Having just returned from the New England Revolution's "Media Round Table" it only felt logical to write something to justify my clearly trumped-up and hard to justify 'media' inclusion. (An inclusion I nonethelessremain quite grateful for.)
Interestingly,there's already been some twitter reaction(from those not there)about the event having occured, including negativity about the off-the-record nature of some of the commentary and concerns about if we are hearing the real story.
In a move that caught many by surprise, the New England Revolution sent thefourth overall draft selectionand allocation money to Toronto FC forthe firstoverall pick on the eve of Thursday's SuperDraft. The Revs will select first tomorrow for the first time infrancise history.
I feel as thought this might be a broken record when it comes to stadiums and the New England Revolution. (The same would apply for D.C. United too)
Every deal sounds good and each time it ends up going no where. So why is the latest news any different?
Revolution president Brian Bilello confirmed that the team is in preliminary talks with Revere, Mass, a urban suburb of Boston about a potential soccer stadium.
Are the Revolution looking north of Boston for a new home?
According to The Boston Globe, the Revolution have entered discussions with the City of Revere about a possible soccer-specific stadium targeted for the site of the former Wonderland Greyhound Park.
"We are in discussions with the City of Revere, which offers the proximity to urban centers and access to transit that we are seeking for a future Revolution stadium," Revolution president Brian Bilello said in a statement to the Globe.
I think one word may describe most New England Revolution fans these days, frustrated.
That tone probably comes from the top down as leaders of the club probably feel the same way. In
a recent interview with MLS Reserves (how good is that site by the way?), Revs president Brian
Bilello gave a deep sigh before talking about the Revs hopes and plans for a new soccer
stadium.
Brian Bilello has perhaps the hardest job in Major League Soccer right now. As the President of the
New England Revolution, he is facing down issues that many might baulk at. Bilello is tasked with
returning the Revolution to the power-house it was during the mid-2000's and he has dedicated
himself to that.
It makes no difference to me that his New England Revolution rebranding effort and his recent
post about "The Revs in the Age of Mutual Love" are good. Really good. (Though, just in case,
perhaps you should go check them out.)
Now, please don't misunderstand, I've not met him or spoken to him and only recently found his
work online.
If first impressions matter most, it is hard for New England Revolution fans to take much solace
in the recent organizational reorganizational announcements.
The Revolution is viewed as being stuck in MLS 1.0, while the league has largely moved on to MLS
2.0 (or more.) Apparently, Revolution ownership seems to agree, with Robert Kraft suggesting:
"Major League Soccer has evolved significantly in the last few years and while we felt we had a
structure in place that had worked well earlier and led us to success, the last two years did not
live up to our expectations"
However, addressing such fundamental league changes by redrawing lines on an organization chart
seems more like this feels more like a reboot than a system upgrade.
Earlier this week, we posted our Q&A with Timbers VP of Marketing Cory Dolich. Today, we were
fortunate to have Revs COO Brian Bilello answer some questions about the Revs marketing strategies
and efforts.   The Revs have really amped up their online presence in the last couple of years
and have started to aggressively use Twitter as a marketing tool.
This was certainly an interesting week for MLS and US Soccer. We are gearing up for MLS Cup
2010. We saw a 17 year old score his first goal – a game winner no less – for the US National
Team against South Africa. And Don Garber delivered his "State of the League" address.
I was already feeling vindicated that my 2010 Most Valuable Country award for Colombia was
pushed further from reproach as David Ferreira won the 2010 Volkswagen MLS Most Valuable Player
award.
Wednesday's press conference contained much talk about the future of the club. Here are some
talking points, beginning with Peter Nowak on:
Consistent lineups: "It's not that we are saying everything is fine. All we are saying is that
having a starting lineup consistent, 11 guys, maybe two substitutions or three guys, you cannot win
the championship with 13 guys.
