Heaps, Bilello Meet With Un-renewed Season Ticket Holders

When I received an invite to sit down with Jay heaps and Brian Bilello as a un-renewed season ticket holder, I was skeptical.  One of the great privileges I've been afforded is the ability to speak with either as a media representative, but the idea of this blog has always been to be writing from the point of view of a supporter.  I would rather make use of events like this to really hear what they have to say to the fans and supporters.  Going into the event I thought it was going one of two ways... a cheesy sales pitch about how much they love us and things will be better... or a an opportunity to vent, ask questions and really have a dialogue with two of the most important people in this organization... it was the latter.  I suppose many of my readers expect me to rip them a new one but I'm not...

Quality of Life Index (2012): Pre-Season

Pre-Season Matches

Win vs. FC Tucson
Win VS. Boston College
Win vs. Boston College
Win vs. LA Galaxy
Win vs. New York
Win vs. Real Salt Lake
Draw vs. LA Galaxy (2-4 PKs)

Who is this team and what have you done with the Revolution? There is no question that the Revs put together a pretty impressive pre-season. Although it is only pre-season, it was hard not to get excited about this team.  They looked shaky against LA in the Desert Diamond Cup final, which is a cause for concern, but here's to hoping it was just from being tired and hopefully a rested team will be ready to do battle against San Jose. 3 points for a win, -3 for a loss, 0 for a draw. PLUS 18 

Moreno Leaves Pie on the Face of Burns

Our Number 9! Wait he's not coming, no wait he is, no wait we're unsure, no he swears he's coming... he's getting his visa! All is good!!   The Moreno guy better be the savior of this team at this point if/when he shows up. The fans are disgusted by this whole situation, it makes the player and the team look bad. He has a lot to prove when he shows especially when it seems like the fans don't even want him at this point. MINUS 10

2 Out 1 In... And An Appeal To Former STH

The Revolution today have announced that midfielder Ryan Kinne and Forward Zack Schilawski have been waived.  Kinne made one first team appearance during his career with the Revs. Schilawski made 50 appearances  but only scored 6 goals, 3 of which came in the form of a hat trick against Toronto FC in his Gillette Stadium debut.

On Friday the Revolution picked up Lee Nguyen after he had been waived by Vancouver.  Nguyen, a 25 year old midfielder, made his way to Vancouver via a weighted lottery in December.  Nguyen had been playing in Vietnam for Hoang Anh Gia and Becamex Binh Duong FC.  Prior to his time in Vietnam Nguyen spent time at PSV Eindhoven and Randers FC. Nguyen has made appearances for both the USMNT  and US youth level.
 

2012 Supporters Summit Quotes and Editorial Part 2

This past Thursday the Revolution hosted its 3rd Annual Supporter Summit.  Members of the Midnight Riders and The Rebellion were invited ti ask questions of both Brian Bilello and Mike Burns.  Over the course of a few posts we will present selected in depth quotes on a number of subjects as well as some of our own editorial notes in italics where warranted


Part 1


Bilello on "exciting" players

"From this off season, if your looking at saying 'well I'll come back if there's players that come that create a buzz for me'. Then yes I wouldn't argue that we haven't [brought in buzz players]... Michael and Jay's directive were to go get guys that are going to help us win, not necessarily go get guys who are going to create a buzz.  When you're the last place team in the league, I think it's hard to say go get a guy that's good and has buzz, it's put together the best team you can.

2012 Supporters Summit Quotes and Editorial Part 1

This past Thursday the Revolution hosted its 3rd Annual Supporter Summit.  Members of the Midnight Riders and The Rebellion were invited ti ask questions of both Brian Bilello and Mike Burns.  Over the course of a few posts we will present selected in depth quotes on a number of subjects as well as some of our own editorial notes in italics where warranted

Bilello on an opening day doubleheader

"We are working on a double header for the opening game, it won't be extra, it will be your ticket to the game. The price will stay the same so for people who don't have season tickets it will be the price of a regular game, so just a bonus game that we're adding to the home opener, if it happens."


Burns on off season

"Without question this has been the busiest off season we've had since I started working in the Front Office. everything from new locker room , to new weight room, new video room, a new head coach, new assistant coach, another new coach and reserve coach who we haven't hired yet and are still going through the interview process, a new equipment manager, a new strength and conditioning coach.

Bilello and Burns 'Promoted'... Really?!??

Today the New England Revolution announced a "restructuring" of the Front Office, Brian Bilello has been promoted to President and Mike Burns is now the General Manager of the team. Congratulations are due to both you gentleman because despite being at the helm of the worst Revs season ever, you have been rewarded handsomely for your efforts (or lack thereof).  Lest we not forget some of your accomplishments this season which include letting the team's MVP walk and arresting/ejecting/alienating your fan base, these are both proud entries into your resumes.

Don't Renew 'til You See The Whites Of Their Eyes....

Sigh... it's that time of year again.  The phone calls every week, the emails, the pretentious invoices that come in the mail.  Season ticket renewal crunch is here.

Why is it worth it? No one has been able to answer that question, no one can give me a good reason to renew my season tickets.

It used to be that Special Event ticket, excuse me tickets in years past, you knew you were going to get a friendly or two, some sort of international competition, US Open Cup, and/or playoffs. Well this is the second year of no playoffs so I won't be using it for that. We are in no position to qualify for any international competition. We regularly blow off the US Open Cup which would be helpful for getting into international competition, and the FO decided to fuck over its STH's on our friendly this year forcing people to fork out more money to see the match.  The ManU game would have had a solid showing of Revs supporters if they didn't screw that one up, but hey at least the few of us fools that did spend money on it got free parking... So why should I renew my tickets, because my unused special event ticket will be credited to next years?  I don't fucking think so.

Marko Perovic... You fucking morons.

Last year the hook was statements about signing one and quite possibly two Designated Players in the offseason.  That didn't happen, yes we finally did sign one halfway through the season, but he is hardly what we expected as a DP and is only a DP by a technicality... his transfer or loan fee or bribe to his agents... whatever it is... it's still fishy to us.  I won't call it an empty promise, but it was a half-assed promise to get people to renew.  We all knew we had a ton of cap space as well, and the Revs acted within their Standard Operating Procedure of signing aging/injury prone Europeans that otherwise were looking at retirement and didn't make it a whole season.  Yep they sure didn't do enough with that cap space...  Why should I renew?

Apparently we are at most 14 months away from breaking ground on a stadium. If you believe that I also have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.  Krafty Jon said in an interview last December that they hoped to be breaking ground in 12-24 months.  Well with the amount of time the permitting and approval process would take before a shovel would even hit the ground, the likelihood of this happening is zilch.  Now of course every ticket renewal crunch we start to hear rumors of stadium news and this year is no different, they've already started. The fact is there is no deal yet, and there is no hard evidence that there will be soon (Please Revs, make me eat crow on this).  Foxboro is killing this team, it sucks to go there, the stadium is too big and it perpetuates the feeling of being second class citizens... You aren't fooling me with empty promises to make me renew.

Fortgate... way to make me feel like a valued customer... You fucking morons (again).

You want me to renew? Fire Burns and let Nicol go.  It is obvious that they can not rebuild this squad or even field a competitive team.  It's no secret around here that we despise Mr. Burns, I don't know why they thought he had any qualifications to do this job but he doesn't, he's not good at it, just because he played the game doesn't mean he is going to be any good in an FO.  Nicol won't be fired, his contract is up at the end of the season, but I do not want to see it renewed.  I think Nicol is a great coach, and have always enjoyed speaking with him, I wish him the best of luck elsewhere but his time has run it's course here.  The team needs fresh blood and new ideas.  Many people want to see Bilello gone, I haven't touched on this that much.  If I can say one thing, personally I like that guy, professionally it's another story.  If he is one thing it's easy to read and see through, Fortgate proved that more than anything.  Listen, getting rid of him will do nothing unless there is a total philosophical and cultural change in the organization starting at Krafty Bob and working it's way all the way down.  A new COO will just be more of the same if there isn't that shift, Krafty Bob and Jon need to decide that they want this team to meet and  hopefully exceed the standard set by Portland, Seattle, Toronto, Kansas City, otherwise nothing changes.  You want me to renew... this would be a start.

We need to see a lot of new faces next year, both in the FO and on the team.  Shalrie will likely leave and if he does it's a shame but understandable.  There are not many players here that I want to see next year, the squad needs to be blown up other than a handful of them. If we see the same players that at most are riding the bench for other MLS teams as starting players next year then I have no interest in renewing.  If we plan on rebuilding with draft picks I have no interest in renewing.  If we rebuild with way past their expiration date European players I have no interest in renewing. 

I am not alone.  This is why many will not renew, it is also a path to get those people to reconsider but only if this organization is smart enough to see that.  It is likely that I will not renew, that doesn't mean I will stop supporting the team, or even stop going to games.  It is incredibly easy to get a free extra ticket on the plaza before a game and I will most likely do that.  The best way to send a message to this team is not renewing your tickets, they need to be hurt in their wallet, just as they have hurt us in ours.  Please give us a reason, we really do want to give you our money but this abusive relationship needs to end or we're out.

Talk to us the week before the season starts and we'll see if you've even remotely done a good enough job...

Fortgate-The Airing of Grievences

On Wednesday June 29th members of the Midnight Riders, Rebellion, Rev Army and unaffiliated supporters met with Brian Bilello-Revolution COO, Evan Daby-MLS Operations, Kelly Way-Director of Operations TeamOps, Cathal Conlon-Revolution Director of Marketing/Supporters Liaison, and Alan Haskill-Foxborough Police Department Administrative Sergeant. Audio recorders were prohibited for this event so unlike the extensive coverage we have had for the Supporters Summit and Meet The Coach this unfortunately will have to be a recap based off our notes instead of an abridged transcription.

Opening the meeting Brian Bilello spoke of attempts to build the supporters movement by the team over the past few years and how the team would like continue to help it grow.  He went on to say that the team "realize[s] it's and adult environment and we want to market that."  The YSA chant was cited as causing problems with season ticket holders, groups and multi-ticket package holders.  The team was unhappy with there not being enough progress within a "multi-week time frame".  The team recognised that they could of handled the situation better (i.e. emails, handouts, etc.) but they immediately turned it around to the supporters and asked what they could have done better to control the use of YSA.  Focus early on was on the needlessness of profanity in chants.

Kelly Way informed us that the first complaint during that game regarding YSA was during the 1st half followed by subsequent complaints in the second half.  Cathal Conlon was asked to speak with the supporters to try and quell the chant instead of TeamOps going in and ejecting people.  No reference was made to Ms. Way repeatedly harassing the Capo, Monty Rodrigues about him leading YSA which was not the case.  Bilello stated that if he tells Way to "let it go, it goes", but that customer service is most important.

Evan Daby stated the the "league is in the business of growing the fanbase" but if the cursing issue wasn't fixed it would hurt everyone.  He said this was an opportunity for the team and supporters to be leaders in the league.

Bilello continued to speak of wanting to see the the supporters culture grow, but went on to say that there are 485 STH's in the Fort and that he has 5000 other STH's to worry about (wow we finally got season ticket numbers!)

Supporters in attendance started to voice concerns of the over aggressive behavior of TeamOps, despite repeated questions and accounts the issue was mostly tip-toed around by Kelly Way and Brian Bilello.  One female supporter recounted how she felt uncomfortable and intimidated by there presence.  She went on to speak of how she and another were surrounded by TeamOps officials and Foxoborough PD when they suspected them of filming them, which the proved they were in fact not.  Another supporter spoke of how she was knocked over by TeamOps pushing through a row of people to get to someone that was not causing any physical harm. As she was falling she grabbed onto a TeamOps member to catch herself and was immediately threatened with arrest and ejection. Kelly Way apologized for supporters not feeling that they have a voice with TeamOps and that they will look to improve communication, Bilello chimed in that supporters should give feedback and they will be responsive towards it.

A unaffiliated supporter who does not sit in the Fort recounted that YSA is not exclusive to The Fort and that it occurs in other sections of the stadium as well and there is never even a TeamOps presence there.  She went on to state that it is not the team's job to tell her kids what is and is not acceptable and that she can handle telling them herself that YSA is not acceptable but that she did not think that it needed to be stopped even though she doesn't like it.  She was concerned that placing the blame on just The Fort was unacceptable and that enforcement of the rules needs to be consistent throughout the stadium.

Midnight Riders President Fran Harrington spoke of how the Riders and Rebellion did everything they could to try to curb the use of YSA including posting on their message boards, emails, a joint letter sent through social media and word of mouth.  The consensus from the supporters groups was that more than a few weeks was needed to change multiple years of behavior.

Kelly Way was asked if Monty Rodrigues would be offered an apology for the way he was treated by TeamOps (specifically Way herself) while on the capo stand and making efforts to co-operate, to which Way responded with an emphatic "No".

Alan Haskill reported when asked that the officer seen in the video floating around the internet has in fact been reprimanded for his actions.  Haskill said that he won't defend the behavior of that officer and it was "not the type of response we expect and was unprofessional."  He stated that the officer would likely be working future Revolution matches.

After about 90 minutes of discussion revolving mostly around swearing, which everyone was in agreement that YSA can and should be eliminated the conversation was pushed by Bilello into wanting to extend the atmosphere of The Fort to the rest of the stadium and how would that be possible.

The issue of treatment of the supporters by the team and TeamOps was brought up again with one supporter speaking of his time growing up and going to games in Europe.  He stated in the 25 years of going to matches in Germany and around Europe that he has never seen more aggresive behavior by any security towards it's fans than that of TeamOps. It was pointed out the security and police intervening with supporters in aggressive ways only serves to escalate rather than de-escalate a tense situation, and that this wasn't "Milwall in the 70's".

Twards the end Bilello said that "everyone is just trying to do their jobs" and that TeamOps and Foxborough PD need to enforce the rules, if you're "doing what you're supposed to be doing there are no problems."  Fran Harrington of the Midnight Riders pushed Bilello to make sure that the discussion that the team has about going forward are transparent and open to or shown to all supporters and that TeamOps needs to do the same going forward.  It was requested that the team make sure that ther response is seen by the greater soccer community to which Bilello said that it should be a joint letter from the SG's and the team.

Bilello closed the meeting by saying "We care about you guys, we support you guys" and asked that the supporters have faith in them.  Working together to find balance and resolve issues in the future were the themes of his closing statements and the main points were 1. elimination of YSA, 2. better communication, 3. figuring out where we go from here.



So we had a 2 hour conversation about swearing, exactly what the supporters have stated that this is not about. When issues of mistreatment and aggressive behavior came up the responses were guarded at best and the issues were skirted around and the subject changed.  Kelly Way did a good job of putting a smile on her face and trying to be friendly and put a positive spin on things, a far different persona than we saw from her almost 2 weeks ago now.  The calls for communication were too little too late, the damage has been done and those calls were not enough for most of the supporters in attendance.  While communication is good and should be encouraged it's a baby step towards what they should be doing. 

Despite the team acting as if some of these issues with TeamOps were the first that they had heard others refuted that statement and said that they had filed official complaints with the team and never had any followup. If the team is going to actively pursue complaints from other STH's than they need to do the same with those from supporters and somehow TeamOps needs to be held accountable for their actions. In the end as we have said before, talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words.  There was very little sign of action and we all left feeling like we've heard them say these things before... because we have.


SUPPORT THE FORT

Fortgate UPDATE 2: Revolution FO Responds Again, Only Gets Worse...

It's been quite a few days here at TDIF central and for Revolution supporters.  There has been an amazing show of unity among all MLS supporters coming and showing their support for The Midnight Riders, The Rebellion and Rev Army.

Despite this and what has been an incredible takeover of the Revolution's Facebook page, the Front Office and Brian Bilello still don't quite seem to get it or just don't want to listen to the valid concerns of the supporters. They have continued to throw salt into the wounds instead of trying to salvage what little, if any, trust and credibility that they have with the supporters.

"All. I wanted to share some numbers with you to be clear about a significant amount of disinformation that is currently being perpetuated. There was 1 and only 1 arrest on Saturday night and that was for someone who threw a beer and assaulted staff. 1 and only 1 arrest. As with any arrest, that comes with an automatic letter of disinvite to the stadium as it should. No other letters of disinvite or "bans" have been issued.

In terms of ejections there were 3 ejections. At this point none of these people have been issued letters of disinvite. All of these were related to swearing and unruly behavior that took place after our supporter's liaison spent 20+ min in the fort trying to calm everyone down and limit the excessive profanity. Unfortunately there were some people who chose to increase the frequency and potency of their swearing rather than calming down. This includes a verbal assault on our supporter's liaison who has spent the last 4 years working closely with all of you.

There were 3 protective custody's for excessive intoxication. Two of these occurred before the second half kicked off and are completely unrelated. The third did occur in the fort but was unrelated.
In terms of action taking by our organization that is it. Our supporters liaison went to the fort to ask for people to stop using one chant that the supporters' groups themselves asked their members not to sing. Unfortunately as I said earlier some people took that for an excuse to amp up their behavior therefore 3 people were removed and one arrested as explained above.

I am truly sorry and saddened that there are so many people that feel that they can't enjoy a Revolution match without chanting you suck a****le 10+ times a game but make no mistake this entire incident was about limited number of fans in the fort refusing to deter that one chant. That is all that was asked, no more. No members of supporters groups were singled out, targeted, etc. and if our supporters groups were truly stopping this chant with their members as they told us they were doing than no members of any supporters group will have been impacted by this." -Revolution COO Brian Bilello 6/21/11

We addressed the "disinformation that is currently being perpetuated" briefly earlier but we will do it one more time.  We contacted the team through the appropriate channels as we have done many times in the past in an effort to get any information they had on these matters and to allow them to comment for us prior to publishing.  Here are the questions we sent:

1. Would/will anyone like to comment further other than what Brian has already posted on the facebook page

2. Would it be possible to provide copies of written complains over the language of the fort 

3. How many people were taken into custody by Foxborough PD an/or how many banning orders have or will be issued based on Saturday nights events?

We sent that email at 10:37pm Sunday night.  We gave the team the chance to give us this information, they did respond to us but did not answer these questions.  We had to go with this story and we went with information from multiple trusted sources. We witnessed 2 arrest ourselves and many more ejections as well as confiscation of tickets from STHs, in our knowledge every STH we know that has ever turned their ticket over to TeamOps has received a banning order, some for life, some for a season. Also it seems that he hasn't seen the video of the arrest that is circulating.

Further, the expectation that one person can change the actions of many is insane.  Sending your supporters liaison to ask people to clean it up and stop isn't going to immediately get a section of hundreds of people to just suddenly stop, nor is asking a SG leader to stop people.  Change does not occur overnight and the expectation that it can or should is rather foolish.

The most damning thing is that Brian Bilello still thinks this is about not being able to yell "You suck asshole".  You just don't get it Brian, is that what your MIT education gets you? We still see this is a planned operation. The language used and the deflection of any blame to the FO, TeamOps or Foxborough PD continues to confirm this.  Most damning is the blame is still place squarely on the SG's, everyone must take some of the blame but the FO needs to be placed squarely in the middle.

Word of this has spread like wildfire on the internet, among SG's all around the league and now even overseas, shouldn't that have said to the FO that this is a situation that is going out of control? That this is a situation that the normal spin will not get rid of?  That maybe this is an issue that should be handled delicately? No apparently throwing more fuel on the fire was the right decision.  This is a situation the deserves a stronger response and damage control, and they wonder why the professionalism of the FO is often questioned. This is turning into a PR disaster for the Revs. Also Brian, are Facebook wall posts really the best you can do?  It would be great to see you interact regularly and in normal situations that way but this should probably be more formal.

This team, this market, these people can not support what is happening, this could be what single-handedly destroys the Revs and soccer in the region for good, and no one in the team seems to care or even notice.  There have been years of distrust and skepticism of between the SG's and the Front Office, recently things seemed to be getting better, sadly now soccer/supporter culture has been set back years.  This has become a referendum on the FO and the Krafts ownership of this team and it is not going well for them. We're not sure there is much that can be done at this point to turn things around. Do yourself a favor and admit that this could have been handled better

The silver lining to this situation?  There has been over the course of this season and the last, a quiet tension just under the surface between the SG's in New England, this has seemed to bring them all together.  It's too bad an incident like this is what had to do it, but it should not be squandered and these groups need to work together to make their voices heard.

Never give up, never give in, SUPPORT THE FORT.

Fortgate

So as not to offend the children there will be profanity and references to profanity in this post, please act accordingly. Also in the past we have been accused of being biased and using "Fox News Tactics" so just to be clear we are an opinion site as it says on the left, think of us as an opinion source with a news problem not a news source with an opinion problem.  Also we were present in The Fort for this match, much of what we relay here was witnessed first hand.

Fred Kfhoury www.nhsoccer.com

This past Saturday as the New England Revolution took on the Chicago Fire what can only be described as a planned operation took place against the Fort (the supporters section for Revs fans) and Revolution Supporters Groups.  Gillette Stadium security, TeamOps, went about ejecting and in multiple cases having the Foxborough Police Department make arrests.  The start of all of this is from the "You suck asshole" chant that is routinely done around the league after goalkeepers take a goalkick.

In what seemed like any ordinary match day for the Revolution the supporters filled the Fort, Midnight Riders at the front of 143, The Rebellion at the front of 142 and the Rev Army taking it's usual post in the middle of 142.  Songs and chants were all done as they usually are with nothing remarkable happening, there was a pretty decent atmosphere from within the Fort.  About half way through the first half we happened to notice a stronger than usual TeamOps presence, supervisors instead of the usual "orange shirts" were regularly patrolling up an down the aisles as well as taking posts within rows.  We noticed this was odd and made note of it to people during half time.

The second half of the game begins and the Fort continues with its usual repertoire.  Monty Rodrigues, long standing former president of The Midnight Riders took up his position on the Capo stand in front of 142 to lead the Fort in it's songs and chants. Normally Monty will take this Capo stand in the first half but other than this the Fort and the game was carrying on as usual.  Getting closer to the hour mark of the game we started to notice that there were more TeamOps supervisors than usual in front of the Fort, including a woman who appeared to be a high-ranking member.  We noticed them talking back and forth with Monty and soon after a representative from the team was also present.  Fran Harrington, current Midnight Rider president, informed me that TeamOps was cracking down on swearing and the "You suck asshole" chant from the Fort.  Word was being spread through the Fort that we should all turn our backs to the field during goal kicks as a response to this.  Many people did turn their backs but word was spreading slowly and the "You suck asshole" chant continued. At around the 63rd minute after continued blame and accusations being placed on Monty for the leading and continuing of 'YSA' Monty stepped off the capo stand and left the game despite the fact that he was not doing the chant or even leading it and hadn't been all game or even over the past 2 seasons that the capo stand has existed.  At this point I and others from all the Revolution supporters groups decided to walk out of the match, the need was felt to support Monty and follow suit.  There was a lot of confusion about what was going on and as word spread more and more people continued to leave The Fort leaving it's numbers depleted and silent by the end of the match.  After Monty left there was a supporter who went to the front of The Fort to try to keep chants going, he was not there long before he was arrested.  After 20 minutes of relative silence from The Fort another individual attempted to re-ignite what few people were left and not even a minute later he was removed from The Fort.

This is where our story gets ugly.  Let's make one thing clear from here, some people are seeing the reaction of the supporters as complaining about not being allowed to swear, this is absolutely not the case.  The reaction of the supporters is to the heavy handed tactics used by TeamOps, Foxborough Police Department and the complicity with these actions from the Revolution's Front Office as well as the inconsistency of rule enforcement.

We have heard varying numbers and do not have any hard information yet but multiple sources are telling us that between 10-12 supporters were arrested and at least 20 banning orders have been issued.  As a contrast the Boston Bruins had their Stanley Cup victory parade through the streets of Boston earlier that day; there were 1.5 million people there.  There were 9 arrests. We have asked the Revolution to confirm these numbers with us. Other than Brian Bilello's comments yesterday the only response we have been given of right now we have been told that the team will be spending "a great deal of time investigating the incident and will be in touch with the supporters groups in the near future" by Lizz Summers, Director of Communications for the Revolution

One person who was arrested has gotten in touch with us, due to pending legal action we will not publish his name however he told us he was arrested for disorderly conduct.  We witnessed him being arrested and he was peacefully leaving The Fort along with many others.  He also has told us that when he was arrested by the Foxborough Police Department he was not read his Miranda Rights, when he asked he was told by the arresting officer "Fuck your rights", in addition when they ID'd him he gave his military ID to which the officer said to him "You must be in the Navy because you're acting like a pussy".  Obviously we cannot blame this directly on the team, but these actions by the Foxborough PD are appalling and the disrespect they gave to an active member of the military is shameful considering we are a nation still fighting multiple wars.  These officers may be or have been members of rival branches of the military but there is no excuse for bringing that into their job. One cannot help but think this all could have been easily avoided.

We have had sources closes to the Revolution inform us that The Revs Girls, part of the teams marketing efforts, were told that they were not allowed to be in The Fort for this match.  The Revs Girls regularly come into the section and stand, sing, chant etc. with the supporters.  This bit of information further solidifies our opinion that this was a planned operation.  Ourselves as well as others noticed an increased police presence and increased number of TeamOps personnel as previously noted and we do not believe that this could merely be a coincidence.  According to Revolution COO Brian Bilello "This was not a security issue."  So it wasn't an over-reaction by TeamOps? You were complicit and involved in a planned effort to ban and arrest your supporters? This is the nail in the coffin for us.

There is a question of whether or not a warning was issued about the "YSA" chant and other profanity.  What we know is that the Midnight Riders and The Rebellion issued a joint letter regarding The Fort a few weeks ago, included was a request not to use profane language or add to the "You Suck" chant at opposing goalkeepers...

"However the following behavior is not tolerated... Use of profane chants, such as adding language to the end of "You suck"done towards opposing goalkeepers when in front of the fort."

Does this constitute a warning that you will be, removed from the stadium, banned and arrested? Absolutely not. The FO may have asked them to help try to limit it however there was no implication that such serious actions would be taken if people did not adhere to this request. This came from the SG's not from the team.  If the team wants to start enforcing something that they have rarely if ever enforced since the teams inception 16 years ago the should have the professionalism to give fair warning themselves. This does not constitute a fair warning.

"This was related to one particular chant which our supporters' liaison has spoken to the supporter group leaders about on multiple occasions this season." -Revolution COO Brian Bilello

Ok Brian, that's great and all but why didn't you email that this chant would be a problem to your STH's? Why not come out to the tailgate and personally ask the supporters to stop doing it and assist in trying to change it? Why not make it clear by placing notes in the seats of the fort? Why not issue a statement on your website or the Revolution blog? Did you expect things to change over night after years and years of this going on? Where you afraid of the backlash if you issued a statement on profanity and the fact that the often ignored and overlooked rules on it where now going to be vigorously enforced?

Are you happy now? 

Seems like all of those things might have been a bit of a better idea...

What about Joe College-Kid at his first game yelling cocksucker at opposing players? What about the fact that there were people who were sitting right next to TeamOps security calling people faggots? They weren't arrested or even thrown out.  If you enforce it for one you enforce it for all and that is not even up for debate.

Asking the leaders of the supporters groups to control and stop 'unwanted behavior' by the fans in The Fort is not fair or even a viable solution to the problem.  Not everyone in a supporters section is a member of a supporters group.  Members of supporters groups do not have blind faith in their leaders and will not obey them just because they are the leader of what in it's most basic form, is a social group.  The leaders of the supporters groups do it for the love of the sport the team and their group. This is supposed to be fun for them asking them to be the enforcers of rules is never going to work, they are not on your payroll, you should not be placing these expectations on them. The leaders of the groups serve their members and the players on the field in the form of their support and nothing else.

A week ago there were about 120-150 supporters who traveled to support the team against the New York Red Bulls.  We were encouraged by RBNY security to support our team loudly and in any way we saw fit as long as we were not making personal attacks against anyone.  We were treated with respect and dignity, there were a few situations that occurred while we were there and RBNY security went above and beyond the call of duty in dealing with the situations. They were focused on customer service despite the fact that we were away fans.  It was a similar situation when we went down to Philadelphia last year to support the team there.  It has always been that way when we go to Toronto, the ironic thing about that? TeamOps runs security in Toronto. To be treated like criminals and hooligans in our own stadium is disappointing to say the least.  This is not Green Street Hooligans.  This is not The Football Factory. We are not a firm lurking in the dark alley waiting for it to "go off".

The FO has told us in the past that they have no control over TeamOps. TeamOps is owned by the Kraft family, it is part of Kraft Sports Group (in case you need proof) just like the Revolution, to say that they have complete control and the team has no say is ridiculous. There is a long history of TeamOps' heavy handed tactics against supporters, we will have more on that later this week.

If 100 people out of the 14000 people in attendance complained about language this past Saturday that would be .07% of the fans in attendance filing complaints. I would venture to guess that there were not 100 complaints.  We have asked for copies of any complaints filed with the team but as of yet have not received an answer as to whether or not we will be provided with them.  If we are they will be posted here.  There should be an expectation that if you go to a sporting event, especially where there is alcohol served that there will be foul language, it is a part of every sport in every pro league all around the world, to think that you can avoid because it's a soccer game is ludicrous.

"I will not get into an online debate with people who may or may not have been at the stadium last night, nor will I allow this to be presented as an example of how this organization doesn't care about our fans or our supporters... Every one of our STHs show at least the same amount of loyalty and dedication to this team turning up week after week and year after year and our organization owes just as much service and response to them as we do to our STH in the fort." -Brian Bilello

Orange slices for everyone! The new face of the Revs!!

Do you use those who do not sit in the fort as the background to your website? Do you use them in your television and print advertising? Nope.  You use The Fort.  These are the people that pay for their own tifo, travel at great length and expense to support this team all over the country, create the atmosphere that is craved as a marketing tool by the teams in this league. A TeamOps staffer even had the gall to say that the flags, banners etc. that some SG members stayed behind to collect was property of the team. 

These are the people who live and breathe this team.  You use them to build your brand, well I'm sorry they should matter a little more.  Instead of using them for your marketing maybe you should go and start using Sally-once-a-year-soccer-mom, because guess what... a lot of them aren't coming back.  If you ever want to have the Fort look like this you will have to do a lot to change your current ways and to patch things up with the SG's.

The number of conversations I have had in the past few day where supporters have discussed not renewing their tickets, is quite possibly too much for the Fort to survive.  Numerous supporters have stated they will not be back this season and 2 close friends of mine sent their season tickets back to the team today.

Supporters are the life behind any soccer team.  This is not a past time for these people, it is a culture, it is a way of life, the FO and many others do not seem to realize that or understand that.  The way the Midnight Riders, The Rebellion, the Rev Army and the unaffiliated supporters were treated was a direct insult, this is why we are angry this is where the problem lies. 

Worse of all this has an unintended effect on the players, the ones we care about most.  They need to know that we are there for them and that what happened and will likely happen is not a reflection on them.  Rebellion co-founder Kyle Santos had this to say to us today:

"The worst part was I went to a restaurant after the game to get dinner and player came up to me and asked me what happened since they saw the entire thing unfold. I told them what happened, in all honesty and they were outraged. [T]he people who it matters to, who we support, support us and love us and by us getting disrespected it's a knock to them. After a game they don't go to section 114 and thank them..."

These events have far more implications than just in New England, this will affect every supporters group and every team in the league.  The New England Revolution have decided that planning and carrying out a planned security operation that will result in bans and arrests is an acceptable way for an MLS team to deal with its supporters, take note of this. If these keeps up, this team that is floundering in the league and needs all the support it can get will have more game that look like Wednesday's game vs. Toronto:

This team is at a crossroads, will you go for the 18-35 demographic that has driven the passion of the teams who are now in "MLS 2.0" and even stepping into "MLS 3.0" or will you continue on with the youth soccer crowd and continue to be left in the dust.  The ball is on the penalty spot put it in the back of the net or botch it Revs, it's up to you how you carry forward from here.

Finally in a showing of the good work that these supporter groups so selflessly do we'd like to share this with you:

The Midnight Riders will be holding a trivia night on July 11 at The Pour House in Boston. All money raised will be donated to the Prescott family for the continuing care of their daughter Sam.

Below is a letter we received from family friend, and fellow Revs fan, Greg Gomes:

I write this letter on behalf of a dear friend of mine. For the past six years I have had the privilege of being a soccer referee, one of my colleges who I have refereed more than 50 games with has had some recent family troubles. Mike Prescott, has a young daughter Sam, she is 15 years old and was a fabulous soccer player when on the field for the FC Stars of Massachusetts. Sam was truly going to develop her skills into what could have been one of the best players that Central Massachusetts has seen in a long time.

Sam started her October off like any other year, Northbridge had just finished up their soccer season and Sam was on the Varsity girl’s team, she then started practice with the FC Stars, and began refereeing at the same facility myself and her father Mike ref at. While refereeing one game same started to become ill, suffering from a seizure. Test after test and Sam remained her fun, outgoing self, just "plugging" along with the procedures.

To her dismay the Dr's had no explanation why she was having these seizures. Time had passed and Sam had begun to suffer from seizures again and she also suffered from extreme fatigue. A new Dr, and finally Sam had been diagnosed with an illness. Unfortunately for Sam it was terminal brain cancer. Again Sam is only 15 years old. I hope this letter will help the Midnight Riders with their event and I thank you for your time in reading this.


---------------------------

The Rebellion is also holding a raffle for 2 tickets to the 2011 All Star game and hotel for after the game. Buy them here: http://www.nerebellion.bigcartel.com/product/mls-all-star-game-ticket-give-a-way The winner will be drawn at the trivia night!

Revolution COO Brian Bilello Responds To Fort Incident

This afternoon the Chief Operating Officer of the New England Revolution, Brian Bilello posted a response to the actions of the team, TeamOps and Foxborough PD against Rev supporters in The Fort.  The following is taken directly from the team's Facbook page.

"Unfortunately there was an issue last night in the fort which was a culmination of multiple weeks of complaints from many of our STH who do not sit in the fort. This was related to one particular chant which our supporters' liaison has spoken to the supporter group leaders about on multiple occasions this season. Our organization has ...been extremely supportive of the fort, giving them as much freedom as we can to support the team in their own way. However this one particular chant has been causing issues with our other STH for some time. Frankly I think it is sad that our supporters place so much priory on being able to yell one particular chant 10+ times a game with profanity that upsets many other people in the building. This is not about occasional swearing, or an eruption of passion it is about for some reason needing to swear in an organized, loud manner every time the opposing goaltender takes a goal kick.

We will be discussing the matter internally and with the supporters groups over the upcoming weeks, but make no mistake, the issue last night was about a member of the Revolution staff (our supporter's liaison who has worked with them for years) asking on behalf of the organization to once again stop using that chant. This was ...not a security issue. While some members of the supporters groups and fort tried to help the situation, others took this as an opportunity to escalate the situation. I will not get into an online debate with people who may or may not have been at the stadium last night, nor will I allow this to be presented as an example of how this organization doesn't care about our fans or our supporters. Again, we will be reaching our soon to the supporters groups to discuss last night and how to create a better atmosphere moving forward.

As for claims that we are somehow not treating our most loyal fans right I take great exception with that. Every one of our STHs show at least the same amount of loyalty and dedication to this team turning up week after week and year after year and our organization owes just as much service and response to them as we do to our S...TH in the fort.

Thank you all, and thank you for your continued support.

Go Revs
Brian"

 

An Open Letter Regarding the 2011 Season

Dear Steve Nicol, Mike Burns, Brian Bilello, Jonathan Kraft, Robert Kraft, Kraft Sports Group, and most importantly the fans and supporters of this team,

Aw, S#!t not again...

It has been a interesting season to say the least up to this point, in both good ways and bad ways.  There was a prospect of interesting things happening, the signings of two players with a great pedigree, Didier Domi and Ousmane Dabo.  The signing of an exciting striker in the form of Rajko Lekic.  The Revs announced a shirt sponsor and were able to acquire Benny Feilhaber.  On the bad side our record is currently 3-6-4, 3 wins in 13 matches.  The team has not scored a goal in the run-of-play since April 23rd.

We've needed offensive help for a while (years?) and we finally got some however Lekic is struggling.  This lone striker formation is not getting him the ball and therefore he is not scoring. Lekic's confidence must be in the trash can at this point, we need to put someone up top to help him out. When the Revs took on LA  a few weeks ago the attack looked much better once Schilawski was brought into the game.  The current "4-3-3" formation, really a 4-5-1 is not working and it's time to try something new, the defense is surely improved and possession has gotten a little better but we are not scoring and we are not winning.

What happened to Dube? Dube went on a tear during the USOC play-in game vs. DC United, doesn't he deserve a chance? Why has a former starter (although purely because we didn't have anyone else) now been benched? Further on the attack front is what happened to Stolica, loaned to FC New York he's disappeared. He's still on our books, although per league rules we don't know if his salary still affects the cap space or not, and it might be worth bringing him back and pairing him with Lekic.  Stoli seems to have gotten a bad rap this season and we're not quite sure why. 

Benny Feilhaber was a gift from the soccer gods and yet it appears that he can't help right this ship and now he looks extremely frustrated in his new home.  Marko Perovic is now gone for the entire season with the outlook on our attack improving now looking grim.  This brings us to another issue, injuries.

Why is it that over the past few seasons that we seem to have multiple players out, key starters, with nagging injuries over long periods of time?  I have not looked into other teams and what their injury situations have been but ours just seems ridiculous.  They seem to be the same type, strains and sprains. Our trainers and medical staff must now be brought into question.  This track record is unacceptable and it's time to stop chalking it up to bad luck. Maybe it is the medical and training staff, they need to be evaluated and it needs to be determined if they are doing their jobs a) to the best of their ability and b) to the standards that these type of jobs require in professional sports and top flight soccer.  Also we must look at the fact that this team practices on grass yet plays on FieldTurf, these are not the same no matter what anyone says.  One only needs to see that sod was laid down on top of the FieldTurf for this weekends US vs. Spain friendly.  Are potential signings going to start to worry about coming here and playing on this surface?  Do they already?  We have heard offhand from current players that they do not like playing on it and that it doesn't feel right, Perovic being one of them.  As long as the Patriots don't want to have real grass this situation is not going to change, but maybe training and conditioning needs to be better suited to deal with the plastic grass.

You guys haven't learned from me...

We seriously need to look at the player acquisition strategy as well.  Domi and Dabo have been solid players in their time, but now they are being paid around $200k each and have spent more time on the trainers table than playing, they cannot even be considered starters.  The Revs desperately need to bring in a striker and a right midfelder/winger during this next transfer window, however given this teams track record of signing during windows and bringing in international talent we are worried. Perovic seems to be one of if not the only real success, and he's currently sitting with his leg elevated wth ice on it watching TV.  Can this team's staff really go out and get the type of players we need? Can they sign people who are not aging and on the down slope of their careers? Can they sign players that are not injury prone?

This team needs an strong influx of talent to improve, sorry guys but that's just the way it is and if it's not obvious you aren't looking hard enough.  This team had quite a bit of work done to it in the off season, an unprecedented amount of cap space, and we brought in defensive players and seemed to think our problems were solved.  This team is clearly not what we expected it to be and the disappointment is now coming to the surface.  What happened to our 1-2 DPs?  

"This team hasn't performed the way we wanted it this year, and in talking to ownership, their priority is not only getting better but they want to get better quickly. In talking about it, it was very clear they understand that there might be things that might take some time to do, and they wanted to think of ways that we could get better very quickly.  So frankly, what we decided on is we are going to be looking bring in a Designated Player this off season.''  -Brian Bilello

For 2 consecutive seasons we've needed a player that could finish in the attacking third and we have not seen that player come in, Lekic might be that guy but only if we can get the ball at his feet.  The team made major upgrades at 5 our of 11 positions and yet the performance has not improved all that much.

So where does this lead the 2011 New England Revolution?  Will we not make the playoffs for 2 years in a row?  It sad to think that we have to ask the question already at this point in the season, however by the end of this month we will have reached the halfway point.  The time is soon upon this team where peoples jobs will and must be seriously questioned.  Has Nicol lost the locker room? Does Burns have any idea what he's doing? Do both of them truly know how to go out and find difference makers? Nicol came to this team inheriting a great core of players but now all we have left is Shalrie and Reis, and Nicol/Burns have yet to prove that they can rebuild a core.

What is the team going to do to fix this current situation? Are the equipped to do so properly and if so do they know how to do it?  The past few years seem to point to no, they don't know how to or are not equipped to do so properly.  The team has to show it's fans that they realize that there is a problem and that they know changes are need, but at the same time actions speak louder than words.  We have heard a lot of words but not seen them supported by actions.  This team needs to figure out where it is going and how it is going to be able to compete in this league, the level of play is progressing rapidly but the team does not seem able to keep up.

Uhhh, it's supposed to be league "parity" not "parody"

The Revs have NYRB away this Friday, and then 2 struggling teams, Toronto and Chicago, next week.  If this team comes out of the next three games without 3 points we are indeed in very serious trouble. The season isn't over yet and a win streak can change the attitude of both the fans and the team, but that needs to happen and needs to happen soon.  The real question is will that be enough?  A band-aid is not going to fix what seem to be repeated problems over the course of the last few seasons.  The stewardship of this team and this sport by Jonathan and Robert Kraft in this region is questionable at best.  We realize the FO has it's finger on the pulse of the fans and supporters but do the Krafts? Do they truly understand what is going on and what has been going on with their team and their fans over the past few years?  There was almost a fan revolt last year that was put down by the team turning things around, albeit briefly, unfortunately there seems to be a similar problem simmering again.

This team needs changes to be made and if they are not and do not happen soon I fear what will happen to this team and it's fans.  Many of the most hopeful of this teams fans are seeing their optimism wane.  The team and current staff should be given until the end of the transfer window to make things happen.  If not the fans and supporters will have to stand up and demand changes from this team, although they may not even give them that long.  I for one propose that the leaders of the supporters groups and prominent fans demand a meeting with Jonathan and Robert Kraft, I do not think it is likely that they will be given an audience with Bob but it is worth a shot. I mean let's face it the NFL still might not play and that is where KSG's priorities are, not with the kickball team. This team is in danger and it's time that we get them back to the level and the position that the fans truly deserve, because without the fans the team is nothing, the fans are what makes the team possible and the fans need to hold the leadership of this organization responsible if the team stagnates or falls.


"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." -Albert Einstien


Sincerely ,
          The Drug Is Football

More On Why Revs Season Ticket Holders Need To Shell Out For ManU

So this afternoon I spoke with New England Revolution COO, Brian Bilello.  While I am still not swayed in my opinion from yesterday I am willing to give the Revs an opportunity to give their story to us from their point of view.

The back story on this is that when MLS decided that two more games would be added to the schedule, the team decided not to add more tickets and increase the ticket price but rather to take away 2 special event tickets leaving the package with one remaining ticket.  The team wanted to focus the package on MLS knowing that in years prior there were some special tickets that went over really well and others that well... didn't.

We raised the issue of value for money with the prices of season tickets of the other teams involved with this years friendlies (DC United, Seattle Sounders, Sporting KC, Chicago Fire), Bilello had this to say

"It's unfair to say that they are giving those games to their season ticket holders, if you look at the pricing on those tickets they are paying up front"

Bilello went on to tell us that the Revs have not priced their ticket packages to reflect including a high level friendly whereas these other teams have.  The team does not want to not be able to deliver that high level friendly and then have STH's complain about the price of the season.  Since they set prices and packages in September they have no way of knowing what friendlies may or may not happen.  Bilello stated that if they had known that Manchester United would be coming way back in September they may have priced the package up and possibly even sold more season tickets as a result.  Bilello thinks people would rather have the option of paying more than having the ticket built into the price.

Bilello asked us to price out the other teams involved season ticket packages compared to ours with the ManU game added in, so we have.  We present what we have gathered for season ticket prices for the cheapest level:

• Seattle $436
• DC $342
• Chicago $200
• Sporting KC $324*
• New England $234 + $40 = $274

Bilello made the argument that we are doing better than DC (well we are, they are horrible) and that on the field Revs season ticket holders are getting a much better value for their money.

Here is my gripe, to myself there is more than on the field performance that goes in to my value for season tickets.  Let's break it down team by team...

Seattle

Ok Sounders fans are more than annoying, I hope we all realize that.  That being said the gameday product in Seattle is second to none in MLS and there really isn't any denying that (Yes I have been to a Sounders game at Qwest Field).  Seattle has also in it's short history signed 4 Designated Players, nevermind if they have worked out or not they have done something that to this point the Revs have not been able to do.

DC

DC last year was worse than us and that was hard to do.  DC has however won MLS cups and signed 3 Designated Players in it's history.  RFK is a dump obviously and United don't control the revenue there...  they are slumming it... In addition to hosting Manchester vs. Barcelona, DC will be playing Everton and Ajax this summer.

Chicago

They have their own stadium, have signed DP's.  On top of that they are playing Man U at Soldier Field and will have to pay for use of that facility in addition to paying Manchester's fee (All teams are paying the same).

Sporting KC

Sporting KC will be opening their brand new stadium that may even rival Red Bull Arena this summer. They have launched a massive rebranding and marketing campaign and also have had 2 DPs in their history.

New England

No stadium, no DP, no MLS cup wins.    I absolutely expect our season tickets to be cheaper than most, we have very little to show in the new generation of MLS.  We are not a team that can price the tickets high. The Revs have had a decent year increasing the base but we don't have much to help them other than their determination to sell more tickets.


On the field performance is only a part of the fan and STH experience,  for the most part I think the other teams are doing better and therefore a higher season ticket price may be justified and not purely based on on the field performance and building in the price of a high level international friendly.

Don't get me wrong, the price of Revs season tickets is quite good, however when you include a "special event" ticket,  a leak gets out(whether it was the Revs or not we don't know and won't assume) that Manchester United will be playing us and there is a track record of these special tickets being used for international friendlies, people are going to rightfully assume that they are already in.

This is a huge marketing opportunity for the Revolution, a great opportunity to showcase the team and the fans and hopefully convince people to come back.  Instead of rewarding your most die hard fans, the ones who have put faith in the team that they are going to go out there, win, sign great players, build a stadium and eventually return to the glory days and finally win that MLS cup, the team has said that's great but you still have to pay for what should be a perk and a thank you to all of those STHs.  We were very excited for this game but this fiasco has seriously soured many people's outlook on it.  You will get free parking however... whoop-dee-do....

Oh and that special event ticket that we still have? It will be used for US Open Cup or Playoffs should we make either, if we don't the cost of that ticket will be refunded... A bit of advice, instead of calling it a "Special Event" ticket next year call it a playoff/open cup ticket up front...


*Sporting KC's STH package is based on the per game price for a ticket, we were not able to come up with the total price in their website

Revolution Supporters Summit Recap

Post 2 of 3, the much awaited Supporter Summit coverage, we are going to cover this similarly to the way we covered Meet The Coach, with selected excerpts and direct quotes for the most part. This is only a portion but we thought it some of the best... this took us 4 hours so shut it if you don't like the fact we left stuff out...

Bilello on Season Tickets

"Right now we have a little over 700 season tickets sold on the west side"

"Our season ticket number is up this year vs. last year so we're already ahead of our full season ticket number for 2010 in both renewals and new are both up where they were for final numbers for 2010.

"Right now we're 4th or 5th in the league in terms of season ticket growth both in total number of growth and percentage growth...

"Season ticket... renewals went really well for us this year, 83% right now...

"Multi-game package sales, we're also already ahead of our total number from 2010 and theres a lot more time to sell multi-game packages..."

Bilello said that he sees and expects to see growth across the board on all ticket types, including group and Ticketmaster sales and that multi-game packages have been feeding well into season ticket sales and that they think 2012 will be even better.

"When you count our sponsor tickets which are part of our overall season ticket base we're a little over 5,000 right now total full season tickets.

Bilello on a stadium

"There's nothing really hard to report... 2014, 2015 would not be unrealistic at this time, but there's nothing concrete to really report on, to say yes it is we feel like it's a good date, but it's certainly not a date that's out of the question for us given the progress we're making on a couple of sites."

Bilello on friendlies

"We have 2 friendly dates lined up right now both of them I'm very sure they are going to happen, but they're not locked in yet, not announced yet.  One will be 2 national teams playing each other here at Gillette Stadium that will not involve the Revs in a doubleheader or anything like that... the other friendly will be a Revs versus an international opponent.  Those two are what I will say will be very big games, it should be really exciting, I think everyone in the room will actually enjoy both of them very much. They are going to be two really great friendlies they're going to be big events for us... hopefully we will have something that will be dropped on that by the end of the month in terms of both those games what they are, when they are..."

Burns on offseason changes...


"This past offseason has been an enormous amount of change at both the league level and at the Revs...

"Currently we have 27 players on our roster and that will increase, we have 11 new faces downstairs, 4 new international signings and a 5th if you count Diego Fagundez."

Burns commented on how he is happy with the new reserve league because it is more fair for those under contract and that they can use academy players and not people off the street.

"We feel like we've made some real strides in the offseason in terms of both the defense and the midfield an we still are actively looking for one or two forwards to help us get to where we ultimately want to be. It's still a work in progress..."

Burns on our Season Opener/Injuries

"At this point the only two players I can tell you for certain that will not travel, that will not participate are Ousmane Dabo who's got a little bit of a quad injury and Kevin Alston who has a little bit of a hamstring injury.  Without obviously being able to guarantee you anything we are very optimistic that they both will be back and available for the game on the 26th, that's obviously barring any setbacks.  Both their injuries are minor but obviously it's no sense of risking it for one game when have 33 after.  Didier Domi will be a gametime decision he will likely travel with us probably train out in LA on Saturday and we'll see how he feels.  He's got a little bit of swelling in the knee, he says he feels fine but he also hasn't trained in 3 or 4 days, so again it's one of those situations do you risk it this early in the season to have him possibly out 3 or 4 games after that...

Burns on Diego Fagundez

"Homegrown players can be signed both domestically and internationally... right now he is one of our 8 [allowed] international players."

"I don't often do this, and actually I shouldn't even admit it, but before we signed him I went out and had a training session with the 16's and 18's just because I wanted to see first hand, and I will say this; from that to him being called in with Wilmer to the under 17's to Jimmy Carlow  with the under 15 National Team program, right now he's rated even though it's not a true ranking system as one of the top 2 players in the country at 16 years old.  We had a lot of discussions with Brian, myself, Stevie, Sunil, and we come out with  this that there is no guarantee and I've said this to Diego and his parents, because I've had meetings upon meetings with them and we went through everything and it was a long, long process. There is no guarantee that he's ever going to play for the first team... how many 15 or 16 year old kids peak at 15 or 16 and then they're nowhere to be found when they become 25 and how many kids are 15 or 16 nowhere to be heard of and then they are a superstar at 25, so we get all that. We had a long discussion with Diego about school, about professional soccer and it was made very very clear to us by both he and his parents that, absolutely zero desire to go on to college.  So we said, he's this talented right now and he's clearly the best player we have in our program, when we're hearing he's not going to college and we have this program, and it was never you have to sign or you're off, we actually approached him, but you're going to leave and try to go on trial in other countries, why do we have the program?  It made every sense for us in this particular case to offer him a contract.  We felt that if a kid is this talented at this age and he's not going to go to school, and he potentially wants to leave to go on trial, he wants to be a professional, well then this is why we have the program, so that's why we did it.


Burns on the Reserves

"The reserve schedule has just been finalized today believe it or not... Our first reserve game is in March.

"We will have 10 reserve games 5 home, 5 away and they'll be against Toronto, DC, Columbus, New York and Philadelphia.

"Within the next week or so we'll have a reserve team coach we believe on board.  We're in the final stages of getting this done, he'll be exclusively the reserve team coach he'll also assist Stevie as well."

Burns on Designated Players

"To be real honest we were real close or we thought we were real close a little while ago, but we're not just going to sign a designate player just to say we've signed a designated player.  I don't think that does us any good, I don't think that does you any good, I think that probably we can make a good argument that there have been more bust designated player signings in our league than players that you'd actually take and we're going to be real careful and real diligent on who we bring in.  I've said it and we think it makes sense we're looking for strikers both designated player strikers and non-designated player strikers... It is not for lack of effort and certainly not for lack of desire.

Bilello on Designated Players

"They guy we were close on... the numbers signed, we had the numbers, the numbers were signed off by ownership, we were that far along with the deal and the club basically decided they didn't want to let the player go anymore and the player wasn't on a free... It's a player that might still be available... there's still a possibility that in the summer window that very same player could come in.  We were very far along in terms of that particular deal and obviously the money is still out there from a club perspective to go get that done this year.

Burns on finding a possible backup for Alston

"Right now our priority is to try to bring in some more attacking players and that's not to say that if another right back comes along... Although Kevin had some injuries last year he's a young player that we're hopeful and optimistic that he's going to be a 34 game player obviously that's not going to be the case. I'm not going to lie to you I wouldn't say that's our primary focus right now to bring in another right back, it's to bring in some attacking players.

Burns on the US Open Cup

" In early rounds of the Open Cup generally speaking most teams in the world don't play their first team.  I'd say over the last couple of years it really was the only opportunity we had to play our non-regular starters.  This tear it's a little bit different with the reemergence of the reserve league, but it's also one of the few opportunities you can have to play some of your guys that aren't playing league games.  I can't tell you right now how we will approach it...

"Ultimately that's a coach decision on what eleven he's going to put out there, if I had to guess it's going to be somewhat of a mix."

Bilello on a shirt sponsorship

"We've got right now, 4 people we're talking about a partnership, in fact one the frankly we might hear from this week on it.  We're busy on it, we're still looking at it, we're still trying different people with different ideas.  We are hopeful that we are getting one done this year, and I'm hopeful that we might have one done in principal this week.  Mike can tell you I told his guys not to embellish the jerseys this year, so we're having serious enough conversations that we're leaving the jerseys downstairs blank so that if we get something done we can try to get something embellished to put on it pretty soon.  Does that mean we are going to have a jersey deal done tomorrow, not necessarily, but we're pretty active in negotiations with a few people on it.

Bilello on Sunil Gulati's role in the organization

"Sunil is the president of Kraft Soccer... he attends the Board of Governors meetings with myself and Jonathan and Robert so he represents us at the board level.  He represents us on a number of committees at these Board of Governor/Ownership level of the league... and really works much more closely with Michael and Stevie and on the technical side of our business... he works with Michael and Stevie and those guys on the higher level technical issues with the club and the organization.


Bilello on playing the west coast, travel fatigue and away fans

"What does it mean to be an American soccer league, you have to have priorities so let's compare us to the English Premiership. There are a lot of things that are very different that are never going to change their country is this big [small hand gesture], our country is this big [large hand gesture] and travel is a big part of that.  Supporters, great group of you, if you look at English culture and English soccer  supporters culture is very important.  They have to by rule preserve thousands of seats, I think it's 2500 but I don't have exact numbers, for visiting supporters to by at each game.  Why?  Because you can get from Manchester to Liverpool pretty darn easy, you can get form north London to south London pretty darn easily.  In our country, you guys, people in this room, will go to Portland, some people will go to Seattle, some will make those trips.  I don't think it's realistic for 2500 fans of any team to travel cross country, I haven heard of any that have done it yet other than like an MLS Cup type thing.

"When I look at what can make us a traditional... or true soccer league, I don't think it's absurd to think of an eastern and western conference where you play a majority of your games in the eastern conference against eastern conference opponents...  Some people say well if it's not single table it's not traditional soccer, ya but neither is asking supporters to travel 3000 miles to go to an away match.  If we had a more regionalized schedule, one, our supporters and other teams supporters could go to more games which many people would say is more traditional to the sport.  The other thing it does is the team isn't getting on a plane, traveling to LA, and then back to a road game against DC, and then to New England, and then to Salt Lake.  They're not traveling these long stretches and that's going to, I think,... dramatically improve the quality that we are going to see on the field from all our teams, that's something that's important to all of us as fans. 

"When people say you have to be single table, because that's more traditional, yeah that's ok in some cases but what if we put a bigger priority on the quality of play and a bigger priority on our fans and other fans to come see live matches of the team home and away.  If that is more important to us as a league, then a heavily burdened conference schedule where we're playing more eastern opponents I think is the answer, and I would say that is traditional soccer for our country because that's how we get a better supporters culture across the board and that's how we can raise the quality of play across the board.

"Look at our record in Salt Lake, Salt Lake is a good team don't get me wrong, and I'm not making excuses and these guys would never make excuses, but it's also high up it's on the other coast, it doesn't set you up well to play well...  I just think we need to be open as a group both at the league level with our supporters and our fans and say traditional soccer just can be well this is the way one league does it in Europe, so all those things are the same.  I personally like the idea of regionalizing for those two big reasons, I think it helps our quality of play with our players and I think it helps our fans go and attend more games, I think for me that's more important than whether in a single table or not a single table, conferences or not conferences. Great supporters culture, better quality play I think those for me are the priorities that we should all have for the league."


Burns on a striker

Burns: "We'd like to have a player in by the 15th [April] absolutely, we 'd like to have a player in a month ago, two months ago.  I can't sit here and tell you it's a 10% chance or a 90% chance, we don't know.  We plan on having a player in here next week to take a look at, if that works out the answer could be yes [to having a striker in by April 15th], if he comes in here and we don't like him the answer could be no."