I referred to this as the integrated Reserve system. Where both “farm” teams and independent teams operate in the same league.

So that means that a team in a league other than USL would possibly work for those Canadian teams (or any teams) currently in or going to MLS. Perhaps this was one of the reasons MLS’s Garber was involved with the meetings. Who knows as it’s all a lot of conjecture at this point. I do know however that the TOA is sort of re-looking at the whole soccer picture in North America and asking a lot of questions. Thats not all bad. Great article on your site concerning the issue. Well done!

My friend Kartik Krishnaiyer has told me about the teams in Spain and Germany and how their reserve teams play in (I believe) 3rd division and cannot be promoted. Seems like a great idea.

Doesn’t USL currently forbid MLS sides from owning a USL side (please note the PDL Fire are not owned by the MLS club)?

Could Vancouver and Montreal be doing this so that their amatuer sides would be in a PDL type league and have their Reserve sides compete in a professional league (USL1/2)?

I’m fairly certain that there is more than 1 MLS side that currently would like that, and that this wouldn’t be a first in pro-soccer – see Spain and Germany.

Every USL1 town doesn’t have a reporter with the access or the moxy of Deveronica–which is why I read his blog and the Dem & Chronicle articles.

If there were more Jeff Deveronicas and reporters like in Cary then this story wouldn’t need to have non-traditional news sources to be the driving force in getting the information out.

Devo managed to talk to local USL1 owner and use his league contacts. Until we get more guys that are capable and willing to do so, then I forsee a need to continue coming to blogs like this one for additional info.

This is the age that we now live in. I much prefer it to only having Soccer America available and the occasional bone thrown Sports Illustrated…

Please keep up the good work.

Keep it up Brian many of us support what you are doing, and you already know that.

As well, the “Brian” feels much more comfortable, particularly without the condescension of the first comment posted from Irv.

As to your comments about the Canadian teams, I could see a USL-2 type league opening up on the west coast and that I could see Vancouver being part of. Between California, and the Pacific Northwest, I could see a league out there and USL-2 seems to be a better fit as a feeder for MLS. A step up from PDL but not the expenses incurred with USL-1.

But your most welcome and it has been interesting covering this. On the one hand I weekly get trashed from a particular “legitimate” sports reporter in Rochester, NY for trying to report this story and not letting the pros do it. Well, Jeff, if the pros were reporting the story I wouldn’t have one would I. It’s interesting as well because the owners of these teams have not been jaded by traditional media because they are not used to getting any sort of interest or media coverage which is sort of what you had said previously. So someone can bitch about an amateur (who by the way, probably knows the game a lot better than he does) writing these stories, yet I look around and I don’t see anyone else in the media covering the Story except for those down in the Raleigh/Durham area. Not even our main soccer voices in Goff and Galarcep have covered the story.

As my friend Bruce Mc Guire has said from Du nord Futbol, in the US, soccer is the sport of the internet. As I have stated before, the main stream media, sports editors and writers won’t give us the content, so we’ve gone out and created it ourselves. Our own papers here in the Twin Cities have not written one single word on this story even though I know both the Thunder beat writers from both papers. In fact I know several of the Tribune writers who read my site.

The lines are blurring like it or not. Do I have an editor double checking my sources and editing? Nope, I’m trying to do it all myself but I am also trying to do it with some integrity and I AM NOT reporting every little rumor and tidbit I hear. My source has to be reliable in my opinion and in most cases I try to get a second person or media outlet to confirm what I’m hearing.

So a better question this time around may be what makes this such a non-story with the main stream media. I ran into a USL-1 player yesterday (not from the Thunder) and they are getting little to no information from their teams. I feel really bad for these guys because they have no idea what is going to happen next season.

I realize that both Saputo and Kerfoot have stated that they would like to continue in some way shape or form with the USL and that the indications seems to be that they would like to keep a USL1 franchise but I will believe that when I see it. The Trois-Rivieres Attak, the Impact’s affiliate/reserve side currently compete in the Canadian Soccer League. Unless Mr. Saputo is planning on moving them up to the USL1 (the most likely scenario) or placing a USL club in Quebec City (where the Saputo organization has marketed in and had it clubs play in front of large crowds before), I don’t believe that Mr. Saputo will have any club competing at anything higher than a PDL level.

I belive that it is even less likely for Kerfoot to continue a USL1 club. The PDL, the W-League, the Super Y’s, etc–I can see those continuing but the likelyhood of a USL1 club exisiting unless Portlan’s bid fails or Kitsap moves up to USL1–highly unlikely. The travel costs would be murderous.

I also suspect that MLS, even having scrapped it’s reserve league, will not be too keen on clubs actively continuing their USL affiliations and if they do then I would expect for them to insist that any owners of clubs in both MLS & the USL1 use all of the influence that they have to get the USL to stop with the Marcos’ and company trying the sell the two leagues as being competitors or comparable (although Nu-Rock has probably already put an end to that nonsense)…