They promise to build a soccer specific stadium for the club within two years

Do you know if that means that they personally are funding the stadium? Or does it mean they've made some kind of commitment to convince City Hall to do it?

I'm not certain. I was told that they intend to build it themselves, but that's secondhand.

They specifically indicated that they were NOT interested in MLS, but would rather see the USL-1 grow ... I thought this a bit strange, but really enjoy the atmosphere of the USL-1, where players and front office are accessible, rather than hunkered down in their ivory towers.

I also understood that the Thunder will be back at the Jimmy (St. Paul Central's James Griffin Stadium) next season.

See ya Friday at 7 PM for the Supporters Banquet at the Sweetwater Grille and Bar at the Kelly INN, where the fan awards and auction of one of a kind items will benefit the local Red Cross and support of their I-35W efforts.

Peace and futbol.

Intesting LS. Guess I was confused. I don't think MLS makes much sense for this market at this point. It's already saturated with sports franchises. I think it makes more sense to try and grow the product within the 1st Division.

LS is not completely accurate. MLS is of course the hope of any USL franchise albeit long term. They don't want to be broadcasting this at the current time but the reason they are making the stadium expandable is for what reason????

I can say after talking to sources within the organization, that the team WILL NOT be back at the Jimmy next year. The team will be coming out with a press statement soon that will detail three things:

•The rescheduled date of the Beckham-Galaxy game along with the opponent.

•The introduction of the new owners, yes, their names and everything.

•The location the Thunder will play for the next two years until a stadium is built.

Look for the stadium to be close to the James Griffin site but the team has played there last game at The Jimmy. I loved James Griffin when the team first moved there because of the intimacy of the stadium compared to NSC. But it is becoming more and more evident that this is not a good place for the team to play football. It's too narrow and the city controls all the parking and concessions so there's no way for the team to make any money except for ticket sales. Beer sales would be a huge boost for the team, not just for revenue but for the marketing appeal of soccer fans.

Thanks BQ. It's interesting that people came away from this with such different perceptions. I'm definitely under the impression that the team will not be back at the Jimmy next year.