A few notes:

• MLS projects out (if everybody holds their current average) to draw more than six million in 2012 and to break their all-time average record. Montreal’s average is going to drop (obviously) once they move back into the renovated Saputo Stadium. Also, for the moment, Montreal leads the league in average attendance, the first time in a while Seattle hasn’t been there.
• San Antonio has taken Montreal’s spot as the NASL attendance leader, despite getting increasingly diminishing crowds after a 13,000+ opener. Atlanta and Carolina are both up nicely in average attendance over the same number of home games as a year ago (as is Minnesota, but that’s more a function of their large Metrodome opener skewing a small sample). But Fort Lauderdale, Tampa Bay, Edmonton and Puerto Rico are down (the latter two because of venue shifts). Tampa Bay, which lost 25% off its 2010 numbers by moving to St. Petersburg, got the supposedly magical “Rowdies” identity back and are now down another 10%. Nostalgia is great, but it doesn’t always sell like you think it will.
• Rochester lead Division II in average for years, and they’re leading Division III for the moment on the strength of a home opening crowd not everyone believed was 7,959. Orlando continues to draw extremely well. There’s been no significant change among the other teams, though Los Angeles had a decent (2,432) home opener and now are back to drawing hundreds.
• The PDL season is fully underway, with Des Moines and Fresno once again up top (all of Fresno’s tickets are free through a sponsorship deal) and the league so far running almost 100% ahead of its normal average (I’m missing six games worth of attendance figures here early). Carolina also drew well for its home opener this weekend (2,741). As you can see, many PDL teams put development ahead of everything else, and their attendance figures reflect that.
• Though it’s too early to do a full chart on it, the WPSL Elite season (featuring the remnants of WPS and a few other ambitious clubs) opened this past weekend, with Chesapeake drawing an estimated 400 to their opener on Thursday and last year’s WPS champions, Western New York, getting 1,304 to theirs. Obviously, it helps to have Alex Morgan. The W-League season is also underway and also too early to chart, but Charlotte drew 559 to its Friday opener, while Tampa (playing in Brandon) drew 90 to its Sunday opener.
• As always, standard disclaimers about announced figures apply. If I had drop counts, you’d get those, too, but I don’t, so these numbers are the ones we have. YMMV.

It’s interesting that Minneapolis takes the top spot, though it’s all NASL and only seven seasons of that. The accomplishments of the Cosmos at the gate are brought down a bit by their precursors, the Generals and Skyliners, and by the MetroStars/Red Bulls. Seattle gets a boost from the current-day Sounders, but the original Sounders averaged 18,322 in 10 NASL seasons, ranking them fourth in the original league’s standings behind Minneapolis, New York and Tampa (who gets hurt in the combined rankings by the Mutiny). MLS is in 16 of the top 20 markets on this list, missing only Minneapolis, Tampa, Tulsa and Calgary.

I wouldn’t read a lot into this because the two eras are so very different and the leagues went about things in very different manners (if you’re curious, the NASL averaged 10,749 over its lifetime, while MLS’ all-time average is 15,744, almost 50% higher). I just thought it was interesting.

Most of us believed Reyna and Meola were locks, and Captain America got a higher vote percentage (96.08%) than anyone in the modern era other than Mia Hamm (97.16% five years ago). Only Eric Wynalda and Michelle Akers have topped 90% since 2004. Marco Etcheverry finished third with 58.82%, just above where he was last year. The only real interesting thing in the rest of the top 10 (which was all they announced), at least to me, was that Jason Kreis got double the support he did a year ago (up to 30.39% from 15.84%). It may be his support will continue to grow, as we’ve seen with some others over time.

One thing appears to be pretty clear at this point, though: service for the US National Team is paramount to a majority of voters. No MLS player who didn’t play for the Nats has been elected (yet, Waldo was the first former MLS-er elected eight years ago).

I have to admit, as someone who likes to celebrate the American soccer player and our own history, if you’re going to set the bar there, there are worse things. I have voted for Etch and would continue to vote for foreign-born MLS players who have a major impact on our domestic league, but I’m not going to complain too loudly if Yanks are all that get in.

You can see the results of Player ballot voting since 2004 here.

One of American soccer’s most storied and celebrated names returns in 2012 as the (new) NASL’s Tampa Bay team recently re-acquired its traditional name and logos after a protracted legal battle. The original Rowdies were my first soccer love, the team of my youth, my pride and joy, the Bay area’s first major professional team and “a kick in the grass” from 1975 until they folded in 1993. The Rowdies’ logo and familiar cartoon character, Ralph, were the creation of artist Scott Ross, who recently took time to answer a few questions about the genesis of these icons, including how the beloved “Rowdie Ralph” was originally known as Reggie.

Q. When did you first get involved with the Rowdies? Did they approach you, how did that work?
A. In early 1975 I read an article in the Tampa Tribune about a new professional soccer team coming in the spring. I sent some slide samples of my illustration work over to their temporary office (a condo in Carrollwood). I had recently graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in Advertising and Editorial Art and moved to the Tampa Bay area. I was freelancing as an illustrator while working a full-time job at an architectural delineation firm in Clearwater. I was happily surprised when I got a call from a guy working for the team and asked to come over for a meeting. I met Beau Rogers (the general manager) and George Strawbridge (the owner) at that meeting and after they hired me to come up with a logo, Rogers asked if he could be my manager. It was a good day for a 24-year-old struggling artist.

Q. The word mark is probably a good place to start. It’s very unique, even today. What were you trying to accomplish with that, what was the inspiration and what did you go through before you hit on the final design?
A. They already had an ad agency in Atlanta working on their PR stuff and I was given a rough sketch of a logo and asked to “clean it up a little and make it less strange-looking.” I re-worked it but still kept the original idea for the one-color version. Then I came up with the two-color version using the colors of their uniform. Originally the letters were very close together and all the ends of the letters were longer. I think originally someone used the look of the psychedelic Haight-Ashbury Fillmore posters for the lettering but it was highly unreadable. When i did the original character logo I added the border around the lettering so I could add a trim color. I messed with all the letters to make it more readable and more commercial even though it was pretty unique for the time or any time.

Q. Then there’s Rowdie Ralph, who went through some changes over time. Where did he come from? Did you get direction from the team that they wanted this or that?
A. Beau Rogers just turned me loose on it and took the first version I came up with. Since most of the original players were from England and I was a big Elton John fan at the time I wanted the character to be called Reggie, but Beau immediately started calling him Ralph and that’s what stuck. I thought that name was boring as hell, but as long as they kept sending checks I thought Ralph sounded great! Originally they thought they would have yellow and green uniforms and that was why it was that way on everything even though the uniforms debuted as white and stayed that way. Ralph was used as the official Rowdies character logo from the get-go until they ceased to exist (in 1994). It was put on millions of shirts and everything else you can imagine. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t care much for it in short order because in the next couple years I became a better artist and changed the style a bit. In the following years I created an official schedule poster every year and changed the character a lot every year.

Q. So the Ralph we see in 1975 and the various iterations from 1977-on, they’re all the same character?
A. Yeah, it’s all the same guy if I say it is, right?

Q. Did you also do the Wowdies (dance team) logo (which was just one letter off)?
A. Yes I did the Wowdies and Fannies logos. I actually did full color elaborate character versions of those two logos and was asked to haul them out to San Jose because (then-Rowdies PR man) Francisco Marcos thought he could get them on the CBS broadcast that day. I left them in their trailer and no one ever saw them again, so I have no record of those. The artwork I do have is what I managed to salvage from the old days and scan in so I had digital files to share for things like your blog. I’m guessing that I lost at least a third of all the artwork I created over the years for the Rowdies. In those days I painted everything on illustration board with paint and that was that. Since 1992 I’ve only worked digitally so I have perfect originals of everything I’ve done since that time because I only have to send copies to clients. What you see on my website is a drop in the bucket of all the work over the years because I would always have to send off the original painting and never see it again except for printed versions.

Q. You gave life to these things and then let them go and they’re still popular today. Is that just part and parcel of the job?
A. Everything I did was work for hire and I never signed any agreement whatsoever as far as copyright for anything-let me call a lawyer! I was hired to paint posters, special event artwork, t-shirt designs, caricatures for visiting stars (like Pele, Elton John etc.) and lots of other stuff. I was just glad to get the work at that time and they promoted me right along with the team and allowed me to travel with them all over the country. Those first few years were very exciting for me as well as all those wild British soccer players who were having their American adventure.

Q. What was that like, to be hanging out with the team that was such a big deal in the Bay area at that time?
A. The first few years I would party with all the players at functions around Tampa Bay and especially at (nightclub) Boneshaker’s in Hyde Park after every game. I was very friendly with the whole office staff, players, coaches (Coach Eddie Firmani was a really wonderful, friendly guy) and still communicate with some of them. Since Beau Rogers was an owner and my manager, I had access to every part of the stadium, including the owner’s box and the field. Through the Rowdies I was introduced to the league offices and did Kick (magazine) covers, caricatures of the players and posters as well as projects for lots of league sponsors. I sat on the bench lots of times and would fill an empty seat once in awhile on their flights to away games. That first year championship in San Jose was great. To this day I can still hear the explosion of the midfield blast by Arsene Auguste that won the game and the craziness afterward of winning it all in the first year. I don’t even know why I was sitting on the bench during that game, but I do remember Kyle Rote, Jr. sitting beside me as well as Bruce Jenner (He was training for the Olympics that he would win and living around San Jose back then). I got to meet lots of celebrities (Leroy Neiman, Pele, Mick Jagger, Henry Kissinger, and various other people of the day) by traveling with them and partying afterward. It was great because all of the players were pretty young and in America for the first time and all of them were really nice guys off the field.

Q. And now your work has new life. Have you been following the sturm und drang over that?
A. I just read about the new team purchasing the logo lately. So far I’ve only seen a one color version being used. No one has ever contacted me from the new team. I don’t think they are interested in any old stuff really, just capitalizing on the goodwill of the old team in this community.

Many thanks to Scott (whose website full of outstanding work is here) and to Ian Morris, whose excellent Rowdies blog was the source of some of the photos, illustrations and information above.

Rochester has maintained its league lead over Baltimore, which is noteworthy because the Blast has led its league in average announced attendance for the last seven years. Each team has two home games left (Baltimore hosts Milwaukee tomorrow night in a game that ought to draw a good crowd), but one of Rochester’s is on a Thursday. While it might be hard for the Lancers to actually lead the league, their debut season has been a successful one at the gate (the best expansion team performance in recent years, actually).

Milwaukee is the only team that has completed its home schedule, and the Wave’s average crowd figure is down 13 percent from last year (from 4,531 to 3,955). The Missouri Comets have also done well, playing to 70 percent of capacity at the Independence Events Center. The other three teams (Wichita, Syracuse and Norfolk) are expansion clubs.

Given the number of home games left and how each team has been drawing, the league still projects to finish just under last year’s average of 4,007, but the additions of Rochester and Wichita and the stability of Missouri are reasons for optimism.

FYI: ” The Job ‘ KILLING ‘: Nazis!!! “ ( Plural ) And ” ‘ they ‘ “ = ” NO JOBS ” FOR  I.E. ” YOU “ I.E. ” youths!!! “ Ever seen that scripted ” … soup Nazi …” clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ3AOmZ2fps&feature=related or the female version: ” … come back in one year … “: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNwbjcuQUv8!!!

And the root-route causes ( plural ) of ” ‘ DEADLY ‘ ” Societal issues = : I.E. ” ‘ F-ED ‘ “ / Cities / Counties / States = elected = hired = TAX $$ PAID =: ” I AM ‘ GOD ‘ ” types!!! = Is how ” ‘ they ‘ ” / ” The Governments’ ” view ” ‘ themselves!!! ‘ “ As ” ‘ they ‘ “ rule ” ‘ OVER ‘ “: ” THE LOCAL LEGAL PEOPLES ” ( WORLD: PLURAL )!!!

OUT OF CONTROL: ” Governments ” = ” ‘ SELF ‘ THINKING ” = THE MASTERS-MESSIAHS = ” HUMAN ‘ GODS ’ ” want-to-be types!!! ” ‘ They ‘ ” just-juts keep i.e. ” ‘ killing ‘ ”  societies throughout: ” the world!!! ” ((( YES ” ‘ ‘ THEY ‘ ‘ “: DO!!! )))

” ‘ ‘ They ‘ ‘ ” / ” ‘ kill ‘ ” entire Societies: by MANDATORY TAX $$ / JOB ” ‘ KILLING ‘ “ TAXATION!!! = I.E. COST OF LIVING INCREASES!!! = ” ‘ BANKRUPTING!!! ‘ ” = ” THE LOCAL LEGAL PEOPLES!!! “ It’s ” ‘ GOVERNMENTS ‘ ” ( PLURAL )!!! = ” ‘ SELF ‘ “ SERVING = ” ‘ MAFIAS!!! ‘ ” = ” ‘ SELF ‘ ” paying = ” ‘ themselves!!! ‘ ” = absurd salaries / absurd perks / absurd retirements = obtained through: ” ‘ DEADLY ‘ “ = MANDATORY TAXATION / FEES / JOB ” ‘ KILLING ‘ ” REGULATIONS!!! ((( Period!!! )))

Let’s take an in part look at how ” ‘ they ‘ “ use SUBJECTS IGNORANT / VERY UNEDUCATED I.E. VOTE SELLING: ” FOOLS ” in ” ‘ their ‘ ” Societal: OBLITERATION ” ‘ PATHS!!! ‘ “

” GOVERNMENTS ” AKA ” THE HUMAN ‘ GODS ‘ “ = getting TOO involved within ” the private sector’s ‘ market ‘ places!!! ” = ” ‘ DEADLY ‘ ” / JOB ” ‘ KILLING ‘ ” / ” ‘ DEADLY ‘ ” COST OF LIVING INCREASES = MASTER-MESSIAH SERVING: ” VOTE BUYING “ = CIVILIZED ” WORLD “ / ” ‘ DEADLY ‘ “ INSANITY!!! = ULTIMATELY = LESS JOBS = LESS $$ IN < ESPECIALLY > LOWER WAGE ” ‘ WORKERS ‘ ”  POCKETS!!!

MATH / MORE JOBLESS FACT: INCREASING THE MINIMUM WAGE = A ” VOTE BUYING “: ” ‘ TOOL ‘ “ = hyping up ” the IGNORANT lower income ‘ workers ‘ ” into  IGNORANTLY thinking that higher minimum wages will put more $$ into lower income pockets = get minimum wages increased = ” ‘ DEM ‘ ” VOTERS!!! AKA THE MASTERS’-MESSIAHS’ SUBJECT IGNORANT: ” DROOLING GROUPIES!!! “ = Simply do not understand ” all “ the MATH:

MATH FACT: Every time the i.e. minimum wage is increased = MORE JOBS ARE LOST AND ” ‘ DEADLY ‘ “ COST OF LIVING INCREASES OCCUR / NEGATIVELY ” RIPPLE!!! “ = THUS MIDDLE CLASS AND BELOW ARE PUSHED FURTHER: ” DOWN ” ON ” THE FOOD CHAIN!!! ” Call it a ” living wage ” or whatever ” DUMB ‘ ASS ‘ “ / ” hyped words ” i.e. ” you ” like = does not change the JOB LOSSES / COST OF LIVING INCREASES = MATH / LACKING $$ FACTS:

I.E.: http://www.heritage.org/multimedia/audio/2011/05/istook777-minimum-wage-costs ( “… It’s time for common sense… A new book, by black author Walter Williams, … government hurts those it pretends to help… Minimum-wage laws are one example. The 40 percent increase in the minimum wage coincided with the collapse of the American economy between 2006 and 2009…When labor costs go up, employers hire fewer people. The first to lose opportunities are minority teenagers with the poorest job skills. Those needing work experience are pushed out of the market before they can learn… Williams says it’s a redistribution of wealth, this time from low-skilled people to higher-skilled people, and especially protects labor unions against competition from those who are willing to work for less— a savings that would be passed along to consumers…” )

AND: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_E._Williams ( “… Walter E. Williams, (born March 31, 1936) is an American economist, commentator … He is the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University, as well as a syndicated columnist and author ….” ) / http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/wew/articles.html

AND: http://blog.heritage.org/2011/05/16/minimum-wage-reality-in-america/ ( “… Economist Walter Williams knows that minimum wage laws are hurting poor, African-American teenagers and his new book, “Race and Economics: How Much Can Be Blamed on Discrimination?”, attempts to dispel the myth that higher minimum wage laws help. Simple economics recognizes that if the price of labor increases, employer demand for labor decreases…When the minimum wage increased from $5.15 to $7.25 between 2006 and 2009 – a dramatic 40% rise – unemployment noticeably took a turn for the worse and the trend continues today….Thanks to the minimum wage; the poor, teenagers and specifically young, African-American males have lost many opportunities to find work. The well-intentioned increase in minimum wage has done nothing to help those for which it was intended. More importantly, the skills learned in low-paying jobs are essential for movement up the career ladder and earning higher pay later. Without the opportunity to earn the low-ladder skills, they miss the boat on ever finding good-paying jobs…” )
((( ” The Real World’s Reality ” = Sadly ” ‘ it ‘ ” is, what ” ‘ it ‘ ” is!!! )))

O – WAIT, listen and i.e. ” you ” can-will hear some other titles that the: RACE-CLASS-SEX = $$ HUSTLING / RITZY LIVING: ” ‘ DEMS ‘  “ / RITZY DWELLING MASTERS-MESSIAHS use against any person with darker skin pigment that: ” ‘ worked ‘ ” out a better: ” ‘ life!!! ‘ ” THUS, did not remain: ” ‘ ENSLAVED ‘ ” on THE ” ‘ DEMS ‘ ” DIVIDE AND COLLECT $$ = RITZY ” ‘ PLANTATIONS!!! ‘ ” ( Plural!!! ) O -YEA Walter E. Williams fits the ” ‘ DEMS ‘ ” self serving = profiled titles: thus, I.E. ” House N-igger / Sell Out / Uncle Tom ” definitely is: ” ‘ DEM ‘ ” titled: applicable!!! = THANKFULLY ANOTHER “ PERSON “: ” ‘ ESCAPED ‘ ” THE RITZ DWELLING MASTER’S-MESSIAH’S: ” ‘ RULE ‘ = ‘ ENSLAVEMENT!!! ‘ “

HMMMMM: It’s going to be interesting to see how the race-sex-class = $$ hustling = RITZY DWELLING ” ‘ DEMS ‘ ” also label Walter as being: ” a right wing “: RACIST!!! NOT, sure how ” ‘ DEM ‘ ” RITZY DWELLING MASTERS-MESSIAHS will spin that titling; O-WAIT, GOOD GOD: Conservatives-Independents-Moderates-True Republicans might as well: ” fess up “ = Walter, does not really have darker skin pigment, NOPE: ” right wingers ” painted him darker looking, for his article!!! Seems like the only way ” ‘ Dems ‘ ” can spin / add in the RACIST title; BUT THE US < SUPPOSEDLY > AG / “ HE ” probably has some more clever ways to spin / race hype and add on: THE RACIST TITLE!!! ((( Go figure!!! )))

((( BTW / Relative: The US < SUPPOSEDLY > AG / ” HE ” must have got his: ” ‘ ass ‘ ” kicked: big time and / or was called ”  lots ” of the ” HATERS’ / CRACKERS’ ” favored type names, as a child!!! Because < SUPPOSEDLY > the “ US / ‘ AG ’  / ‘ HE ‘  ” appears / PROJECTS the deep BRAINWASHED IN = ” ‘ HATER’S ‘ ” MINDSET!!! THUS = one latent i.e. “ whitie ” and AMERICAN hating: ” fool!!! ” And ” ‘ hell ‘ ” the ” ‘ HATE ‘ “ is so embedded within his ((( ” ‘ D ‘ ” ))) BRAINWASHED IN brain = that some are starting to feel sympathy for ” his, “ what must have been one: ” ‘ hellish ‘ ” / VERY DEEP traumatizing type childhood??? That ” he ” simply can’t seem to EVER get over!!! = It’s VERY sad!!! Hmmmmm: think the i.e. < supposedly > ” US / ‘ AG ‘ ” and ” The Messiah ” sit around at times I.E. comparing black / white CRACKER: bashings = as in ” one upping ” the other on: ” who ” gets the most sympathy??? )))

If the ANTI AMERICAN / ANTI CAPITALISM / ANTI BUSINESS: ” ‘ DEMS ‘ ” with ” ‘ their ‘ ” I.E. SOCIALISM / ” ‘ OVER THERE ‘ “ = $$ for self = race-sex-class hustling = ” ‘ enslavement ‘ ” agendas ( plural ) if ” ‘ they ‘ ” are such SOCIETAL ” ‘ GENIUSES ‘ “ then explain:

I.E. http://www.heritage.org/multimedia/infographic/obama-s–jobs-deficit–swells-to-4-2-million ( “… Obama’s ‘jobs deficit’ swells to 4.2 million …Created on July 21, 2009 … ” ) And that’s a lesser number than today’s: WIDER BRUSHED JOBLESS = MORE ARE $$LESS = ” ‘ LIFELESS ‘ “ NIGHTMARES!!! Period!!!

Also Explain: I.E. http://nation.foxnews.com/food-stamps/2011/08/23/more-45-million-americans-collected-food-stamps-2011 ( “… More Than 45 Million Americans Collected Food Stamps In 2011 … According to the Department of Agriculture, 45.8 million people collected food stamps in May and that’s up 1.8 million people from April, up 20 percent from one year ago and 34 percent from two years ago. … troubled thinking about what it is like when a person has to go and ask for food stamps for the first time…” )

MORE ” REAL WORLD REALITY ” BASED, MATH =: JOBLESS = $$LESS = ” ‘ LIFELESS ‘ “ I.E. ” YOUTHS ” ((( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth ))) = I.E.: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/08/10/flashmob-attacks-in-us-cities-raise-questions-over-possible-race-motivation/ ( “… Police departments in several cities around the country are investigating what appear to be incidents of “flash mob”-generated violence, in which packs of dozens or even hundreds of youths appear seemingly out of nowhere to commit assaults, robberies and other crimes against innocent bystanders…” )

Watch the ” ‘ DEADLY ‘ ” / ” ANIMAL ‘ BEHAVING ‘ “ = I.E. NO ” YOUTH ” JOBS = A VERY ” ‘ DEADLY ‘ ” < PROGRAMMED IN > MINDSET based example, VIDEO: http://nation.foxnews.com/shock-video/2011/11/07/chicago-teen-knocks-out-homeless-man-while-friends-laugh ( “…Chicago – More than 250,000 people have viewed an online video that appears to show a thug punching a homeless guy at a Chicago L stop….The video, which was first posted on World Star Hip Hop, shows several young people joking loudly at the Chicago stop on the Red Line….Then, a young man follows a homeless man a few steps…The young man then punches the homeless guy in the face. The man falls backwards and hits the ground, without moving…” )

And notice I.E. the ” female whitie “ at the end of the VIDEO: ” ‘ HELL ‘ ” < SUPPOSEDLY > THE ” US / ’ AG ‘ ” AKA I.E. LATENT < FOR REAL > RACIST ( ? ) = ” HE “ may charge ” the female whitie ” with: ” something?!!! “ O-YEA!!! Go figure – THE BRAINWASHED IN = DEEP / ” ‘ BLINDING ‘ = ’ HATE!!! ‘ “ And ” ‘ DEMS ‘ ” want to and are bringing that I.E. ” YOUTH ” JOBLESS AND HEARTLESS < MENTAL PROGRAMMING >: ” ‘ STUFF ‘ “: THROUGHOUT I.E. AMERICA!!!

WITH MORE INSANE I.E. REGULATING = MORE ” JOBLESS ” I.E. ” ‘ YOUTHS ‘ “: http://nation.foxnews.com/department-labor/2011/12/16/obama-regime-moves-ban-farm-kids-working-farms ( “… America was built by farmers, and to this day, farming is a generational industry for many.  So why are federal agencies, led by President Obama appointees, intent on taking steps that will undermine and ultimately destroy our nation’s agricultural heartland?…It’s no secret that liberals hold fatty, high-carbohydrate dairy and corn products directly responsible for our nation’s obesity rates… Under new standards being advocated by the Labor Department, youths under the age of eighteen would be prohibited from working in hay lofts, giving shots, caring for baby animals, and being in the vicinity of animals whose behavior may be “unpredictable.” …” )

Relative / BTW: help ” fix ” –> ” stuff “ = please support < http://www.newt.org/get-involved-now / please!!! >: ((( NEWT!!! )))

And: see if i.e. ” you ” can wrap ” your ” mind around: California aka ANTI AMERICAN / ANTI BUSINESS / ANTI CHRISTIANITY AKA ” DEMS-VILLE “ = BANKRUPTED ” ‘ HELL ‘ ” = is forcing AMERICANS to get out of CA!!! But, the mind boggling / brain scratching: future ” ‘ DEADLY ‘ ” irony, is: when the “ SOCIETAL ‘ HELL ‘  / CA ‘ ESCAPEES ‘ ” move to another city / area = ” ‘ they ‘ “ go and < INSANELY > register < again > as a: ” ‘ DEM ’ ” VOTER!!! ((( ” DUH!!! ” ))) = Starting-growing the ” ‘ D ‘ = ‘ DEADLY ‘ paths ” in the moved to area < !!! > = that will ultimately < and it’s well: documented > = Societal ” ‘ HELL ‘ ” in the moved to areas!!! See if i.e. ” you ” can wrap ” your “ mind around that: ((( ” ‘ D ‘ ” ))) = self inflicting Societal: REPETITIOUS ” ‘ HELL!!! ‘ “ It’s off the charts: VOTING INSANITY = THAT PROVES HOW FLAT OUT I.E. BRAINWASHED I.E. IGNORANT-BRAINLESS THAT ” PEOPLE ” HAVE BECOME!!! THUS IT’S LIKE THAT OLD STATEMENT: ” CAN’T FIX STUPID!!! “ Thus ” … STUPID IS / STUPID DOES … ”!!! ((( YES ” ‘ IT ‘ “: IS!!! )))

((( ” ‘ ‘ B-DA!!! ‘ ‘ ” ))) WTFU: FOOLS!!!

With that said, the essence of promotion and relegation, the ability to move between levels of a nebulous pyramid, does exist, and has for more than a decade^[2]. But more than half of the clubs who have ever moved up to a higher level have struggled and, in many cases, either moved back down or folded altogether within four years. And you can hold up the successful second division organizations that have recently become successful first division organizations as examples of how it could work as long as you also understand that Seattle, Vancouver, Portland and Montreal had, on average, nearly two years to prepare for their first MLS seasons, and didn’t try to make the move over one off-season.

What follows is a list of teams that have moved up, down or both, between levels of the game in this country, since 1995 (I believe it’s comprehensive, but additions and corrections are, of course, always welcome):

1995
After winning the USISL’s outdoor division (they only had the one) in 1994, the Greensboro Dynamo moved up to the Pro League for 1995, marking the first instance of a championship team moving up to a higher division in the modern era. No fewer than 38 other clubs moved from the amateur ranks to the new 55-team league for 1995, including four that exist to this day: the (now Carolina) Dynamo, Charleston Battery, Charlotte Eagles and Long Island Rough Riders.

1996
Both of USISL’s league champions moved up. The Premier League’s Richmond Kickers and the Pro League’s Long Island Rough Riders both became part of the new Select League^[3]. The Carolina Dynamo joined them, moving up from the Pro League. The Kickers beat the Rough Riders in the semifinals of the league’s Select Six tournament before losing to the California Jaguars in the final. All three teams exist to this day, though Richmond has since found a home in USL Pro, and Long Island and Carolina are in the PDL.

1997
The merger between the USISL and the A-League resulted in a re-shuffling of the deck, with no fewer than 13 teams moving up in class based on their ambitions. (This represents more than a third of all the teams that have chosen to move up a level since 1996). The Select League champion California Jaguars stepped up to the newly-merged A-League, along with the Pro League champion Charleston Battery. The 24-team league also welcomed the Connecticut Wolves, El Paso Patriots, Carolina Dynamo, Long Island Rough Riders and Richmond Kickers from the Select League, Worcester Wildfire from the Pro League and Nashville Metros from the Premier League. All but Connecticut and California are still with us, though none are still in the second division. The Austin (Tex.) Lone Stars, Florida Strikers, Arizona Sahuaros and San Francisco Bay Seals all moved up from the Premier League to the D3 Pro League. The Lone Stars had a modicum of success their first two years, but struggled in 1999 and 2000 before folding. The Seals and Strikers are long gone, while the Sahuaros are currently a USASA team that makes sporadic appearances in the US Open Cup.

The Cascade Surge (based in Salem, Oregon) moved down from the USISL Pro League to the PD(S)L, along with the Chattanooga Express and Yakima Reds. Four Select League teams (the Chicago Stingers, New Jersey Stallions, Cape Cod Crusaders and Albuquerque Geckos) dropped to the D3 Pro League, where the Geckos won the league championship. Yakima, Chicago and New Jersey saw big attendance gains, while Cascade, Chattanooga, Cape Cod and Albuquerque saw their crowds diminish. Not one of those seven teams exists today.

1998
After a frenetic offseason leading into 1997, only five teams stepped up in division for the 1998 season. The Cincinnati Riverhawks made the most ambitious jump, abandoning the PD(S)L after their maiden season for the A-League. Having drawn 1,346 fans per game as an amateur team, the ‘Hawks probably figured the sky was the limit. Unfortunately, the 1,624 fans per game they drew in 1998 at the pro level wasn’t going to pay many bills, and that was their high-water mark by a lot during their six-year stay in Division II. By the end (2003), Cincinnati was averaging under 400 people a game playing in a tiny complex across the river in Kentucky. This franchise was quite the circus, and I actually had the opportunity to become its general manager in 1999 or 2000, I can’t remember which. (Good move to pass on that one, as the franchise was fraught with drama and ineptitude.) Other new A-League teams were the San Francisco Bay Seals (making their second straight move up, this time from D3) and Sacramento (neé Albuquerque) Geckos. The Geckos were a disaster, going 5-23 and moving to Sacramento after the season (where things got even worse – they went 0-28 in 1999 and were taken over by the league during the season, with the ownership group of the Cape Cod Crusaders actually paying their bills). The Seals lasted three years in the second division before disappearing. Two Florida teams, the Southwest Florida Manatees (based in Fort Myers) and Miami Breakers, went from the PD(S)L to the D3 Pro League. Miami went 17-1 but lost in the playoffs and drew 116 fans per game before dropping back to the PDL the next year. The Manatees’ one season in D3 was their last.

1999
The only team moving up the ladder in 1999 was the Indiana Blast, and I had a front-row seat for this one as the team’s Director of Communications & Operations. USL called it a “promotion,” but here’s what happened: the story went that the original owner had purchased an A-League franchise after the 1996 Select Six tournament, before the merger was announced. He opted to keep the team in D3 in 1997, with plans to move it up in 1998. Heavy losses forced him to sell the club before the end of the 1997 season, and the new owners opted to go one more year in D3. With USL not willing to let the A-League option be held indefinitely, and with division rivals Chicago and Rockford dropping to the PDL and Cleveland folding, the Blast were more or less forced to go to the A-League for 1999. They only missed out on the playoffs by one point, but suffered major financial losses (as they would throughout the rest of their existence). They held on, stubbornly, through 2003 before dropping to the PDL in 2004 and then folding.

Coming off the 1998 D3 Pro League championship, the Chicago Stingers were eligible to be promoted to the A-League under USL’s quasi-pro/rel policy^[4], but pulled a shocker. Instead of going up or staying put, the Stingers dropped to the PDL (and renamed themselves the Sockers as an extension of the high-level youth club of the same name). They promptly won the 1999 PDL championship as well (averaging just 594 fans per game – a third of what the pro team had drawn two years prior) and came back for 2000 before disappearing. The Stingers/Sockers were just one of the 10 teams that bailed either from the A-League or D3 Pro League. The California Jaguars and Carolina Dynamo both traded the A-League for the D3 Pro League. The Jaguars’ 1999 season was their last, but the Dynamo is still around today (just in the PDL). The Central Jersey Riptide, New York Capital District Alleycats (based in Albany, NY), Orlando Nighthawks, San Fernando Valley Golden Eagles, Miami Breakers, Vermont Voltage and Rockford Raptors all went amateur, leaving D3 behind for the PDL. Only the Voltage survives to this day.

2000
The only movement as the calendar turned was one more D3 Pro League team dropping to the PDL. The North Jersey Imperials, who had been a pro team in division three for three years, went amateur. They had drawn fewer than 500 fans per game as a pro side. As amateurs, they drew about half that for two years before disappearing after the 2001 season. By the time the 2000 season was over, the D3 Pro League had shrunk from a high of 39 teams (in 1997) to just 17 teams in 2001 and the drain was far from over.

2001
The Charlotte Eagles, 2000 D3 Pro League champions, took a leap of faith, as it were, and stepped up to the A-League. The Eagles – a division of Missionary Athletes International – saw similar crowd levels their first two years at the higher level, but increased costs and a 2003 season that saw them draw just over 900 fans per game were all the signs from above the club needed to drop back down to the third division. They went on to win a league title (2005) and a regular-season championship (2008) in USL-2 and are now in USL Pro.

After five years at the professional level (one in the USISL Select League in 1996 and four in the D3 Pro League), the Cape Cod Crusaders dropped to the PDL, where they played through 2008. After drawing about 677 fans a game as a pro club, the Crusaders did about half that in their eight years in the PDL, but did win a league title in 2003. The Texas Rattlers, who could trace their lineage all the way back to the USISL’s founding as an indoor circuit in 1986, dropped from the D3 Pro League to the PDL for 2001, while changing their name to the Spurs. They lasted ten seasons as an amateur club before finally expiring after the 2010 season. Along the way, they had been known as the Garland Genesis, Addison Arrows, North Texas United, Fort Worth Kickers, Dallas Americans, Dallas Toros, Dallas/Fort Worth Toros, Texas Toros, Texas Rattlers, Texas Spurs and, finally, DFW Tornados. Two other teams dropped out of the A-League in 2001: the Boston Bulldogs (neé Worcester Wildfire), who went to the D3 Pro League (where they lasted one season) and the Orange County Waves, who re-invented themselves as a PDL club that exists to this day as Orange County Blue Star^[5].

2002
The Calgary Storm, after finishing second the PDL in attendance in 2001 (at 2,003 a game), made the big jump to the A-League for 2002. It didn’t go well. The Storm went 4-21-3, finished last in the league and saw about a 27% attendance drop. Still, they soldiered on into the 2003 A-League season where things actually got worse. Owner Mike Vandale cashed in his chips in early July, turning the franchise over to USL, which operated it the rest of the season as Team Calgary. Valdale said he’d lost over a million dollars (Canadian, I presume) in two and a half years. Resurrected in 2004 and renamed the Calgary Mustangs under new owner Juergen Hanne, the team went 4-18-6 and needed to come up with about $600,000 to upgrade the artificial turf surface at McMahon Stadium. That didn’t happen, and the team was never heard from again. Two other teams moved up in 2002, including the 2001 PDL champions, the Westchester Flames. After drawing 212 fans per game in their championship season, the Flames drew 234 per game in 2002, yet somehow lasted three seasons at the pro level before dropping back to the PDL, where they remain to this day. And the New York Freedoms, who had drawn 157 fans per game as a PDL team in 2001, turned pro and promptly saw their crowds shoot up…to 203 per game. Somehow they made it two more years at the D3 level before giving up the ghost. And the Storm, Freedoms and Flames would be the last teams to climb the pyramid until the decade was almost out.

The Chico Rooks, who had spent the previous six seasons at the Division III level, dropped to the PDL. Their attendance average, while lower than in 2001, was in line with what they’d drawn the prior six years overall. After one year in the PDL, they were one of the founding members of the Men’s Premier Soccer League (now the NPSL), and lasted until 2006 when they took a year off to reorganize and never came back. Also dropping in 2002 were the Connecticut Wolves, Long Island Rough Riders and Nashville Metros (all out of the A-League, with the Wolves and Riders going to D3 and the Metros to the PDL ^[6] ) and the Rhode Island Stingrays (from the D3 Pro League to the PDL). Long Island actually won the Pro Select League (that year’s name for the third division) after dropping down, becoming the third of six “self-relegated” teams to do so.

2003
The exodus from the D3 Pro League continued going into the 2003 season, with the Greenville Lions and South Jersey Barons self-relegating to the PDL. Both teams saw significant drops in their already-meager attendance averages (Greenville went from 324 a game to 168, while South Jersey went from 467 per game to 153). The 2003 PDL season would be Greenville’s last, while the Barons still exist (as the Ocean City Nor’Easters) and are a steady participant in the PDL.

2004
The Charlotte Eagles‘ A-League experiment ended, despite the best of intentions, as the club dropped back down to the third division (where they remain, and have been successful, to this day). Charlotte’s attendance figures before, during and after their stay in division two aren’t dramatically different:

Joining them were the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, whose attendance had dropped every year of their A-League existence, from a high of 4,178 in 1999 to 1,783 in 2003. After six seasons in the A-League, the El Paso Patriots went amateur, dropping to the PDL. They moved from the Sun Bowl to Patriots Stadium in 2005 and became the Chivas El Paso Patriots in 2010 thanks to a formal partnership agreement with famed Mexican club Chivas de Guadalajara. The Patriots drew 1,067 fans per game in 2011 in the PDL, where they remain today. Following El Paso out the A-League door was the Indiana Blast, who had slipped from a 13-15 record in 1999 to 3-23-2 in 2003. After seven years of financial losses, the team opted for the PDL, where it lasted just one more season^[7]. Three other teams dropped from the third division to the PDL: the Carolina Dynamo, New Jersey Stallions and Reading Rage. All three saw mild to moderate attendance drops, and while Carolina made the PDL semifinals, New Jersey and Reading failed to make the playoffs. The Dynamo and Rage (as Reading United AC) are still around.

2005
Three more teams deserted the third division for the PDL: The San Diego Gauchos, Westchester Flames and California Gold (based in Modesto) all went amateur, leaving the newly-rebranded USL-2 with just nine teams for 2005 (down from 39 just eight years earlier). None of the three made the playoffs, though San Diego had a modest attendance gain. The Gold and Gauchos hung on for two more years in the PDL, while Westchester survives as a PDL club.

2006
The USL 1st Division lost one of its longer-running clubs when the Richmond Kickers decided to drop to USL-2 after nine years. The Kickers, who had drawn about 2,400 a game in their time in Division II, maintained their fan base in Division III and became the fourth of six teams to win the league in their first season after the drop. Despite playing in one of the oldest stadiums in the country, the Kickers are a mainstay now in USL Pro. The other team to drop in 2006 was the Northern Virginia Royals, who left behind eight years of third-division history in which they drew about 340 fans per game for the PDL, where they’ve drawn about 380 per game through 2011.

2007
With Toronto FC joining MLS, the Toronto Lynx dropped out of the USL 1st Division after a decade and joined the PDL. Lynx attendance actually went up slightly in the team’s first year at the amateur level, but has been dropping steadily ever since. They drew just 194 fans per game in 2011. And the Long Island Rough Riders returned to their roots after a trip up and back down the USL ladder as they joined the PDL after 12 years as a pro club. The Rough Riders had started in the USISL’s outdoor division when it was an amateur league, moved up to the Pro circuit in 1995, then to the Select League in 1996 and the A-League in 1997 before dropping back to the D3 Pro League in 2002. Their attendance figures had been all over the place, from a high of 4,147 per game in 1997 to 739 per game in 2003 (the year after they won the third division title). Long Island is still in the PDL today, as one of USL’s longest-running clubs.

2008
The Cincinnati Kings, who had enjoyed a bit of success and not-awful Division III crowds for three years, dropped to the PDL. Their attendance took a major hit (likely because their budget was slashed) and the have struggled to draw mid-three-figures crowds since. They drew just 195 people per game in 2011, their most recent season. And the New Hampshire Phantoms, a third division mainstay since 1996, went with the Kings and joined the PDL, where they (oddly enough) enjoyed a franchise-record for average attendance (2,901, third in the league). Whatever happened, it didn’t last, as the Phantoms went from that to 434 per game the next year, 219 the year after that and 250 in 2011 in the PDL.

2009
The Cleveland City Stars are the most recent example of eyes that were larger than one’s stomach, and it, too, is a cautionary tale. After two successful seasons on the field and in the stands playing in downtown Cleveland, the City Stars jumped^[8] to the USL First Division for 2009. Put simply, it was a disaster. With their downtown stadium deemed unfit for Division II, the club moved to a high school football stadium in the suburbs, one with permanent football lines (and which carried the name of a local cheese company sponsor, but only during City Stars games). The team went 4-19-7, scored just 22 goals in 30 games, and presented a shocking tableau to viewers of the three home matches carried on Fox Soccer Channel. The other team moving up was a much happier story, as the Seattle Sounders left the second division behind after 15 years and five championships. They were a resounding success in the stands – averaging a league-record 30,897 fans per game, more than eight times what they had averaged their last year in USL-1 – and made the playoffs.

2010
Crystal Palace Baltimore moved up from the USL 2nd Division to the NASL, and ended up playing in the USSF D2 Pro League for that season. It was their last. They drew an announced 1,075 a game (fewer than they’d managed the two prior years in USL-2) and finished the season by bringing only 11 players to a road game in Tampa (one of them their coach). While they announced they were going “on hiatus” for the 2011 NASL season, there seems little chance of them resurfacing, especially after they were sued by seven former youth academy coaches for wages they were never paid.

The Bermuda Hogges, after three seasons in the USL 2nd Division, dropped to the PDL, where they reside today. The Charleston Battery, who had spent 13 years at the second division level, dropped out of the fray in the USL/NASL split and opted for the USL 2nd Division. Their average attendance actually went up slightly from 2009 (and was in line with their historical averages at Blackbaud Stadium) and they won the league championship. The Battery stayed in the third division (in the revamped USL Pro) in 2011 and drew just about what they’d drawn in 2009 in the second division. Charleston remains in USL Pro for 2012. And the Western Mass Pioneers, a regular in USL-2 for a dozen years, dropped to amateur status and saw their crowds go from 1,838 a game to 765 a game. They remain members of the PDL for 2012.

2011
With the USL/TOA split complete, 2011 saw another reorganization of leagues and teams. USL combined what was left of its first and second divisions into USL Pro. Orlando City SC (which had moved from Austin, Tex.) dropped from the USSF D2 Pro League into USL Pro along with the Rochester Rhinos. Rochester saw its crowds continue to fall, going from 6,464 in the USSF D2 Pro League in 2010 to 5,139 in USL Pro in 2011. The Rhinos would have set an all-time Division III record for average attendance had Orlando not racked up 5,415 fans per game and over 11,000 for the league championship match. The other dropper was the Real Maryland Monarchs, who departed the third division after three years of sliding crowds and went to the PDL. Their attendance actually went up slightly, from 608 per game to 659.

The Dayton Dutch Lions moved from the PDL up to USL Pro after a moderately-successful PDL season, but their maiden pro voyage didn’t go well. The DDL won just two matches, finished last in the league and drew an announced 661 per game. The other two “promoted” clubs went from the second division to Major League Soccer. The Portland Timbers challenged for a playoff spot and sold out regularly at newly-refurbished JELD-WEN Field, while the Vancouver Whitecaps finished third in the league in attendance (at 20,406 per game), but finished last in the league and would have been relegated had such a system existed.

2012
The Montreal Impact became Major League Soccer’s 19th club after 17 seasons in the second division, completing a four-year period in which MLS poached the second division’s best markets and organizations. No other teams moved down a division, despite rumors that USL Pro’s FC New York was going to drop to the PDL (they folded instead). The PDL may have as many as 73 teams in 2012, including at least 15 former professional clubs who found the amateur level was much more to their liking.

So What’s The Bottom Line?

• A total of 29 clubs have made at least one move up the pyramid since 1995 (a handful have made more than one move). Fewer than half of those clubs still exist today, and the bulk of those have dropped back down to a lower level in the interim.
• Nine clubs that won championships in a lower league moved up to the next highest league the following year (as a merit-based promotion scheme would have them do). Four of those teams are no longer in existence and the other five have all since dropped back down because of finances.
• In all, 46 different clubs have dropped at least one rung on the ladder. Just 22 of those clubs are still in existence.
• Clubs that have gone from the second division level to the first division (only four: Seattle, Vancouver, Portland and Montreal) have either flourished or (in Montreal’s case) appear to be poised to do so, but only because they’ve had realistic owners who understood what infrastructural additions needed to be made to compete at the highest level and because they had nearly two years to make those additions.^[9] In short, these were the four D2 teams with the access to the most resources, the tradition stretching back a while (three to the NASL), and on-field success (as all except Portland had won a D2 title). Their markets, their clubs and their brands deserved to be in the top fight, and I’m not sure there are any D2 clubs left you can realistically say that about. There are some who might be able to, but it would take some work.
• A club has the ability to move up the pyramid, but it’s based more on resourcefulness than just winning a small league for one year. Perhaps that’s as it should be. Because if you’re one of the tinfoil hat brigade, you have to believe that the Minnesota Stars – with no owner and who drew 1600 people a game to a stadium in the sticks – should be in MLS in 2012 and the Vancouver Whitecaps – with 20,000 fans per game, millionaire owners and a newly-renovated stadium in one of the world’s great cities – should not be.

For the record, I’m not opposed at all to the concept of promotion and relegation. I don’t believe it’s “too complicated,” I think it’s exciting and I think it would be fun. I just believe that until the second division gets its act together and has markets and organizations that can add to MLS, it’s a non-starter. And while USSF could, I suppose, make promotion and relegation a prerequisite for sanctioning going forward (the only hammer it has, really), it’s highly unlikely they’d do so. And don’t look to Zurich for a force-feeding of pro/rel, either – they usually allow governing bodies to handle their own business internally, as long as you don’t try to sue FIFA. It’s not going to happen, no matter how much you rant. True, results-based promotion and relegation is not going to happen between the first and second divisions in this country for decades, if ever.

Footnote links don’t work, sorry. It’s WordPress’ issue.
1 – Much to the consternation of whackjobs, idiots and other zealots.
2 – Many decades, if you want to count the Washington Darts and Rochester Lancers moving “up” from the American Soccer League to the struggling North American Soccer League in 1970. Though that was more a case of the NASL poaching a couple of teams because it had no other choice.
3 – Which was going to be a Division II league by 1997 before the merger with the A-League happened. The USISL envisioned its Select League as an A-League competitor, and, in fact, it had been given provisional Division II standing for 1997 prior to the merger.
4 – The language actually first appeared in the USISL’s 1997 Media Guide: “Promotion/relegation: The A-League will be linked to the rest of the USISL structure through a promotion system which entitles the USISL Division III champion to be promoted to the A-League, provided that the team to be promoted meets criteria set by the USISL and the USSF. The 1997 USISL D3 Pro League champion will be eligible for promotion to the A-League for 1998. Relegation may also be added at some future date, but will not be enacted in 1997.” So blame the Stingers. They screwed up the whole thing. Incidentally, this language appeared, with occasional tweaks, through the 2003 guide (with a note that the women’s W-2 champ could also be promoted from 1999-2001).
5 -Who once had a forward named Jay Göppingen. You may know him better as current US Men’s National Team coach Juergen Klinsmann.
6 -The Metros’ move was actually part of a transaction that returned Virginia Beach to the A-League. The Hampton Roads Mariners’ owners were legally bound to deliver an A-League team to the Virginia Beach SportsPlex after taking the 2001 season off, so they bought Nashville’s A-League slot and the Metros came back to life as a PDL side. An alert reader pointed out that originally I still had the Metros as the Tennessee Rhythm, but they had apparently played that last season in the A-League as the Metros, and WordPress wouldn’t let me strike through the original next. Thanks for the heads-up.
7 -And a colorful one at that, which included the owner trying to have another team that was closer to a road destination accept a shipment of Blast uniforms and pretend to be the Blast. The league put the kibosh on that one.
8 -Or were pulled, depending on how the story is told.
9 -Seattle had 492 days from announcement to first MLS match, Vancouver 731, Portland 729 and Montreal will have had 680.

The league is projecting to finish at slightly under last year’s average of 4,007 per game.

There are 12 newcomers on the 31-player ballot for 2012. Here’s the complete list (*first year): Raul Diaz Arce, Chris Armas, Jose Burciaga Jr.*, Mike Burns, Ronald Cerritos*, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Marco Etcheverry, Lorrie Fair*, Robin Fraser, Chris Henderson, Jason Kreis, Jen Lalor-Nielsen*, Roy Lassiter, Shannon MacMillan, Tony Meola*, Joe-Max Moore, Victor Nogueira, Peter Nowak, John O’Brien, Ronnie O’Brien*, Cindy Parlow, Ante Razov*, David Regis*, Claudio Reyna*, Tiffany Roberts, Thori Staples Bryan*, Carlos Valderrama, Greg Vanney*, Tisha Venturini-Hoch, Peter Vermes and Kerry Zavagnin.*

I voted for seven of those 31 last year, and while I’m not necessarily honor-bound to continue to do so, they’re a good starting point. The seven are Armas, Cienfuegos, Etcheverry, Fraser, Kreis, MacMillan and Noguiera. Meola and Reyna seem pretty obvious to me, which would give me nine. We’re allowed to vote for up to 10, but we don’t have to vote for 10. I’ve gone over most of these people in years past, so let’s take the other 10 newcomers and see if there are one or two deserving folks in that bunch:

• Jose Burciaga Jr.: Turned pro straight out of high school, and wasn’t ready for it. Came back twice from calamitous knee injuries and was an MLS Best XI pick in 2006. Is still only 30 years old and might be the youngest inductee ever if he made it. I don’t believe he will. NO
• Ronald Cerritos: The El Salvadoran international is the all-time leading scorer for MLS’ San Jose Earthquakes. He’s already in the ‘Quakes’ Hall of Fame, and I think that’s where it ends. NO
• Lorrie Fair: Absolutely one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met, and quite a fine player. Not a Hall of Famer, though. NO
• Jen Lalor-Nielsen: Played four years for the USA, including on the 1995 Women’s World Cup team (she didn’t see action in the tournament), several years overseas and three years in WUSA. Obviously a fine player. Not a Hall of Famer. NO
• Ronnie O’Brien: You can say “What if Dema Kovalenko hadn’t broken his leg?” but O’Brien came back from that the next year and was an MLS Best XI player in 2005, when he was just 26. He fell out of favor the next year under Dallas coach Colin Clarke and, despite a career resurgence in San Jose in 2008, just kind of disappeared. He’s still just 33. Good player. Not a Hall of Famer. NO
• Ante Razov: This is an interesting one. Razov was a gifted goal-scorer (76 goals in 151 appearances for the Chicago Fire, 30 more in four seasons for Chivas USA) who I got to see close up and who I quite liked. I don’t believe he was well-liked by many of his teammates or some of the club’s hierarchy, but if I needed a guy to score a goal, Razov in his prime would be a guy you’d like to have available for selection. He actually scored more goals (in fewer games) than Kreis, for whom I voted last year, and is fourth in MLS history (though his goals-per-90 minutes is behind guys like Roy Lassiter). Became a bit of a journeyman toward the end. I’d be surprised if he got 35% of the vote, but we’ll see. NO
• David Regis: I think the less said about David, the better. NON, MON AMI
• Thori Staples Bryan: A great college player who earned 64 caps in a decade spent with the US Nats (and was on the 1995 Women’s World Cup team – starting twice in four tournament appearances and an alternate in Atlanta in 1996). Fast and competitive, she loved the game enough to come back after more than four years away to play in the W-League at 34. Can’t see her making the Hall of Fame, though. NO
• Greg Vanney: An MLS original, he replaced the injured Armas on the 2002 World Cup roster before being injured himself just days later. Very good defender, hard-working, good guy to have on your back line. Don’t see him in the Hall, though. NO
• Kerry Zavagnin: A stalwart for the Kansas City Wizards and occasional player for the National Team, his career says solid pro and contributor to championship teams. But not transcendent. NO

So none of the other first-timers are quite there, it says here. That leaves me with nine guys, if I wish to include the players I’ve previously voted for. The only caveat to that is that I’ve voted annually for Victor Noguiera because of the whole anti-indoor thing the Hall has perpetuated. Now there’s an actual Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame (well, it’s virtual for now, but then again, so is the St. Louis Cardinals’, so there), and Noguiera was in the inaugural class (which I’m proud to say I was a voter for as well). I could leave him off this ballot, but I still think he’s one of the very best indoor players ever and should be in this hall, too. So he gets my vote for another year.

Here, then, is my final ballot for 2012: Chris Armas, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Marco Etcheverry, Robin Fraser, Jason Kreis, Shannon MacMillan, Tony Meola, Victor Noguiera and Claudio Reyna. That’s nine. That’ll have to be it this time around.

Your thoughts are welcome.