Allow me to point out that this isn't La Cosa Nostra. An omerta pledge is not sent in with the USL dues check. The owners of the clubs in the new league were under no obligation to be loyal to USL.

nathan3e I used the word DISLOYAL not mafia, look it up...

- Your reply is incorrect & inconsistent with the very definition of League - By your incorrect definition nathan3e a Fan would not be disloyal in NOT following said team to new League then.

League - A combination or union of two or more parties for the purpose of maintaining friendship and promoting their mutual interest, or for executing any design in concert

League - in a league; to cause to combine for a joint purpose; to combine; to unite; as, common interests will league heterogeneous elements

League - To unite in a league or confederacy; to combine for mutual support; to confederate

League - An alliance or combination of two or more nations, parties, or persons, for the accomplishment of a purpose which requires a continued course of action, as for mutual defense, or for furtherance of commercial, religious, or political interests, etc.

& let's not forget the definition of RABBLE~!

RAB''BLE, n. [L. rabula, a brawler, from rabo, to rave.]

1. A tumultuous crowd of vulgar, noisy people; the mob; a confused disorderly crowd.

2. The lower class of people, without reference to an assembly; the dregs of the people.

Your definition of league says nothing of permanency of the union. If the common purposes that bound them are either no longer common purposes or otherwise diverge, as they did in this case, there's no reason for the league to persist.

Also, I'm not sure that rabble really applies to anyone in the USL or the TOA/NASL. Especially on the noisy part since no one is saying much of anything. They had a disagreement, outlined it in broad terms and left. There may be a lot of noise in the near future in terms of lawsuits, but that seems more likely to come from the USL side than the NASL, though I'm not intending to cast aspersions on the merit of whatever lawsuits may arise by labeling them noisy.

Besides, the Battery were "disloyal" to the USL-D1 league and left it as well to go to the greener pastures of the USL-D2 league. And if anyone is of a noisy, rabbley sort, my money would be on the one who goes around trying to stir up trouble and uses way too many caps.

You are employing inapplicable, overheated, and emotional rhetoric better suited to a discussion of secret societies than to a discussion of minor league professional sports. A business owner is under no obligation to coexist in a context that is dying on the vine. There is no pledge, no secret pinky shake bonding them together. Is that clearer? Was it really that vague?



You are waving your fists from the land of semantics. The "leagues" are morphing minute by minute. I cannot even be sure I will have a team in either league at this point.

So then WE are not happy about this entire fiasco~! - I guess the difference is I've also been a longtime USL Fan as well as a Battery Fan - The concept of being a Fan of a League obviously evades you... Meanwhile I'll vent as I've seen fit to do in my last 4000 or so Posts around here - & One of the myriad of things I'm mad about reagrding this whole mess is the totally unneccessary loss of some viable East Coast USL2 teams with great logistics for The Battery... & hell even the kNickers - That REALLY ticks me off ~!

The Battery CEO said it best:

“This breakaway is not good for soccer in the United States. Cooler heads should have prevailed with all parties sitting round a table and resolving their differences for the benefit of the sport. This did not happen and we will all have to deal with the consequences.”

James,
I apologize for passing the wrong information. However I did receive that info from Mr. Ed Cherneski and I did not just make it up.

Please correct us on the situation. How does the Crystal Palace arrangement go?

"I’m proud to be recognized by the league," remarked Medd. "It’s a statement on everything we’re doing here at Crystal Palace. Obviously Jim Cherneski and I work hand-in-hand on everything, so it’s just as much his award as mine. I think I got a lot accomplished as a member of the League’s Executive Committee this year."

Soooo by saying you got a lot accomplished, you mean consistently critical of the league, deceiving the league, breaking away from the league and then joining a phantom "league" where half (maybe more)of the teams will either be gone or financially incompetent in 1-2 years....this being the same league you said a couple years ago was the perfect fit for Crystal Palace. Yea, you were busy! Wouldn't call that an accomplishment though....

Bill - sorry for any miscommunication from the club. Simply put, the UK club pays us to scout players over here that can be signed by them, and as part of that arrangement, we use the Palace name. Hope that clarifies things.

I think we are all in agreement with that, right? At least right now? This is painful at the moment.

It's POSSIBLE that in several years we'll look back and say "Well, that sucked for a while, but it resulted in a stronger soccer structure in this country (and Canada), so it was worth it."

It's also possible that we'll look back and, like the CART/IRL split, say "WTF did we waste all that energy for? That was a major pain in the butt just because some people got their knickers in a twist."

We don't know yet.

I do know this - you can't be from a country that was CREATED by people who rejected the status quo because they didn't think it was right and then denigrate those who would do the same thing down the road. "When in the course of human events" and all that.

The difference, of course, is that the revolutionaries (who were committing treason, let's not beat around the bush about that) were fighting for ideals a lot more noble than Selby Wellman's Rent-A-Car Deal Wishes.

[quote=Bernie SlavenI do know this - you can't be from a country that was CREATED by people who rejected the status quo because they didn't think it was right and then denigrate those who would do the same thing down the road. "When in the course of human events" and all that.

The difference, of course, is that the revolutionaries (who were committing treason, let's not beat around the bush about that) were fighting for ideals a lot more noble than Selby Wellman's Rent-A-Car Deal Wishes. [/quote]

Sure I can... as the way things turned out WE (& I include our Canadian continental brothers here) & most certainly SOCCER would have been FAR better off had cooler heads prevailed & parties sat around a table & there had been no American Revolution and NASL2~!