Louisville is interested in having a MISL team

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Fran
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Louisville is interested in having a MISL team

Post by Fran » Tue Dec 18, 2007 3:59 pm

Would Lousivlle be a good fit?

I remember the MISL mentioning a team in the midwest will get a team next season. This may be the team

KELLY: Jeff man looking to bring MISL team to Louisville

BY AIDAN KELLY
sports@newsandtribune.com


I’ve always had a certain affinity for indoor soccer.


For one, muddy fields, steaming cow manure and the challenge of switching into your kit in sweeping Irish winds and driving rain (we didn’t have the luxury of dressing rooms) never really appealed, despite my great love for the game.

Living in a high rise tower block during my youth also cemented my affair with the indoors. Most of the time, our elevator was clapped out due to its inability to carry too many Shetland ponies up and down on a regular basis, so it seemed easier as a 10-year-old to watch the world go by from the comfort of the balcony rather than negotiate hundreds of urine-sodden stairs.

Instead, I’d kick pairs of socks rolled into the shape of balls at my little sister, who was the designated goalkeeper standing between goalposts usually made out of talking dolls or fluffy teddy bears.

If the socks were all in the wash, teddy bears made good kicking material also.

So it’s no surprise that the indoors is where I had most success. It benefits the smaller, fit and more skillful players, with the added bonus of making fools of the tall or cumbersome defenders who usually got to boot you up and down outdoor fields.

As a result, I look forward to seeing professional indoor soccer returning to Louisville thanks in large part to Jeffersonville architect Wayne Estopinal, who is leading a push to construct a team to play in the Major Indoor Soccer League next fall.

Estopinal will be known to many involved in the game locally, as he is majority owner of Mockingbird SC. Under his wing there, so to speak, is his talented son, Andrew, who was part of St. Xavier’s Kentucky state winning soccer team this year and will return as a senior for 2008.

A possible future MISL star, perhaps?

The Louisville team, not yet named, will be the 10th in the MISL if its application is successful. Opponents will include the likes of defending champion Philadelphia KiXX, Chicago Storm, California Cougars and Orlando Sharks. Teams typically play in front of crowds numbering 5-6,000, while new pro outfit New Jersey Ironmen recently played Detroit Ignition with more than 13,000 in attendance.

The games will be held for couple of years at Freedom Hall, from October to April, before transferring possibly to the new downtown arena, which is expected to be completed in 2010.

Local sponsors and investors are being sought, as it will need the guts of almost $4 million to fund the team’s first three years.

And that’s exactly how long the area’s last professional indoor team — Louisville Thunder — lasted. Founded in 1984, it won the American Indoor Soccer Association’s championship in its final year in 1987.

It featured such players as Keith Tozer, who played nearly 100 games with the Thunder over two and a half seasons and was also the team’s head coach; Janusz Michallik, who earned 44 caps for the U.S. national team; and Zoran Savic, a two-time All-Star and one of the league’s leading scorers.

When the Thunder finally won the title in its third try, Savic and teammates Chris Hellencamp and Jim Gabarra led the way, each scoring five goals in the playoffs.

Whether the new club can attract similar illustrious players remains to be seen, and whether it will last longer is also a question for debate. Only time will tell, but the general consensus is that there is more of an appetite for the game in the area now than there was 20 years ago, with thousands more playing the game in the Greater Louisville and Southern Indiana areas.


Of course, that’s not to say that all local aficionados of the outdoor sport will automatically enjoy the indoor game and bolt off to Freedom Hall quicker than you can say Flash Gordon. They probably won’t.

Let’s not forget that some differences in the indoor game may not be everyone’s cup of tea. It is six a side, with four 15-minute quarters and a different scoring system, which involves the awarding of two or three points per goal.

But the higher scoring games are expected to appeal to a more general audience and so it may attract new fans to the game, while TV exposure of the MISL via Fox Soccer Channel on Friday nights won’t harm it either.

And who knows, if successful, it could be the steppingstone to one day having a Major League Soccer team in the area.

In a warm stadium without muddy fields and cow manure, one hopes.

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Post by tops804 » Fri Dec 21, 2007 5:12 am

It would be a good location. The question is, will it draw enough people?

With teams North in Detroit, East in Philadelphia and South in Orlando: It
would certainly make sense and benefit all involved travelwise. Should a
franchise be awarded to Albany, it could mean a 3 division setup which
might even make more sense.

The teams that seem to have perpetual travel nightmares are California
and Monterrey. I would like to hear more about expansion in the west.
Dallas and San Diego fielded MISL teams for years. Not to mention the
Los Angeles market (For as underpromoted as they were, the Lazers did
pretty well in the 80's.) With Beckham in town, would it be a good time
to rekindle the indoor game?
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Post by logoguru » Fri Dec 21, 2007 11:45 pm

[quote=""tops804""]
Dallas and San Diego fielded MISL teams for years. Not to mention the
Los Angeles market (For as underpromoted as they were, the Lazers did
pretty well in the 80's.) With Beckham in town, would it be a good time
to rekindle the indoor game?[/quote]

If you look at the old CISL set up it was pretty well divided between east and west. But do people care about indoor? Id rather see outdoor grow and at some point actually flurish.

I saw the knights play against dallas and I have to tell you, it was boring. The score was something like 10-3 and we left in the 3rd quarter.
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Post by tops804 » Sat Dec 22, 2007 1:24 am

[quote=""logoguru""]If you look at the old CISL set up it was pretty well divided between east and west. But do people care about indoor? Id rather see outdoor grow and at some point actually flurish.[/quote]

The problem with both is how much they failed in the past. I really think they
need to find a comfortable size and franchise locations, and stay there.

Indoor, I liked as an alternative to hockey. With the Cavaliers in Cleveland --
we will never see an NHL team. It is faster paced and higher scoring then
outdoor.

Outdoor, slow pace with a purpose is a turn off to some people. No timeouts
hurts TV & concessions. I have never been to an outdoor game, and have
often wondered what kind of view you get in a stadium other then these new
"soccer only" facilities.
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Post by logoguru » Sat Dec 22, 2007 9:30 pm

I was at world cup 94 in palo alto which was a 80,000 seat stadium and the view was just fine.
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Post by Pounder » Thu Dec 27, 2007 7:58 pm

It's probably a hell of a lot better in Palo Alto since the renovation, given the removal of the track and almost wrapping the stands around the field. Wonder if it's wide enough for the real football?

Being at any of the new stadia (Chicago is the only one I haven't visited yet) will really expose what was bad about Palo Alto. Almost all the new places are right on top of the pitches.

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Post by hawk174md » Tue Apr 22, 2008 3:53 pm

Louisville would be an excellent location for MISL soccer. If I am not mistaken, wasn't Louisville a member of the MISL some time ago?

Freedom Hall would be suitable. If it can host af2 football (Louisville Fire) as well as NCAA basketball (Louisville Cardinals), then it can host MISL soccer.
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Post by Pounder » Tue Apr 22, 2008 4:58 pm

Your average MISL crowd is less than 5,000, IIRC.

Freedom Hall is too big. The new arena coming in will be the same.
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Post by Geoff » Wed Apr 23, 2008 6:24 pm

You still have Broadbent Arena which is also on the grounds of the Ky Expo Center and the Louisville Gardens which is set for a major renovation and a hockey team will move in that will either be USHL or ECHL. That's right, if one of them is not torn down, Louisville will have four arenas once Louisville Arena opens up.

The Gardens hold somewhere between 5,000 and 7,000. I can't seem to find th number I saw recently.

Broadbent has hosted hockey when the Riverfrogs and Icehawks were in the ECHL. It has 5,261 permanent seats but with a super wide floor, it has the potential to hold more (VIP type seating?).

For an example of how wide the floor is look at this video of a Louisville Fire preseason scrimmage:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hWRgnWoPuvc

Granted there are no boards up, but even with the boards, that's a lot of extra room.

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