October 14, 2010
I think Devo was spot on with one thing: nobody KNOWS what the future holds.
Whether it's the future of the Rhinos or the future of NASL, USL, or the USSF D2 Pro League, it's all TBD as we move from the 2010 season that just concluded for the Rhinos and move towards a 2011 season.
Things are so cloudy that I have people emailing me rumors that the Rhinos have signed deals for 2011 with the NASL AND the USL.
The whole league situation could have huge implications moving forward on the field. The cleanest situation would appear to be if the NASL gets approved as a 2nd division league for 2011 and the Rhinos play in the NASL or the NASL gets shot down and the USL PRO League is the best league outside MLS and the Rhinos go that route.
Any scenario where the Rhinos are playing in the best league outside MLS means that they will have fewer questions about retaining talent off of this year's team.
But, if the NASL is the 2nd Division league and the Rhinos play in the USL PRO League, it will be interesting to see if Bob Lilley is willing to coach a 3rd Division team and how many of the players that have MLS aspirations are willing to stick around in Rochester.
And that isn't even getting into all the off the field drama that the Rhinos have always seemed to have going on ever since they moved away from Frontier Field.
News & Notes:
- The USL has a couple more videos with Chris Economides talking about the I-League. One in on differentiators and one is on the structure.
- FC Tampa Bay needs a new nickname.....
- Abby Wambach is on the 20 player USWNT roster for World Cup Qualifying in Mexico.
- Here are the highlights from Tuesday night's US-Colombia friendly.
- Steve Davis looks at Bob Bradley's line up experiment against Colombia and Avi Creditor likes what Stuart Holden and Jermaine Jones bring to the US midfield.
- All is not perfect in Seattle and Toronto.
- Juan Pablo Angel says that he won't be back in NY in 2011. That's too bad.
- Omaha's mayor wants an MLS team in his city.
- The tug of war over control of Liverpool is now in a Texas court.
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.
