September 1, 2009
More than a few USL owners are ticked off.
But, Ottawa wants to join the USL 1st Division.
Is the USL at a crossroads?
Or are the changes that have been announced largely cosmetic and the status quo will remain?
It will definitely be a very interesting off season. It will also be interesting to see if NuRock sits down with the Team Owners Association soon and talk things over.
Or, will the TOA attempt to form a break away league this off season? And if they do, which league will Rochester align itself with? The TOA has some interesting members with the former owners in Atlanta, likely Jeff Cooper in St. Louis, Tampa Bay who has yet to play a game in USL-1, and Vancouver and Montreal who might both be in MLS in 2 or 3 years.
This could end up having more twists than the Rhinos bankruptcy saga!
News & Notes:
- The D&C gives some love to Scott Vallow's beach soccer tournament from over the weekend.
- Ze Roberto was named to the USL-1 Team of the Week thanks to his tying goal in Vancouver.
- If the US-Honduras game isn't on TV, I'm going to be upset.
- There was another USL-1 roster freeze day move made with Carolina sending forward Aaron King to Miami FC.
- Rochester looks to be the toughest team left on Portland's regular season slate. After they host the Rhinos on Thursday, they have a home and home with Austin and two home games versus Cleveland. Not exactly the toughest stretch run.
- Add Patrick Vieira to the list of players that might be interested in an MLS swan song.
- That is one big US Open Cup trophy rolling in a VW.
- The back and forth between DC & Seattle ahead of the Open Cup final has been fun to watch.
- 2 games for diving? That's harsh. But I do like the message it sends to players.
- Charlie Davies likes the pace of play in France after his move from Sweden.
- Ridge Mahoney's latest at SI.com takes a look at Jonathan Spector as he tries to get back into the USMNT Starting XI.
- I hope the NY Cosmos aren't turned into soccer's answer to the Harlem Globetrotters.
- I love the picture of the kid with the Fellaini wig!
- This is an interesting list of candidates for the Red Bulls technical director job.
- If you want to add some soccer books to the library, here is a good list to start from.
- MLS gets Budweiser and the NFL gets Bud Light. That's not a bad trade!
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.
