While we at Soc Takes were discussing our World Cup content, I came up with a few different ideas I thought might be interesting: a piece comparing the two common international ranking systems and what the differences are, a piece looking at what leagues and teams are most represented among World Cup rosters, and this.

So, I crowdsourced.

what sort of #WorldCup article should I write today?

— John Lenard (@JohnMLTX) June 16, 2018

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What if, instead of soccer, the results of the World Cup were decided by pitting the flags of those respective nations against each other? Who would win?

This is a fundamentally nonsensical idea, which is why I’m writing it.

Anyway, as the resident vexillologist and vexillographer here at Soc Takes, I’ll actually be running through probably every World Cup group, analyzing the flags and showing what the results for each group would be in this hypothetical Flag World Cup.

To start, we need the basic criteria held by various vexillological organizations for what makes a good flag:

1. Keep the design simple, so that it can easily be drawn from memory.
2. Use meaningful symbolism, where each component has some purpose.
3. Limit yourself to 2 to 3 basic colors.
4. Absolutely no lettering, seals, or crests of any kind.
5. Be distinctive and unique, or be deliberately related and similar.

We’ll be using those five rules to judge the four flags in each group, and determining the result for the group stage matches. Rather than just rank the flags first through fourth and pick the top two, I think it’ll be more fun to “simulate” a match played between the two flags. Do note that even though those are the primary rules I’ll be using, it is possible for a flag to break one or more of those rules and still be a great flag. There is a bit of subjectivity here, but I’ll do my best to stay as objective as possible.

And with that, let’s begin the Group D group stage matches.

Argentina vs. Iceland

Iceland enters the tournament with a very strong flag. The design is simple, known among flag nerds as a “Nordic Cross,” and represents the Christian influence in the country. All these Nordic Cross flags are ultimately derived from the Danish flag, in near-continuous use since at least the 14th century. The three colors all have meaning, with the blue representing the blue mountains, the white representing snow and ice, and the red for the island’s volcanoes. Denmark, at various points in history, conquered much of the Nordic region, with the flags in the area showing that relationship with Denmark. Here we have a flag that is both distinct and recognizable, yet also closely related with its neighbors. The colors, meanings and proportions are all rigidly defined by Icelandic law. In short, Iceland has an excellent flag.

Argentina’s flag dates back to 1812, although the current version wasn’t adopted until 1861 and the standards weren’t fully defined until 2012. The original meaning and shade of the blue color is disputed, given the flag’s origins during a revolutionary period in Argentina’s history. The common belief is that they represent the sky, clouds and sun, but historians claim they’re derived from the House of Bourbon. This lack of official standardization and meaning is a point against Argentina. The flag also lacks a set ratio of height to width, with two officially defined and several others in use. Finally, the flag incorporates the Sun of May in the center, a highly intricate design featuring two different colors and both straight and wavy rays. This is enough for me to classify this as a seal, especially given its usage in Argentina as one.

Putting these two flags head to head, Iceland comes away with the win.

Croatia vs. Nigeria

Croatia’s flag is the youngest in Group D, having been adopted on December 21, 1990, not long before independence was declared from Yugoslavia. The tricolor pattern of red, white, and blue has been used in the Slavic world for over a century, including Croatia’s time as a constituent republic in Yugoslavia. In fact, five of the Yugoslav republics as well as the nation itself used similar designs for much of the 20th century. While the checkerboard pattern does have some association with the fascist Ustaše period, the design has been used as part of Croatian coats of arms since at least 1495. The flag loses points for the incorporation of not one but five coats of arms above the checkerboard shield, which represent the five component regions of modern Croatia. While the symbolism is meaningful, it adds incredibly tiny, intricate designs as well as three additional colors. It’s not a bad flag, but it gets a bit messy there.

Nigeria’s flag has been unchanged since its adoption on October 1, 1960, the date of Nigeria’s independence from the United Kingdom. The green stripes represent the natural wealth found in the country, while the white stripe represents peace. This flag is the only national flag using only green and white, leaving it immediately recognizable. The colors and proportions have been standardized in Nigerian law. This is another very strong flag. Simple, yet distinct.

Match 2 ends with an easy win for Nigeria.

Argentina vs. Croatia

Match 3 is the closest fight we’ve seen in Group D. Both flags have a lot of history, but both also break some of the rules. Croatia gets the advantage in terms of standardization and specifications, while Argentina has the advantage in that the crest used is a simpler design. With that all said, this match ends in a draw.

Nigeria vs. Iceland

While Match 3 was pretty strong, Match 4 is even closer. These two flags are both very, very good, and follow every single principle of flag design to the letter. While subjectively I prefer the flag of Iceland, that’s not enough for them to win this one. This is a hard fought match ending in a draw.

Nigeria vs. Argentina

As with Croatia, Nigeria has an early advantage over Argentina from the beginning. The lack of a seal, the distinctive and unique design, and the clearly defined meanings mean three more points to Nigeria.

Iceland vs. Croatia

In a battle between red, white and blue banners, Iceland wins on simplicity. The two flags are both heavily tied to the surrounding regions, and Croatia puts up a tougher fight than Argentina, but I can’t get past the five crests incorporated above the checkerboard shield. And given that the flag with just the shield was literally used by a Nazi puppet regime, there is approximately a zero percent chance that the crests are removed. Iceland wins again.

Group D Standings:

1. Iceland, 7 points
2. Nigeria, 7 points
3. Argentina, 1 point
4. Croatia, 1 point

Iceland moves on to play the runner-up in Group C, while Nigeria will face the winner of Group C.

Follow John on Twitter: @JohnMLTX.

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FORT WORTH, Texas — I have a confession to make. Despite my perpetual, vociferous evangelism of lower-division soccer, I have never actually attended a single game of any of the semi-pro or amateur teams in my area. This, despite having several such clubs in existence for several years now within an hour’s drive. This, despite researching and writing about these clubs for years. The only club soccer I’ve watched live that didn’t involve FC Dallas in some capacity was the USL game I attended in St. Louis last August.

And really, I don’t have any excuse that doesn’t revolve around laziness or apathy. Tickets are reasonable, cheap even. Games are scheduled at times that don’t conflict with my standard routine. The stadiums are all easily accessible with a car and well within what I’d define as a reasonable driving distance.

So, time to put my money where my mouth has been for years.

Tonight, I’m attending a match at a local NPSL club, the Fort Worth Vaqueros. I’ve actually followed them online since their inception back in 2014. Yes, this is their fifth season of existence and my first game attended. I’m documenting my thoughts and experience as part of something I hope might become a series, or at the very least an interesting story. I can’t think of a better way to promote the support of local soccer than to actually go support it and promote it. I’m armed with my point-and-shoot digital camera and my phone for note taking in an attempt to do just that.

Anyway.

Tonight’s game sees the Vaqueros hosting a reserve team of Tigres UANL. It’s a Wednesday evening in North Texas and it’s warm. Google claims it’s currently 94 degrees, feels like 101, and I believe it. I’m sitting in the stadium as nondescript as possible. I’m not here as a fan or a journalist, but as someone experiencing this for the first time, documenting my thoughts and taking pictures as the night progresses. Coincidentally, the blue undershirt I wore to work today is very nearly the same shade of blue used by the home side. The sun is beginning to set, casting a comfortable shade on the primary grandstand.

The Vaqueros play at Farrington Field, a WPA-era stadium primarily intended for high school football. It’s about what I expect from a high school stadium in Texas, which is to say there’s metal-bleacher seating, maybe forty rows deep on both sides, a turf field with permanent football markings and a capacity of around 18,000. During high school, I spent just about every single Friday night and Saturday afternoon in such venues across the state thanks to marching band. Even if I haven’t physically been here before, it’s still incredibly familiar.

I arrive at 6:40 p.m. for what I thought was a 7 p.m. kickoff. I’m actually nearly an hour early. This leaves ample time to take pictures of a mostly empty stadium. I pass the time by writing this and walking around the venue. My ticket was $10, but apparently allows for two people to enter. A nice touch I’ll hopefully make use of in the future. Tickets are not what one might expect; they’re actually branded as vouchers without any specific home game indicated. One can buy these vouchers and use them at whatever game they attend. Students and staff of the local Fort Worth Independent School District receive free admission. I’m pleased to see scores of Vaqueros jerseys in the stands. This team runs a promotion where, rather than selling physical season tickets to fans, they sell the jersey as a season ticket every season. To get into games, one simply wears their jersey. I absolutely love this.

The local supporters’ group, the Panther City Hellfire, march in chanting with drums and flags. They’re remarkably well organized, with comprehensive chant sheets that are handed out to most of those in attendance. One chant in particular catches my eye, No. 17 on their sheet. Fort Worth has a player named Rio, therefore the Hellfire have adapted the eponymous Duran Duran song for him. I like that. I note that as the Hellfire hand out their chant sheets, they inform the spectators of their tendencies to light off smoke bombs after goals are scored, and give them plenty of opportunity to adjust their seating accordingly. There is no assigned seating here, possibly because the stadium lacks visible row and seat numbering. The stands here are configured so that the bottom two rows sit maybe three feet above the running track. This allows the supporters to get up close and personal with the home bench.

There’s a small contingent of Tigres supporters here, maybe 20 or so. They’re mostly seated around a solitary Tigres flag. I spot a dozen or so jerseys for the visitors among the crowd.

Fort Worth’s head coach Nick Stavrou is a local soccer legend, having played nearly 300 games with the original Dallas Sidekicks before becoming a coach. At age 43, he actually briefly returned to playing when the Dallas Sidekicks returned in 2012. I think I have his autograph at home somewhere. The Vaqueros have been a strong team lately, topping the Lonestar Conference table last season and winning three of four league games played in 2018.

The Vaqueros have a partnership with two unlikely foreign clubs through their owner: Alfreton Town F.C., which plays in the sixth tier of English soccer, and Tobago FC Phoenix 1976, which plays in the top flight in Trinidad and Tobago.

Ahead of kickoff, the two teams meet at midfield for the usual pomp and circumstance. I find my seat in the first row, close to the goal at the north end of the stadium. The announcer’s voice blasted through the public address reveals that this is the first international friendly to be played at historic Farrington Field. He will repeat this a half dozen more times before the night is over. A youth team I encountered before the game, comprising a mixture of children who appear to be somewhere around 6-8 years old, accompany the players tonight. Their team is apparently called the Owls and they all have on rather fantastically designed sublimated jerseys. Their logo in particular catches my eye; it’s excellently designed.

The ceremonies continue with the playing of the Mexican national anthem, and the display of an animated Tricolor on the full color video board. Everyone rises as prompted, and I faintly hear the visiting supporters singing along. The PA is remarkably clear. I find myself surprised at just how nice the speakers sound. The American national anthem follows, and hands in the crowd move from sides to chests. There are a handful singing along as well. It’s difficult to judge total attendance at a glance, but my best guess says there’s around a thousand people here. Not bad in the slightest for 7:30 on a Wednesday. The bulk of the crowd are seated mid field, between the two 30 yard lines. The bleachers in the front two rows and middle two rows have metal seat backs, and these are nearly all occupied along the entire grandstand.

The anthems come to a close, the Panther City Hellfire begin their chant and maybe fifteen seconds into their song, the PA plays some vague pop-rock song I don’t recognize. The Hellfire slowly come to a halt, unwilling or unable to compete with the loudspeakers. Fortunately, the PA goes quiet in time for kickoff, and the Hellfire pick up where they left off.

The youth team has returned from field level following their pregame participation and have set up shop in the sections to my immediate left. These children seem under-supervised, and they are running around the stands, hanging from railings and generally operating as children tend to do. I notice that a number of them are ducking under the railing at the front of the stands to get down to the running track, unimpeded. Interesting.

Sitting this close to the field allows me to hear the players and coaches clearly. Following an early goal kick, I catch the Vaqueros goalkeeper shouting to a defender, “It’s so fucking hot out here.” The shade has not yet engulfed the field despite its continuous progress, and he’s making an obvious point. The players on both sides are visibly sweating already.

The youthful exuberance proves to be a bit too distracting for me. I notice a family seated nearby reacting similarly, continuously turning their heads toward the commotion. After maybe fifteen minutes, I start to consider moving south along the side line. Tigres have been controlling much of the action so far, so my southward relocation brings me closer to the action.

As I’m watching the first half, it dawns on me that what I’m watching now is incredibly tough to distinguish from games I watched in USL Pro in 2012. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that NPSL teams have reached a level of play comparable to where the third division was roughly six years ago. This achievement is nothing short of remarkable and paints a positive picture for the progress achieved already.

Tigres strike first half an hour in, to the delight of the fans in yellow. There’s something to be said about the appearance of the two teams together. Blue and white versus yellow and blue makes for a colorful experience. From my new perspective at the southernmost point in the grandstand, I take several pictures of the players and crowd. Even from a tight angle, the Panther City Hellfire’s presence is immediately obvious. The crowd at large is not that loud, but again, it’s Wednesday and this stadium is massive. I imagine that a Friday or Saturday night fixture would bring in greater numbers and noise.

As the first half comes to an end, the visitors are up by a goal. The Panther City Hellfire have made continuous use of their chant sheets, shouting the number of the next song over a megaphone each time. I spot a handful of people without Vaqueros merchandise following along from their seats a half dozen rows above the supporters. Many of their songs are among what I would consider the standards of soccer, reworked for the city and club: a strong sense of civic pride west of the Trinity River. A few of them take shots at Dallas. The drum rhythms are simple but effective, and generate the accompaniment of clapping from the masses.

At halftime, I attempt to buy a scarf for my growing collection. I’m informed by the staff at the merchandise table that there are no scarves there, but that I should talk with the Hellfire. I debate internally purchasing a jersey and the intertwined season ticket. The team is now approaching halfway through its current NPSL season, so I elect to postpone it to next year. I surmise that, as tickets and concessions have been apparently cash-only at the stadium, and I’m running low on rectangular linen strips with dead faces, I likely will need to plan ahead for scarf acquisition.

There’s something to be said about attending a soccer game purely as a neutral. I’m not fully emotionally invested in the result, nor am I running through either of my usual gameday routines involving drums or Twitter. I’m sitting in the shade and relaxing, enjoying what is — in the context of Texas — lovely summer weather. For the past seven years or so, I’ve forgone trips to movie theaters in favor of local sporting events. Normally, that’s been hockey or baseball depending on the season, as the only soccer games I regularly attend require my attention directed away from the run of play. This change of pace is refreshing.

While watching the game and mentally comparing the scenes to what was higher level play than in years previous, I can’t help but consider the oft-repeated statements in dismiss of the likes of MLS, USL and women’s soccer in general. “I don’t watch any of that because it’s nowhere near as good as soccer in (insert league/country here).” This mentality has always been completely foreign to me from my earliest days around the sport. Maybe it’s because I only started watching in 2010 or so, or maybe it’s because I wasn’t raised playing the game, or maybe it’s because I lack some intangible necessary insight to evaluate relative quality. The idea of an allegedly inferior product deserving a lack of attention seems entirely arbitrary and contrary to the “love of the game.” I love this sport, this strange and beautiful sport, and I demonstrate that by consuming as much of it as possible. I think about the crowd assembled here, from the most passionate members of the Panther City Hellfire to the casuals attending their first game like me. I ask myself, are these not true soccer fans? I ask myself, why the hell haven’t I been here before? And I think about what people are missing by not coming here, what I was missing by not coming here before.

The announcer’s voice provides a mass invitation to the post-game party at the nearby World of Beer, where both teams’ players and staff will be present. This leads me to look closer at the various jerseys in the crowd and I find that most, if not all, have been signed. An interesting note on the jerseys: The Vaqueros have used a different jersey sponsor in each of their five seasons of play, and this is actually by design. The jersey sponsor is determined through a random drawing each preseason, with the current Miss Fort Worth in charge of selection. I can’t think of another club offhand that does this, and I like this tradition.

By 9 p.m., the game is past the 62nd minute and Tigres are up 2-0. Play has been fairly continuous and I can’t recall the issuance of any disciplinary cards. Both sides are still maintaining the intensity of the first half. This may be a friendly, but a win is still a win. Dusk has ceded to darkness, and my pocket-sized digital camera can’t handle the Wednesday night lights. The crowd has dwindled slightly, with many of the younger kids leaving. School isn’t out for the summer just yet. The Hellfire are still doing their various things, albeit with less intensity than an hour ago. I’m finding the metal bleacher seating much less comfortable than an hour ago and make a mental note that a stadium seat is not an optional accessory here. The announcer issues a reminder that time is kept on the field, which I interpret as “the stadium clock isn’t that accurate.”

At roughly 9:30, the referee signals fulltime with the scoreline unchanged. The scoreboard hasn’t quite reached the 90 minute mark, and the announcer’s previous actions are immediately justified. Everyone gradually staggers up the stairs and out the gates. The Hellfire light off blue and yellow smoke bombs in their section. I return to my car with my sunglasses still on.

The game and scoreline won’t stand as the greatest advertisement for lower-league soccer, but honestly it doesn’t even matter to me. I’d bet that many of the other first-timers tonight will be back again soon.

I definitely will be too.

I hope you enjoyed this unusual piece from me. This is a pretty dramatic departure from my typical ranting drivel, and I really enjoyed writing it. Every time I start a draft for Soc Takes, my goal is to write the sort of content I would enjoy reading, and this definitely fits that bill.

And yes, I’m aware my camera isn’t great. I got it for like $50 at the Denton Camera Exchange.

Follow John on Twitter: @JohnMLTX.

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While FC Wichita’s players were on the field playing NTX Rayados in the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday, someone broke into the locker room and robbed the team. Phones, wallets, passports and other valuables were stolen. The latest value estimate is $20,000.

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FC Wichita is an amateur team, and some of these players are college students, making this loss even rougher for the team and players. Therefore, the FC Wichita supporters’ group Air Capital Firm has started a GoFundMe to help the team recover.

Click here to visit the GoFundMe.

NTX Rayados won the match 3-2 to advance to face the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium on June 6 in the fourth round of the Open Cup.

Follow John on Twitter: @JohnMLTX.

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We’re now roughly one-quarter through the 34-game USL season, meaning most teams have played somewhere between 7 and 10 games each. As of right now, 147 of 561 matches have been played, which is 26.2 percent of the season completed. This is close enough to 25 percent for me, and I assume it’s close enough for you as well.

Quick aside, USL teams have added two games per season, taking them from 32 to 34. While generally speaking, I like having more soccer and having more games played, the number 34 is so much less satisfying than 32. Thirty-two is a power of two number, so it’s easy to divide up as much as one pleases. Thirty-four, however, is a semiprime, which means that it’s the multiple of two prime factors, 17 and two. This displeases me greatly, perhaps more so than the benefit I derive from two additional games per team.

Now back to your irregularly scheduled rambling.

For the season preview, I listed attendance and the 2017 record. Since directly comparing records gets weird when teams haven’t played the same number of games, I’m not going to do that here. We’ll be looking at points per game, which makes more direct comparisons possible. For attendance, I’ll be borrowing from Mike Pendleton’s lovely attendance tracking graphics, because I can’t be bothered to make a fourth spreadsheet for this story. Oh, and we’ll be going alphabetically through the teams, mirroring the layout from my season preview. And with that, let’s begin our USL Western Conference Q1 progress report.

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Colorado Springs Switchbacks

• Points per Game: 1.273, 10th in West (-.102 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 3,108, 22nd in USL (-8.3% from 2017)

In my preview, I mentioned two specific things: continuously rising attendance, and a potential return to 2016 form. So far, the opposite has happened. The team is currently on its slowest points pace in the past three seasons, and attendance has dipped slightly. However, it was really, really cold in Colorado Springs through March and April, and they still managed to keep crowds north of 2,500. More importantly, their two most recent games drew crowds of 3,830 and 4,039. So really, not much to worry about at the moment. If summer weather can bring with it bigger crowds and better results, they’ll be fine and likely competing for the bottom two playoff spots.

Fresno FC

• Points per Game: 1.091, 12th in West
• Average Attendance: 5,361, 11th in USL

Fresno is very quietly getting things together in all the right ways. The team is starting to mesh better, results are coming gradually and support is solid. While they’ve only won two games, they lead the league in draws with six, and they’ve yet to lose a game by more than one goal. I don’t think they’re playoff bound just yet, but they’re moving in the right direction for an expansion team. They also have one of the best logos I’ve seen in years as their secondary logo. I strongly encourage them to adopt that as their primary crest.

#FresnoFC releases mascot & alternate logo for upcoming season. The Fox will also be referred to as “The Foxes & Los Zorros” (via @FresnoFC2018) pic.twitter.com/Tyd8ySJfaH

— Tommy Tran (@TommyTranTV) November 7, 2017

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LA Galaxy II

• Points per Game: 0.667, 15th in West (-.240 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 1,087, 31st in USL (-10.5% from 2017)

Conceding nearly two goals per game? Check. Sitting near the bottom of the Western Conference? Check. Barely anyone there to see it? Check. It’s business as usual for Los Dos, except that the offense is looking much better. Fifteen-year-old Efrain Alvarez and teammate Ethan Zubak both scored hat tricks against Saint Louis FC, and the constant roster rotation isn’t disrupting their attacking play as much as expected. But really, the point of this team isn’t to win games or trophies, it’s to develop players. So, whatever, I guess.

Las Vegas Lights FC

• Points per Game: 1.250, 11th in West
• Average Attendance: 8,175, 5th in USL
• Meme Game: Even Danker

Y’all. This team. Where do I even begin? The mascot is an Elvis impersonator, they have live llamas at most events, Chelis got himself ejected and suspended for referee abuse, and the fans absolutely love it. Even when the team is losing, they’re still one of the most exciting, genuinely fun to watch teams in the league, and I’m loving every moment of it. Just as I said in my preview, keep doing exactly what you’re doing, my dudes.

OKC Energy FC

• Points per Game: 0.333, 17th in West (-1.198 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 3,863, 16th in USL (-8.6% from 2017)

A month ago, I wrote an article entitled “What’s going on with Energy FC?” I think we’re due for a sequel. Back then, the team had lost four games in a row. It has since extended to eight games. Eight. The team has only scored three goals all season, and hasn’t scored at all since March. That’s 519 minutes since their last goal and counting. This is the worst streak in the club’s history. Only two teams in modern USL history have lost eight or more consecutive games: FC Montreal in 2016 and Antigua Barracuda in 2012-13. These are two teams you never want to be compared to. Even last year’s Timbers 2 had a better start to the season, with a win, draw and five total goals through nine games. Yes, that Timbers 2 that I called “the hottest garbage I’ve ever seen in USL history.” This week, they play twice, once in the Open Cup against NTX Rayados in Dallas and once at home against Colorado Springs. They desperately need to win these two to turn their season around.

Orange County SC

• Points per Game: 1.700, 4th in West (+.356 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 3,074, 23rd in USL (+19.6% from 2017)

Here’s something I find unusual: I completely forgot to write a segment on Orange County SC in my preview piece and literally no one noticed (or at least no one mentioned anything to me). I added one later after the piece had been live for over a day when I finally realized my mistake. Anyway, this team has turned things completely around from last year. Thomas Enevoldsen is looking like he just might be the best attacking player on the team, and Andre Rawls has been an absolute beast, tied for the league lead in saves and clean sheets. Braeden Cloutier is proving himself as a head coach and is almost certainly drawing the attention of a few MLS teams by now. Off the field, the average attendance is growing at a fantastic pace, already triple their average from 2016. By just about every metric, they’re already on pace for their best ever season. Excellent, excellent work.

Phoenix Rising FC

• Points per Game: 2.100, 2nd in West (+.288 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 6,566, 8th in USL (+7.2% from 2017)

Phoenix might just be the one team in the West capable of overtaking the Butterflies. Their offense is the best in the league so far, even without Didier Drogba’s four goals in four games. Solomon Asante is proving himself as a constant threat and both keepers are putting up consistent numbers. Off the field, attendance is still growing, averaging 366 “above capacity.” They even pulled a crowd of 7,332 for their most recent home game. Everything is going exactly as they hoped.

Portland Timbers 2

• Points per Game: 1.700, tied 4th in West (+1.231 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 1,840, 27th in USL (-27.1% from 2017)

T2 has already guaranteed a better record than last year, simply by winning five games. Simply in terms of change in points per game, they’re the single most improved team in USL by a substantial margin. For me, the single biggest catalyst for improvement is new head coach Cameron Knowles. Loads of players were re-signed, and yet they’re consistently looking good. Not only that, but they’re getting results on the road. T2 are probably going to make the playoffs, but more importantly, their players are playing in a positive environment. Now they have time to focus on proper branding.

Real Monarchs SLC

• Points per Game: 2.444, 1st in West (+.351 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 2,111, 26th in USL (-18.1% from 2017)

In my USL preview, I said to expect more good things from the Monarchs, and they’ve certainly provided. They’re the first team to hit 7 wins this season and they’ve been consistently strong against any opposition. Furthermore, no single player has been a vital component without whom the team struggles. They’re managing heavy squad rotation with ease. Also, that new venue is open, it looks absolutely fantastic and the team has more professional facilities dedicated to it than most of the top independent teams. This is how you run an MLS reserve team in the USL. The only thing I don’t understand is why people aren’t showing up to their games.

Reno 1868 FC

• Points per Game: 1.300, 9th in West (-.544 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 3,891, 15h in USL (-30.0% from 2017)

Reno started the season with a bit of a sophomore slump, going winless through their first four games. But since then, the team has found the same sort of form they had last year with three consecutive shutouts and a win against Sacramento. Antoine Hoppenot has continued to do his thing, and the team is still finding the back of the net consistently despite the loss of Dane Kelly. While the attendance isn’t looking great, those early season games were colder than expected and attendance is already trending upward. Reno is almost certainly going to be just fine this year.

Rio Grande Valley FC Toros

• Points per Game: 0.889, 13th in West (-.205 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 5,657, 10th in USL (-20.0% from 2017)

RGV has been rather unlucky so far this year. All three losses have been by a single goal, and they went winless through the first five games. They’ve only been shutout twice. If they can stop conceding late goals and fix their own goal problems, they’ll be alright. Maybe not a playoff team, but definitely capable of making things interesting come September. Attendance might be down, but they’re still north of 5,000 so I’m not too worried.

Sacramento Republic FC

• Points per Game: 1.800, 3rd in West (+.363 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 11,569, 3rd in USL (+0.0% from 2017)

Sacramento is off to a great start in 2018. They’re third in the Western Conference, third in points per game in the West and third in league attendance as they continue their sellout streak from last year. They’ve had a bit of luck go their way, but still have a problem keeping games under control in the final half hour or so. A bit of defensive stability could take them to the championship game. But really, they’re gonna be fine as is. The two new hires in Todd Dunivant and Simon Elliott have both looked like great additions already, and the team continues to show everyone how it’s done.

Saint Louis FC

• Points per Game: 1.400, 8th in West (+.275 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 3,941, 14th in USL (-13.8% from 2017)

I wondered back in March whether Anthony Pulis inherited his father’s ability to eke out results, and so far, it’s looking pretty good. Saint Louis have managed to turn losses into draws late in the game on several occasions already. They’re not playing a high-scoring, free-flowing, beautiful brand of soccer, but they’re getting it done one 1-0 win and 1-1 draw at a time. The only real outlier was that chaotic howler in Los Angeles, where two children scored hat tricks for Los Dos. Anyway. Things are working as anticipated and I’m expecting them to finally make the playoffs.

San Antonio FC

• Points per Game: 1.444, 7th in West (-.493 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 6,998, 7th in USL (-2.2% from 2017)

San Antonio haven’t replicated their season-opening form from last year, but they’re not looking all that bad either. They’ve been a low-scoring, get-it-done style of team since their debut, and it’s really business as usual in 2018. They’ve only lost twice and they’re riding a four-game unbeaten streak. Attendance-wise, San Antonio continues to do great, and that tiny dip will have disappeared by midsummer. They also have the benefit of a three-game home stand in June to help them move up the table. I don’t think this team will finish as high as last year, but they’re gonna make the playoffs and hopefully make some noise in October.

Seattle Sounders FC 2

• Points per Game: 0.778, 14th in USL (-.191 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 3,513, 20th in USL (+240.0% from 2017)

S2 is a team with two different stories on and off the field. Results wise, they’re losing a lot. They lost a lot last year, they lost a lot in 2016 and they’ve already lost six games this season. But they’re a reserve team and they’re actually not playing half bad. One particular bright spot is Felix Chenkam, already sitting on four goals and looking better and better each game. John Hutchinson is doing his best with the constant player rotation and call-ups to MLS, and I don’t think this team will struggle all season. That said, I don’t think they’re making the playoffs. Off the field though, the move to Tacoma is paying off in spades. Attendance is way, way up, ahead of six independent teams and behind only one other MLS reserve side. If they get their own stadium and Tacoma-specific branding soon, they’ll be north of 5K easily.

Swope Park Rangers

• Points per Game: 1.667, 6th in West (-.146 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 924, 32nd in USL (-9.0% from 2017)

The increasingly inaccurately named Swope Park Rangers are pretty good. Kharlton Belmar leads the USL in scoring with eight goals so far, Hadji Barry is tied for the lead in assists with four and the team has only lost twice. Any team that can go to Phoenix and leave with a point is at minimum a pretty good team. Statistically speaking, they’re not quite as good as last year, but they’re in the top eight and will likely stay there all season. Attendance-wise, the move to suburbia has lowered their already paltry attendance even further, which is unfortunate but also expected.

Tulsa Roughnecks FC

• Points per Game: 0.556,16th in West (-.882 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 3,318, 21st in USL (-13.8% from 2017)

Tulsa is in for a long, looooong season. Their defense allows the most shots and goals in the Western Conference, their offense has been the second worst in the West and Fabian Cerda is not superhuman enough to compensate. He actually leads the league in saves — tied with Andre Rawls in Orange County — simply because he’s faced so many shots already. The team as a whole leads the league in red cards with four already. Whenever a team loses a number of starting players, it hurts, and Tulsa is hurting badly. It’s not going to get much better over their remaining 25 games, either.

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So, that’s the USL Western Conference at roughly one-quarter completion. I hope you enjoyed this mess and I hope you’re enjoying the USL. It’s already been a lot of fun and there are still hundreds more games left to be played.

Follow John on Twitter: @JohnMLTX.

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We’re now roughly one-quarter through the 34-game USL season, meaning most teams have played somewhere between 7 and 10 games each. As of right now, 147 of 561 matches have been played, which is 26.2 percent of the season completed. This is close enough to 25 percent for me, and I assume it’s close enough for you as well.

Quick aside, USL teams have added two games per season, taking them from 32 to 34. While generally speaking, I like having more soccer and having more games played, the number 34 is so much less satisfying than 32. Thirty-two is a power of two number, so it’s easy to divide up as much as one pleases. Thirty-four, however, is a semiprime, which means that it’s the multiple of two prime factors, 17 and two. This displeases me greatly, perhaps more so than the benefit I derive from two additional games per team.

Now back to your irregularly scheduled rambling.

For the season preview, I listed attendance and the 2017 record. Since directly comparing records gets weird when teams haven’t played the same number of games, I’m not going to do that here. We’ll be looking at points per game, which makes more direct comparisons possible. For attendance, I’ll be borrowing from Mike Pendleton’s lovely attendance tracking graphics, because I can’t be bothered to make a fourth spreadsheet for this story. Oh, and we’ll be going alphabetically through the teams, mirroring the layout from my season preview. And with that, let’s begin our USL Eastern Conference Q1 progress report.

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Atlanta United 2

• Points per Game: 0.750, 15th in East
• Average Attendance: 3,665, 18th in USL

Atlanta Twonited won their first game against the Baby Bulls and I thought, “Maybe this team will be better than I expected.” Then they conceded late against Charlotte to begin a three-game streak of drawn games and I felt less confident. And since then, they’ve lost four in a row by a combined score of 10-2. They’re new to the USL, their roster is young and they have call-ups to deal with. The offense generally looks alright and they already have nine goals in eight games, but their defense is the worst in the conference and none of their keepers look particularly fantastic at the moment. I don’t know how to feel about this team yet.

Bethlehem Steel FC

• Points per Game: 1.000, 13th in East (-.375 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 2,133, 25th in USL (-30.1% from 2017)

Bethlehem have had a slow start to the season, much as they did last year. They currently have a goal differential of zero, only a single goal worse than last season. If they pick up steam soon just like a year ago, they’ll be able to push themselves up the standings pretty easily, and as the weather gets warmer the attendance should also improve. Things aren’t looking particularly great at the moment, but I’m not worried. There’s nothing unusual or anomalous to be found.

Charleston Battery

• Points per Game: 1.889, Tied 3rd in East (+.201 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 3,594, 19th in USL (+13.5% from 2017)

Charleston lost their third game of the season 5-2 against the Baby Bulls. I’m assuming that after that game, head coach Mike Anhaeuser went and gave them all some sort of pep talk, because they’re undefeated in the six games since and are on a four-game winning streak. It’s their best run of form in years and the fans are responding in turn. Things are trending upward for the Battery, and they’re in for another solid season.

Charlotte Independence

• Points per Game: 1.375, 8th in East (-.125 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 1,687, 28th in USL (+4.4% from 2017)

Charlotte has already had two big wins this season, beating both Ottawa and Cincinnati 4-1. While they did go through a four-game scoring dry spell, they seem to have shed those demons. Jorge Herrera and Cordell Cato are both looking strong, my homeboy Eamon Zayed already has a goal with his new team, and most importantly, they’re selling out games. Now that they’re (almost certainly) going to renovate and occupy American Legion Memorial Stadium, things are looking really solid off the field for the organization. I hope we get to see some massive crowds for Charlotte vs. Charleston or Charlotte vs. North Carolina FC.

FC Cincinnati

• Points per Game: 1.889, Tied 3rd in East (+.451 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 24,235, 1st in USL (+14.3% in USL)

Carrying on with my policy of “no dead horse topics,” let’s talk about some fun things. First up, Cincinnati finally beat Charleston in their opening game of 2018. That leaves only two teams in the Eastern Conference that Cincinnati hasn’t beaten: Nashville (because they’re brand new) and Tampa Bay. Cincinnati will actually play those two teams back-to-back in July. Emmanuel Ledesma is tied for the assists lead with four, the team is tied with the Baby Bulls for the best offense in the Eastern Conference and has only lost twice. Interestingly, two FCC players are tied for first and second in the yellow card standings. Forrest Lasso has five and Dekel Keinan has four. And on a final note, that one guy they said was not healthy enough to play for their team already has three goals for Penn FC. Anyway, Cincinnati is really good, but what else is new?

Indy Eleven

• Points per Game: 1.750, 5th in East (+.719 from 2017 NASL)
• Average Attendance: 11,203, 4th in USL (+33.4% from 2017 NASL)

Indy has arrived in the USL by winning games, making noise and selling lots of tickets. They’re also ridiculously efficient. Forty percent of their shots have been on target and 25 percent of their shots on target have led to goals. They have twice as many points in the standings as goals scored. And strangely, they’ve been undefeated on the road. Owain Fon Williams is doing great, but we must point out that he’s only faced 18 shots. That’s some incredible defending. Indy is doing everything right, as expected.

Louisville City FC

• Points per Game: 2.000, Tied 1st in East (+.063 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 7,039, 6th in USL (-18.3% from 2017)

Louisville is still really, really good, to absolutely no one’s surprise. Cameron Lancaster has four goals in six games, Greg Ranjitsingh is still excellent and all of those guys who were starting and playing consistently well last year are still starting and playing consistently well. They’re in a minor slump after going undefeated through six to start the season, but it doesn’t seem like anything serious or concerning. They’ve still won all four home games in front of big crowds and they’re probably going to win the East again.

Nashville City SC

• Points per Game: 1.500, 7th in East
• Average Attendance: 11,673, 2nd in USL

Nashville is quietly one of the strongest expansion teams in USL history. Through eight games, they’ve posted five shutouts thanks to Matt Pickens and sit just inside the top eight. We definitely don’t have enough data yet to determine where this team might finish, but they could find themselves in the playoffs as a rookie club. They’re also one of the few teams who have yet to receive a red card. Attendance wise, things are superb. Even excluding their home opener that was moved to Nissan Stadium, they’re still in the top five. Way to go, Nashville.

New York Red Bulls II

• Points per Game: 1.556, 6th in East (+.181 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 775, 33rd in USL (+22.5% from 2017)

The Baby Bulls have only lost once, eight different players have scored a goal, 10 different players have recorded an assist and the team is on a seven-game unbeaten run. And yet, no one is watching. I mean, not no one — their attendance is up considerably — but it’s still terrible. I will give them credit for this: Their lowest crowd this year is still higher than their 2017 average. But they still haven’t cracked 1,000 for any game. The lack of marketing for this team makes me cross. And yet they’re still going to make a playoffs run, as usual.

North Carolina FC

• Points per Game: 1.143, 11th in East (-.263 from 2017 NASL)
• Average Attendance: 3,379, 17th in USL (-15.5% from 2017 NASL)

I’m going to make a potentially controversial statement here: The USL was stronger than the NASL in 2017. I point to NCFC as evidence for this claim. A number of starters from their final NASL season were kept for the move to the USL, and yet the team is not performing as well as they did last year. While the USL has gotten better in 2018, it’s not by a significant margin. Anyway. Daniel Rios has been great, Kyle Bekker is still good and Austin da Luz is one of the few NASL veterans that’s adjusted to the USL. I’m not entirely sold on Alex Tambakis in goal just yet, but a few more good performances could easily change that. The only thing that actively concerns me is the attendance, but not that much. They’ll probably figure it out.

Ottawa Fury FC

• Points per Game: 1.000, 14th in East (-.188 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 5,326, 12th in USL (-1.9% from 2017)

Ottawa opened their season with a three-game road trip and lost all three. Two of those were blowouts. They’re looking like they might have rallied, and have played noticeably better the past three games. Alarmingly, they’ve scored only five goals so far, and three of those were in the previous two games. They need to find some offense quickly if my prediction of playoffs for Ottawa is to come to fruition. Goalkeeper-wise, Callum Irving faced 16 shots in the two games he played, and saved only seven. He’s been benched in favor of Maxime Crepeau, who has been substantially better. Assuming he keeps up his current performance, Ottawa should be alright.

Penn FC

• Points per Game: 1.111, 12th in East (-.045 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 1,335, 29th in USL (-45.0% from 2017, missing 1 game)

This team confuses me. There’s new ownership and branding, plus the weather has been cooperative, yet attendance is terrible. Losing half the fans from last season is terrible — so terrible that it wasn’t even reported for their most recent game against Ottawa. Watching that replay, I noticed the stands we got a glimpse of were almost completely empty and it was unusually, weirdly quiet. Not a good sign at all. I will say that since it was a Monday night game, a bit of a dip can be forgiven. But looking at the box score for the minor league baseball team, who are the primary tenant of the stadium, they drew 2,946. On a Thursday night. The Harrisburg Senators are averaging north of 3,500 in the same exact venue. Penn FC ranks dead last among independent teams and below five MLS reserve sides. Something desperately needs to change.

Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

• Points per Game: 2.000, Tied 1st in East (+.875 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 2,238, 24th in USL (-15.2% from 2017)

Pittsburgh are the only remaining undefeated team in the USL. Let that sink in. They are already on pace to surpass last season’s points total by midseason. Including their eight preseason games, they’ve played 16 straight without a loss. This is what happens when you make a big push to rebuild. By points per game, they’re the most improved team in the Eastern Conference. And while the attendance might look bad at first glance, their most recent home game drew 3,123. I blame the Penguins. If they keep up their results on the field, those numbers should rise off the field. Everybody go watch this team, they’re excellent.

Richmond Kickers

• Points per Game: 1.250, 10th in East(+.250 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 4,066, 13th in USL (-12.8% from 2017)

Richmond has been highly inconsistent so far. After losing two to start the year, they went two undefeated. Since then: loss, win, loss, win. And yet they’re still performing better in terms of points per game than last year. They look like two different teams when they’re at home vs. on the road. Fortunately, they’re about to start a three-game home stand which could bump them into the top eight. Attendance wise, they’re down but not by all that much, and their last game drew 5,860. If they can figure out how to win on the road, they could make the playoffs. Could.

Tampa Bay Rowdies

• Points per Game: 1.333, 9th in East (-.323 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 6,151, 9th in USL (+4.4% from 2017)

Tampa Bay is the only team in the East that hasn’t drawn a game this year. Considering that three of their five losses were by a single goal — they’ve won the three games they’ve played at home and spent the past three games on the road — I’ll chalk that up to luck and random chance. Getting blown out by the Baby Bulls and Penn FC sucks, but blowouts happen to the best of us. If they take advantage of their upcoming home games, they’ll be fine. Attendance is still growing steadily, so all good there. Update: Rowdies defender Neill Collins is retiring and immediately taking over as head coach, replacing just-departed Stuart Campbell.

Toronto FC II

• Points per Game: 0.250, 16th in East (-.531 from 2017)
• Average Attendance: 1,236, 30th in USL (+13.5% from 2017)

Because Toronto FC made a deep Champions League run, a lot of TFCII players were called up to the first team. That left a shell team of reserves to try and handle some strong teams. Spoiler alert: They couldn’t handle them. TFCII sits at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with two points, three goals and a -10 goal differential. They’re also playing a handful of games across the border in Rochester, N.Y., the first of which they lost to Pittsburgh. As bad as they were in 2016 and 2017, they’re somehow worse this year. Yikes.

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So, that’s the USL Eastern Conference at roughly one-quarter completion. I hope you enjoyed this mess and I hope you’re enjoying the USL. It’s already been a lot of fun and there are still hundreds more games left to be played.

Follow John on Twitter: @JohnMLTX.

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Recently on Twitter, my friend and former colleague Chad Irvine pinged me to ask if I might hop on my soapbox and write (complain) about the region designations for the 2018 U.S. Open Cup.

If you’re unfamiliar, the tournament in the early rounds splits the bracket into regional groupings. This helps keep travel distances down, promotes local and regional rivalries, and generally makes a lot of sense.

The Open Cup regions were announced as part of the second round pairings recently, and at first glance, everything seems pretty typical. The teams along the West Coast and in Arizona are grouped together, the Midwest down to Texas is grouped together and the teams along the Gulf Coast are grouped together. For the most part, it all makes sense.

But when you look a little closer, things start to get a little off.

The Indy Eleven are lumped in with the Southeast region, while both North Carolina teams are lumped in with the Northeast region. Let’s just check that out on a map.

Now, I might be looking at this all wrong, but it seems to me that Indianapolis is not exactly anywhere remotely near the Southeastern United States. In fact, Indy is hundreds of miles north of Charlotte.

That means FC Cincinnati could end up traveling all the way south to Cary, which Google Maps lists as 514 miles, instead of the far closer, much more sensible destination of Indianapolis — literally one fifth of the distance.

9⃣4⃣ Teams
8⃣ Rounds
5⃣ Months
1⃣ Dream

With the First Round Pairings made, take a Round-by-Round view at #USOC2018 https://t.co/WtaGEevfi2#UpForTheCup pic.twitter.com/qdRMlNY7TR

— U.S. Open Cup (@opencup) April 5, 2018

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And because this is my article and I’m complaining about things, I decided to go for broke. Let’s say the following scenario happens: The “The Miami FC” Miami FC B, the B team of the recent NASL competitor, the The “The Miami FC” Miami FC, wins its play-in whatever and its next few games, and the Indy Eleven win their first few games as well. In the bracket, they end up playing each other. I don’t currently know the scheduling rules well enough to say for certain if this is possible, but for the sake of this grievance, let’s assume it can. They end up playing each other, and the team elects to travel by bus.

That right there, the distance from their respective stadia, is a whopping 1,203 miles. Google Maps estimates 17 hours and 13 minutes if they take toll roads, and 18 hours and one minute if they don’t.

Now, doing the math here, we end up with a result that is a goddamn eternity on a bus. Yeah, they might could fly and probably might would, but that’s not the point. The point is that Indianapolis is not in the southeast of anything, except maybe like really far southeast Chicago. And even that’s a stretch.

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