Author Topic: Soccer Discussion: 1.67% Chance of Being the Best Thread on the NWR Forums  (Read 228182 times)

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Offline Soren

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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #525 on: November 30, 2016, 11:29:20 AM »
It's tough as an outsider to look at the Cosmos winning the second division title 3 out of 4 years and have no means of moving up the ladder while a team like the Chicago Fire putz around the bottom of the MLS for 3 straight years with no real punishment. One of those teams should be the one shutting it down, but it's an effed up situation. I don't want this to end up as a trite rehash of the promotion/relegation argument but I don't understand why anyone would want to operate a lower division club in the United States with the realities of US Soccer/MLS's business model. Specially now that it seems like MLS will have full control of the upper tiers of the sport in the US.

Puerto Rico FC/Carmelo Anthony still look like they'll play somewhere next year. The team just earned a berth to the 2017 CFU Club Championship, which opens the road for a potential Champions League appearance, which will most certainly be attractive for any league that will have them.
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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #526 on: November 30, 2016, 12:25:00 PM »
USL would be a great landing spot for them. The travel schedule would be much nicer there than it was in the NASL.
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Offline rygar

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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #527 on: November 30, 2016, 09:55:45 PM »
When I was in early elementary school I got to see Pele, Beckenbauer, and the rest of the galacticos play the then current Cosmos team at the Meadowlands and season or two before the franchise folded. Still remember the "Cos-Mos" clap and chant.

I've been to a few USL games in PA the last couple of years. To be honest the pricing is a bit ridiculous for the quality. Tickets were nearly $30 to get into a high school football stadium and the concessions were more than minor league baseball.

Offline Soren

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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #528 on: December 01, 2016, 12:38:38 AM »
I've been to a few USL games in PA the last couple of years. To be honest the pricing is a bit ridiculous for the quality. Tickets were nearly $30 to get into a high school football stadium and the concessions were more than minor league baseball.


That's ridiculous. I paid just above $10 per game for season tickets to Puerto Rico FC, and this was in a league that was supposedly higher tier than the USL.
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Offline Shaymin

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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #529 on: December 01, 2016, 07:13:21 AM »
Kind of wish I was able to watch the Eastern Conference final, that sounded like two legs of absolute insanity.

the upcoming Canadian Premier League

Phwar?

I don't think there'd be a team in my area though - the biggest soccer stadia in the area are for the universities and they only seat a few thousand unless temporary seating is erected. We have enough trouble building a 20-30k CFL-ready stadium.
« Last Edit: December 01, 2016, 07:16:16 AM by Shaymin »
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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #530 on: December 01, 2016, 11:10:56 AM »
The CPL's going to be official most likely sometime this month. It's largely in partnership with the CFL, so if you do have a team in that you might be in line to get one here too.

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Offline rygar

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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #531 on: December 01, 2016, 09:05:43 PM »
My three favorite codes of football are American, rugby union, and association and I'm going to have a massive Saturday.

England-Australia kicks off the day. I don't have a rooting interest but I love watching Eddie Jones' England team and the Australian back row is fabulous. It's also taken a nasty edge, even for the already bitter England-Australia rivalry. The Autumn internationals have been outstanding.

That leads into el clasico. Barca has obviously been struggling lately, but Iniestia is back, and this is just the type of game to bring clarity of purpose back to their season. My starting XI would be Navas - Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo - Kovacic, Casemiro, Modric - Lucas, Benzema, Ronaldo. Zidane is a ridiculous +10 and +15 vis-a-vis Barca's and Atletico's respective points totals since becoming manager.

I didn't go to Temple, but I have a lot of affection for Philadelphia, and Temple is a big part of the city. They are up against it again in the AAC championship game given how Navy's offense is humming, but I think they have an excellent chance. Matt Rhule and Ken Niumataolo are power five quality coaches.

I didn't go to Penn State either, but there are probably ten PSU degrees in my family, including my wife's two. My earliest sports memory is the Sugar Bowl loss to Alabama and I've been to more of their games than any other team (although the Yankees are quickly gaining). I'm already thrilled with the season, but a B1G title could potentially be the most shocking championships a team I follow has ever won.

Jets have been trash, but Penn, Penn State, and Temple have more than compensated, and Madrid is always a blast to follow.

Offline rygar

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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #532 on: December 02, 2016, 11:28:24 AM »
Tomorrow just got even better now that I've noticed City-Chelsea is in the morning.

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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #533 on: December 02, 2016, 08:03:20 PM »
It's really hard to not get excited about this current U.S. Under-17 squad. There may not be a Pulisic-caliber player (though Andrew Carleton really isn't that far off from it), but there is some serious talent on this team. The reforms to the U.S. Soccer Development Academy from years ago are finally starting to take hold and produce some serious results.
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Offline rygar

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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #534 on: December 02, 2016, 08:06:00 PM »
Shame about Gooch.

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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #535 on: December 02, 2016, 08:14:31 PM »
As an American player with that name, major injury was inevitable.
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Offline rygar

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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #536 on: December 02, 2016, 08:17:01 PM »
Ha, I admit when I first saw the headline, for a second I was like WTF?

Offline Soren

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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #537 on: December 03, 2016, 12:26:23 PM »
An absolute shameful display by Aguero and Fernandinho today. Embarrassing and indefensible by all accounts. That being said Fabregas deserves some form of punishment for smacking Fernandinho in the face.
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Offline rygar

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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #538 on: December 03, 2016, 12:42:22 PM »
I don't blame Fernandinho much, it's hard to take a slap in the face in a situation like that.

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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #539 on: December 05, 2016, 08:14:42 PM »
With today's news of the New York Cosmos terminating all contracts, I think it's safe to say now that the North American Soccer League 2.0 is really and truly dead. Reports are that the only teams not currently in negotiations to be absorbed into the USL are the aforementioned Cosmos, Ft. Lauderdale Strikers, Rayo OKC, and Edmonton FC, with Edmonton likely taking the next year off before joining the Canadian Premier League when it starts up in 2018.

As poorly run and misguided as the league was, it's still a shame to see them fold. Their high ambition, while probably a big part of their downfall, was good for American soccer. Now the USL will be the only professional lower division league in the U.S., which has its positives and negatives. Hopefully it will continue to grow and thrive as it has been in recent years.
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Offline Soren

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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #540 on: December 06, 2016, 01:21:34 AM »
I do wonder about the future of the second division. Teams like Indy Eleven and Miami FC really hitched on to the idea of the NASL, and developed teams that fit that model, which would run counter to how the MLS would run the USL as a second division(I don't know how they run it exactly).


Also, there's a sizable financial commitment for any teams playing in a second division, as stated by US Soccer's rules. How many teams are willing to do that. Tampa Bay was moving down to USL probably because they couldn't make the same financial commitment they had made before.
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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #541 on: December 06, 2016, 01:50:02 AM »
The USL was already in the process of applying for D2 status before all this happened, with an official announcement expected this month, so the teams in that league were already onboard for meeting those standards. Also, to clarify, MLS doesn't run the USL. They have a partnership, but they're still separate independent leagues, and there's actually a bit of tension between them right now about exactly how that partnership should be implemented. The USL leadership isn't happy with the way the MLS 2 teams are currently being run.
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Offline Soren

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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #542 on: December 06, 2016, 09:59:34 AM »
Looking at the team list on Wiki, there are 13 teams that wouldn't fit the D2 criteria of having a 5,000 seat minimum capacity stadium. I've always felt that the lower league standards have been ridiculous given the closed nature of the US soccer pyramid, and this whole NASL collapse has now highlighted that these requirements have grown worse since then. I get that you want to stabilize the lower leagues and try and build a stable pyramid but I don't see how you can attract good investors and partners when their chances of growth are essentially capped by the structure of the leagues.

And that's before you get into the whole argument of reserve teams playing against fully independent teams so high up in the pyramid.
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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #543 on: December 06, 2016, 11:49:23 AM »
They're going to need a waiver on some of the requirements as they upgrade stadiums and whatnot, just as the NASL had needed one for things like the requirement for having teams in three time zones, but they're committed to meeting them. Long term it seems likely that USL will split into two divisions, with a lower league that's technically D3 for the reserve teams and smallerindependents. Bringing in all the teams they're reported to be, they're going to be getting close to 40 teams, so they're going to need a good way to handle that many.
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Offline Soren

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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #544 on: December 06, 2016, 08:53:35 PM »
I don't have anything against any league really, I just think the standards need to be relaxed more.
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Offline rygar

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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #545 on: December 08, 2016, 07:55:49 AM »
I thought yesterday was a good game although I'm obviously disappointed in the result. Pulisic seemed pretty quiet until the end of the first half. It was hard to get my head around the fact that I was watching an 18 year old from Hershey running around the Bernabeu competeing against some of the very best players in the world.

Monday's draw is very intriguing. I'd rather Madrid won the group, but they have an easier draw from Pot 2 since it means they are garunteed to miss Bayern, City, PSG, along with Barca, Atleti, and Dortmund. There are still formidable teams in Pot 1 to be drawn, and certainly nothing is garunteed, but it's a little silver lining.

Oh Arsenal, you finally win your group, and you are still looking at a potential brutal draw. At least you are garunteed to miss Barca, City, and Juve.
« Last Edit: December 09, 2016, 09:57:39 AM by rygar »

Offline rygar

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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #546 on: December 08, 2016, 08:17:30 AM »
https://twitter.com/misterchiping/status/806616020517613574

I can't figure out how to embed tweets from my phone but the above links to a breakdown of the probability of  potential draws.

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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #547 on: December 10, 2016, 05:22:02 PM »
I'm a nervous wreck right now. I've already watched one of my teams lose a winner-take-all game for a championship this year, and I'd really rather not do it again. I realize that regardless of the outcome, going from 9th in the West at the end of July to the MLS Cup final is an amazing turnaround, but we're so close to the one domestic trophy we haven't won yet that it would still be incredibly disappointing to lose now.
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Offline Shaymin

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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #548 on: December 10, 2016, 11:17:11 PM »
So despite having home field, and only allowing three shots over 120 minutes, I have to ask:

"Do you suffer from dizziness, double vision or seizures?
Then why did you take a penalty for Toronto?"
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Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
« Reply #549 on: December 10, 2016, 11:40:19 PM »


It wasn't pretty, it wasn't a good advertisement for the league, but the Seattle Sounders won the only piece of domestic silverware they had yet to win. Stefan Frei unquestionably man of the match, with one of the best saves you'll ever see to keep it tied late in extra time. Here's to winning the treble next year, and CONCACAF Champions League in 2018.

EDIT: Seriously, watch this save: https://streamable.com/xa1k Not to mention Frei used to play for Toronto FC, before the front office gave up on him and traded him to us for almost nothing.
« Last Edit: December 10, 2016, 11:55:37 PM by NWR_insanolord »
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