USL1 Instability Update

A while back I wrote a post showing how unstable USL1 has been in the last few years.

This offseason things got even worse, with the USSF having to step in and cobble together a second division consisting of USL1 teams and those who are breaking away to form the reincarnated NASL.

Technically Rochester might still be in the USL -- both the USL and NASL web sites list them as a team. At the very least they will officially be done with the USL next season. The same can be said of the reborn Tampa Bay Rowdies and the new NSC team in Minnesota, which I neglected to put into the "in" column.

Here's an updated chart reflecting the chaos.

2010
In	Out
none	Charleston Battery (dropped to USL2)
	Cleveland City Stars (folded)
	Minnesota Thunder (folded)
	Carolina Railhawks (moved to NASL)
	Miami FC (moved to NASL)
	Montreal Impact (moved to NASL)
	Vancouver Whitecaps (moved to NASL)
	Rochester Raging Rhinos (moved to NASL)
2009
In	Out
Cleveland City Stars	Seattle Sounders (moved to MLS)
Austin Aztex	Atlanta Silverbacks (on hiatus)
2008
In	Out
none	California Victory (folded)
2007
In	Out
California Victory	Virginia Beach Mariners (folded)
Carolina Railhawks	Toronto Lynx (folded)
2006
In	Out
Miami FC	Richmond Kickers (dropped to USL2)
2005
In	Out
none	Syracuse Salty Dogs (folded)
	Milwaukee Wave (folded)
	Edmonton Aviators (folded)
	Calgary Mustangs (folded)
2004
In	Out
Puerto Rico Islanders	none
Edmonton Aviators

Choosing an MLS Team to Support

Need to figure out which MLS team to support? Check out this awesome flowchart created by "cowtown" of BigSoccer fame.

My favorite question on the flowchart: "Do you secretly kind of like the idea of following a team named after a horrible disaster that destroys lives and communities?" Hilarious.

Herculez Unchained

Stop me if you've heard this one before. An American player heads overseas to a league considered superior to MLS. He settles in immediately, scoring goals and turning heads in the process.

The only thing is, I'm not talking about Landon Donovan.

Herculez Gomez formerly of the Kansas City Wizards, Colorado Rapids and Los Angeles Galaxy transferred to Puebla in Mexico this offseason and the change has done him a world of good. Gomez went goalless in 26 appearances with the Wizards last year, and scored just three in 25 games the year before. So far this year Gomez has already scored five goals in just eight appearances for La Franja.


Here he is opening the scoring for Puebla just last week.