...for Alan Oatsvall's introductory press conference. I think fans are going to like this guy.

Hey Vox,
That is a pretty good thing that just happened recently with the new GM. He seems to understand the El Paso Patriots needs. Do you think the Cervantes family will allow him to function without pressures from within? Also he claims that they have a young crop of players. Where do these players play the rest of the year? Do they play at UTEP? The is an UTEP is not varsity is it? They are team are probably not very competitive. Do they have college players or are they opposed to that and only want to bring in guys from Mexico? Most of the other soccer franchises have college players that play as Oatsvall put it fast ball. Would it not make snse for the Pats to look for those type of players that play year round to come play for the Pats? If you recall the last Lamar Cup game, the team looked tiered. It might help the team if they brought in college players that play year round and are fit to play at the PDL level. Maybe I am mistaken but we do not hear of any players that play in college. It might even help the team if they made public anyone who has come up through the Pats and has gone further. This might help their youth program. I am very glad to see that things are moving in the right direction. After all, we are fans that enjoy clean family entertainment at the enf of the long weeks.

No, only the gals play varsity at UTEP, though there was a good club team once (Memo McFarlane was on it when they won a national club championship in '89).

He's talking about the younger guys who played this last season like Ariel Chavez, Antonio Barrera, etc. He is absolutely bringing in collegiate talent from outside El Paso, just to speed up the Patriots game a bit. There are lots of local guys who are excellent technical players, but they need some go-ers to make a better blend of style and show the El Paso kids something new.

I don't think Alan would have come without complete control of the ship. As I have been saying, the ownership is thinking forward -- things just take time. With Oatsvall they've taken the biggest step.

Especially hearing the Laredo Heat in preseason talk about how they've fundamentally changed their style, then watching them win it all, also played a roll.

Two of the most committed franchises in PDL deserve the good fortune. BTW, you think you're frustrated? Try dealing with the organizations some of these other PDL franchises have. (Austin, are you listening? Probably not.)

I like the way Barrera plays. ALam seems like a friendly guy, he has my support.

So will the Pats be announcing that they are officially ready to go to USL-1 in 09?

They're paving the way, Chuy. It is what they want.

Of course, I had thought it would happen in '08, but they need the field and a little bit more infrastructure. The standards have been raised since the Pats were there four years ago.

Yeah sounds like it will be a while. Did you see the plans on the news, the politicos will shoot it down since it is not a plan for the West Side.

Never saw it on the news. Did you?

West Side or Downtown Renewal.

Vox,
Hey, yeah it was on the news, they had a model of the new Azcarate park. They mentioned a soccer stadium for the Pats, making the lake bigger and adding a movie theater. They proposed it at commissioners court I believe. It was on the local news.