News 4/20

[colinkun]

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600127695,00.html

A few interesting things mentioned, but particularly the $54,000 in merchandise sales Saturday! Unbelieveable!! "...the largest grossing merchandise sales effort in a sporting event in Utah since the Jazz qualified for the NBA Finals in 1998."

Pretty impressive.

[bordelais7]

17K sold already for the WCQ. With a month and a half to go.


So they can't find a decent grass practice facility, eh? Wonder if they could build one. And maybe throw 22 thousand seats around it.

[AreliusII]

See also:

RSL Notes: RSL looks for grassy practices
http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_2669871

Weekly update: Trip to Texas
http://real.saltlake.mlsnet.com/MLS/news/team_news.jsp?ymd=20050419&content_id=27115&vkey=pr_rsl&fext=.jsp&team=rsl

[AreliusII]

I have a hard time believing that there isn’t a grass soccer field in all of the Salt Lake metropolitan area. How about some of the high schools?

[balltoon]

Originally Posted by AreliusII

I have a hard time believing that there isn’t a grass soccer field in all of the Salt Lake metropolitan area. How about some of the high schools?

That is the very sad reality. The only field worthy for RSL to practice on in SLC is the Ute women's field. Apparently the school or something won't let them, which literally leaves nothing. The biggest problem is that unlike other states, geology makes keeping up a quality field is an enourmous job, so only the big colleges can afford to do it. I've seen probably every field in Utah that gets soccer, and the only ones good enough for RSL are at UU, BYU, and in Logan. Sometimes in Park City the fields aren't too bad, but not always. Weber State and UVSC sometimes do, but in the spring when it's not the college season they don't make the effort. The high schools don't take care of the fields well enough, neither do the parks or even the soccer complexes like West Jordan and Cottonwood heights. It's just too expensive. BTW, this is causing a problem for the Costa Rica NT, who is looking for somewhere to practice and not having much luck. I don't know about the Stingers schedule, but I wouldn't be surprised if Franklin Covey gets used as a practice facility at some point, despite the baseball configuration.

I think the only way RSL is ever going to have a good practice facility is to build one. I think they should try and help build the new soccer complex on Redwood Road. They could offer to put in 1 field turf field and maintain another grass one, and the complex could use these fields for championship games at tournaments and other big events. Plus it might go well with the city (the people with the votes about a stadium) because this project is having some trouble getting off the ground.