I am very excited about the stadium announcement, but I am trying to temper that given that we are still 4-5 years away - at minimum.
That's a long time to wait to get this stadium situation sorted, as we all know. There is not going to be any immediate reward for getting this deal done, and there will be long periods of no news and no apparent progress - just like we've been going through.
And the process will be fraught. The coalition that's been put together - with the Mayor, Borough President, local Counselmember, two real estate titans, and the unions - is a very strong one. It should be able to withstand the obstructions that people will throw at the project to stop or slow it - usually in exchange for a handout. But people will try, and that will lead to an epidemic of nail biting among supporters.
To get a sense of how long we still have to go, I travelled back in a time machine to August 2018 - just as far back in time as we would need to go into the future to host a game in Feb 2027. Here is what was obsessing the forums.
- We were adjusting to life under our new manager, Dome Torrent, who had taken over for Patrick Vieira a few weeks prior. After a promising start, it was not going well.
- We noted that despite being on track for our best finish ever, we were slipping behind the Red Bulls and Atlanta in the hunt for the Supporters' Shield.
- We were worked up over a game against the Red Bulls where our new signing, Eloi Amagat, got an early red card, and Sebastian Ibeagha got a late red card, yet somehow we rallied to tie 1-1.
- We were excited about the potential debut of our new signing, Taty Castellanos, and wondering how to pronounce his last name.
- We were happy that one of our homegrown players, James Sands, had gone 90' and notched an assist in the MLS Homegrown Game against Tigres U-20s. Also in that game were Austen Trusty and Jesus Ferreira.
- We were shocked and saddened by reports that NYCFC had decided not to keep David Villa for the 2019 season; although happy that the Club would keep him involved in an off the field capacity.
- We were concerned about our academy star, Gio Reyna, leaving for Europe and were blaming that on the fact that we don't play Sands or Scally.
- We debated the decision to loan out James Sands... to Louisville City.
- We hotly debated whether Jonathan Lewis should be getting more playing time. The consensus answer - yes, he should be getting more playing time.
- We were excited that Jack Harrison was finally getting some starts at his new Club, Leeds.
- New board member, Shwafta, expressed amazement at the scope of the Stadium Thread.
- Also in the Stadium Thread, there was much excitement that the Club had organized focus groups to get feedback on potential stadium designs.
- In the Expansion Thread, we debated the name and crest of the new team, Inter Miami.
- On the USMNT front, we were excited that a young American scored 2 goals for PSG in the French Supercup. Midas Mulligan thought that Tim Weah would get a lot of minutes under PSG coach Thomas Tuchel.
- During the month, Midas Mulligan made only 10 posts that included the word "fuck".