Getting close to the end of the USL-1 Project (first round). The Rochester Rhinos are up next, and it may be tough for the New York club to break into the top half of the project standings.
Rochester happens to be the club I was most familiar with back in my non-soccer days, although I couldn't possibly tell you why that might be. Perhaps it was their success in the U.S. Open Cup, the dedicated soccer stadium they play in, or just the snazzy nickname. No matter the reason, I don't get the feeling that my previous awareness of the Rhinos will help them at all in this competition.
On to the scores...
Geography
Such a bad idea to include this category. I really should have thought it through just a little more. New York's not too far from my home base I guess, though upstate New York is a complete mystery to me. Rochester isn't exactly burning up the list of placed I'd like to visit, so this has to be a bit of a wash. Down the middle. I suppose if anyone would like to step forward and plead Rochester's case, I might be willing to add a few bonus points in the future.
Score: 5
History
The Rhinos (Raging Rhinos back then) were founded in 1996, AS an A-League club, and eventually made the move through the various stages of second tier soccer to the modern day USL First Division. They're success is extremely impressive: playoffs every season of their existence, three league titles, and the only U.S. Open Cup won by a team outside of MLS since that league started. While the Rhinos' history doesn't reach back as far as some other USL-1 clubs, all that success has to count for something.
Score: 8
Name/Colors
I'm a big fan of stripes, especially the vertical kind. I like the new logo (revised in 2008 I believe), and I like the colors. I don't particularly like the nickname (that dreaded "minor league" thing again), though I have to give credit to the new owners for dropping the "Raging" adverb. I think my previous knowledge (such as it was) is coming to bear in this category; but for the mediocre nickname, I like almost all of the aspects in this category.
Score: 7
Supporter Passion
The Rhinos play in a soccer specific park venue called PAETEC Park, and while financial issues surrounding the club have but a damper on enthusiasm, it's still a pretty impressive place by American standards. Capacity is 13,000, which is right up there with Montreal for largest stadium in the league. While I don't believe the Rhinos do as well as the Impact for attendance (I don't have my reference guide with me, maybe I'll update that later), they're certainly in the top two or three clubs in USL-1. I know absolutely nothing about the club's main supporters group, The Stampede, though I was able to find a few videos online of the group exhibiting their passion. Here's one:
Now, I'm not normally a fan of videos with music instead of the group making their own noise, but this looked to be a pretty solid representation of the Rhinos' supporters. I'm reasonably impressed.
Score: 6
Total Score: 26
Mid-table result for the Rhinos. They're not out of it yet, but there are a lot of clubs ahead of them.
Current standings:
Montreal Impact----------30
Austin Aztex-----------------29
Minnesota Thunder-----27
Puerto Rico Islanders---27
Vancouver Whitecaps---27
Rochester Rhinos--------26
Carolina RailHawks-----22
Cleveland City Stars-----20
Charleston Battery-------18
Miami FC---------------------18
Remaining clubs:
Portland Timbers
Just one club to go. Almost done with Round 1. Get your pleas in now, it's not too late!
