November 15, 2007
Mike Ambersley has signed a two year contract with Atlanta Silverbacks ending his Rhinos career after two seasons in Rochester.
Ambersley was limited to only 14 USL 1st Division regular season games in 2007 due to a variety of lower body injuries including a bruised foot.
The Indiana University product was one of the free agents that the Rhinos were hoping to retain this offseason. But apparently Atlanta made Mike an offer he couldn't refuse.
The MLS in Seattle movement is full speed ahead
The Seattle MLS franchise has already received deposits for 3000 season tickets.
And while some in the media are talking positive about the ownership group, the optimism that the announcement has created, and the fact that the 10 year effort has finally garnered fruit, there is at least one media member that is bringing up the age old debate about whether MLS is truly "big-time soccer".
My guess is that Mr. Thiel's e-mail account is getting bombarded by soccer lovers in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
Other News & Notes
- Yanks Abroad has a nice little article on what MLS still needs to work on. The best part to me is how the need for depth on MLS rosters seems to fly in the face of the league's desire to keep expanding.
- The Kraft family is paying for Revs fans to bus down from Foxboro to RFK for Sunday's MLS Cup final. It will be interesting to see the fan mix at the game on Sunday. One advantage that Houston fans have is that their favored clothing color of orange will show up more prominently in the crowd.
- The Columbus Crew may be in serious trouble as their best player may not be back in 2008. If I were the Crew, I'd make Schelotto a Designated Player level offer.
- Imagine that, it's taking Pennsylvania a long time to finalize funding for a potential MLS stadium in Chester, PA. I'm stunned!
- Peter Wilt has stepped down from his position as the lead person in the attempt to get an MLS team in Milwaukee. The former Chicago Fire GM has previously been named as a member of the front office for the Chicago team that is slated to play in the new women's pro league that is now slated to start up in 2009. Wilt is also looking at other ventures. I would love to see Peter be the next Rhinos GM, but I doubt that would ever happen.
- The Vancouver Sun has an article saying that if the city doesn't get a new stadium, that moving to MLS is not going to happen. The Whitecaps have been trying to get work started on a new 15,000 seat stadium, but surprise, surprise, progress is slow.
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Rochester Rhinos or SoccerSam.com. Feel free to send any comments or complaints to news@soccersam.com. James promises to read (but not to respond) to all of them.
