Three in the Wall
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| Photo Credit: Tormenta FC |
I hate trying to come up with titles to these things. Three in the Wall just means we've got three distinct sections. Maybe we'll stick with it, maybe not.
When last week started, I figured it would be a nice, relatively slow week. Tormenta had a Thursday match in the US Open Cup and a weekend off and so I wasn't expecting a lot.
Wow was I wrong.
Tuesday night I got a message from the Tormenta Media Relations staff letting me know there was going to be a press conference Wednesday with Tormenta Manager Ian Cameron and Co-Owner and President Darin Van Tassell. Specifics weren't given, just that it related to USL news.
A few hours later, The Athletic reported that the USL owners had agreed by a supermajority vote to implement Promotion and Relegation within the USL system. Details haven't been announced, or even fully finalized, but if you're reading this, you likely know that resulted in a flurry of articles and podcasts and reporting on it. (Here's a link to my article in Thursday's Statesboro Herald, it's below the US Open Cup preview and is a little shorter than I'd have liked as it was in the print edition and I don't know if you remember this, but newspapers have limited space so I couldn't write 2,000 words.)
With that out of the way, let's get to this morning's post.
Pro/Rel
Clearly the biggest news is Promotion/Relegation. Some people believe this is what is needed to differentiate USL from MLS and attract more eyes, coverage and television revenue. Others see it as more of a marketing gimmick that is bound to fail. Searching through social media, you can find every opinion imaginable on what this means and how it will play out. (Social media is awful and we should all give up on it, except for my posts, which are all awesome and should be preserved for historians to study centuries from now.)
All that is to say the hot takes were flying fast and furious after the announcement. Depending on who you wanted to listen to, this is the end of MLS or the end of USL or maybe the end of the world (and I feel fine.)
As I am contractually obligated as an accredited media member for USL1 to give my opinion on Pro/Rel or risk losing my credential, here are my thoughts on what Promotion and Relegation means for Tormenta and the USL at large. I've spent the past week reading, listening and researching this and I believe I've come to the only logical and correct conclusion for what Pro/Rel means.
"Heck if I know."
If you're reading this, I don't think it makes a difference for you. If you're taking the time to read a team specific blog of a third division soccer team, you're already a True Sicko* You're bought in and were on board with whatever the league and its owners decided. This decision wasn't for you.
The question becomes, does this make a difference for the local family who is looking for something to do on a Saturday and and decide they want to catch a game? Or the kid who goes off to college who grew up watching the Premiere League only to discover there's a USL team in his new home city that could be promoted.
While there are a number of tuned in and knowledgeable fans across USL, there's also a number of fans who, like my dad, like showing up on a Saturday night, watching a game with his son and grandson, wants his team to win, but otherwise isn't following the ins and outs of the league. Despite my articles, he wasn't aware of the Jagermeister Cup last year until I explained it to him at the first game.
Those are the fans that Pro/Rel needs to attract. I have no idea if it will, but it certainly garnered a lot of attention this week. How does the league capitalize on that going forward? Again, heck if I know. We're still several years away (and several decisions about how it will look) before it's implemented. All I do know is it'll be fascinating to see how it plays out.
*Truly this is the highest compliment I can give.
Send a Thank You Card Kids
If you watched Tormenta's 3-0 win over Harbor City Thursday night, you noticed the Statesboro High School drum line atop the stands on the right side of the stadium. They and nearby Claxton High School (yes, that's the Fruitcake Capital of the World, I don't care what Corsicana, Texas thinks.) play periodically at the games and while I fully admit that I'm too old because I think it's too loud, I enjoy the atmosphere they provide.
They're fun and while many of the high school kids don't appear to be deeply into soccer, they certainly have a good time. I think they got a huge kick when they started cheering for Joseph Perez, well, more specifically they were cheering for "Number 33" and during a break Perez looked up at them and smiled.
While the kids may not be big soccer fans, the director of the drum line, a man affectionately known as "Mr. A" is. He does his best to keep the kids into the match.
All that is a lead up to our story.
After scoring a goal minutes after he was substituted in, Niall Reid-Stephen stepped up to take a free kick in the 80th minute. As he was getting ready for his kick and the wall by Harbor City was getting set up, Mr. A told the kids "If he scores here, everyone here gets a 100 for tomorrow." I can only assume they get a participation grade in class each day so I'm sure it's not a huge deal to get a 100 for the day, but still, what kid is going to turn down free points.
Dear reader, I think you know where this is going. Reid-Stephen stepped up and curled his shot around the wall and past the Harbor City goalkeeper for Tormenta's goal, and the drum line went wild.
I don't know if the kids got their 100 on Friday. (I hope they did.) And if they did, I hope they all send Reid-Stephen a thank you note.
(USL1 clubs went 12-2 in the first round of the US Open Cup, with only Texoma and Richmond falling. Tormenta will take on Foro FC on April 1 at 7 p.m. at Tormenta Stadium. Foro FC upset Texoma last week. I'll write about that next Monday.)
A look ahead
Tormenta welcomes Union Omaha to Statesboro Saturday night. Omaha lost 3-0 to Greenville on March 12, but rebounded in their Open Cup match this past Friday with a 2-1 win over Flatirons Rush out of Colorado.
I'll have a deeper look at this match on Friday (and am hoping to get someone covering them to write a few paragraphs for me about Omaha). Omaha always holds a special place for me as they were Tormenta's opponent in the first game I ever got to cover of Tormenta back in April 2022. I'm scared to go back and read that story as I'm sure it's awful as the game was a scoreless draw. (The second game I covered was also a scoreless draw and I'm not sure I'm good enough now to write back-to-back stories where no goals were scored and I surely wasn't good enough then.)
Anyway, that was almost three years ago. Not a day goes by that I'm not thankful that I said yes when asked if I wanted to cover South Georgia (because the writer at the Statesboro Herald really does not like covering soccer) and I appreciate you all reading. I couldn't do this without you all. Well, I could, but it would be a lot less fun.
Links from the week:
Lots of Pro/Rel links: USL Official Release
Paul McDonough interview with The Guardian
Dan Vaughn at Protagonist Soccer
Forrest Wimberly's write up of Tormenta's Open Cup win in Round 1.
Have a great week everyone. Let's meet back up here Friday.
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