Baltimore Blast: Reflections On The MASL
With the creation of the MASL, the Baltimore Blast regained a rivalry with the Harrisburg Heat. This is a view inside the Heat’s home arena.
The Baltimore Blast are nearing the end of their season in the first year Major Arena Soccer League (MASL). So it seems to be a good time to explore the state of the Blast and the league.
After playing 13 games, the Danny Kelly led Blast are an impressive 13-0. You can’t get much better than that. In fact, you really CAN’T get better than that.
William Vanzela is the leading goalie in the league with an impressive 2.83 goals against average. Forwards Tony Donatelli, Diego Zuniga, Levi Houpeau and Midfielder Max Ferdinand are just a few of the players holding it down for the Blast. A new player seems to step forward as a start almost every week.
The Blast look like they are cruising towards the playoffs. But let us take a look at the league itself. Things don’t seem as rosy on that front.
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This league was a hasty merger of sorts. Take the best and strongest teams from the disintegrating MISL (including the Blast) and push them into the same league as the teams from the far-flung Professional Arena Soccer League, making a nearly 30-team behemoth. But can a league with teams from Tijuana and Monterrey Mexico really have success? And where is Turlock, California, home of league member Express?
But the actual makeup of the league is only the start of the issues. The majority of the former MISL teams wanted to keep the multi-point scoring system that they had been accustomed to for many seasons. But the PASL teams tended to want a traditional scoring system. So instead of coming to a common agreement, the Eastern Division uses the multi-point system while the other 3 divisions use a single score system. That would be like the AFC North using a 120 yard field while the rest of the NFL plays on a 100-yard field.
Individual teams have had plenty of problems too. The Tulsa Revolution had a 513 fans per-game average at the Cox Business Center which prompted a mid-season move to the smaller and cheaper Expo Square Pavilion at the Tulsa State Fairgrounds. Teams in established leagues usually don’t move mid-season.
And attendance is a continuing issue. Teams averaging less than 1,000 per game in a professional sports league is not a good thing.
Some of the venues are not much help there. The Detroit Waza Flo (yes, that is their name) play in the approximately 1,200 seat Melvindale Civic Center. And Turlock and Sacramento play in similar small venues. The Toros Mexico and Brownsville Barracudas actually play in outside arenas. Does that make sense? Indoor arena soccer teams playing outdoors?
The Milwaukee Wave added a black turf. In theory that sounds horrendous, but in actuality is pretty good. So score that one for the MASL.
And how do we start with the Seattle Impact? Team owner, coach and player Dion Earl was sued by the “Ladies with Impact” dance team for making sexual advances towards them. The Impact played for awhile, but in mid-season was replaced by the mostly amateur Tacoma Stars in the league. So Seattle was replaced by Tacoma? But no worries as both teams actually play/played at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington.
Prior to the season the Texas Strikers was re-branded as the Oxford City FC of Texas as a tie-in to the English lower division team. But, of course, the Oxford group sold the team during the season. A name change was in the cards, but eventually they decided to stay the course. For now….
One team did go away during the season as the Hidalgo La Fiera dropped out of the league after a handful of games (Another team, the Toros Mexico dropped out right before the season began.)
Also there is Soccer Sam. Sam is the owner of the Rochester Lancers, and sometimes indoor soccer radio commentator. He had some last second disputes with the league, likely centered on the multi-point scoring system, and nearly also pulled out his team out of the league. But he ended up keeping the team in the league, as well as continually creating interesting stories.
The regular season is winding down for the league, so all should be settled, right? That is until you hear that the Detroit Waza Flo owner had been traded to Las Vegas Legends. The owner (actually co-owner) was traded, as a player, to a team closing in on the playoffs, something his “real” team was not able to accomplish. That story still boggles my mind.
So when you consider that the Baltimore Blast is zooming towards another championship, you have to wonder if this “league” can sort itself out into a long-lasting entity. At this point the myriad of issues and concerns would make one question if that is possible.