Offseason Player Movement Comes to a Close

The deadline for player movement before the 2011 BSL draft has been reached. Five of the six senior clubs opted to keep some Designated Players. Only Gold Coast decided to forgo this plan and traded its DP slots away for a bunch of first round picks. Meanwhile Burud Town opted to only use 1 of its 2 DP slots. Several attempts were made to trade the other away, but there were no buyers.

Meanwhile, 5 players were acquired by BSL expansion sides as well. It was a very active offseason. None of these players will be available for selection in the draft which will begin in only 4 days. The TRANSACTIONS section is your place to review any up to date player selections once the draft begins. Remember BSL owners will be skipped if they exceed their available time limits.

Alamo City is picking first and can start making a selection when ready. The draft clock officially begins at 7am pacific time. March 1st. Best of luck.

CD Gunners Maintain the Rights to Saborio

With the deadline fast approaching, the CD Gunners held a press conference announcing that Alvario Saborio will be the clubs 2nd Designated Player for the 2011 season. Saborio played very well for Capital District last season and another similiar effort would make this an outstanding signing. Even though the Gunners failed to reach the playoffs/Majors Cup in 2010, the club still holds the record for most BSL regular season wins all-time.
DERBIES
Alliance FC and Gateway United have spawned a rivalry amongst each other to win the Barium Cup. Meanwhile the NECC (North East Corridor Classic) has been renamed the BSL Classic, due to Montgomery County's relocation to Texas becoming Alamo City.

Pre Draft Deadline Drawing Near

Last call! Any transactions being planned before the 2011 Draft are due by Friday, February 25. This includes DP selections for senior BSL clubs and Pre-Draft trades for expansion BSL clubs.
Clubs Kits
There are expansion BSL clubs that do not have kits announced yet. Please send them to the Commissioner before the first MATCH PREVIEW of the season. Club kits are displayed during each match preview of the season. If you need help (Alamo City) makes really good ones.

Check Out the Full 2011 BSL Schedule

The complete 2011 schedule for the BSL is now available. The 22 week regular season will conclude 8/14 with each club playing each other twice. After the Semi-Finals, the BSL Cup will be played on 8/24 - 8/28. Majors Cup will take up all of September and the Majors Cup Final will be played on 10/12 - 10/16.

The four MLS clubs that will complete in the 2011 Majors Cup will be: Colorado Rapids (MLS Cup Champions), Seattle Sounders (US Open Cup Champions), Los Angeles Galaxy (Supporter Shield), and Toronto FC (Canadian Championship) As always, these 4 MLS clubs will be ranked 1 through 4 based on their records by the end of August to determine their rankings in Group's A and B. (Group A gets #1 and #4 ranked BSL/MLS clubs. Group B gets #2 and #3 ranked BSL/MLS clubs.)

Stags Keeping Cummings

Omar Cummings is a BSL winner. In 2009 he was a member of Montgomery County (now Alamo City) and his contributions helped lead that club to the playoffs and win the BSL Cup. When he was released by Montgomery in the middle of the 2010 season because he was struggling to find the net, Burud Town snatched him up and was rewarded. Cummings found his feet and helped the Stags to the playoffs and even scored the clubs lone playoff point in the semi-final. With this latest announcement, Burud Town is hoping Cummings will continue his winning ways in the BSL. The Stags also unveiled the clubs new kits on its website.

Introducing the Saves Rule and New Boxscore Layout for 2011

THE SAVES RULE
Last year the owner of the CD Gunners came up with an idea to add more value to the Goal Keepers of the BSL. Instead of just counting a keepers clean sheets, the BSL should put some value on his "saves total" as well. The majority of the leagues owners liked the idea, but the season was already in play. Well, the SAVES RULE will be installed for 2011. The theory is keepers who have poor defenders will still have some value if they can stop a whole bunch of shots. The magic number of saves is "5" for a goal keeper to earn 1 point in the boxscore. If a keeper does get 10 saves in a game then he will have earned 2 points in the boxscore.
NEW LOOK BOXSCOREThis leads way to the next announcement. The new look boxscore. The image above is a sample of it. The top 3 stats are the staples of the BSL scoring system since day 1. (Goals, Assists, and Clean Sheets). The next 4 stats are the bonus features that have been installed over time. The new saves rule, yellow cards, red cards, and the LF rule (Lineup Failure). In this example TBA Club #2 won the match 3 to 1 because it had 2 goals and 5 saves = 3 points. The other club also had 2 goals, but did not post his lineup order on his club website in time and lost 1 point for lineup failure. Both clubs had 2 yellow cards each, but neither clubs first substitute player scored anything.

The Evolution of Trading

The new season hasn't even begun its matches and already 2011 will have the most trades in a single year. In 2009 there was only one trade. In 2010 there were five, while 2011 has six already. There are many reasons for the increase. First there are more clubs from 8 to 11 participants. Next, there are six senior clubs with existing rosters capable of making moves, rather than four in 2010 and zero for the inaugural year of 09'. Lastly, there is the increase of two Designated Players instead of just one per club. The basic reality is the BSL is maturing and the art of the deal/trade is growing steady it it.

Dax McCarty Is A "Star"

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SECOND CITY: obtain D. McCarty
GOLD COAST: obtain 4th round pick
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Second City SC signed the clubs first ever player acquiring Dax McCarty from Gold Coast FC. The Stars still have the option to do one more "pre-draft trade" if the owner wishes. The available senior clubs left with trades options are Burud Town (with 2) and Gateway United.
The Schedule?
According to many sources a complete schedule should be coming in 1-2 weeks. Some of you are already interested in scheduling a couple of Friendlies against International opponents and will be able to see when your bye weeks are in due time.

One Month Away

The calendar has turned to February and training camps have been open for over a week. While the players are getting into shape and preparing for the preseason, BSL club owners have 28 days before the 2011 draft begins. The draft order is as follows: 1-Alamo City, 2-Gateway United, 3-CD Gunners, 4-Gold Coast, 5-Burud Town, 6-Union SC, 7-Alliance FC, 8-Pennsylvania, 9-Second City, 10-Hillcrest United, 11-PN Rangers. (This does not specify any trades that have occurred during the off season)