Here is the chance to to have Boro Sucivic "Get the band back together".

Jim Harwood... stop selling insurance and mutual funds and get to work!

So hopeing for the Waukesha Rampage to be in the PDL soon are we?

No need to continue the Waukesha Rampage charade...

But where to play? Uihlein doesn't drain, besides, the Wave probably would fight anyone playing there. The Franklin park (Milwaukee Rampage Soccer Complex) was a disaster.

In what way was it a disaster?

I thought the IDEA of the Milwaukee Rampage Sports Complex was a great idea. They had the concessions and parking all to themselves, they could schedule (and get the revenue from) other outdoor soccer, futsal, basketball, etc. events. They also had the acreage to build lots of smaller fields and attract youth and rec outdoor soccer.

But lots of things led to my label of “disaster”

* Fans did not travel to the far south side to the complex.

* Resistance from the City of Franklin, especially in terms of the lights.

* The Rampage never really did prepare the other fields.

* Crappy sound system (mitigated by having a CrackerJack CD spinner!!)

* Crappy scoreboard (mitigated by having a CrackerJack scoreboard operator!!). The pressbox console broke down in the middle of the last season, so we actually had a couple of 10-year olds that had to run into the boiler room to change the score and start/stop the clock.

* Mosquitos

* US Open Cup game at 2:00 on a Wednesday afternoon.

* An owner that didn't want to spend any money, and during their 2002 Championship season, hoped the team would lose early in the playoffs to cut expenses.

And I could go on all day. Now, don't get me wrong. I enjoyed almost every moment of my 9 year association with the team, and I was crestfallen when the team folded. If Boro or Harwood called me and said "We're getting the band back together", I would jump at the chance.

But I think that the Franklin facility was too overwhelming, and they got caught with "a bad lease". If they had all of the revenue streams flowing as they had wanted, the lease wouldn't be a major issue.

I think playing the 2001 season without lights cost them a ton of fans who never came back. They played their 2001 Opening game in front of (maybe) 500 fans at 4:30 on a Wednesday afternoon. They played a 2001 Final Four game against Rochester in front of even fewer fans on a 4:30 on a Thursday (which was postponed a day because of the tragic death of one of Rochester's players).

As much as I loved that team, the move to Franklin was a disaster. Probably the best part was being at the indoor facility in the middle of the night to watch the 2002 World Cup games.

originally posted by mjames:
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"If Boro or Harwood called me and said, "We're getting the band back together", I would jump at the chance."

"Probably the best part was being at the indoor facility in the middle of the night to watch the 2002 World Cup games."

I hear you, my friend.

And thanks for your definition of disaster.

I second mjames motion. No trying to beat a man or in this case (an organization) when its down but The "Wave United Experiment" was a long shot at best of succeeding long term. To coin the Ragin Cajun James Carville on Election night its like pulling of an inside straight.
Not impossible but definately something that wasn't going to be easy. Not to take anything away from the Wave they are a good organization and have sold a product for nearly 20 years through 4 different leagues (AISA, NPSL, MISL, and A-league) The main problem that i saw was a lack of promotion for the outdoor team. Most of what i heard from the Wave during the summer were geared towards the indoor game.
When the Wave and Rampage were competing for the dollars that soccer families would dish out, the Wave went all out promoting their brand of soccer year round. Last summer especially i heard little about the outdoor side.
Part can be blammed on the weather and the uncertainty of what may transpire when a game would be cancelled because the field was more under water than the Titanic at times but that's still a bad excuse.
Then you get to the player aspect of the idea. When your starting off as a pro the idea of making a living playing soccer is a great idea. Playing 10-12 months a year and then the following season doing it again sounds great. But after a few years, a few hard knocks on the field, a few injuries, maybe a surgury or two, the idea doesn't sound too good. Then you add in that most of the players except for the home grown ones which there are a few, are away from their families for basically the entire calendar year. Its why you have good players who still have the ability to play and play well who in their 30's decide, you know i'm burnt out, my body may not be able to continue unless there is some sort of break to the year round schedule, where they can heal injuries and such. It seemed the Wave was interested in having as few players under contract so they could continue to operate both in order to do this you sign everyone to dual season deals...

Concluding this soap-box type speech, I hope Professional outdoor soccer returns to Milwaukee in 2006 but i also hope that it can return with new ownership with some old faces running the team. Until then it looks like i have two options, start travelling to Chicago for games, or visit some friends up in the Twin Cities for A-league action...Not sure which one is worse...Just kidding to all the thunderheads who read this.

Definitely the Twin Cities.

But seriously, the Thunder are the only Midwest representation in the League, so I'm hopping on their bandwagon for 2005.

All we can do is hope for better things for Milwaukee in 2006. Seasons come, seasons go . . .