking out for Canada. 9 teams in the PDL now and MLS has no interest in developing Canadian markets or players. I'm not saying the CSL is the only option but Canadian teams need to consider Canadian options. I'm genuinely interested how anyone can seriously argue that MLS has no commitment to Canadian players when academy systems and homegrown players now lie at the core of the league's plans on player development and given it is obvious that less emphasis is going to be placed on the NCAA draft in future? Canada was looking out for Canada when the decision was made to adopt MLS as the D1 league. We now have three fully professional clubs in the three largest cities taking the elite youth players from 14 years old onwards and giving them the opportunity to develop into pro players in a Canadian context rather than having to leave home at a young age and move to Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFCRegina Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 I'm genuinely interested how anyone can seriously argue that MLS has no commitment to Canadian players when academy systems and homegrown players now lie at the core of the league's plans on player development and given it is obvious that less emphasis is going to be placed on the NCAA draft in future? Canada was looking out for Canada when the decision was made to adopt MLS as the D1 league. We now have three fully professional clubs in the three largest cities taking the elite youth players from 14 years old onwards and giving them the opportunity to develop into pro players in a Canadian context rather than having to leave home at a young age and move to Europe. I'm genuinely interested in how someone can continue to limit the options of what is available for development. Any proposal to have Canadian led development is dismissed outright from you. You're the most anti-Canadian person I've ever met. Why the hell should we have to rely on the USSF, who clearly don't care about us or our development, to develop our players. NASL has failed us, PDL plays a garbage season and doesn't do enough for development, and Canada is left with its tail between its legs because once again it was too damn cautious to pursue a new line of player development. And you're cheerleading the failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 You have never met me as far as I am aware and the comment about being anti-Canadian is beneath contempt and beyond ridiculous. TFC Academy is Canadian led as is the Vancouver Whitecaps residency program. Out of curiosity do you go onto NHL related boards and argue that it is anti-Canadian that Canada and the United States share a professional hockey league? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redcoatsforever Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 All too obvious that jloome sees himself as some kind of messiah on this issue. ... If the CFL lost the Toronto Argonauts, BC Lions and Montreal Alouettes to the NFL would it be able to continue in its current format as a high profile national league or would it have to downsize the scale of its operations and ambitions considerably to find the niche at which it would be sustainable on an ongoing basis? Do you have any concept of how much more it costs to run a football team at any level than a soccer team at the same level? Calgary and Edmonton draw well, and the Saskatchewan Roughriders are probably the best-attended team in the league, perhaps even Canada at large. Also, the CFL made agreements with the NFL way back to ensure long term viability. There is not one reason that we couldn't do the same with MLS or just the USSF. Also, I think it's fairly reasonable to say that a league could run just fine without Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Those are our largest cities, yes, but the market is there for soccer in every other one of Canada's urban centres. ...Out of curiosity do you go onto NHL related boards and argue that it is anti-Canadian that Canada and the United States share a professional hockey league? As a follow-up question, do you ever get tired of these chalk-to-cheese types of comparisons? Here's one idea: Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, PEI, New Brunswick, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan have one pro club for the whole province, with sponsorship from the provincial association, the league sponsors, and whatever else they can get in their broad region. Add in Ottawa's, Edmonton's, Hamilton's, Victoria's, and Quebec City's would-be NASL expansion clubs and you've got a league with 11 teams already. You could easily find three more, and then after a few years, once the league has proven stable, pull CSA sanctioning for MLS and repatriate TFC, IMFC, and VWFC. 16 teams. Canadian Premier League accomplished. Oh, and incorporate Jloome's ideas about building, funding, and marketing the league. He doesn't appear to see himself as some kind of messiah, he just seems to believe in the idea of a Canadian league. For some reason, you can't stand the concept of all-Canadian leagues, you'll respond that you've never said that, but everybody knows it's true. I honestly don't understand why someone with your views posts on a website dedicated to supporting Canadian soccer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul-collins Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Why bother with the MLS teams? You had me up until there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Given you equate arguing that something won't work with hating the concept, Redcoatsforever, I'm not surprised that you wouldn't understand. Beyond that I have been following the fortunes of the CMNT and pro soccer in Canada for almost a quarter of a century and feel no need whatsoever to justify my presence here to you or anybody else. I'll only be responding to posts that address the actual subject matter of this thread from here on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redcoatsforever Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Given you equate arguing that something won't work with hating the concept, Redcoatsforever, I'm not surprised that you wouldn't understand. Beyond that I have been following the fortunes of the CMNT and pro soccer in Canada for almost a quarter of a century and feel no need whatsoever to justify my presence here to you or anybody else. I'll only be responding to posts that address the actual subject matter of this thread from here on. So you don't hate the concept then? Are there any circumstances under which you believe a Canadian professional league would work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 So you don't hate the concept then? Are there any circumstances under which you believe a Canadian professional league would work? Read this thread and my blog and you'll find the answer to that. Now back to the actual subject matter of this thread. Here's the latest from the NASL: http://nasl.com/article/nasl-committed-to-securing-ussf-sanctioning-for-2011 The North American Soccer League (NASL) confirms recent reports that the USSF Board of Directors, at its meeting yesterday, withdrew its provisional sanctioning of the league. The NASL understands that the Board's decision was based on its conclusion that the league fails to comply with certain of the newly heightened Division II professional standards. Despite this decision, the NASL understands that it may resubmit its application for sanctioning. The NASL intends to work closely with the USSF to resolve the USSF's concerns and resubmit its application as soon as possible in order to be sanctioned at the USSF Annual General Meeting to be held on February 11 - 12. The NASL will not pursue sanctioning as any other division under the USSF bylaws. Hopefully this all turns out to have been a storm in a teacup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redcoatsforever Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 So, you won't discuss it here, you'll just direct people to your blog? Congratulations! You can scream into the uncaring void we call the internet just like any other moron! Now, why don't you actually engage in a discussion instead of trying to make your glorified online-diary look like it's some sort of relevant soccer-column? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jloome Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 All too obvious that jloome sees himself as some kind of messiah on this issue. It's easy to gain some disciples by telling people what they desperately want to hear and by casting the people who try to stick to rational thought rather than a faith based belief system.... Relish the irony, people. The man who never changes his mind and hasn't offered a single actual point to counter any of my arguments says its faith and a messiah complex. Wow, I take it back. This is now the dumbest post in the history of dumb posts on this board. I base my opinions on research and reality. If he wants to counter them, I'd be happy to argue an actual point. Instead, he relies on the strawman topic-changer inherent to character assassination. F'ing pathetic. Dude, you're just a lowlife. I dont' care how long you've been around Canadian football. Your arrogance on here -- arguing other peoples' intentions instead of being able to defend your own position -- is revolting. And if you think it's just me, go back and review your last dozen arguments with regular posters here. You'll quickly find one commonality is that we DON'T ARGUE with other people. We don't feel the need, because they aren't behaving like everyone else's intelligence is beneath their contempt. I hope you have a **** day, logic suggests that with your pattern of arrogance, you will almost certainly deserve it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tovan1 Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Redcoats, I too believe that a Canadian Division 2 setup is viable. As I posted in my reply to Juby, much of the infrastructure exists or is in the works. Though, I don't think that Whitecaps, TFC, and Impact would be willing to 're-patriate' as they paid $40 million to play in MLS and are firmly committed to playing at the highest level possible. There would be inter-league play in the form of Voyageur's Cup competition that would bring these clubs in competition with D2 anyways. In terms of a Division 2, it is definitely possible. If I'm not mistaken Fifa requires 8 teams for a league to be sanctioned, or something along those lines. Victoria Highlanders have always expressed an interest in moving up from PDL provided a suitable league is available. Currently, NASL and USL-Pro are not being considered due to the cost of travel involved. A Canadian league would alleviate some of those costs by providing closer competition than Los Angeles or Minnesota, and negate the requirement to travel to Florida and the Caribbean on a regular basis. The barrier for Victoria would be to find a suitable stadium as their current stadium is only large enough for PDL and amateur teams. FC Edmonton already exists so infrastructure is in place at the club level. Ownership is considering stadium options. Calgary is a large enough market to support D2 soccer, however, past failure of USL in the city may make some wary of investing in a team. There is also no lack of soccer talent and experience in the city (ie. Thomas Neindorf is based there). However, the lack of an appropriately sized venue would need to be addressed. Winnipeg is joining PDL and setting up what appears to be a professionally run organization. If they can build on that in terms of organization, player development, etc they will have what is required for D2. Stadium-wise, they may outgrow the Winnipeg Soccer Complex; however, they could move to University Stadium which seats 5,000 and has a grass field (not to be confused with the new Blue Bombers stadium that will be built adjacent to it). I remember reading that FC London has aspirations to move up from PDL. With both a CSL and a PDL club in the city you would think there's enough support for D2 in the city. Perhaps FC London and London City can collaborate? I'm not too familiar with the situation in London but it appears lack of an appropriate stadium is the main obstacle here. Hamilton has also expressed interest in either USL/NASL through Bob Young and the Ti-Cats organization. Young was part of the Carolina Railhawks ownership group and and has expressed a willingness to invest in bringing a team to his hometown. The major issue is the stadium, Young plans on having his D2 team play out of the new Ti-Cats stadium which, as of now, is a mess. If plans for a new Ti-Cat stadium can't be finalized it remains to be seen if Young would be willing to play out of the City's proposed West Harbour (5,000 seat scalable) stadium in a location the Ti-Cats have dismissed. Either way a new stadium is likely going to be built in Hamilton, it's just a question of whether it will be a 25,000 seater or a 5,000 seater which Young and his organization opposed. Ottawa has an ownership group in place that is part of the group bringing CFL back to the Capital. Work on a refurbished Lansdowne Park is soon to get underway. With John Pugh and the Ottawa Fury already on board with the Lansdowne group things look promising enough for the PDL team to move up to a Canadian D2. Finally, I believe there was interest coming from Quebec City in bringing a CSL team to the city. With the Impact organization looking to keep a team at the D2 level it seems logical for them to establish something in Quebec City. The Quebec-Montreal rivalry in any sport is firmly established and would feed well into the Voyageur's Cup competition. Stadium-wise, Quebec lacks a stadium large enough for a CFL team but has an appropriately sized for D2 soccer with Stade PEPS. It also wouldn't have competition in the summer and wouldn't compete with U.Laval football and an NHL expansion/relocation team as the seasons wouldn't overlap much. If you think about it, Calgary and Quebec City would require the most work to bring D2 to each respective city. All the others already have infrastructure either at the club level or in terms of facilities to sustain D2. Voila, a viable D1 and D2 league system that can be developed in a couple years, including the largest cities in Canada. Break D2 down into East and West and travel costs would be further reduced. D1 MLS Vancouver Toronto Montreal D2 Victoria Edmonton Calgary Winnipeg London Hamilton Ottawa Quebec City Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 So much for being on ignore. Trying to get this thread back to the actual subject matter. There was talk from Ben Rycroft in his ICF interview only clip of more announcements about the situation being made by Aaron Davidson on Oranges at Halftime. I think that's available as a podcast here: http://www.team990.com/sound_bytes/view/session/oranges_halftime_podcast/7/ but I see nothing more recent than Jan 15th. Anyone know if that happened yet and if so what was said? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Of course a national domestic professional D2 league is possible in Canada - if you can find the interested owners and sponsors ready to risk their capital (because it will be a huge money pit for at the very least the first five years). So far there has been little evidence that such interest and willingness exists and without it you might as well just continue with your wet dream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreverthursday Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Of course a national domestic professional D2 league is possible in Canada - if you can find the interested owners and sponsors ready to risk their capital (because it will be a huge money pit for at the very least the first five years). So far there has been little evidence that such interest and willingness exists and without it you might as well just continue with your wet dream. Our D2 league is going to be played by topless 18 year old cheerleaders? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jloome Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Redcoats, I too believe that a Canadian Division 2 setup is viable. As I posted in my reply to Juby, much of the infrastructure exists or is in the works. Though, I don't think that Whitecaps, TFC, and Impact would be willing to 're-patriate' as they paid $40 million to play in MLS and are firmly committed to playing at the highest level possible. There would be inter-league play in the form of Voyageur's Cup competition that would bring these clubs in competition with D2 anyways. In terms of a Division 2, it is definitely possible. If I'm not mistaken Fifa requires 8 teams for a league to be sanctioned, or something along those lines. Victoria Highlanders have always expressed an interest in moving up from PDL provided a suitable league is available. Currently, NASL and USL-Pro are not being considered due to the cost of travel involved. A Canadian league would alleviate some of those costs by providing closer competition than Los Angeles or Minnesota, and negate the requirement to travel to Florida and the Caribbean on a regular basis. The barrier for Victoria would be to find a suitable stadium as their current stadium is only large enough for PDL and amateur teams. FC Edmonton already exists so infrastructure is in place at the club level. Ownership is considering stadium options. Calgary is a large enough market to support D2 soccer, however, past failure of USL in the city may make some wary of investing in a team. There is also no lack of soccer talent and experience in the city (ie. Thomas Neindorf is based there). However, the lack of an appropriately sized venue would need to be addressed. Winnipeg is joining PDL and setting up what appears to be a professionally run organization. If they can build on that in terms of organization, player development, etc they will have what is required for D2. Stadium-wise, they may outgrow the Winnipeg Soccer Complex; however, they could move to University Stadium which seats 5,000 and has a grass field (not to be confused with the new Blue Bombers stadium that will be built adjacent to it). I remember reading that FC London has aspirations to move up from PDL. With both a CSL and a PDL club in the city you would think there's enough support for D2 in the city. Perhaps FC London and London City can collaborate? I'm not too familiar with the situation in London but it appears lack of an appropriate stadium is the main obstacle here. Hamilton has also expressed interest in either USL/NASL through Bob Young and the Ti-Cats organization. Young was part of the Carolina Railhawks ownership group and and has expressed a willingness to invest in bringing a team to his hometown. The major issue is the stadium, Young plans on having his D2 team play out of the new Ti-Cats stadium which, as of now, is a mess. If plans for a new Ti-Cat stadium can't be finalized it remains to be seen if Young would be willing to play out of the City's proposed West Harbour (5,000 seat scalable) stadium in a location the Ti-Cats have dismissed. Either way a new stadium is likely going to be built in Hamilton, it's just a question of whether it will be a 25,000 seater or a 5,000 seater which Young and his organization opposed. Ottawa has an ownership group in place that is part of the group bringing CFL back to the Capital. Work on a refurbished Lansdowne Park is soon to get underway. With John Pugh and the Ottawa Fury already on board with the Lansdowne group things look promising enough for the PDL team to move up to a Canadian D2. Finally, I believe there was interest coming from Quebec City in bringing a CSL team to the city. With the Impact organization looking to keep a team at the D2 level it seems logical for them to establish something in Quebec City. The Quebec-Montreal rivalry in any sport is firmly established and would feed well into the Voyageur's Cup competition. Stadium-wise, Quebec lacks a stadium large enough for a CFL team but has an appropriately sized for D2 soccer with Stade PEPS. It also wouldn't have competition in the summer and wouldn't compete with U.Laval football and an NHL expansion/relocation team as the seasons wouldn't overlap much. If you think about it, Calgary and Quebec City would require the most work to bring D2 to each respective city. All the others already have infrastructure either at the club level or in terms of facilities to sustain D2. Voila, a viable D1 and D2 league system that can be developed in a couple years, including the largest cities in Canada. Break D2 down into East and West and travel costs would be further reduced. D1 MLS Vancouver Toronto Montreal D2 Victoria Edmonton Calgary Winnipeg London Hamilton Ottawa Quebec City Won't survive, Tovan, unless the stadium environment is appropriate. The available physical infrastructure -- not club -- simply doesn't exist. You can't make do with substandard facilities, as the fans won't buy in, and most of those you've named are substandard for the expectations of pro soccer fans. The Lansdowne group is committing pro soccer suicide by playing on turf in a stadium designed for co-habitation by a football team, therefore having too much distance between the field and the stands. Fans here have been raised on higher pro soccer expectations from watching the overseas came over the last 20 years of expanding cable TV. It's like asking an accomplished architect to design quonset huts. People don't go backwards in quality unless they have vested interest not in culture and traditions of the football community, but of football itself. YOu're right that some ARE doing this. But they all need to, or we'll have franchises dropping like flies. That's my belief based on what's happened in past leagues. It has to be there from the start. Your method has been tried before, as the CSL, and again as the Canadian content of the A-League. It's insufficient in quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tovan1 Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Of course a national domestic professional D2 league is possible in Canada - if you can find the interested owners and sponsors ready to risk their capital (because it will be a huge money pit for at the very least the first five years). So far there has been little evidence that such interest and willingness exists and without it you might as well just continue with your wet dream. Dismissing the idea as a wet dream is counter productive and self-defeating. Things may not have worked out in the past with domestic leagues but what solution do you propose? How can we correct the problems of the past if we dismiss the notion of even thinking of such things as pure fantasy? Things may be working out on the MLS front but it is becoming clearly evident that piggy-backing on US D2 and D3 development is not going to be a long-term solution for development of the Canadian game. The point of my post was to show, in some detail, that there is some interest in that level of the game (whether in US based leagues or otherwise) that could potentially be nurtured. As things develop further with Canadian MLS teams, soccer will be gaining more exposure in Canada not to mention developing more talent. Give the PDL teams a couple years to mature and become more established in their communities. Interest in competitions such as the Voyageurs Cup already exceeds interest in the USOC for the most part. Given some time, there may actually be some people out there who see this as something to work towards. Believe it or not, soccer is growing in Canada and an eventual Canadian league would be the logical result of investment, infrastructure development, and get this…. discussion and debate! How can we even start convincing owners and clubs about putting their hat in a Canadian setup without an organized plan, objective, and goals? We can sit on our hands all tell ourselves that nobody will invest in a Canadian league but where will that get us? It would get us to where we are now, a broken and fragmented system. Have you ever thought that the reason why interest and the willingness to invest have been limited may be due to the fact that there are those who easily dismiss such ideas? I’m not saying it’s a sure thing that anything like this would work but just keeping an open mind about such ideas would be a welcome change to all the negativity that’s thrown around when somebody actually tries to address the issue and discuss ways to improve what currently exists in Canada. Has it not occurred to you that if something is broken, you begin to fix it by exploring alternative solutions? I’m not saying it will be easy or that it would happen anytime soon. Just saying some pieces are falling into place now… give it time, let things develop, and the critical mass required to produce a league in terms of investment, interest, support, facilities will exist to make the jump towards a domestic league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tovan1 Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Won't survive, Tovan, unless the stadium environment is appropriate. The available physical infrastructure -- not club -- simply doesn't exist. You can't make do with substandard facilities, as the fans won't buy in, and most of those you've named are substandard for the expectations of pro soccer fans. The Lansdowne group is committing pro soccer suicide by playing on turf in a stadium designed for co-habitation by a football team, therefore having too much distance between the field and the stands. Fans here have been raised on higher pro soccer expectations from watching the overseas came over the last 20 years of expanding cable TV. It's like asking an accomplished architect to design quonset huts. People don't go backwards in quality unless they have vested interest not in culture and traditions of the football community, but of football itself. YOu're right that some ARE doing this. But they all need to, or we'll have franchises dropping like flies. That's my belief based on what's happened in past leagues. It has to be there from the start. Your method has been tried before, as the CSL, and again as the Canadian content of the A-League. It's insufficient in quality. I should rephrase, I don't mean voila it will happen in 2 years. I meant to say voila it wouldn't be a stretch for it to be possible once difference pieces fall into place given some time. With respect to the Lansdowne group, soccer pitches are narrower than regulation sized CFL fields. The distance between the stands and a soccer pitch would only be an issue in the endzones where it is 20 yards longer on each side. If they can wash the CFL lines off the field something more suitable could be possible. I'm also not proposing that the league be 100% Canadian by a long shot. With the disarray in lower American leagues, it wouldn't be far fetched to assume many American players could be convinced to play in Canada. Hell, Tom Soehn played for Ottawa Intrepid, players like Di Lorenzo in Montreal came to play in Canada. Players seek stability and a stable system in Canada could do much to bring many D2 American and some foreign players to Canada and bring up the level of competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jloome Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 I should rephrase, I don't mean voila it will happen in 2 years. I meant to say voila it wouldn't be a stretch for it to be possible once difference pieces fall into place given some time. With respect to the Lansdowne group, soccer pitches are narrower than regulation sized CFL fields. The distance between the stands and a soccer pitch would only be an issue in the endzones where it is 20 yards longer on each side. If they can wash the CFL lines off the field something more suitable could be possible. I'm also not proposing that the league be 100% Canadian by a long shot. With the disarray in lower American leagues, it wouldn't be far fetched to assume many American players could be convinced to play in Canada. Hell, Tom Soehn played for Ottawa Intrepid, players like Di Lorenzo in Montreal came to play in Canada. Players seek stability and a stable system in Canada could do much to bring many D2 American and some foreign players to Canada and bring up the level of competition. OK, I can see that. Good points.... except if you think about it, the line problem on the fields is the other way around -- They can run a soccer field 120 yards, so the endzones are irrelevant. The space issue is on the sides because, as you note the CFL field is too wide, which pushes the stands back. I guess you could put temporary seating between the stands and the field though if the existing stands are sufficiently high off the ground. Still not ideal, though, with a Footie-specific atmosphere, overhang roof and grass. I realize those are tougher issues with respect to community buy in, but people also underestimate how much extra space is needed by soccer clubs at all levels out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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