There almost appears to be a race to fill the upper 3 tiers’ spots while they are available. At some point, these levels will get saturated with clubs and ambitious new clubs will turn to organizing the levels below the top three leagues with the intent of getting promoted into the top 3 tiers.

One of my favorite things about the current USL climate is that teams self-relegate or self-delay their startup when they realize they are in over their heads. It is self awareness - an important step on the pathway to promotion/relegation.

This was always a trip game for Madison. Congrats to Richmond for a nice result at the end of a disappointing season.

There must be a good joke about Sharktopus and the long arms of justice…or something, but I guess this is very serious to them if they are filing an official complaint. I would think you would need clear and obvious evidence in the eyes of who they are appealing to which is a very high bar to meet.

She is a really interesting problem solver - a great combination of strong possession concentration with one eye always looking for penetration possibilities. You can’t ever relax on the one hand or over commit on the other. Her ability to maintain elite match awareness belies her age.

Wow! At a time when the City of Modesto are trying to build a soccer stadium and join USL, it is important to remember that this element of club will always exist in any city. Fortunately for all of us, these kinds of clubs are drawn to and find a home in NISA - that is now NISA’s function.

They certainly don’t respect the sport - on any level. They see being cynical as what the smart people do.

We mis-understand what a great coach is. A great coach puts the journey of the players first - not their own. The evidence of a great coach can't just be measured in wins and losses - it has to be measured differently for every single team and player they coach - that doesn't work on sports center.

Sacramento Republic are much more impressive to me live than online or in highlights. They have a refusal to lose gear that is incredibly impressive to see in person.

I see them all areas where there was never any crime, but I think that is better than areas where there is crime because they are completely unfamiliar with the histories of the neighborhoods and the people that inhabit them so they would actually cause more problems there.

Audi Field is one of the best locations for a soccer stadium in the country. The Spirit are showing how much of an asset it can be as a home field. The only problem for DC United is that you have to want to be good at soccer for the model to work and that starts from the top.

CONCACAF W Champions Cup - Washington Spirit vs Rise Academy of Vancouver. Rise Academy did their best to pack 11 in their box at all times, but Spirit still up 3-0 at the half.

I didn’t say that the Open Cup built the game - you threw that in completely yourself. Typically, people do that when they are in argument mode. Based on what you’ve said, you would be better served by expanding your thinking, not narrowing it.

They do in Europe because it is best for the game, but they don’t do it here because they are way too ego centric and don’t realize that building the game will make their league stronger than possible with their current approach. It is a giant blind spot.

Placing the games on weeknights makes it worse. They can make the Open Cup better by playing the games on weekends. If they have schedule congestion, they can cancel Leagues Cup which the Liga MX clubs already don’t take seriously. All problems solved.

I would rather watch stuff that grows the game. This regresses the game. It is moving the game away from competition and instead toward spectacle. You can get a lot of casual fans when you have Messi in your league, but if this is what you do with it, you wasted the opportunity to get better.

DC Power FC come back to share the points with Spokane Zephyr. 2-2

Pet peeve about DC Power FC’s forwards - they check back straight to the ball. This makes them incredibly easy and predecible to defend against and makes it incredibly hard for their team to maintain possession. They are working very hard, but that needs to be better at the pro level.

Spokane equalize with a beautiful near post run and header. They definitely have a way they go about trying to score and that was a great example of how they do it. Another header - up 2-1 over DC now.

Spokane are good in the air. Playing with more of a sense of purpose.

DC Power FC definitely have a bend but don’t break way of playing. Hard to score on…and the offense works best when they play direct. Up 1-0 on Zephyr FC.

DC Power vs Spokane

I am looking forward to seeing her play live this Saturday night. She was impressive throughout the highlights.

Keep doing what you’re doing.

Wow! That would be amazing. I will be looking for it in the news. I appreciate you spreading the word.

Awesome! Thanks for the update!

The ride from Ashburn to Rosslyn is 50 - 55 minutes and that just gets you to the edge of destination stuff and that’s without common delays. People in Loudoun often do what it takes, but a local team that is really connected like the Annapolis Blues are would be a huge hit in my opinion.

There is potential for a really good niche in Loudoun. It is far enough away from DC where it is a challenge to drive into the city from there in traffic. Loudoun has a huge youth soccer population that could have been really exploited much better. From the start, they have never tried that hard.

It’s what he has done with what he’s had. It is hard to express just how bare bones the Loudoun operation is. Quite frankly, I question if this franchise can survive as USL expands and moves forward. They don’t seem to have any motivation to keep up - at all.

As someone who goes to their games, he is keeping that club’s story somewhat positive while the owners allow the stadium and everything around it to deteriorate in just about every way possible. This speaks very badly for the club’s future, if they are dismissing him. We will see what happens.