After a great live blog event with several of the soccer blogosphere's best and brightest, I'm back to the business of my quest to find a USL-1 team to support.
Up next, the Miami FC Blues, a club whose recent history could only be described as "turbulent". Whether or not Miami would even participate in USL this year was up for debate as little as a few months ago; only a last minute surge of support from the community saved the Blues.
Onto the scores and more after the jump.
I'm armed with new and more convenient information for this round, thanks to my handy-dandy USL media guide. Not sure what this will mean for the Project, though it certainly can't hurt.
Geography
Miami has a lot of things. It has great weather, palm trees, and South Beach. All of those things are great (or so I've been told). Unfortunately, what Miami doesn't have, is any pull over yours truly. Still, if I ever made it down to a Blues match, I could enjoy all of those great things that Miami has to offer. What better way to prepare for a match than to get a little sun on the beach? As long I remained focused enough to make it down to the stadium, I think I might enjoy that. Not exactly my idea of a great soccer atmosphere, though. I'm all over the place on this one, so we'll split it right down the middle.
Score: 5
History
The club history of the Blues is short; the team only came into existence in 2006. The soccer history of Miami is obviously much, much longer, with more than a handful of teams calling the city home over the past thirty-plus years. Miam's MLS club, the Fusion, was contracted by the league in 2002, much to the chagrin of soccer fans in the area. With the recent interest in Miami expansion by FC Barcelona, much was made of Miami relatively poor record when it comes to soccer. I'm ignoring that perception to a point, though I'm not enamored with the possibility of the Blues folding (or pulling out of the league for a year or more). I'll give a bonus point or two for the fact that former player and Brazilian World Cup winner Zinho is now the club's the head coach.
Score: 6
Name/Colors
The club's name is certainly traditional, even if it is a bit boring. I tend to lean toward traditional though, so I'm fine with both the FC moniker and the rather pedestrian nickname. The colors of the team are officially tropical blue and white, and while neither the combo nor the "tropical" designation are really appealing, they do match the club's environs. Points for sticking with the basics and not getting too crazy with color and logo, and a point off for no other reason than I'm just not overly crazy about any of the factors at play here.
Score: 6
Supporter Passion
There's both good and bad here for the Blues. On the one hand, the club came close to being dissolved because support was so low; on the other, new life was given by the owners because enough supporters came forth to plead its case. The latter does not completely cancel out the former, however, and I have to take the events of the last year at face value. Miami FC just doesn't have the type of support that would draw me in, so this will be a particularly low score on the MFUSA scale.
Score: 1
Total Score: 18
Into a tie for last Miami FC goes, sitting at the bottom with Charleston Battery. I never really expected the Blues to challenge for my allegiance, and while I tried to be as fair as possible, the total score certainly represents my predetermined bias. It's my project though, so I make no apologies. If any Blues fans would like to speak up on their behalf, I might be persuaded to give them a leg up in the final round of consideration.
Links for Miami FC:
Miami FC Offical Site
Miami FC's Wikipedia Page
Supporters Group Website
On to the updated scores:
Montreal Impact------30
Austin Aztex---------29
Minnesota Thunder----27
Carolina RailHawks---22
Cleveland City Stars-20
Charleston Battery---18
Miami FC-------------18
The remaining clubs:
Rochester Rhinos
Portland Timbers
Puerto Rico Islanders
Vancouver Whitecaps
Big day of household chores and soccer tomorrow, so I'm not sure I'll get to the next club. I'm going to try to work a little USL action into my evening schedule, so perhaps I'll augment the next club overview with a few reactions.
