Sure, there’s a lot more Abrams could’ve done; hell, I want to see them reboot the whole damn weekly series in this universe. Not happening, of course. (Once again, four years between movies is too damn long.)

Oh, and “Don’t Stand So Close To Me ’86″ is an abomination. I refused to play it college, and I refuse today it now. (Just sayin’.)

Orlando is way far ahead of Tampa Bay at the moment, as they have a mayor who is apparently in their corner and they are far better-funded than the Rowdies.

New York actually does do far better of coming close to filling RBA than they used to at the Meadowlands (obviously) and they are (also obviously) doing much better financially without paying rent to the NJSEA. Appearances are not everything.

*If Tampa Bay doesn’t get their act together, they’ll probably lose out to Orlando. (Yes, I know their SSS took a hit from the legislature, but where they’re playing now seems to be working for them, at least until they can get their own stadium built.)

*I’m going to see VAN @ NY in a few weeks. It’s a honey of stadium…too bad they can’t fill it up, or even come close…

Which “guys” do you think came up with the idea of two soccer teams in Tampa (even though one is in St. Pete and one is in Plant City)? There isn’t one set of “guys” that decided to do them in tandem. VSI has this strange idea that they can have this American-based brand extension and get something done in the Tampa market where no one else has been able to.

New England and Chicago have notoriously bad front offices, I’d put that ahead of weather concerns (though I think starting the season as early as MLS did this year may have hurt them in some places). Columbus, I don’t know. They have drawn very well at times in the past.

The Goats aren’t moving immediately. And they’re just the latest in a line of teams whose announced attendance figures have dipped below a certain point, triggering knee-jerk “Move them” responses. MLS doesn’t pull the trigger that quickly. If they did, there would be several teams today not in their original homes.

It’s kind of like Don’t Stand So Close To Me ’86. It can exist alongside the original, a different take, it’s totally fine. I don’t care about the canon so much as most seem to.

But Abrams gave himself an “out” in the first reboot with the alternate timeline bit. He should have taken more of an opportunity to use it.

Oh, and Simon Pegg looked like 10 miles of bad road. I don’t know why.

*Would a Bay-area team draw better in SF, say, or Oakland? (Failing that, can we move this Quakes team to Houston, too?)

*Goats to San Antonio, or Orlando. Like, immediately.

*Maybe having *two* soccer teams in Tampa is not such a great idea, huh, guys?

No shit.

My point is: there’s a difference between a profit-making venture and a blatant money grab. I’m not saying this has reached that point yet (Hangover 3? Blatant money grab.), but many of them do.

(Also, this.)