Enlightening Fixtures
February 8th, 2010
They’ve announced the schedule for the shotgun marriage USSF 2nd Division soccer league that will bridge us from 2009’s Season of Internal Unpleasantness to 2011’s Season of Complete Chaos. The 12 teams in the hodgepodge league will each play 30 games from early April to early October (that’s 26 weeks, kids - half the year) before the two division winners and the next six best teams go into the playoffs1.
My team, the FC Tampa Bay Rowdies2, plays six of its first seven on the road and opens at home May 8 against Austin at Steinbrenner Field, right across from the former site of Tampa Stadium, where the original Rowdies ran here and ran there and kicked the ball around.
| Day | Date | Opponent |
|---|---|---|
| Friday | 4/16/2010 | at Crystal Palace Baltimore |
| Saturday | 4/24/2010 | at NSC Minnesota Stars |
| Saturday | 5/1/2010 | at Miami FC Blues |
| Saturday | 5/8/2010 | AUSTIN AZTEX |
| Friday | 5/14/2010 | at Carolina RailHawks |
| Wednesday | 5/19/2010 | at Austin Aztex |
| Saturday | 5/22/2010 | at AC St. Louis |
| Thursday | 5/27/2010 | NSC MINNESOTA STARS |
| Saturday | 5/29/2010 | PUERTO RICO ISLANDERS |
| Sunday | 6/6/2010 | at Vancouver Whitecaps |
| Saturday | 6/12/2010 | MONTREAL IMPACT |
| Saturday | 6/19/2010 | at Puerto Rico Islanders |
| Sunday | 6/27/2010 | at Portland Timbers |
| Sunday | 7/4/2010 | MIAMI FC BLUES |
| Saturday | 7/10/2010 | at NSC Minnesota Stars |
| Thursday | 7/15/2010 | PUERTO RICO ISLANDERS |
| Thursday | 7/22/2010 | ROCHESTER RHINOS |
| Sunday | 7/25/2010 | MIAMI FC BLUES |
| Saturday | 7/31/2010 | PORTLAND TIMBERS |
| Saturday | 8/7/2010 | at Austin Aztex |
| Wednesday | 8/11/2010 | at Puerto Rico Islanders |
| Saturday | 8/14/2010 | at Miami FC Blues |
| Saturday | 8/21/2010 | VANCOUVER WHITECAPS |
| Wednesday | 8/25/2010 | CAROLINA RAILHAWKS |
| Sunday | 8/29/2010 | AC ST. LOUIS |
| Saturday | 9/11/2010 | at Rochester Rhinos |
| Thursday | 9/16/2010 | AUSTIN AZTEX |
| Sunday | 9/19/2010 | at Montreal Impact |
| Friday | 9/24/2010 | NSC MINNESOTA STARS |
| Friday | 10/1/2010 | CRYSTAL PALACE BALTIMORE |
Having a third of their home games played midweek won’t help the ticket sales for the new team, but that’s the price you pay when you have to work your schedule around a minor-league baseball team. If they can ever get their proposed soccer stadium built, that won’t be an issue in the future3.
1 - Yeah, go figure…a league with two teams called FC, another called AC and one named after an English club is going to have playoffs.
2 - Stupid, lawsuit-inspired name.
3 - And if my mom had two wheels, she’d be a bicycle. Or a Segway.


