March 21, 2008
Here is my stream of consciousness based on yesterday's news conference:
- Love the name, hate the logo. The new logo looks amateurish in execution when compared to the original logo. While I like the idea of getting away from the "Raging" Rhinos and tweaking the look, I was hoping for more of a classic look that would have been anchored by a profile silhouette of a rhino. Perhaps they could have simply used the Rhinos team MVP trophy for the base of the logo?
And don't get me started on the plain font for the name or the look on Rex's face. My guess is that they wanted Rex to look mean. But to me, I'm getting more of a perplexed "Where did my soccer ball go?" vibe.
- Kicking Delaware North to the curb can't happen soon enough.
But, I hope fans are willing to allow for a learning curve once that happens. I don't see local companies getting things to the Frontier Field level without any growing pains.
- I really hope that the roster page on the website gets updated to accurately reflect who is under contract and expected back and who isn't. I'm hearing that there are only 15 or 16 players under contract today, yet there are 19 players listed on the website. I know we can cross Bertz off the list. But, having something official would be nice.
- I can't wait to find out what's up with the coaching situation.
- Will shuttles from Frontier Field to PAETEC Park make a huge difference? Somehow, I doubt it. It's always much, much harder to win fans back than to try and make sure you don't lose them in the first place. They need to do some really special things on the field to get people back and not just ship them in from Frontier.
News & Notes:
- Mark Pallo has posted the importable 2008 Rhinos schedule at The RhinoPit.com.
- US Soccer.com, Yanks Abroad, Big Apple Soccer.com, Steven Goff, and MLSNet.com are all over the 3-0 stomping that the US laid on Canada last night to qualify for the 2008 Olympics in China. Thankfully the US saved up the offense for the game that meant the most!
- Steve Pastorino takes a look at how the Earthquakes are building their expansion team from the backline out. While it may make it hard to sell attacking soccer by going this route, I do think this is the quickest path to being competitive.
- All right Rhinos fans, start lobbying Beckham RIGHT NOW!
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.
