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Mid-day Ticker: Downs named NASL commissioner, Boateng injured and more

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By JOHN BOSCHINI

It's a time transition at the NASL.

The second-tier of American soccer revealed several changes this morning as David Downs was introduced as commissioner, a new logo was unveiled and a redesigned website was launched.

Downs is the former executive director of the unsuccessful USA World Cup bid and will officially take office on April 4th. Prior to his stint with USA Soccer, Downs was a veteran of the broadcast industry and spent time at ABC Sports and Univision. He is largely credited with bringing the World Cup to ABC.

The new NASL logo is a slight variation on the logo used in the 70’s and 80’s. The green backdrop is gone and the ball has been redesigned and enlarged. Both the logo and the new watermark were designed by Rich Levy.

Here are some more stories to keep your Monday going.

MOURINHO SAYS HE ALMOST TOOK ENGLAND JOB

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho revealed that he came within hours of replacing Steve McClaren as manager of England in 2007, a job that eventually went to former Real Madrid manager Fabio Cappello.

“I was hours away, I almost signed up for the England national team,” Mourinho said in an interview with L’Equipe. “But at the last minute I began thinking, ‘I am going to coach a national side, there will be one match and the rest of the time I will be in my office or overseeing matches.'”

Mourinho eventually went on to manage Inter Milan before arriving at Real Madrid.

POLICE REJECT REPORTS OF RACISM BY SCOTTISH FANS

London police have denied reports of racism from Scottish fans during Scotland’s 2-0 loss to Brazil at the Emirates Stadium. A banana was reportedly thrown on to the field as Brazilian striker Neymar celebrated a goal but, according to police, it was thrown from the Brazilian end of the stadium. The Scottish Football Association said they have contacted the Brazilian FA to protest the accusations.

BOATENG OUT FOR SEASON

Manchester City will be most likely be without Jerome Boateng after the defender injured his knee while warming up for Germany’s Euro qualifier against Kazakhstan. The 22-year-old flew back to Manchester to receive treatment today.

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What do you think about today's stories? Is Downs a good appointment? Would you have liked to see Mourinho as England manager? How much does Boateng's injury hurt Manchester City's Champions League chances?

Comments

  1. I/m still amazed that the NASL was able to pull Downs. That guy bring an awful lot to the table.

    I will be curious to see how long this relationship lasts. He’s got a lot of work to do and they are having to pay out what is big coin for them.

    If it doesn’t work out then both sides will be able to say that they gave it a go and neither one will lose too much reputation wise.

    The NASL went BIG by landing him. This should be interesting. I will e curious to see what he does with such limited resources.

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  2. It’s ok. I actually like it.

    What’s wrong with kid-friendly?

    I admire your intensity but we are talking about a sport.

    I’m not so worried about “mature” unless I’m headed to a strip club or looking for flicks for family night, Bro.

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  3. i think the MLS should invest in a 2nd division like the NBA’s development league or sort of like baseball’s farm system and have it feed talent into the MLS.

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  4. How are you going to convince 20 newly successful owners to suddenly agree to being possibly relegated? That is the only flaw I see to the pro/rel argument in the US. Unlike other countries that already had tons of teams before big money came into sports, the US is doing it backwards. We are starting with big money and then slowly adding teams. Eventually you are asking people who invested a lot of money to agree to lose money. Who would do that?

    I am all for pro/rel, but I just don’t see how it will happen here in the US. I see more of a MLB route, with lower division acting as farm teams. Not because that is how I want it to be, but because that is how I see the money dictating the situation.

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  5. I completely agree with you on this one. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is on the money. However, most of those logos are BROKE.

    Classic design usually starts out with good to great design, and eventually becomes classic. There are few examples of bad design that become classic regardless how long they stick around. Creating something good AND sticking to it is the key. You need both, and sadly, most of the designs in the NASL leave a lot to be desired. Again, I like the new Ft. Lauderdale design. It isn’t perfect, but it is way nicer than the others it sits next to.

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  6. Your scenario sounds great. If only MLS itself was profitable across the board. Last time I checked only a portion of MLS teams were operating in the black. Until we have at least 20 profitable and sustainable teams, relegation will continue to be a pipe dream.

    The good news is that soccer is continuing to gain in popularity as a mainstream sport. But we have a long ways to go.

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  7. Get your sarcastic tone, don’t worry, but I don’t know who US soccer hires for this kind of stuff – high schoolers? It looks terrible and a joke on the world scene… It’s time to mature the sport away from the kid-friendly brand.

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  8. I think American Professional soccer will only progress to equal the success of foreign leagues when the US establishes a viable 2nd division.
    Creating nifty logos ain’t going to cut it.

    More likely, after the NASL, USL or any other lower divisions fail, the MLS will come in an establish a viable permanent one.

    Should the MLS stop at around twenty teams like FIFA wants, it cannot expand into new and emerging markets. A certain death knell UNLESS it can use the promotion/relegation model used the world over. In that case a 2nd tier would need to be developed. But current MLS owners would need to protect their investment and would only allow relegation to a secure, and financial stable AND popular league.

    I look to see the MLS start a second division and populate it with a lot of cities who want an MLS franchise but cannot get one. At a future date look for the MLS to then start a “Super League” and populate it with the “old” teams that have a successful history, (attendance and/or wins) maybe about 14-16 and populate it to 20-22 teams through promotion (and relegation) from the lower league.

    I expect the MLS to buy a successful 2nd league or start it’s own. Either way it will require a capital investment and management only the MLS can provide.

    When this happens…you can say you saw it on here first. 🙂

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  9. WOW, i just looked at the NASL site again, and noticed the top row of crests from around the league. Ft. Lauderdale’s is the only good looking one. Maybe 343 should do a league wide redesign.

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  10. 343RLP also did Fort Lauderdale Strikers new logo, which I like quite a lot. 343RLP is making WAY better logos than what I remember seeing in the USL the last few years. You can check it out at the same NASL link Ives provided at the top of the post.

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  11. agreed. the NASL logo looks pretty good. it’s definately better than the current MLS-cartoon-foot-kicking-a-cartoon-ball look.

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