Month: March 2019

Founders Cup takes shape with release of schedule

Since immersing myself in amateur adult American soccer over the last year, the primary circuit in my orbit has been the National Premier Soccer League. And considering my locale (the Upstate of South Carolina), Asheville City SC, Greenville FC, Atlanta SC (formerly the Atlanta Silverbacks FC) and Chattanooga FC have been the clubs I’ve kept the closest watch on.

Scott Adamson’s column on soccer appears periodically, usually when he’s feeling especially soccerish.

It’s been fun to map out the “must-sees” of the summer schedule and watch the rollout of players via Twitter.

However, my biggest fan-boost came just a couple of days ago when the NPSL Founders Cup released its fall schedule.

That made it finally seem “real.”

Actually, it’s been real for a while now; the NPSL officially announced its professional venture on Nov. 15, 2018. Still, for me, sporting endeavors don’t reach the “Hey, it’s happening!” stage until a schedule is put together, and a schedule is now what we have.

The Founders Cup begins with East Region play beginning on August 10, West Region action starting on August 24, and the tournament finale taking place on November 9.

That’ll set the table for a full season starting in the spring of 2020.

So ladies and gentlemen, let’s have a warm round of applause for Chattanooga FC, Detroit City FC, Miami FC, Miami United FC, Milwaukee Torrent and New York Cosmos in the East and ASC San Diego, Cal FC, FC Arizona, Napa Valley 1839 FC and Oakland Roots in the West.

Eleven clubs – not franchises or satellites from a single entity business model, but clubs – will chart a new course in American soccer. And the cool thing is, no one really knows where that path will lead.

That’s scary, I suppose, but it also opens the door for so much opportunity.

You can pick any club out of the 11 and find a lot to like.

Chattanooga FC, of course, started offering equity shares in the club earlier this year, and is more than halfway to its goal of $1,070,000 raised through fan ownership.

Yep, I bought in because I want to say I was part of American soccer’s new beginning. I have no illusions that I’ll be given a suite at Finley Stadium, but how sweet is it to think you got a chance to move some earth and alter the landscape?

Fan ownership has given a boost to Chattanooga FC. (Scott Adamson photo)

And while it’s tempting to call CFC “America’s Team” because it now has owners across the country, international supporters have also staked their claim.

The footprint is big and getting bigger; from a soccer standpoint, the Scenic City is, indeed, making quite a scene.

And from a personal standpoint, I was thrilled the Cosmos jumped into the Founders Cup.

This is a “brand” I’ve followed since its original North American Soccer League days, and one I’ll continue to support.

While not an official member of the 5 Points, I’m still #ForeverGreen and forever grateful the Cosmos are reborn.

Chattanooga FC hosts the Cosmos on August 10, so my conscience will have to balance ownership and a newfound love for a club founded in 2009 against a passionate rooting interest that is well into its fifth decade.

I guess that’ll be existential angst I can work through on my 250-mile drive to the stadium.

And if you want to apply a really, really broad definition to promotion/relegation, you can say that Napa Valley 1839 FC is the first team in the NPSL to “move up.”

When California United Strikers FC withdrew from the Founders Cup and NPSL, Napa Valley made the jump from amateur to pro.

After spending this summer in the NPSL West Region Golden Gate Conference, its players will play for pay starting in the fall.

I know, I know … it’s really not a pro/rel situation, but there’s nothing wrong with projecting, especially when you’re talking about a league that gets to write its own history.

My hope for the immediate future is that the Founders Cup proves to be a successful launch of what we’re currently calling “NPSL Pro.” Beyond that, I envision passionate supporters transforming a league into a revolution.

While I have no clue how it will ultimately be structured, I’d love to see a day when clubs like Asheville City SC, Atlanta SC and Greenville FC can play their way up – and into – this league.

Ideally, I want fan ownership to be the rule, not the exception, and hope a time comes when the Beautiful Game can be as attractive as any town chooses to make it.

For now, though, I’m just happy the Founders Cup is taking shape.

Its schedule is official, so I’m officially on board.

Polian, Johnston pleased with direction of Alliance

By Scott Adamson
Adamsonmedia.com

The Alliance of American Football is heading into the midway point of its inaugural season, and today AAF co-founder Bill Polian and San Antonio Commanders general manager Daryl “Moose” Johnston offered up their thoughts on the state of the league.

Alliance co-founder Bill Polian says the AAF is off to a better start than he could’ve hoped for. (Scott Adamson photo)

In a nutshell?

So far, so good.

The pair spoke with media members via conference call, and sounded upbeat about the direction of the spring circuit.

“First of all you want to take a look at fan engagement, and television numbers have surpassed anything that we would even remotely dream about for a brand new endeavor, so that’s been a huge success,” Polian said. “And it continues to grow. We’re holding the rating, which is something that other leagues have not done.”

The original XFL, which played one season in 2001, had spectacular ratings for its season opener before the league quickly – and dramatically – dropped from viewers’ favor.

“I think the fact that you’re holding the rating shows that it’s moved beyond the curiosity factor and, ‘Hey, let me see what this is about,’ to an appreciation for the game and the style of play that’s being displayed on the field,” Johnston said. “I think we’re getting back to where the league has parity in it and like any Sunday in the NFL, you can be knocked off by your opponent and if you haven’t prepared, you’ll find yourself on the wrong end of a scoreboard.”

With rules that curtail blitzing and generally favor the offenses, it was expected that the Alliance would be a scoring-heavy league.

Overall, however, that hasn’t been the case.

The average score of a league game is 24-13, and last weekend’s slate of contests had the lowest scoring output of the season.

The winning teams combined for just 72 points while the losers totaled 56. Final scores were Memphis 26, San Diego 23; Orlando 20, Salt Lake 11; San Antonio 12, Birmingham 11; and Atlanta 14, Arizona 11.

Still, Polian insists such score lines aren’t unexpected.

“It’s always easier to put together a defense because it’s reactionary,” Polian said. “An offense requires choreography and difficult and complicated movements. And they require synchronization, so that’s the last thing to come. And although we’ve moved the ball, generally speaking, up and down the field quite well, we’ve been very, very slow to develop in the red zone and that’s an area I think the coaches are going to take a hard look at going forward.”

Dropped passes have been a huge culprit in stalling drives and keeping teams off the scoreboard.

“I was taught a long time ago if you can touch it, you can catch it,” Polian said. “That’s an old Bear Bryant line. I put most of it on the receivers, although there have been some bad balls. I facetiously said today I’m going to send a little note around to each team because they all have JUGS machines (electronic passing and kicking equipment) to remind them to get out there and have receivers catch about 50 balls after practice every day. If you work on the JUGS machines, you can improve your hands. I’m the first to admit we need to be better there.”

Johnston adds that it’s frustrating to see offenses click everywhere but within striking distance of paydirt.

“Our game last week with Birmingham, we had six running plays from inside the 2-yard line and couldn’t get it in the end zone. A little bit of that is good defense on the goal line by Birmingham, and poor execution by us.

“I’ve seen teams move up and down the field. We had a 21-play drive for nine minutes and 54 seconds and ended up with a field goal. So we’ve got to get better in the red zone and get better with the 2-point play. The offenses, in my opinion, have been much more efficient than I thought they’d be, but when we get into the red zone, that advantage shifts to the defense.”

San Antonio, in a three-way tie for the Western Conference lead with a 2-2 record, has been the league’s biggest box office hit. In two games at the Alamodome, the Commanders have drawn 57,033 fans for a 28,517 average.

The only other team in the league averaging at least 20,000 fans per contest is the undefeated Orlando Apollos, which opened the season in front of 20,191 fans and had a paid attendance of 20,394 at their second game at Spectrum Stadium on the University of Central Florida campus.

The other six teams have had modest to poor turnouts; last Sunday Birmingham drew an AAF-low 6,539 fans while Arizona had just 8,865.

Through 16 games, the league has seen 250,267 fans click the turnstiles for an average attendance of 15,642.

“We have franchises like San Antonio that are really remarkable at the gate,” Polian said. “And we have other franchises like Birmingham, for example, which has a really good team, but has had a slew of bad weather.”

Polian thinks better weather – and a good matchup – could result in a big crowd when 4-0 Orlando takes on 3-1 Birmingham on Saturday at Legion Field.

“We’ve got a big game this week, Orlando at Birmingham, that’s a big game in the Eastern Conference,” he said. “A high-powered offense against a dominant defense, so it’s everything you want in a football game. I’m pretty excited about seeing that. It’s the fifth week of our league, and I think we have a game that a lot of people around the country, not just the local markets, will be interested in.

“We’re really positive where we’re going and all the credit belongs to the GMs and coaches and players who put on a tremendous show.”

As for level of play, Polian thinks the Alliance is acquitting itself quite well.

“Our hope was that we could put a quality product on the field that would be real football by real football people for real football fans,” Polian said. “We have some different rules than the NFL, but the thing that’s so gratifying is that these guys play as hard as can be, all the time. These are hard-hitting, professional games.

“Take away the four finalists in college football and maybe two or three other teams and put any other college team out there (against an Alliance team) and it might not be a fair fight. These guys are men.”

Scott Adamson can be reached by email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @adamsonsl

Murray leads Legends to first victory

Perhaps fans of the Atlanta Legends won’t have to spend their next outing at Georgia State Stadium chanting, “We want Murray.”

It looks like they’ve finally got him.

Aaron Murray, the former University of Georgia star who had previously thrown only seven passes in the Alliance of American Football, led the Legends (1-3) to a 14-11 victory over Arizona (2-2) on Sunday in Tempe, Arizona.

Murray hit 20 of 33 passes for 254 yards and rushed for a team-high 54 yards in a game that saw him supplant Matt Simms as the Atlanta starter after Simms exited with an injury.

“It felt good to get hit again and good to get out there,” said Murray, who connected with nine different receivers in the game. “The team played tremendous … I’ve got to give the offensive line a big shout out. Those guys just dominated and that’s something that we’ve really pressed upon them this week. You have to prepare every single week, you never know what can happen in a game.

“I got a little bit more reps this week in practice, but also had to be ready on the mental side of the game.”

The performance marked the first time in six seasons Murray – who was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL Draft – had gotten the majority of snaps in a contest.

“It’s my first time playing a full game,” he said. “I hadn’t played a full game since 2013, so the conditioning was interesting. I have to get back out there and get my legs right in practice this week. It was fun, though. I feel like there’s a lot more to learn and develop.”

Aaron Murray of the Atlanta Legends runs with the ball during the third quarter of their game against the Arizona Hotshots at Sun Devil Stadium on Sunday in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/AAF/Getty Images)

ORLANDO STANDS ALONE

With the Alliance reaching the midway point of its regular season this coming weekend, the Orlando Apollos (4-0) are now the only team in the league with an unblemished record.

Steve Spurrier’s squad took a road trip to Utah last Saturday and defeated the Salt Lake Stallions (1-3) in a winter wonderland, 20-11.

“I told our team before the game if our Florida boys could come up here and win one in the snow, we’d have something to talk about,” Spurrier said. “It was a fun one. It was a good game. The Stallions outplayed us a good portion, but I’m proud of the whole team and happy to get out of here with a win.”

Orlando is now a game ahead of Birmingham in the Eastern Conference standings with a showdown against the Iron set for this Saturday in Birmingham.

HOMECOMING FOR RILEY

San Antonio coach Mike Riley played at the University of Alabama, with his last appearance as a Crimson Tide player coming in the 1974 Alabama-Auburn game at Legion Field.

And as a head coach, he is now 1-2 at the “Gray Lady.”

Riley led the fortunes of the San Antonio Riders of the World League of American Football in 1991 and 1992, and his team lost to the Birmingham Fire 16-12 in 1991 and 17-10 in 1992 during their two appearances in Birmingham.

On Sunday his San Antonio Commanders (2-2) knocked the Birmingham Fire (3-1) from the unbeaten ranks with a 12-11 victory.

“The one thing about it for me personally at this part of my career, to get to coach in this league and then being able to return here for Birmingham to have a team that we get to play and there are so many family, friends, teammates, classmates, all that is just a very special part of my life,” Riley said. “My wife is from Birmingham, too, so it all worked out so I’m proud to be back here.”

The win puts San Antonio in a three-way tie for first place in the Western Conference with Arizona and San Diego.

Riley, who has been a college head coach at Oregon State (twice) and Nebraska, was offered the Alabama job in 2002 but turned it down because he was also mulling an offer from UCLA and didn’t want to rush a decision.

MEMPHIS GETS A ‘W’

The Express (1-3) began the weekend as one of only two Alliance teams without a win but rectified that situation with a 26-23, come-from-behind victory over San Diego (2-2) in easily the most exciting game of Week 4.

Trailing 23-15 early in the fourth quarter, a 6-yard scoring toss from Zach Mettenberger to Terrence Magee, along with a Mettenberger conversion, tied things up 6:01 from the finish.

With 1:42 remaining, Austin MacGinnis kicked a 45-yard field goal for the final points of the game.

“Our guys fought hard and did things they needed to do to win the game,” Memphis Coach Mike Singletary said. “I’m just really excited about how the defense stayed together and kept it together and found a way to make plays.”

Mettenberger, who won the starting job from Christian Hackenberg earlier in the season, hit 18 of 25 passes for 174 yards and a TD.

It was nothing flashy, but it got the job done.

“It was a tough fight out there but a great team victory,” Mettenberger said. “We have a really tough ‘D’ and they play well together. We have to move the ball better to help them out. We’re asking too much of them right now. But ultimately we got the win, and that’s all that matters.”

As for San Diego, the Fleet lost more than the game. Starting quarterback Philip Nelson fractured his collarbone and will be out four to six weeks.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Offense: Kenneth Farrow, San Antonio. Rushed for 142 yards on 30 carries in win over Birmingham.

Defense: Drew Jackson, Memphis. Had 14 tackles, one sack, four tackles for loss and intercepted a pass in win over San Diego.

Special Teams: Austin MacGinnis, Memphis. Kicked four field goals including the game-winner from 45 yards out against San Diego.

FANS STAYED HOME ON SUNDAY

March 3 will not be remembered as a banner day for Alliance attendance.

In Birmingham, the 6,539 who paid to see the Iron lose to San Antonio marked the lowest attendance so far in league history. Later that night in Tempe, Arizona, only 8,865 saw Atlanta beat Arizona.

That’s the second smallest crowd to watch an Alliance game in its inaugural year.

Birmingham is the only team to have three home games, and now averages 13,632 fans per outing at Legion Field.

San Antonio remains the top draw, with 57,033 fans in two games at the Alamodome for a 28,517 average.

UP NEXT

Saturday: Orlando at Birmingham, 2 p.m. EST, TNT; Salt Lake at San Diego, 8 p.m. EST, NFL Network.

Sunday: Memphis at Atlanta, 4 p.m. EST, CBS Sports Network; San Antonio at Arizona, 8 p.m. EST, NFL Network.

Email Scott Adamson at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @adamsonsl