Their writers have been getting a lot of criticisms from the comments recently for lack of consistent reporting, but I guess that’s a result of a very long offseason.

All that said, you have to just smile a little bit at some things he says. First he says they have 10 guys coming back this year if you count the ones in MLS camps (every reason to think he’s right and they’ll all be back) and he lists them. Notice Shriver was not one of the names. Then, when BQ asks him directly about Shriver, he skirts it, but probably realizing he just slipped a moment before, kind of hints what we already know anyway, which is Shriver is indeed going to Carolina, and there are circumstances why from what I’ve been told.

There’s also the Traffic stuff. We says yes Traffic has pulled away from the Strikers. But how can Muzzi and Clavijo by scouting for all three Traffic teams? When they find a player, how do they decide which squad he signs with if this is the case? This goes against what we’ve seen and heard since last year in that each club operates independently from one another, with their own personnel. One would think the USSF would yank the sanctioning in a hurry if Traffic were somehow overseeing the scouting and signing of players to all three teams with the same two individuals. I think it’s far more likely that Traffic is indeed setting up shop in Cary in anticipation of selling the Strikers, or at the very least, a majority ownership of the Strikers. He may have been asked to keep the status quo speech for public consumption for the time being.

Lastly we have the TCI stuff. I’ve heard the name from a number of people down here. Either someone somewhere started a story that was very believable by a lot of people down here, or Tim is again just trying to do what he needs to publicly right now while there are things going on behind the scenes. Maybe TCI’s not going to get involved. Maybe it’s someone else. But at this point Traffic is looking for financial relief, and who can blame them? I don’t think they’re nearly as attached to one team over another as Tim suggests, except from the perspective of which one might be closest to breaking even or provide opportunities for what they really want to do in North America which is find and sign youth talent to loan or sell down the road.

There is also the Lockhart situation. What I’ve been hearing matches what Tim said, the Strikers are good to go for 2012. But I think he’s guarding his words on this subject for some reason. I know he wants the team to stay there long term. I’ve also heard that the Schlitterbahn deal is all but dead now. The FAA didn’t “soften” their stance last year until every politician around got all over them, partly for the Strikers, but more importantly for trying to oust high school kids. Notice this time around the Strikers are going to have control at Lockhart, and no one is even sure at this point if the high schools will be back. So what has changed so drastically from the FAA’s persepctive? If Schlitterbahn is off the table, they’re back to square one, meaning they want to get whatever they can from tenants who aren’t using the property for aviation. I think they forced the Strikers fully into Lockhart and out of the baseball stadium facilities because they want to try and get some kind of tenant or other project they can benefit from going there as well.

Still lots of things to be settled. What I’m most glad about though at the end of the day is knowing I don’t have to go to some dumb cricket stadium to watch my Strikers! I am dying for this season to get underway, might even go down to Lockhart over the weekend to see some of the NASL combine!

You keep hearing from people inside the NASL about all this interest in the league and people wanting to join and yet we still don’t new investors for Minnesota, Carolina, or Atlanta. Nor have any investors emerged for new teams in 2014 and beyond.

As pointed to in above comments by me, the market dictates and does not allow players in the league to get what they’ve been paid. Do I want players to not get compensated well? Of course I do but I also think they should be compensated well in Mens D2. But most are not because owners are losing a lot of money per year. When teams can start breaking even or turning a profit you will definitely see player salaries go back up again.