Old Man Yells at Sky: Old People Suck, Young People Suck, All People Suck Edition

1. Life Advice - If you’re waiting on other people to do something, just do it yourself. If the thing is important enough to bug you, you can’t wait for other people to do it. You’re spending time and effort being frustrated, just throw yourself into the solution of it. People will ALWAYS disappoint you. Accept that fact and move on. Get moving!

2. Greenville goes on hiatus - I know GVLFC is relatively new in the NPSL, joining just two years ago, but goddamnit I am sick of clubs doing this. And I’m not angry with the club, I’m angry with the league, the fans, the situation. I want the next DCFC, the next CFC, instead clubs keep dropping like flies. It’s depressing. Sustainability is becoming my catchphrase. I yell it at every club I meet, every league official I talk to, every fan dealing with a struggling local club: SUSTAINABILITY! We have to change the state of things.

3. Which are worse? - I work customer service in my day job so a question came into my head the other day - do young people suck more than old people or is it the other way around? Young people are messy, stupid, and generally pains in the butt, while old people are demanding, can’t hear, complain constantly, and are generally pains in the butt. Both groups have zero problem rearranging your furniture, cutting in line, demanding service above and beyond. I think I hate everyone, regardless of age. So maybe that’s my answer.

4. Ohio Heart Cup - I like this idea. A local cup, ran by local clubs, for the promotion of all clubs involved, regardless of league affiliation. More of this please.

5. #GirlDad - What began as a cute way to acknowledge the special relationship between fathers and daughters (sparked by the untimely death of Kobe and Gigi Bryant), has officially jumped the shark. Last night, Jezebel ran an article highlighting everything the author saw wrong with this celebration. I am not telling anyone how to feel about anything, but being contrarian will only get you so far. Maybe it will get you clicks, I dunno. Maybe I should be more contrarian, start raging against kittens and pizza. Lighten up, people.

6. USWNT - We’ve got Olympic qualifiers going on and apparently everyone forgot to show up in Houston?! Just over 4,000 for the reigning World Cup Champions? Houston should NEVER again get a sniff of this team. Defenders of the city are saying it was a lack of marketing and promotion, wrong time of year, bad opponent, the stars aren't aligned, the list keeps building, but come on. Show up for our national team, the rest of the world is in awe of our women and we don’t deserve them. If we have to play every match in Portland, so be it.

7. Queensboro FC - Anyone gonna tell David Villa there’s no promotion/relegation in the US system? Maybe he’s hoping that changes at some point? More players need to call for pro/rel or nothing will change.

8. Forward Madison Burnout - Name a famous band. The Beatles, The Grateful Dead, The Strokes, Pearl Jam, U2. All have great catalogues, good songs, super talented, no reason to hate them. Then you get surrounded by fans of one of them and it’s nonstop how great they are, how every song is life-changing, and no other bands compare. Except, for all their greatness, there are bands that compare, there are other bands that are good, and hearing about the same band over and over again makes you want to pull your heart out because its denying the reality that other great bands exist.

   Forward Madison has done some great things in their rollout: savvy social media, great design, a cheeky approach to marketing, so much to celebrate. But people, get over yourself. Just because the rest of the USL1 is falling behind on promotion doesn’t mean there are NO OTHER CLUBS KILLING IT. There are so many great clubs doing similar work with less payroll, less employees (some with NO paid staff), and less time. So let’s be realistic in our praise of FMFC - great job, one of many doing a great job.

9. Comparing Leagues - I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. How would the best NISA team (in my opinion, DCFC, at the moment) do against a USL1 schedule? Could DCFC win that league? What about Championship? How would DCFC do against Louisville or El Paso? Hard to say, but we need more friendlies to figure this out. Considering DCFC has played FC Juarez, who share ownership partners with Locomotive, it should be an easy one to set up. Just sayin.

10. Music Recommendation - Sigur Ros - “Hoppipolla” - I’m always looking for music to write by, so generally I’m looking for music without words or, and this leads to today’s rec, music in another language. Sigur Ros is a go to for sure in that category. Love this band, who sing mostly in Icelandic, and heartily recommend you put them on in the background while you work today.

Greenville FC Goes on Hiatus

The news broke yesterday afternoon, Greenville FC had decided to pull out of the 2020 NPSL. The press release (as seen below) sites the exit of multiple Southeast conference opponents as the main reason for the decision. This offseason has seen Asheville City (USL2), Chattanooga (NISA), and Atlanta SC (NISA) all depart for other leagues, both professional and amateur. Just looking at the list of clubs from last season (2019) and comparing it to this season, it’s clear the quality of the conference has dropped significantly.

As of the time of this article, the NPSL website has already updated to indicate Greenville’s hiatus, showing the Southeast conference as containing Georgia Revolution, Inter Nashville FC, and North Alabama SC. Also included in the club list for the conference are two placeholders listed as “To Be Announced.” Which clubs these represent isn’t known at this point, but including two (as compared to one) certainly gives the impression that they are specific clubs in mind for the league.

Speculating on the Greenville’s new status, the explanation, centered on the shakeups to the conference, leaves something to be desired. Greenville has been on the rise since their first season in 2018. After finishing near the bottom of the table in 2018, the club made the Southeast conference playoffs in 2019. After the release of the news yesterday, we have spoken with supporters of the team and they highlighted the drop in attendance when the USL1 club, Greenville Triumph, moved into town last season. Those supporters speculated that Greenville FC may be returning to an approach more focused on local talent development, through indoor or small-sided play. They also mentioned the club has been very quiet during the offseason, further contributing to dwindling fan support. All of those concerns and comments are, of course, speculation, but speculation well-informed by the situation on the ground in Greenville.

Regardless of the long-term results of this move, grassroots soccer is better with Greenville FC in it. The NPSL is better with Greenville FC in it. Seeing a playoff-quality club forced to decide to go into hiatus is a bad thing. Soccer leagues need to be more focused on the sustainability of their member clubs, rather than simply adding expansion sides to replace those exiting. We need more clubs outgrowing the leagues than closing up shop. The cycle of clubs expanding and folding should be of great concern to all of us, especially the fans.

Best of luck to Greenville FC in their reorganization efforts.