The MASL should hyper-regionalize and play as four independent divisions to cut down on travel costs. Something like this...
Midwest: Missouri Comets, Milwaukee Wave, St. Louis Ambush, Chicago Mustangs, Cedar Rapids. Detroit.
Mideast: Youngstown Nighthawks, Rochester Lancers, Syracuse Silver Knights, Harrisburg Heat, Baltimore Blast
Southwest: Tulsa Revolution, Dallas Sidekicks, Oxford City, Wichita B52s, Barracudas of Brownsville, Saltillo, Sonora.
Pacific Coast: Tacoma Stars, Sacramento Surge, Turlock Express, Ontario Fury, San Diego Sockers.
No need for flights. Play each team in your division at least twice home, twice away. Top two in each division plays each other in divisional final series. Have a final four all in one night at one of the four finalists. Only one flight on the year, and for three of the four strongest teams. That's a structure that works, right there.
Friday, June 26, 2015
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Major Arena Soccer League puts the "Major" in Cedar Rapids a bit more than you may know...
Let's make a bold statement here: Cedar Rapids new pro soccer team at the US Cellular Center is the biggest sports team to take root in this city. Will it have the staying power of the Kernels? They can only wish. Will they get mentioned on national broadcasts of the biggest league like the Roughriders? Wishful thinking. Will it produce a superstar once every decade or so as the Kernels or Roughriders do? Probably not. Will it have the attendance figures of the Titans? Let's not kid ourselves, this is football (American style) country. Do any of those teams have players one step below the pinnacle of their sport, have a number of franchises that were once nationally televised big league teams, or will any of the others have games broadcast nationally on ESPN3 and WatchESPN? Don't think so. There will be a whole new nation of sports fans this winter for whom Cedar Rapids will become relevant.
MASL can rightly lay claim to being the "Major" league of it's sport. And before one jumps on the fact that most of it's players are second division NASL, third division USL Pro, or fourth division NPSL outdoor players supplementing their income in the winter, there are still a number of players for whom indoor soccer is their dream. Players who grew up in cities where the indoor game was bigger than the outdoor version, like Cleveland, Detroit, Baltimore, Wichita, Harrisburg, Tacoma and Buffalo. The kids who passionately supported these franchises are now men who have made long careers playing in the MASL (most notably Danny Waltman of Tacoma and Dominic Waza of Las Vegas), hardly batting an eyelash at the outdoor game. No other visiting teams to Cedar Rapids will have players who've been at the pinnacle for as much time as Byron Alvarez or Josh Gardner when the Missouri Comets come to town. Or Tony Walls and Mike Lookinglad of Milwaukee Wave. Or Jeff DiMaria of the St. Louis Ambush. Guys who have played competitive matches on MLS squads. Teams coming to CR will have both future professionals and professional once-was's. And unlike the IFL, the MASL is the pinnacle of its sub-genre of sport.
The MASL holds claim to the longest continuously operating soccer club in the Milwaukee Wave (established in 1984), a number of clubs established in indoor soccer's mid-'80s to early '90s heyday (Harrisburg Heat, Baltimore Blast, St. Louis Ambush, Missouri Comets, Tacoma Stars, and Dallas Sidekicks), as well as two franchises that started all the way back in the original outdoor NASL of Pele, Beckenbauer, the New York Cosmos and the Chicago Sting (namely the Rochester Lancers and San Diego Sockers). So while the structure of the MASL has changed recently (from the merger of the newer PASL and the older MISL), most of its franchises are not fly-by-night operations, but have a significant history in their communities.
We will look at this history of the MASL, where it has been and where it is headed, more in our next installment. But for now we know it's headed to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The city of Five Seasons will be a part of the next chapter of its history. A history which is far longer, far more colorful, and far more "major" than many Eastern Iowans might realize.
ABOVE: Pele playing with the New York Cosmos against the Rochester Lancers, now of the MASL which is coming to Cedar Rapids.
BELOW: The Chicago Sting battle the San Diego Sockers at Wrigley Field. The San Diego Sockers became an indoor dynasty and currently play in the MASL.
MASL can rightly lay claim to being the "Major" league of it's sport. And before one jumps on the fact that most of it's players are second division NASL, third division USL Pro, or fourth division NPSL outdoor players supplementing their income in the winter, there are still a number of players for whom indoor soccer is their dream. Players who grew up in cities where the indoor game was bigger than the outdoor version, like Cleveland, Detroit, Baltimore, Wichita, Harrisburg, Tacoma and Buffalo. The kids who passionately supported these franchises are now men who have made long careers playing in the MASL (most notably Danny Waltman of Tacoma and Dominic Waza of Las Vegas), hardly batting an eyelash at the outdoor game. No other visiting teams to Cedar Rapids will have players who've been at the pinnacle for as much time as Byron Alvarez or Josh Gardner when the Missouri Comets come to town. Or Tony Walls and Mike Lookinglad of Milwaukee Wave. Or Jeff DiMaria of the St. Louis Ambush. Guys who have played competitive matches on MLS squads. Teams coming to CR will have both future professionals and professional once-was's. And unlike the IFL, the MASL is the pinnacle of its sub-genre of sport.
The MASL holds claim to the longest continuously operating soccer club in the Milwaukee Wave (established in 1984), a number of clubs established in indoor soccer's mid-'80s to early '90s heyday (Harrisburg Heat, Baltimore Blast, St. Louis Ambush, Missouri Comets, Tacoma Stars, and Dallas Sidekicks), as well as two franchises that started all the way back in the original outdoor NASL of Pele, Beckenbauer, the New York Cosmos and the Chicago Sting (namely the Rochester Lancers and San Diego Sockers). So while the structure of the MASL has changed recently (from the merger of the newer PASL and the older MISL), most of its franchises are not fly-by-night operations, but have a significant history in their communities.
We will look at this history of the MASL, where it has been and where it is headed, more in our next installment. But for now we know it's headed to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The city of Five Seasons will be a part of the next chapter of its history. A history which is far longer, far more colorful, and far more "major" than many Eastern Iowans might realize.
BELOW: The Chicago Sting battle the San Diego Sockers at Wrigley Field. The San Diego Sockers became an indoor dynasty and currently play in the MASL.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
In the beginning...
I am willing to wager that I am the only dyed-in-the-wool, Hawkeye-haearted, farm-loving Iowa boy whose first love in professional sports was the (drum roll please) Detroit Neon. I can hear the collective "Who?" ring out now. Let's trace this back and bring us to how this year will be momentous for myself and other Eastern Iowa soccer fans.
One of my earliest memories was on a sunny summer day sometime in the mid-80's. My parents brought me to a park (some say Jones) and sat under the pavilion with their friends to socialize. Only the gathering was for something called the Cedar Rapids Comets. As I peered out from the shade, and as the adults talked, I was fascinated by what I saw. I have only a snap shot of that moment in memory, but it was of the goal in front of me and slightly to my right being attacked and ultimately bulged by a strike from a Comets forward. I don't know why this sticks with me, but it does like few sports memories have. Perhaps its because its the moment I became a sports fan.
Fast forward to 1994 and a move to Michigan that had happened a year before. It was my first summer back in Iowa. The back page of the Gazette was laid out and my Dad was showing me the details of the World Cup, about to kick off that week in the USA. I had no idea it was coming. Soccer had came and went (after two years of playing in 3rd and 4th grade) in seemingly a fleeting a fashion as that memory of the Comets. I was a dedicated baseball fan, going back to our family season tickets to the Cedar Rapids Reds, who managed to become successful in those intervening years. But baseball had betrayed me in the previous year, having gone on strike. I was still bitter, and like a man going back to a lover who had jilted them, my eyes were open. Enter that summer and that magical World Cup, with its Stoichkovs, its Baggios, and its resurgent team USA. The faded spark lit at that CR Comets match was given new flame.
MLS was not yet there to capitalize on this soccer surge. The A-League had a huge upswing in those years of 1994-'96, but it was a second division league. There was no franchise in nearby either at that time. I had to look elsewhere for a club. That elsewhere was the Palace of Auburn Hills and the Detroit Neon. The CISL was launched by NBA owners wanting to fill their buildings in summer with no big-time outdoor league. Luckily, the Pistons had one of those owners. Playing against the remnants of the great NASL (which I will get to in a coming piece) the Neon were led by a bald Eastern European maestro nicknamed "Drago". Drago and the Neon were one of the best teams in the CISL, on and off the field. Watching every game on PASS Network, I played as the Neon everywhere. I used our trees as a goal outside, even got our carpet in the basement to be a green turf-like monstrosity that friends would help me clear furniture out for our arena (my mom suffered some broken furniture as casualties to this obsession). It was big time to me, and it seemed big time a lot of places in that post-World Cup pre-MLS couple years. It was featured in sports magazines, catalogs carried team gear, and matches were shown on national television from across the country.
Alas, MLS came into the picture, outdoor soccer slowly took root in the US with the best players choosing to ply their trade there, and indoor soccer was on the decline. Now, here I am, back in Cedar Rapids, my boyhood home, and we have this in Cedar Rapids, we will face Detroit (now the Flo) and Milwaukee, and Missouri. I hope there are many kids that be as wide-eyed as I was as that boy at the park. It's no coincidence that first club experience sticks out. I feel like I probably would not have been a fan had I not had a team I felt was my own. Now kids across the Tech Corridor of Iowa, from Waterloo-Cedar Falls, to Iowa City-Coralville, to Cedar Rapids can have that moment. Hopefully, their parents furniture can survive beyond this winter.
One of my earliest memories was on a sunny summer day sometime in the mid-80's. My parents brought me to a park (some say Jones) and sat under the pavilion with their friends to socialize. Only the gathering was for something called the Cedar Rapids Comets. As I peered out from the shade, and as the adults talked, I was fascinated by what I saw. I have only a snap shot of that moment in memory, but it was of the goal in front of me and slightly to my right being attacked and ultimately bulged by a strike from a Comets forward. I don't know why this sticks with me, but it does like few sports memories have. Perhaps its because its the moment I became a sports fan.
Fast forward to 1994 and a move to Michigan that had happened a year before. It was my first summer back in Iowa. The back page of the Gazette was laid out and my Dad was showing me the details of the World Cup, about to kick off that week in the USA. I had no idea it was coming. Soccer had came and went (after two years of playing in 3rd and 4th grade) in seemingly a fleeting a fashion as that memory of the Comets. I was a dedicated baseball fan, going back to our family season tickets to the Cedar Rapids Reds, who managed to become successful in those intervening years. But baseball had betrayed me in the previous year, having gone on strike. I was still bitter, and like a man going back to a lover who had jilted them, my eyes were open. Enter that summer and that magical World Cup, with its Stoichkovs, its Baggios, and its resurgent team USA. The faded spark lit at that CR Comets match was given new flame.
MLS was not yet there to capitalize on this soccer surge. The A-League had a huge upswing in those years of 1994-'96, but it was a second division league. There was no franchise in nearby either at that time. I had to look elsewhere for a club. That elsewhere was the Palace of Auburn Hills and the Detroit Neon. The CISL was launched by NBA owners wanting to fill their buildings in summer with no big-time outdoor league. Luckily, the Pistons had one of those owners. Playing against the remnants of the great NASL (which I will get to in a coming piece) the Neon were led by a bald Eastern European maestro nicknamed "Drago". Drago and the Neon were one of the best teams in the CISL, on and off the field. Watching every game on PASS Network, I played as the Neon everywhere. I used our trees as a goal outside, even got our carpet in the basement to be a green turf-like monstrosity that friends would help me clear furniture out for our arena (my mom suffered some broken furniture as casualties to this obsession). It was big time to me, and it seemed big time a lot of places in that post-World Cup pre-MLS couple years. It was featured in sports magazines, catalogs carried team gear, and matches were shown on national television from across the country.
Alas, MLS came into the picture, outdoor soccer slowly took root in the US with the best players choosing to ply their trade there, and indoor soccer was on the decline. Now, here I am, back in Cedar Rapids, my boyhood home, and we have this in Cedar Rapids, we will face Detroit (now the Flo) and Milwaukee, and Missouri. I hope there are many kids that be as wide-eyed as I was as that boy at the park. It's no coincidence that first club experience sticks out. I feel like I probably would not have been a fan had I not had a team I felt was my own. Now kids across the Tech Corridor of Iowa, from Waterloo-Cedar Falls, to Iowa City-Coralville, to Cedar Rapids can have that moment. Hopefully, their parents furniture can survive beyond this winter.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)