05 Spring 2015 - UAL (I still call it CFBAL) League List

RunningWithScissors wrote:

CFBSA wrote:Let's just say if it hair lips the Pope - EVERYONE will get their 8 games scheduled by me!

Funny, this guarantee seems pretty straight forward. Do you see a disclaimer about rain affecting her ability to deliver on her promise?

Go back and re-read my post...  I said if you want to take issue with NJ and the statements she made, go ahead...  Still think she's the best academy league LD NTX has seen in a while (CoachDom is very good as well), but she made the statements and she'll have to live with the fallout from them if she can't deliver...

My point was made more at Duped, and those like-minded, who think that UAL getting "too big" resulted in these problems.  If you took the leagues from last fall, when CFBAL and UAL were separate, and had larger PTCL and SDL leagues, and played those league structures with the facilities they were contracted with this Spring, you'd have the same level of issues with re-scheduling games.  Even the "smaller" CFBAL would be having problems, because they would ONLY have had Cox & McInnish at their disposal.  ...but, some people need to be able to point the finger at someone or some entity.  Just be careful what you wish for...

bwgophers wrote:You folks want to string up the best LD in recent memory for over-commitment on the # of games guaranteed during what is turning out to be the first or second wettest period in NTX in the past 6 years, go ahead...

...but to blame this on UAL becoming "too big" just shows how ignorant you are.

Let me clue you in on something... All of those academy teams were going to have to sign up somewhere, and in case you hadn't noticed, there's a limited supply of fields available in NTX. If half of the teams in UAL signed up to play in PTCL or SDL instead this Spring, you'd be ripping into those leagues the same as UAL, because ALL of them (including a smaller UAL because they wouldn't have contracted with all of the additional facilities that they did this Spring, a different league would have) would be having the same issues.

Many of you may not remember, or may not have been in position to pay attention to it, but the last time this happened was fall of 2009, and back then, everyone was ripping SDL for the same issue. However, since Spring of 2010, we've been in the midst of a 5-year drought (with the exception of a very rainy Dec '11-March '12 that had little impact because most of it occurred in between outdoor seasons), and you've heard very little hand wringing over this issue during that time. Imagine that.

Mother Nature won this Spring. Doesn't matter what league you did, or should have, signed up for this Spring. Nothing more... nothing less...

I understand the NJ love affair that a lot of posters seem to demonstrate. BWG I appreciate you wanting to clue me in, but you are wrong because some leagues have better facilities than others and for the record SDL played today. You seem to have become quite the aficionado since you and MS spent countless hours among hours working on and tweaking the Human Poll/Rankulator/FBR that you now have today. Don't let it go to your head though and start being disrespectful by calling people ignorant, you have been out of academy soccer for far too long to claim to know everything. If you think that the 380 teams who registered to the league had nothing to do with creating a shortage of field space for reschedules, you are very naive. I know you are far too intelligent for that.

Obviously I was around in 2009, I witnessed the same problem that SDL had then, and I see it repeating itself now. It is because of the lack of field space that soccer is the hardest entity to monopolize. When there are too many teams in a league that does not have control of its own fields, we will always have the same outcome. I'm positive that is why JD bought DSP, because he probably felt the same impact that NJ is feeling now. I am sure her intentions were good, but it is naive and careless to make guarantees on topics you have little to no control over. She knew that this was a possibility and eluded to it on several occasions.

CFBSA wrote:I only see one question - am I guaranteeing 8 games? The answer is yes - I've never shorted any team who has registered with my league. I believe in complete fairness - you pay for 8, then you play 8.

As far as the opening of fields during rain - that's up to the cities not UAL. The Cox fields are the best with taking any rain and the city doesn't shut me down until it's an inch or more (of course I would shut down play before that happened).

I was not bashing NJ arrogance, as much as I was backing RWS logical assessment. BWG, I had you pegged as a logical numbers guy. You surprised me with this

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen."
--Winston Churchill

Best thing at this point is probably for NJ to start scheduling games between 4-10 M-F and 7-10 on the weekends.  Also, start scheduling make-ups when there is some field availability on weekdays (and nights) in June.

Duped wrote:

CFBSA wrote:I only see one question - am I guaranteeing 8 games?  The answer is yes - I've never shorted any team who has registered with my league.  I believe in complete fairness - you pay for 8, then you play 8.

As far as the opening of fields during rain - that's up to the cities not UAL.  The Cox fields are the best with taking any rain and the city doesn't shut me down until it's an inch or more (of course I would shut down play before that happened).

I was not bashing NJ arrogance, as much as I was backing RWS logical assessment.

I am also bashing her arrogance and air tight promises. She could have avoided all of this crow she now has to eat. UAL website guaranteed 6 games. That's it, that was her way out. But, she kept doubling down on her 8-game guarantee. Her posts about UAL were all about "I" and "me". She practically staked her reputation on all teams playing 8 games this Spring. There was no mention of rain in her bold claims.

Somehow, despite failing to deliver on an iron clad promise that she repeated over and over, people excuse her because of the rain. Yesterday, I guaranteed my family that we would win the lottery. Unfortunately, they didn't draw my numbers last nightt. That's not my fault. If only someone would have warned me about making such a guarantee.

Is NJ a good scheduler that works hard? Yes.
Does NJ have egg on her face for flying in the face of reason and guaranteeing 8 games? Yes
Can you people admit that someone who lives south of 635 was right about something in the word of soccer? ...




"If you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan. Period."

- Barack Obama

It'll be ok guys. Some teams will/already have gotten in their 6 games, some may not. Worst case your out a few bucks. My understanding is that more soccer will be offered in the summer for those of us that didn't get our fix. Sucks that we haven't been able to play but not that big of a deal. Go do some yard work or something.

It's official...Winston Churchill has been quoted in the name of 10 year old tx soccer.

Maybe Winston can start up a league and build his own fields. "If you build it, they will come...." A Ghost.

Not a chancce. Keep up the great work N.J. You are appreciated!

Duped wrote:

bwgophers wrote:You folks want to string up the best LD in recent memory for over-commitment on the # of games guaranteed during what is turning out to be the first or second wettest period in NTX in the past 6 years, go ahead...

...but to blame this on UAL becoming "too big" just shows how ignorant you are.

Let me clue you in on something...  All of those academy teams were going to have to sign up somewhere, and in case you hadn't noticed, there's a limited supply of fields available in NTX.  If half of the teams in UAL signed up to play in PTCL or SDL instead this Spring, you'd be ripping into those leagues the same as UAL, because ALL of them (including a smaller UAL because they wouldn't have contracted with all of the additional facilities that they did this Spring, a different league would have) would be having the same issues.

Many of you may not remember, or may not have been in position to pay attention to it, but the last time this happened was fall of 2009, and back then, everyone was ripping SDL for the same issue.  However, since Spring of 2010, we've been in the midst of a 5-year drought (with the exception of a very rainy Dec '11-March '12 that had little impact because most of it occurred in between outdoor seasons), and you've heard very little hand wringing over this issue during that time.  Imagine that.

Mother Nature won this Spring.  Doesn't matter what league you did, or should have, signed up for this Spring.  Nothing more... nothing less...

I understand the NJ love affair that a lot of posters seem to demonstrate.  BWG I appreciate you wanting to clue me in, but you are wrong because some leagues have better facilities than others and for the record SDL played today.  You seem to have become quite the aficionado since you and MS spent countless hours among hours working on and tweaking the Human Poll/Rankulator/FBR that you now have today.  Don't let it go to your head though and start being disrespectful by calling people ignorant, you have been out of academy soccer for far too long to claim to know everything.  If you think that the 380 teams who registered to the league had nothing to do with creating a shortage of field space for reschedules, you are very naive.  I know you are far too intelligent for that.

Obviously I was around in 2009, I witnessed the same problem that SDL had then, and I see it repeating itself now.  It is because of the lack of field space that soccer is the hardest entity to monopolize.  When there are too many teams in a league that does not have control of its own fields, we will always have the same outcome.  I'm positive that is why JD bought DSP, because he probably felt the same impact that NJ is feeling now.  I am sure her intentions were good, but it is naive and careless to make guarantees on topics you have little to no control over. She knew that this was a possibility and eluded to it on several occasions.  

CFBSA wrote:I only see one question - am I guaranteeing 8 games?  The answer is yes - I've never shorted any team who has registered with my league.  I believe in complete fairness - you pay for 8, then you play 8.

As far as the opening of fields during rain - that's up to the cities not UAL.  The Cox fields are the best with taking any rain and the city doesn't shut me down until it's an inch or more (of course I would shut down play before that happened).

I was not bashing NJ arrogance, as much as I was backing RWS logical assessment.  BWG, I had you pegged as a logical numbers guy.  You surprised me with this

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen."
--Winston Churchill

Those 380 teams were going to sign up to play somewhere this Spring, and the overwhelming majority of those games would have to be scheduled on fields that aren't controlled by whatever league they signed up to play in, with most of those fields being controlled by municipalities who are notoriously protective of their fields ( I can't imagine why... I mean I've never seen complaints on here about the condition of UTD fields 3-6 due to overuse during the drought ).  So, yes, as I numbers guy, I do find blaming the problem on the size of the league ignorant.

Again, if NJ can't make good on her promises, she'll be eating crow leftovers for the next couple of months, and if people want to rip her on here for it, and throw it back in her face, then have at it.  If people are angry at UAL because they didn't get the 8 games they were promised and if UAL doesn't come up with a satisfactory plan to make it up, then by all means, they should vote with their checkbook and take their teams to a different league next fall.  It's certainly their right, and I'll courageously sit and listen as the complaints about those leagues start rolling in (o.k., you're right, I'll most likely stand up and bark like a coward like I always do, call it a character flaw...)

If you are going to complain, why don't you start a collection plate so UAL can buy their own fields and have complete control over them. Make sure you collect enough so the fields can all be turf so they can't flood!

bwgophers wrote:

If people are angry at UAL because they didn't get the 8 games they were promised and if UAL doesn't come up with a satisfactory plan to make it up, then by all means, they should vote with their checkbook and take their teams to a different league next fall.

Don't be mad at UAL. UAL only guaranteed 6 games, NJ guaranteed 8, so UAL doesn't have to make up anything to the teams. UAL proved they were smarter than NJ's ego. Look at all of the 05's who registered for UAL because of NJ's 8 game guarantee. Next Fall, they will be in U11, so UAL and NJ laugh all the way to bank.

If NJ really felt that bad about her broken promise repeated numerous times, she could offer a LARGE discount to 05's to the CFBSA tournament. We don't know how she feels.  She loves posting on the forums, but is unusually quiet.

RunningWithScissors wrote:

bwgophers wrote:

If people are angry at UAL because they didn't get the 8 games they were promised and if UAL doesn't come up with a satisfactory plan to make it up, then by all means, they should vote with their checkbook and take their teams to a different league next fall.

Don't be mad at UAL. UAL only guaranteed 6 games, NJ guaranteed 8, so UAL doesn't have to make up anything to the teams. UAL proved they were smarter than NJ's ego. Look at all of the 05's who registered for UAL because of NJ's 8 game guarantee. Next Fall, they will be in U11, so UAL and NJ laugh all the way to bank.

If NJ really felt that bad about her broken promise repeated numerous times, she could offer a LARGE discount to 05's to the CFBSA tournament. We don't know how she feels.  She loves posting on the forums, but is unusually quiet.

O.K. Be mad at NJ. If she doesn't make it up to you in a satisfactory manner, take your business elsewhere. Personally, I think that would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater, but then again, I'm too busy trying to get the image of Winston Churchill courageously sitting while waxing the hairy lip of the Pope out of my head, to think straight this morning...

bwgophers wrote:

RunningWithScissors wrote:

bwgophers wrote:

If people are angry at UAL because they didn't get the 8 games they were promised and if UAL doesn't come up with a satisfactory plan to make it up, then by all means, they should vote with their checkbook and take their teams to a different league next fall.

Don't be mad at UAL. UAL only guaranteed 6 games, NJ guaranteed 8, so UAL doesn't have to make up anything to the teams. UAL proved they were smarter than NJ's ego. Look at all of the 05's who registered for UAL because of NJ's 8 game guarantee. Next Fall, they will be in U11, so UAL and NJ laugh all the way to bank.

If NJ really felt that bad about her broken promise repeated numerous times, she could offer a LARGE discount to 05's to the CFBSA tournament. We don't know how she feels.  She loves posting on the forums, but is unusually quiet.

O.K.  Be mad at NJ.  If she doesn't make it up to you in a satisfactory manner, take your business elsewhere.  Personally, I think that would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater, but then again, I'm too busy trying to get the image of Winston Churchill courageously sitting while waxing the hairy lip of the Pope out of my head, to think straight this morning...

LMAO

Duped wrote:  BWG, I had you pegged as a logical numbers guy.  You surprised me with this

You know what... you're right, I am a logical numbers guys. So let's get down to data and numbers...

UAL is making use of the following facilities this Spring:
Cox, McInnish, RE Good, Pepper, Craig Ranch, Carpenter, Cheyenne, TSC, Warren, and Celebration

Please list for me all of the facilities of equal or better quality to these facilities, that are being underutilized this Spring because of the UAL monopoly, which academy league would have utilized those facilities, and give me an estimate of how many additional teams those leagues/facilities could have accommodated before they too would have run into similar issues scheduling a full 8 game season for all of their teams due to the weather this Spring.

If NJ really felt that bad about her broken promise repeated numerous times, she could offer a LARGE discount to 05's to the CFBSA tournament. We don't know how she feels.  She loves posting on the forums, but is unusually quiet.

I was taught never to speak with a mouth full of crow.

I think it's time for the 05s to stop the bickering and complaining about the weather and nj. It's time to move on and start bickering and complaining about qt and lake highlands. As a famous man once said:

Ask not what cfbal can do for you....but what you can do to pile on and complain about lake highlands.

Everyone already knows who the number 1 team is anyway. No need to finish the season.

bwgophers wrote:

Duped wrote:  BWG, I had you pegged as a logical numbers guy.  You surprised me with this

You know what... you're right, I am a logical numbers guys. So let's get down to data and numbers...

UAL is making use of the following facilities this Spring:
Cox, McInnish, RE Good, Pepper, Craig Ranch, Carpenter, Cheyenne, TSC, Warren, and Celebration

Please list for me all of the facilities of equal or better quality to these facilities, that are being underutilized this Spring because of the UAL monopoly, which academy league would have utilized those facilities, and give me an estimate of how many additional teams those leagues/facilities could have accommodated before they too would have run into similar issues scheduling a full 8 game season for all of their teams due to the weather this Spring.

Ross Stewart, Blue Sky The Colony, DSP, Andromeda Training Facility, Sting Complex, Hebron High School, Marcus High School, Railroad, Lake Park, Moneygram Park, Legacy Plano, Founders Park, Five Star, Oak Grove Park, Meadowmere Park, Pleasant Run Park, MAIN Complex, and Harold Patterson to name a few.

Most, if not all of those 19 complexes have either run academy leagues or are currently running academy leagues now. There is plenty of space in North Texas and leagues will adapt.

The majority of those facilities have also been closed for the majority of this extremely rainy season too.

While yes..most typically close at same time...i think the point was, if those fields were utilzed during dry periods instead of sitting idle, then all 8 games would get in. So UAL needs to get more fields or other leagues will start to get more teams signed up(decreasing UAL teams), dispersing teams and a better chance of each league getting their games in. Call this growing pains for ual...

boilerjoe_96 wrote:While yes..most typically close at same time...i think the point was, if those fields were utilzed during dry periods instead of sitting idle, then all 8 games would get in.  So UAL needs to get more fields or other leagues will start to get more teams signed up(decreasing UAL teams), dispersing teams and a better chance of each league getting their games in.  Call this growing pains for ual...

1)  You can toss out the two LISD HS fields.  LISD/GLASA haven't allowed those fields to be used for academy games since 2010.
2)  Ross Stewart???  Your kidding right?  I think 2012 (pre-DIGC days) was the last time RS was used for academy games, and anyone around back then can testify that RS shut their fields down for weather faster than any municipality run fields in NTX.  Yeah, that would have been a fun situation for any academy league to deal with this Spring.
3)  All of the municipality run fields that were listed (MoneyGram, Meadowmere, Oak Point, Pleasant Run, Five Star, Railroad, Lake Park, Harold Patterson, Founders) are already being heavily utilized this Spring by various leagues (just poke around GotSoccer for a while).  Given all of the weather rescheduling, you will have a very tough time convincing me that any of those locations would have been able to handle more than a token number of additional teams this spring and still been able to give every team 8 games.
4)  DSP - See the municipality run fields.  How much excess capacity did DSP have available this Spring to accommodate additional teams and still get everyone 8 games.  Again, I'm doubting it was very much.
5)  Sting, ATF, Legacy Plano(formerly TFC, now LP), and Blue Sky?  O.K.  Maybe.  But no way in Hades any of those facilities are going to allow makeup games to be rescheduled on weeknights and take away practice field availability from their own teams.

So, I argue that out of that entire list, the only venues that truly would have had capacity to take on additional academy league games this Spring would be those listed in #5.  Now, considering that none of those venues would be available for weeknight rescheduling of weekend rainouts, and also considering that for every pair of teams assigned to play at one of those venues, you would have needed a MINIMUM of 12 game slots available in order to get each team 8 games this Spring (8 for the original game slots + at least 4 additional to cover all of the rescheduled games), tell me how many teams could those venues have accommodated, and thus taken away from UAL?  I'm betting it's far fewer than you thought it was.

Weather joke:

bwgophers wrote:

boilerjoe_96 wrote:While yes..most typically close at same time...i think the point was, if those fields were utilzed during dry periods instead of sitting idle, then all 8 games would get in.  So UAL needs to get more fields or other leagues will start to get more teams signed up(decreasing UAL teams), dispersing teams and a better chance of each league getting their games in.  Call this growing pains for ual...

1)  You can toss out the two LISD HS fields.  LISD/GLASA haven't allowed those fields to be used for academy games since 2010.
2)  Ross Stewart???  Your kidding right?  I think 2012 (pre-DIGC days) was the last time RS was used for academy games, and anyone around back then can testify that RS shut their fields down for weather faster than any municipality run fields in NTX.  Yeah, that would have been a fun situation for any academy league to deal with this Spring.
3)  All of the municipality run fields that were listed (MoneyGram, Meadowmere, Oak Point, Pleasant Run, Five Star, Railroad, Lake Park, Harold Patterson, Founders) are already being heavily utilized this Spring by various leagues (just poke around GotSoccer for a while).  Given all of the weather rescheduling, you will have a very tough time convincing me that any of those locations would have been able to handle more than a token number of additional teams this spring and still been able to give every team 8 games.
4)  DSP - See the municipality run fields.  How much excess capacity did DSP have available this Spring to accommodate additional teams and still get everyone 8 games.  Again, I'm doubting it was very much.
5)  Sting, ATF, Legacy Plano(formerly TFC, now LP), and Blue Sky?  O.K.  Maybe.  But no way in Hades any of those facilities are going to allow makeup games to be rescheduled on weeknights and take away practice field availability from their own teams.

So, I argue that out of that entire list, the only venues that truly would have had capacity to take on additional academy league games this Spring would be those listed in #5.  Now, considering that none of those venues would be available for weeknight rescheduling of weekend rainouts, and also considering that for every pair of teams assigned to play at one of those venues, you would have needed a MINIMUM of 12 game slots available in order to get each team 8 games this Spring (8 for the original game slots + at least 4 additional to cover all of the rescheduled games), tell me how many teams could those venues have accommodated, and thus taken away from UAL?  I'm betting it's far fewer than you thought it was.

Numbers guy yes, logical no. You asked me

bwgophers wrote:Please list for me all of the facilities of equal or better quality to these facilities, that are being underutilized this Spring

I gave you a list of 19 of them, and your first two points of your rebuttal are that these facilities are not being used and have not been used in some time. Isn't that what you asked?

Hebron, Marcus, Ross Stewart, Sting, ATF, and Legacy Plano(formerly TFC, now LP) all are idle locations with 0 games played and of equal or better quality then UAL fields (considering all them have been used for academy leagues in the past there is a "possibility" that they could be used in the future). That is a minimum of 20 fields that were not used on Saturday and Sunday. If you were to play 8 games per day at each location you would have added 320 games a weekend. Which means the need for weekdays at those locations would be a mute point.



As for "the municipality run fields" the only way you will be convinced that they do not have any more capacity is if you call around and ask them yourself.

bwgophers wrote:
You know what... you're right, I am a logical numbers guys. So let's get down to data and numbers...

However, you have not researched any data from the municipalities. Instead you offered up blanket statements

bwgophers wrote: you will have a very tough time convincing me that any of those locations would have been able to handle more than a token number of additional teams this spring

bwgophers wrote:How much excess capacity did DSP have available this Spring to accommodate additional teams and still get everyone 8 games.  Again, I'm doubting it was very much.

I'm not sure why you feel the need to try and prove a point, but you can not claim to be a numbers guy and not have any data. I have spoke to representatives at each of the other two leagues (Primetime & SDL) and both have indicated that they are nowhere near capacity. So to my original point, having so many teams in one league is part of the problem. If you disagree with me just ask the Fort Worth teams who have been driving to Plano weekly even though they were told the majority of their games would be in Carrollton. Also the UAL teams from last fall were forced to drive to Cox, McInnish, RE Good, and Pepper, when most of them chose that league originally because it was close to home. If you are going to inconvenience the parents and make us drive halfway across town by promising a better league because you can guarantee 8 games, then deliver.

My daughter's team played at the FC Dallas fields this weekend, they have beautiful turf fields and it poured there the night before!   Don't these leagues make enough money to make all of these fields turf? The cost of upkeep on grass fields alone must be worth the price of getting turf fields.  Have the leagues looked into this or does the majority hate turf?

SM76, that's a great question.  

As for the ongoing war of words regarding guarantees and unused fields, Dupey is making some good points.  I am a huge NJ fan and know that she has tried like crazy to deliver.  You cannot control the rain but you have to make use of the fields that can handle it.  I hope that the turf fields at TFC have been used to the fullest extent and have not been free since all of the rescheduling started.  But I suspect that is not the case -- and there are probably some other fields too.  It obviously does not solve the problem but it reduces the number of complaints because more teams have played their games, experienced the guarantee, and now have less to complain about.

soccermom76 wrote:My daughter's team played at the FC Dallas fields this weekend, they have beautiful turf fields and it poured there the night before!   Don't these leagues make enough money to make all of these fields turf? The cost of upkeep on grass fields alone must be worth the price of getting turf fields.  Have the leagues looked into this or does the majority hate turf?  

Turf field / installation / drainage runs about $1M

Duped 1, Gophers 0 - Duped wins by submission

My sincerest apologies, Duped for referring to you as ignorant in my original post on this subject. It was uncalled for, whether or not I could back up my statements with data and un-refutable facts.

I still disagree with the general premise that if UAL was smaller (either slightly or significantly) the other leagues would have successfully absorbed those teams, planned and scheduled appropriately, and been able to have provided all teams (or a significantly larger portion of teams) with 8 total games in light of the weather issues this Spring.  However, that is my opinion, and beyond what I have tried to do already, I have no desire to do the detailed analysis to try and prove that my opinion is any more valid than another.

Form you own opinions folks, and by all means, if those opinions tell you that there are better options than UAL for future seasons, then act on it, and may you find that those decisions work out well for your DD's and their teams.

WELL!!!  Gotta say I cannot remember this much belly aching about something out of "everyone's" control.  No matter who said what, the fact is mother nature this year said "Not this time"  NJ did everything she could to get the 8 games in.  FYI - SDL came to CFBAL first wanting to merge, however they wanted to increase everyone's league fee over 350.00 per team (How much bashing would you have done then?) That is probably the main reason that SDL is in the trouble they are in.  NJ is doing this for the kids and it's not the money.  It's laughable that certain folks in this forum can bash this league/person anonymously and have NO solutions.  Are you working for SDL???  Sounds like it!  My team & I understand the predicament NJ was in and we applaud her for having the soul & character to do still this.  We'll come back to this league as long as it is run/directed by NJ  because there is NO other league even close to this one for competition, diversity and communication!