AN OPEN LETTER TO TBR MANAGEMENT FROM A DIEHARD PAYING FAN:
Look … I don’t think anybody who has been paying attention this year could possibly be disappointed with this year’s group, which was built from scratch in the spring.
Coach Collins, Mgt., the team? They’ve done an outstanding job putting this team together.
Chemistry is such a special thing — and it isn’t easy to achieve but look what has happened this season? In the early going it was all defensive chemistry … then this group found it’s offensive groove too. It has been a wonderful metamorphosis. This household watches every … single … match on ESPN+. Always will.
Now, as I teeter the decision of purchasing 5 season tickets for my family for 2020, I would love to know if we could keep this team together? Or at least try. And Tampa Bay Rowdies (Rays?) Management … I know this is a tough task to ask of a USL team, but you started from scratch this year. Why can’t we at least attempt to keep the guys together here who want to be here? Can we pay these guys what it takes to stay and win in 2020, maybe after we capture the USL Cup in 2019?
Can we please insure we get to see these guys again in 2020 and they feel wanted here? What can we as fans do to make sure of it?
I know we have some loaners who are young and may want to go home to Europe, and that’s a testament to them. Why would anybody question somebody in that situation?
But … can we make a massive attempt to keep these cornerstone players in Tampa Bay? Can we pay them what they’re worth to make that happen so we can take the 5K fans per game who come to maybe 7 or 8K?
We need McCarthy. We need Diakite. We need Leo and Seba and Tejada and Steiny and Poku and Oduro, want me to go on, because really the list is endless … shit, we need and want all of them. Nothing would make us stand up and cheer more than to see this roster, as intact as possible, come back in 2020. We want to see these guys beat the shit out of a couple of MLS teams training in the spring and then take it from there. They ARE that good. All of us know it!
We know they’re about to do some serious damage in the 2019 postseason too. But continuity is a special thing. This is the USL where there are a lot of moving parts, but man-oh-man … bring this roster back mostly intact? Watch Collins and his staff do his/their magic.
Please don’t let Coach get stolen either. It happens.
These guys not only rock it on the pitch, they also “get it” when it comes to community involvement and everybody involved knows how big that is. As a hyper-involved TBU coach/team mgr/parent I can tell you … we love this contingent. Talk about a humble, fun-loving, humorous (we watch every YouTub and halftime clip), self-deprecating stars they truly are. They don’t act like super stars, they don’t talk like they are … but they are, and they still take the time out to stun the kids by being friendly, before and after a match. Even minor league baseball doesn’t do it this well and minor league baseball is a bunch of kids out of HS … our Rowdies are guys who have played for their national team, MLS, Tier 1 European soccer, etc.
Keep this group together, and let’s pay them what they’re worth to insure it. And if that’s a challenge? Tell US what we have to do to make sure that happens because we don’t want this team to change.
On Saturday, I’m bringing 40+ people (Tampa Bay United youth soccer families) down to a Rowdies 5 p.m. clinic and game. Two-thirds of them admitted to me they have never done this before (call them recruits). Our family has been doing this since 2017 and every year since, the “interested” list grows.
The Tampa Bay Rowdies Saturday night brand has hooked so many of us the past couple of years, we’ve lost count. Sooo many keep coming back … make it a routine.
Rowdies … please insure us we have a championship team in 2020 by keeping our cornerstones in place. Please do what you have to do. Our kids know the 2019 roster well (and it’s a GOOD roster, thanks Neill) and want to watch them thrive the next couple of years.
About 40 of us are beyond willing to meet on Saturday and talk as ticket purchasers … we’re in love with this team. Please do whatever you have to do to keep this team together in 2020.
These guys, and this coaching staff, are/is awesome. We hope they live in the Tampa Bay area in 2020!
We have the best venue … we have the best weather … we have the best fan section (duh) … we have the best broadcast crew on ESPN+ (trust me, by a mile) … we have the best manager … and honestly? We have the best team.
Keep ’em Mgt.
#COYR
The Rowdies Observer 