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NBC Channel 40 (Atlantic City, New Jersey) sports highlights,  of Ocean City Barons 3-0 Crystal Palace Baltimore (June 7, 2009, at Carey Stadium, Ocean City, New Jersey) [a 1st round match of the 2009 US Open Cup] {click here}.      

2009 US Open Cup, 2nd round: Ocean City 1-0 Real Maryland (June 14) {click on the following:  http://www.youtube.com/user/oceancitybarons }.   

The Ocean City Barons,  who hail from the south New Jersey coast (12 miles from Atlantic City),  were awarded the $10,000 prize,  as the amatuer team that advanced the furthest in the tournament.  Impressive,  as is the fact that the team is able to land a sponsor as respectable as Moen,  the faucet manufacturer.  Go Barons !  {Ocean City Barons site, here}.    I also like the fact that the Barons play in a ground which has a ferris wheel as a backdrop.  Well,  they do play in a “resort town” (I know…linking the phrase “resort” with the concept of New Jersey is pushing it).  And as they are 15 minutes away from Atlantic City,  they have a sort of vague Blackpool FC-aspect to them. 

The Ocean City Barons travel to Germantown, Maryland to play a 2009 US Open Cup 3rd round match against current Cup-holders DC United,  on Tuesday night, the 30th of June.  The venue,  the Maryland SoccerPlex,  is the former home of the USL-2 team Real Maryland FC (whom the Barons eliminated in the 2nd round).

Seven of the eight 3rd round matches will be played on Tuesday, June 30,  with the Portland Timbers v. Seattle Sounders match on July 1. 

3rd round schedule, with locations [3rd round is halfway down the page] {here (WVHooligan.com site)}. 

One interesting fixture is the Harrisburg City Islanders v. New England Revolution, at New Britain, Connecticut…which is 83 miles (135 kilometers) from the Revolution’s home field,  the gargantuan NFL venue Gillette Stadium (68,000 capacity), in Foxboro, Massachusetts.  Last season,  the Revolution drew 3,950 in New Britain,  for a similar 3rd Round draw (beating Richmond 3-0);  and in 2007,  for a semifinal match,  the Revs drew 4,203.  This was four weeks after they drew a jaw-dropping,  embarrassingly tiny crowd of 1,512,  to a quarterfinals match at Gillette Stadium (!).  “Major”  League Soccer ?  That gate figure is more appropriate for English Non-League football.  

The largest crowd in the 2008 US Open Cup 3rd round was 6,678,  in Bridgeview, Illinois for the Chicago Fire v. Cleveland City Stars.  So the New England Revolution have been acting wisely,  avoiding paltry home crowds that would be swallowed up by a sea of empty seats in Foxboro,  by moving the game an hour-and-a-half’s drive west,  to central Connecticut’s Veteran’s Stadium {see this}.  This broadens the New England Revolution’s fan base,  and getting around 4,000 for a match when there is no regular soccer team playing there is not too shabby…for the United States,  that is,  when it comes to ticket-paying soccer fans,  or lack thereof.  And one can see that a similar conclusion was reached by the DC United organization,  in staging their home game v. Ocean City 22 miles outside the District of Columbia,  in a 5,100-capacity stadium.

US Open Cup site  {click here}.

[Note: please excuse the low quality of the non-MLS teams' jerseys on the map...6 of those 8 jersey images had to be cobbled together,  as there were no better images I could find.]

Thanks to Albion Road site…Jeremy wrote the team write-ups on the map  {AlbionRoad.com, click here}.   Thanks to the contributors to the pages at Wikipedia  {click here (US Open Cup page)}.

2009 US Open Cup Bracket {click here}.    All 8 matches in the 2nd round are on Tuesday,  June 16.  On the map,  at the top,  center-right,  I have included a small bracket for the 2nd round and 3rd round match-ups (MLS teams enter in the 3rd round).  I have also included kits of all the teams in the 2nd round.

U.S.OpenCup.com site home page,  which will have a scoreboard and Twitter updates for games Tuesday evening {click here}.

Thanks to Albion Road site {click here}.

 


This map was made in collaboration with the Albion Road site { http://www.albionroad.com }. 

2009 US Open, 1st Round Bracket  {click here}.

The American soccer pyramid has Major League Soccer at the top.  There is no relegation or promotion betrween this top tier and the second tier,  which is the United Soccer League First Division (USL-1).  There is movement of teams between the USL-1 and USL-2,  as well as between the lower levels,  but this is not based on performance,  but upon costs constraints of the teams themselves.  Sometimes teams volunteer to be relegated from, say USL-1 to USL-2,  as a cost-cutting measure.  [This pretty much sums up the hand-to-mouth situation of professional soccer in the USA.]  Teams can also move up the pyramid,  as have the Cleveland City Stars this year (from USL-2 to USL-1).   

The fourth level of the pyramid is shared by teams in the Premier Development League,  the National Premier Soccer League,  and the Pacific Coast Soccer League [note: no teams from the PCSL qualified this year for the cup.].  Premier Development League teams compete in a seperate sub-competition for qualification to the US Open Cup;  while NPSL and amateur teams compete in a different sub-competiton for qualification to the US Open Cup,  under the aegis of the United States Adult Soccer Association (the USASA) .

The US Open Cup was established in 1914,  as the National Challenge Cup.  In 1952,  the competition became the National Open Cup.  The present name was adopted in 1959.  This name was amended in 1999,  when US Soccer honored one of the most important architects of the sport in America,  Lamar Hunt,  the Kansas City Chiefs gridiron football team owner,  who went on to be instrumental in the formation of the MLS,  including his ownership of the Kansas City Wizards MLS team.  Hence the present-day official name of the competition:  the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. 

Since Major League Soccer was established in 1996,  a MLS team has won the US Open Cup Title every season,  except 1999,  when,  I am proud to say,  my hometown team,  the Rochester Rhinos,  won the cup,  beating the Colorado Rapids 2-0,  before 4,555 at Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. 

Unlike most European nations’ cups,  which are modelled after the English FA Cup,  all top flight teams in the USA (ie, MLS teams) are not guaranteed a spot in the competition…only 8 of the 14 American MLS teams qualify [ ! ?.].  The 8 MLS teams get a two-round bye,  though,  and enter in the 3rd Round.  However,  the 16 American teams from the USL (USL-1 and USL-2) automatically qualify for the US Open Cup 1st Round.   

This year’s competition features regional draws for the 1st Round,  to save on costly travel expenses for the lower-level teams.  Here is the US Open Cup.com’s 2009 qualification page {click here}.

All sixteen games will take place Tuesday, June 9.  Here is the US Open Cup First Round schedule  {click here}

Thanks to Jeremy,  at the AlbionRoad.com site {click here}.  Jeremy wrote the USL-1, USL-2,  and PDL teams’ write-ups on the map.   Thanks to http://www.usopencup.com/ .   Thanks to http://www.aegeanhawks.com/ .   Thanks to Lynch’s Irish Pub FC site {click here}.

Thanks to the contributors to the pages at Wikipedia {click here,  set at 2009 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup page)}.

MLS Major Trophy Winners, {click here}.

MLS week 4 power rankings,  from The Offside.com {click here}. 

Thanks to ProSoccer.com Ultimate Soccer Store {click here}.   Thanks to MLS Gear.com {click here}.   Thanks to the contibutors to the pages at Wikipedia {MLS Page,  here}.

[This map was made in collaboration with the This is American Soccer website, where it first appeared.   http://www.thisisamericansoccer.com .]

**Click here, for a write-up about the 2008 MLS season, from the Culture of Soccer site. 

Thanks to Adam, at TiAS, for initiating the project, and input.  Thanks to Jeremy, at Albion Road website, for recommending me (http://albionroad.com).  Thanks to David, at the Culture of Soccer site (http://www.cultureofsoccer.com) , for the article.  Thanks to SoccerLens (http://soccerlens.com), for the ‘08 MLS jerseys.