Could Indy Eleven's inaugural season been different?

If it's not obvious, I didn't go to school to be a journalist. Yet, in my now 10th season of writing about soccer and Indy Eleven on this site, I've learned a few things about "on record," "on background," and definitely a lot about "off record" conversations. Maybe more importantly than that, I've learned that if you act professionally, people will treat you professionally. I might just be a bozo blogger, but the relationships I've created over the years means that some people value the things that I say and, periodically, tell this bozo blogger things that are "on record," and that are pretty damn cool.

About two years ago, I received an email from Peter Wilt that said that Gonzalo Pineda's hiring by Atlanta United reminded him of how close Indy was to signing him for Indy Eleven's inaugural 2014 roster. The subsequent conversations were deemed to be "off record" at that time, but Peter has decided that being into the tenth season of Indy Eleven means that we've reached the statute of limitations on the discussions, and I can now share with you what he shared with me. 

Pineda's Wikipedia page indicates that "In 2013, after his loan deal expired, he went into free agency after not finding a new club. Following his release, Pineda joined Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer on a preseason trial. He signed with the club on March 5, 2014." Obviously, that timeline is right in line with when Indy was looking to fill out their inaugural roster. 

Peter shared with me that in addition to Pineda, there were 10 other high profile players that the club was in advanced negotiations with leading up to, and during, the 2014 season that ultimately didn't sign for various reasons. Peter also readily admitted that some of the players on this list were probably using Indy as leverage, and that Indy couldn't have afforded nor signed all of them due to salary and international spot availability issues, but the fact that the players were at least in conversation with Indy sets off all kinds of "what if?" scenarios for me.

The 11-person list includes 10 international players, and the NASL rules only allowed 7 on the roster, so at most six of them could have been signed since Nicht was already signed. As Peter conveyed to me, signing the players on this list would have most assuredly meant that Kleberson wasn't on the roster, as well as no Norales, or Pena, or Jhulliam, or Jermaine Johnson. Those last three were late season additions to try and shore up the roster as the season continued to progress through its home winless streak. Would any of the other players been enough to turn the tide differently than the signed players? The Magic 8 Ball would certainly respond with a "Reply hazy, try again," and we would also have been deprived of this banger from Pena.

So who were all these players? Here's the list and how Peter described each of them (circa 2014):

• 

  Eriq Zavaleta
  Vaughan Ridley/Getty Images

  Simao - Portuguese legend
• Alesandro Del Piero - Italian legend
• Joan Capdevila - Played every minute for Spain in 2010 World Cup. World Cup (2010) and European Cup (2008) Champion for Spain
• Carlos Marchena - World Cup (2010) and European Cup (2008) Champion for Spain
• Jorge Claros - 2014 World Cup participant for Honduras
• Rony Martinez - 2014 World Cup participant for Honduras
• Victor Nunez - All-time leading goal scorer in Costa Rican League
• Gonzalo Pineda - Mexico World Cup starter (2006)
• Javier Chevanton - Veteran forward in Serie A (lecce), Ligue 1 (Monaco), La Liga (Sevilla) and the Championship (QPR). Scored on a bicycle kick vs. Real Madrid.
• Lionel Ainsworth - Best non-Celtic player in the Scottish Premier League last year.
• Eriq Zavaleta - Best player out of Indiana in the last couple years

I know! That list is crazy. If the list didn't come to me from Peter Wilt, I would have said that it was a wish list from a supporter. Now we can see what Peter meant about how the team could have never been able to afford all of them. 

Peter shared that the budget for that 2014 team was $1.2M, with Kleberson eating around $180k of that budget (and probably up to $200k with benefits). It was always fairly well known that Kleberson was a significant portion of that year's (and 2015's) budget, but just over 15% of the team's budget was a hefty amount. If you assume $1M remaining between the other 29 players on the 2014 roster meant that the rest of the roster was making $34.5k, on average, per person. That's quite a difference.

Peter also told me that the team was mostly working with 8 month contracts, and the guys on the list would have been making roughly the same kind of salary as Kleberson. For numbers, if you assume six of them would have been signed due to the international players rule, that would have added another $1.1M to the original $1.2M budget, which would have been a healthy ask of a fledgling club in its first year of existence. 

Peter expects that, at best, the team could have signed seven of the players:

1. Simao or Alesandro Del Piero instead of Kleberson
2. Joan Capdevila or Carlos Marchena
3. Jorge Claros
4. Rony Martinez, Victor Nunez, or Javier Chevanton instead of Jhulliam
5. Gonzalo Pineda
6. Lionel Ainsworth - instead of JJ
7. Eriq Zavaleta

However, Peter described Simao and Del Piero as "marquee player" candidates who would have been signed instead of Kleberson, but the salary would have been approximately the same. He also indicated that Martinez, Nunez and Chevanton were fall season forward candidates before the team signed Jhulliam. Ainsworth was close to signing before the deal fell through, and Jermaine Johnson was the player that the team signed instead. "Pineda and Claros were preseason negotiations that were VERY close to being finalized. We had Claros in our conference room in March." 

I asked Peter what happened with those guys and why they weren't signed. Peter indicated that: 

"All of those names ultimately declined our offers for what they deemed better opportunities. Some of the decisions were simply financial, while others were family or personal decisions. Convincing international stars to relocate to a lower division team in the American Midwest is not always easy. Ersal and Juergen were very, very supportive of the efforts to sign these players as were Tom Dunmore and Tian Liang in creating the pitch piece we used. We succeeded with Kleberson, which did not work out on the playing side. I wish at least a couple of the others would have worked out. We also made a good run at DaMarcus (Beasley) for the 2014 fall season with a creative eight year offer (four years playing and four years TBD playing/other roles). But that's another story for another day!"

It's interesting to think about the guys that did get signed in place of the guys on the list. Jermaine Johnson didn't play the last few games of the season, but scored twice in his time in Indy. As a reminder, Kleberson also didn't play the last few games because he ruptured his Achilles tendon, and then played in just one more game in an Indy uniform. In 2015, Kleberson played a total of 7 minutes at the end of the game of the final game of the season, and spent the season as an assistant coach (and as head coach for a game when interim head coach Tim Reagan was suspended due to a red card). So he occupied $400k of the team's player salary budget for the two seasons he was here, but played less than a season's worth of games. He scored 8 goals that first season, but 5 of those were from the penalty spot. Could Simao and Del Piero have stayed healthier than Kleberson? Could Ainsworth have provided more than two goals and would he have signed for more than the half season that Johnson was here? 

Peter shared with me one of the pitch packets he mentioned above that was given to Del Piero to describe the BYB, the team, the plans for an 18,500-seat multi-purpose venue, and the club's vision for him that indicated he would be signed for "a 5.5-year contract ... to be the club's franchise player and begin a new era in NASL as its brightest Star." Indy was looking long-term with some of these players. Based upon what we've seen with players' frequent departures from Indy Eleven in far less time than 5 years, it makes the idea of a 5+ year contract seem like a false promise, but I'm sure Indy wanted to give him that kind of contract. I seriously doubt that any of Indy's actual signings were offered more than a 2-year contract. 

That first season's roster has created some of the club's legends in Dylan Mares, Don Smart, and Brad Ring (to name just a few), and created some of the historic moments in the club (raise your hand if you remember the field storming in the fall of 2014 after the Minnesota game and the first home win?), but could a few more of those players been enough to push Indy to a better start than they had the first year? Could that talent have prevented the need for the field storming altogether? Could the world-class talent of that list been enough to overcome Coach Sommer's coaching inexperience or would that list's experience only exacerbated his inexperience at the professional level? 

For a long time, I have said that people like Peter have helped me learn about the business side of the soccer business that I never knew when I was just a player. In fact, Peter might be the single most helpful in helping me with that side of things. He's forgotten more than I will ever know, but I'm glad he values my contributions to the club's history enough to share these kinds of things with me over the years.

Mark Lowry announced as new Indy Eleven coach and Technical Director

Photo Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre
for El Paso Locomotive

Indy Eleven officially announced today that the club's fourth (permanent) coach, as well as its new Technical Director, is Mark Lowry. Mark comes to Indy Eleven from El Paso Locomotive, where he lead the team to three playoff appearances in the club's first three seasons, reaching the conference final in the first two seasons, and a record of 42W-29D-19L, "including playoffs and the U.S. Open Cup." The El Paso press release included the following quote from Lowry after the Western Conference quarterfinal loss to Oakland Roots:

“The three years I’ve been here have been great,” shared Lowry after the Western Conference Quarterfinal. “I felt the love from the fans every single time we stepped on the field, personally. I can’t thank them enough for what they’ve done and what we created here over the three years. They are a huge part of that. We’ve won, we’ve scored goals, we’ve had fun, and celebrated with them. Those are memories that will live with me forever and will hopefully live with them forever as well. There will be lots more of those in the future.” 

Hearing his voice in that press conference from November 5th, in hindsight, it almost makes me wonder if he knew then that he would be headed to Indy. Based on my inquiries to Indy Eleven last week, I have to think he probably did. It's a bit ironic that the person that officially replaces Martin Rennie was the coach that handed Indy a 2-nil loss on June 9th prior to Rennie's on-field, post-game, unofficial resignation on June 15th against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.

After El Paso announced Lowry's departure, I immediately tweeted that I wondered if the coaching carrousel was bringing Lowry to Indy Eleven. Simultaneously, I reached out to some people whose opinion I trust and one told me that it was, but that "you didn't hear it from me," while the other one said, "no comment," but then praised my intelligence. Shortly after all of that, Jeff Reuter at The Athletic tweeted that their sources were indicating the same thing. For some reason, Jeff's tweet was more popular than mine. Oh well. By the end of the business day, the El Paso news sources had an interview with Coach Lowry where he confirmed that he would be going to Indy.

I laughed out loud when I heard the interview clip because earlier in the day I had said, "If nothing else, @IndyEleven continue to be able to sell guys on the "long-term goals of the club." Rennie & players routinely stated it & I bet @CoachMarkLowry says it when he is officially announced." 

It didn't even make it to today's official announcement, as Coach Lowry stated in the clip, "Indianapolis is a market where they've had that aspiration and they've tried before [moving to MLS]. I know they're still ambitious to do that and it's a market that can have a case for an MLS team and hold an MLS team. So that's all, that's in the back of my mind." As Colin Deaver indicated in the beginning of the clip about Indy Eleven, "Ownership has long wanted to try to make the jump to MLS and if they do so, Lowry would get a shot at that level. Plus, if he's successful in Indianapolis, he would also make himself even more attractive to clubs at higher levels of soccer." I think Lowry's got a better shot at the latter scenario than the former, but either way, he's being pragmatic about his goals, particularly for a 36-year old coach. 

Indy Eleven made all of that official today. When I asked what he thought about the hiring, former Indy Eleven President and General Manager Peter Wilt stated, ""I love it. Surprised he was available. Proven head coach. Knows the league. Respected by his players. Great hire." Current Indy Eleven play-by-play announcer Greg Rakestraw provided similar praise of the hire, stating,

"I'm a huge fan of this hire. In his previous stops in Jacksonville and El Paso, it hasn't taken long for Mark to turn teams into consistent winners. I think this speaks to the power of the Indy Eleven brand and fanbase that Mark would feel comfortable leaving what he had established in El Paso to make the move to Indy."

Greg's television lifemate and color commentator, Brad Hauter is also a big fan of the hiring of Mark Lowry, stating, 

“I’m very excited about Coach Lowry coming to lead the team. From back in the Armada - Indy eleven days, I enjoyed the way his teams played and felt he was able to get more out of his players then people expected. What he did in El Paso this year was incredibly impressive and I think naming him this far in advance of the season allows him to create the roster he wants. He has shown he can win at this level and I think it’s a great fit!”

As for me, I'm ecstatic about the promise of what Lowry can bring to Indy, having began intently following El Paso after Dylan Mares joined the team in March 2020. After Macca King joined the squad in August of that year, I began to watch even more closely, even indicating that September, that "I have become a fan of @eplocomotivefc and the way @CoachMarkLowry has them playing." In August of this year, I tweeted, "I'm an @IndyEleven supporter but I really like watching @eplocomotivefc play." For my article this year regarding my journey into the Scottish Professional Football League, I had watched enough of their games to know that their midfielder Nick Ross was from Scotland, so I reached out to Derick Fox, their Manager of Communications (and always helpful to me), to get comments from Nick. In August, while pointing out the anniversary of the last hat trick scored by an Indy Eleven player, I noted that Lowry was on the bench for the visitors that day, the Jacksonville Armada, coached by Tony Meola at the time. I'm going to come back to that tweet in a minute, but I think I may have been willing this move for the past two years...

Notable: current and former @IndyEleven players @karlouimette @jasonplumhoff & @ZachSteinberger were on Jacksonville's team that year.

Current @eplocomotivefc coach Mark Lowry was an assistant for Jacksonville as well. pic.twitter.com/NxiLg3vbTv

— Drew (@GenWRX6) August 3, 2021

While El Paso plays on a baseball field (and I have repeatedly stated my hatred of those fields for soccer), Coach Lowry had the team play a very possession oriented style of play, but in a more attack minded way. Where Indy Eleven fans have seen a very defense minded style of play the past four years under Rennie and Rogers, El Paso maintains a very solid defensive line, but has a more attacking presence than we've seen out of Indy in recent years. There are about a dozen players on that roster that I wouldn't mind seeing make the trip to Indy with Coach Lowry; Dylan Mares, Macca King, Richie Ryan, Nick Ross, Jerome, Borelli, Carrijo, Solignac, Herrera, Yuma, Luna, Ketterer. Though, I'll feel a bit bad about it for the rest of the El Paso fans.

As I mentioned in tweets today, I might have to rethink my list of what I thought might happen to the current Indy Eleven roster this off-season. One of the players in my "Possibly Gone" category was Karl Ouimette, because of his reduced minutes late in the season, he was a Rennie man having been here since Rennie's first season, and he might be out of contract. However, as noted in the tweet embeded above, Ouimette was on the Jacksonville roster when Lowry was an assistant there. If Lowry liked what he saw in Ouimette's loan at the end of that season, we may see the two reunited again. I think Ayoze, Moon, Hackshaw, Timmer, Arteaga, Law, Wild, Adewole, and Ledesma could all fit into Lowry's system of play as well. 

This was the first step that had to take place this off-season for Indy Eleven. Now that this domino has fallen, expect to start seeing player announcements in upcoming days or weeks as Lowry takes inventory of what players are contractually obligated to return, what ones he might want from the rest, and what other players he might want to bring in from other squads. It's notable that of the names I listed above for El Paso that I wouldn't mind seeing come with him, Jerome and Richie Ryan were on that 2016 Jacksonville team. From the current El Paso squad, Matt Bahner and Bryam Rebellón have also played at both locations for Lowry as well. If you're wanting to do a deep dive of players that might be on next year's Indy Eleven roster, a review of past Lowry teams will provide you a good indication of the style of player he prefers, and may even provide you with some actual names.

Indy Eleven's post-season was going to be a busy one, but today's announcement of Mark Lowry is a positive step in the right direction.

The game is beckoning but it's complicated

I recently rewatched Pelada, the 2010 documentary by Gwendolyn Oxenham, Luke Boughen, Rebekah Fergusson, and Ryan White, which is summarized in IMDB as "Away from the bright lights and manicured fields, there's another side of soccer. Two players, twenty-five countries, one game." Gwendolyn's companion book, Finding the Game: Three Years, Twenty-five Countries, and the Search for Pickup Soccer, which I have also recently read again, has a much more detailed description of their journey to create the film and the book.

Across two dozen countries - from back alleys to remote beaches to the roofs of skyscrapers - an eye-opening journey into the heart of soccer.

Every country has a different term for it: In the United States it's "pickup." In Trinidad it's "taking a sweat." In Brazil it's "pelada" (literally "naked"). It's the other side of soccer, those spontaneous matches played away from the bright lights and manicured fields—the game for anyone, anywhere.

At sixteen, Gwendolyn Oxenham was the youngest Division I athlete in NCAA history, a starter and leading goal-scorer for Duke. At twenty, she graduated, the women's professional soccer league folded, and her career was over. In Finding the Game, Oxenham, along with her boyfriend and two friends, chases the part of the game that outlasts a career. They bribe their way into a Bolivian prison, bet shillings on a game with moonshine brewers in Kenya, play with women in hijab on a court in Tehran - and discover what the world looks like when you wander down side streets, holding on to a ball.

An entertaining, heartfelt look at the soul of a sport and a thrilling travel narrative, this book is proof that on the field and in life, some things need no translation.

Each time I watch the documentary or read the book, I'm inspired to play the game that I have loved since I was a kid. It's late in November as I write this and the "nice" days in Indiana are starting to become fewer and more spread out, making way for colder temperatures and either snow or freezing rain. Either way, at my age, it's not weather that I find myself eager to head out and kick the ball around. However, after I finished the book, I pulled out the cleats and headed outside to kick the ball in the back yard. A pickup game in my neighborhood isn't going to happen and I'm not sure I would want it to anyway with the upsurge in COVID cases. So it was just me and the ball. Something that I don't mind. After a bit, my youngest daughter came out and watched me try to put the ball through an opening in the swing set and then she started kicking the ball with me. She's the only one of my kids to have never played soccer as her sisters were already in gymnastics by the time she was born and she has had no other interest beyond gymnastics since she was old enough to do somersaults by herself (which was really damn early).

My cleats are basically brand new. After coaching my kids for a few seasons, I splurged and bought a pair of Adidas Copa Mundial, the cleats that I coveted as a teenager, for no other reason than I wanted to have a part of my childhood brought into my adult life in a way that I was unable to do back then. That may have a tinge of resentment sound towards my parents in it, but I promise you that is not the case. I had a pair of Adidas Beckenbauer, which had the same look, so it's not like I was playing in my bare feet. I just always wanted the Copa's and that was not within the budget back then. So I bought them because I was tired of running around my kids' practices (I was their volunteer coach) and sliding in my tennis shoes. My kid promptly became injured and then permanently quit soccer, off to their truer passion and the world of gymnastics (meaning that I can no longer afford to buy Copa's again either...) so the cleats weren't used much.

As I kicked the ball around with my barely worn cleats, the pain that I often feel in my legs and the back pain that I have had recently were non-existent. As I alternated between having my stocking cap on and off as my head cooled and warmed, I made attempt after attempt at the swing set, slowly working towards getting my aim in my shot back. At my age, and the infrequency at which I play, getting my aim back is taking longer and longer. Yet, watching it ping off some other part of the swing set or off the fence behind it, I didn't really care. Much like many of the people that are described in Pelada and Finding the Game, playing soccer just seems to do that for many of us. It doesn't have to be for any real purpose other than just to be connected to the game, for however long we can do that.

If you look at the right side of my site, it describes the inspiration for the name of my site and I have probably mentioned it a few times over the years. For the ones who are just finding my site because of my recent appearance on Soccer Saturday with Greg Rakestraw and the Top 5 series that I've started, here's a reminder. 

I had recently read Finding the Game when I started thinking about names for my blog. I ran through soccer word play after soccer word play, with none of them feeling right. Then I remembered a quote from Luke when they were in Marseille, France, when Gwendolyn writes the exchange in the book (the same exchange occurs in the film):

"Five or six games stretch across the park. We stand there watching, weighing, still wondering whether or not the jersey once belonged to Drogba. A ball skips towards us. Luke takes off after it and volleys it back. He's quiet for a second. Then he says, "When the ball comes toward me, I consider the game beckoning me - the game wants me."

Towards the end of the book, she reiterates Luke's statement, saying:

"Maybe, like Luke says, the game does beckon us, calling us beyond what we had imagined, offering us more than we knew how to ask for when we were kids. The dream, it turns out, isn't the national team or a professional league. The dream is playing; playing is the dream."

Once I recalled those quotes, I knew it was exactly what soccer was doing to me. I hadn't played for more than a decade (at least) and the game beckoned me to be a volunteer coach for my daughter. Then Indy Eleven was announced and the game beckoned me to start writing about my experiences attending games. The Game Beckons seemed the perfect name for my site. Soccer beckoning me using quotes from a soccer player in a book about finding soccer wherever you can find it.

So for the past 7 years, I have been writing about soccer, but predominantly about the Indy Eleven, the team that finally captured my heart. I have a hard time watching soccer on television. I either feel disconnected from the action and crowd or feel like I would rather be playing instead of watching. Which is why I've never really found a team that I wanted to consider, "mine," (not counting the women's and men's national teams, which I definitely see as "mine"). I don't have any rooting interest in the English Premier League, La Liga, the Bundesliga, Liga MX, or even MLS with teams in close proximity to my hometown. Not being able to be in the stadium regularly has prevented me from caring about the teams even when I care about the game (in the broad sense, not the individual games).

Indy Eleven changed all of that. I had a team that I was able to see, in person, at least 15 times per year in a venue as intimate as Carroll Stadium. So I was a season ticket member as soon as I could convince my family to go as a group with me. I sat in the stadium on opening night with my daughter, my father, my brother, my cousin, and my niece. I started writing about the games. My personal experiences. Then game recaps and general tactical thoughts. What I thought about the stadium discussions and where it could go. Just a writing hobby to talk about soccer. The game beckoned and I listened.

Then I started asking for single game credentials. Then season credentials. Then season credentials for a photographer (my father). Then season credentials for a 2nd "photographer" (my mother) after some health issues started affecting my father. Attendance at "closed" preseason games. 

In each case, I kept coming back to something else that Gwendolyn wrote in Finding the Game, while they were in Italy talking to a writer, Cristiano, who reads from his book and then helps them understand his meaning (emphasis mine):

"He pours us grappa and translates the meaning, hands gesturing, "It is a story about an old man who imagines what he'll say to his grandson...that there is a god for the soccer fields, a kind of magic. Not the big ones - the small ones in the provinces." Head cocked to the side, he smiles, shyly like he's telling us something personal, emotional: "Soccer will give you much more than you can give it."

Every time I asked, the game kept giving me more than I gave it. I'm just a former high school player with an engineering degree that likes to write about soccer in his spare time. Yet, here I am 7 years into this adventure, as the longest continuous running grassroots media source for the Indy Eleven. 

There have definitely been better resources (I'm looking at you Doug Starnes and the Eleventh Heaven site). There have been/are higher profile sites (Soc Takes and Bloody Shambles). There have been other voices (Permanent Relegation podcast). As best I can tell, Eleventh Heaven; Eleven Bricks; Bloody Shambles; Lady Victory and Her Quest for Glory; Brew Wallace condensed with Bloody Shambles; Target Man Soccer became Soccer with Brian (to recently become No Mean Soccer podcast); Circle City Soccer; Central State FC, all the same thing. All have stopped providing content except for No Mean Soccer. Even Permanent Relegation took a sabbatical before making a protracted return this year before COVID hit. I've spent press conferences looking around the room and finding me as the only one in the attendance. To be fair, I know that Kevin Johnston of Soc Takes/Indy Star has found himself in the same situation when I have been unable to attend a game or the press conference.

I just keep doing what I'm doing to the core 30 or so people who either A) care what I'm saying or B) are so starved for Indy Eleven information that they'll read anything that is out there about their team. My site views increased dramatically immediately after my appearance on Soccer Saturday, but I'm still not setting any records.   

I have become internet friends with a few of the former players. Peter Wilt continues to answer questions for me, even having moved on to other ventures. I have recently been part of the group that creates the Indy Eleven gameday posters, partially so that I can continue to be the unofficial poster archive, but it also allowed me to get one of my designs accepted (for a LIPAFC game, no less). I've been on Soccer Saturday!? How many other fans of Indy Eleven can say that?

Soccer giving me more than I can give it.

Yet, with all of that, it seems I still haven't built up enough collateral as a grassroots media source to get much information ahead of when everybody else gets it. Indy Eleven has always held their cards tight to their vest on everything until they can announce them on their own terms and through their preferred outlets and methods. Press releases hit my inbox minutes before the announcements to the general public hit my inbox. For all of the "off record" conversations I have had over the years, I know of multiple more where I know other sources have been given information, but that same information won't be given to me, even as "off record," if I can get a response at all. I've been given information and within 24 hours, the complete opposite was announced.

I don't want to get into all of that. 

All of this is to say that the game is still beckoning to me. I felt it in the backyard with my daughter and my swing set target practice. I'm just not sure how much The Game Beckons is still beckoning to me any longer. It's been an ongoing feeling for me the past couple of seasons. 2020 has exacerbated a lot of my glass half-empty feelings about a great number of things and my desire to keep writing on this site continues to ebb and flow, but lately dwindle. I thought the Top 5 project and its resulting press coverage from Rakestraw might spur my desire again, but the Top 5 series has already had its own set of disappointments. 

It's the off-season and players are starting to be announced, but after the first couple waves those will likely tail off too until late January as talk about preseason and what that will entail will be discussed. Maybe The Game Beckons will beckon me by then. Maybe The Game Beckons will stop beckoning.

Whatever happens, I know that soccer is always going to give me more than I gave it and I'm always going to feel the game beckoning to me. For that I'm grateful. 

Top 5 Moments - Peter Wilt

See original post here.

 Peter Wilt

1. March 18, 1988: Jacksonville Generals at Milwaukee Wave. Playing at the MECCA Arena we had a massive walk up due to McDonald's promotion. The moment I'll always remember is when the ticket manager ran up to me before the game to ask if she could move the high school band down to the floor. I said yes, so we sold those seats and completed the league record sellout of 8,946 tickets. (Editor's Note: If you know Peter, this is exactly what Peter does and continues to do and is why fans love him. I asked Peter if the sellout helped with tickets the rest of the season and he conveyed this additional story: 
   "It was late in the season. Two days later we hosted Canton Invaders at Neenah High School (in an effort to spread team's interest upstate) during a snow storm in front of 600 fans. We had to move the turf and boards from Milwaukee and physically roll out the turf and set up the boards and glass....brutal work for me and my staff, all for 600 fans....and we lost. Owner told me the next day not to be down. It was a good lesson. Don't learn things if we don't take chances."
   Somehow I feel like Peter learned that lesson.)
2. April 25, 1991: Mirko Castillo scored one minute 50 seconds into overtime to complete the Chicago Power's three-game championship sweep over Dayton in Wright State's Nutter Center. I was the team's GM and also handling analyst duties that game with legendary announcer Howard Balson. It was my first championship and, postgame, I interviewed former Chicago Sting star Bret Hall before joining the team for the on-field celebration.
3. October 30, 1998: Frank Klopas scored the golden goal game-winner in overtime at Soldier Field to give the Chicago Fire the U.S. Open Cup title and "The Double" over Columbus. We were an expansion team and had upset the two-time defending MLS Champion D.C. United five days earlier at the Rose Bowl. Winning the Open Cup behind the hometown hero Frank Klopas in front of our home fans in overtime was special.
4. September 27, 2006: It was the year after I was dismissed by the Fire, but it was still my team. I had acquired every player who took the field in the 2006 US Open Cup Championship at Toyota Park. The Fire won (a 3-1 win over L.A. Galaxy) and afterwards, the team's goalkeeper Matt Pickens found me standing among the supporters in Section 8, called me down, thanked me for bringing him into the team and gave me his championship medal. That moment will live with me forever.
5. June11, 2016: All the planets needed to align to give Indy Eleven our first title, the NASL Spring Championship. The Cosmos needed to lose their final spring match - they did - and we needed to score four or more goals and defeat Carolina by at least three goals. Eamon Zayed's third goal in the 85th minute was the special moment and provided the needed margin. We all stormed the Carroll Stadium field and I cried with joy when the 4-1 victory was official.

Top 5 Moments - Wilt, Busch, Palmer, & Me

Awhile back, I was talking to my wife and kids about my soccer playing days. So many years have passed since I played that many of the games and moments have long slipped into the deep recesses of my brain never to be brought forth again. Yet, for some reason, there are still the nuggets that I can recall with clarity and may be my peak ability. 

Many soccer fans may be aware of the book "Fever Pitch" by Nick Hornby, which "tells the story of the author's relationship with football [or soccer depending on where you're from], and with Arsenal Football Club in particular." It was adapted into a 1997 movie with Colin Firth, based on the book, and then a 2005 movie, based on the first movie, which changed the sport to baseball and starred Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore. Hornby has also written a book called "High Fidelity," (adapted into a John Cusack movie and a recent Hulu series with Zoe Kravitz) in which Top 5 lists is a significant part of the story and is one that I really love.

That's a long way to say that as I talked to my wife and kids I started rattling off my Top 5 Moments from my playing days. I decided that it might be fun to start a new series on this site (separate from The Soccer Life survey click here if you want to see examples of that), where I get players to give me their Top 5 Moments from their careers. This can be from anytime from their days as a youth to their final game as a professional or international. Given that I didn't play beyond high school (not counting some intramural games and my time on the International Club team at DePauw), my list is entirely of my youth. However, the first participants in this series are Peter Wilt, Jon Busch, and Lovel Palmer, guys with whom I have had great conversations about soccer over the years, and have much more interesting Top 5 Moments.

Without further ado...

Drew Thompson

1. I remember a club game in my early teenage years where we were playing in Richmond (Indiana) on a rain-soaked field. In those days, there weren't a lot of natural left-footed players around. Due to a toe-injury on my right foot many years before, I had begun to work on my left foot so that I could keep practicing while my right foot was in a boot. So it wasn't great, but it was serviceable and in this game I found myself playing left midfield. On my side of the field was a large puddle that was possible to avoid, but took the flow out of my attack. So I went through the puddle. Each time I did it, the defenders slowed down as they were sprayed with water or thought the ball was going to stay there. Using their hesitancy, I proceeded towards goal and managed a hat trick for my efforts.
2. I prefer playing on grass fields, but we didn't play on many manicured fields in those days. So indoor games were where my skills shined. I was quick with the ball and my scientific brain did well with the passes off of the boards. Our local indoor facility was connected to a bar, which had a window that overlooked the field. One game, I scored a double hat trick. After I scored the 6th goal, I ran over to the window and yelled "SIX GOALS" at my high school coaches who were sitting in the bar drinking.
3. In another indoor game... For those who have never played indoor, the field often has two sets of lines on each side of the field and you aren't allowed to pass a ball from beyond one to the other side of the other (kind of like icing in hockey). I remember a perfectly weighted pass from by buddy Patrick, from the defensive side of our line to just short of the line on the other team's defensive side. So we just barely kept it from getting the "icing" call. I dropped the ball perfectly to my feet from my chest and took the ball in for a goal. It was one of those rare moments where each little piece had to happen perfectly and did.
4. In another indoor game...there's a trend here. I was having a pretty good game and I was working my way back towards our midfielder who had the ball. As I did that, I pulled two defenders with me and I dummied the ball through my legs and past the defenders before they realized that one of our other players was streaking down the sideline to the ball past them. Without the defenders, they had a clear shot on goal and scored. Another one of those moments where I saw it in my head and it developed like I had hoped. 
5. Moment #5 borders on whether it can be considered a "top" moment, but it does significantly stick out in my brain. We were playing in a tournament, I think in Westfield, and I took a ball to the face during warmups, which proceeded to take me from the starting lineup as I couldn't get the bleeding to stop. I don't recall now why I didn't just shove gauze up it and play, but I didn't. So at some point in the 2nd half, it had finally stopped and I entered the game. The game eventually went to penalty kicks. I remember kicking it poorly; rolling along the ground poorly. However, the keeper guessed the wrong way, but was trying to make it back over to the side where I "kicked" it. Just as he stretched out to block it with his hand, the ball hit a dirt mound in the box and bounced up and over his arm, giving me the most unlikely penalty kick goal I had ever scored. I don't even remember the result of the game, but the hilarity of the goal has stayed with me.

Now for the professionals!

Peter Wilt

1. March 18, 1988: Jacksonville Generals at Milwaukee Wave. Playing at the MECCA Arena we had a massive walk up due to McDonald's promotion. The moment I'll always remember is when the ticket manager ran up to me before the game to ask if she could move the high school band down to the floor. I said yes, so we sold those seats and completed the league record sellout of 8,946 tickets. (Editor's Note: If you know Peter, this is exactly what Peter does and continues to do and is why fans love him. I asked Peter if the sellout helped with tickets the rest of the season and he conveyed this additional story: 
   "It was late in the season. Two days later we hosted Canton Invaders at Neenah High School (in an effort to spread team's interest upstate) during a snow storm in front of 600 fans. We had to move the turf and boards from Milwaukee and physically roll out the turf and set up the boards and glass....brutal work for me and my staff, all for 600 fans....and we lost. Owner told me the next day not to be down. It was a good lesson. Don't learn things if we don't take chances."
   Somehow I feel like Peter learned that lesson.)
2. April 25, 1991: Mirko Castillo scored one minute 50 seconds into overtime to complete the Chicago Power's three-game championship sweep over Dayton in Wright State's Nutter Center. I was the team's GM and also handling analyst duties that game with legendary announcer Howard Balson. It was my first championship and, postgame, I interviewed former Chicago Sting star Bret Hall before joining the team for the on-field celebration.
3. October 30, 1998: Frank Klopas scored the golden goal game-winner in overtime at Soldier Field to give the Chicago Fire the U.S. Open Cup title and "The Double" over Columbus. We were an expansion team and had upset the two-time defending MLS Champion D.C. United five days earlier at the Rose Bowl. Winning the Open Cup behind the hometown hero Frank Klopas in front of our home fans in overtime was special.
4. September 27, 2006: It was the year after I was dismissed by the Fire, but it was still my team. I had acquired every player who took the field in the 2006 US Open Cup Championship at Toyota Park. The Fire won (a 3-1 win over L.A. Galaxy) and afterwards, the team's goalkeeper Matt Pickens found me standing among the supporters in Section 8, called me down, thanked me for bringing him into the team and gave me his championship medal. That moment will live with me forever.
5. June11, 2016: All the planets needed to align to give Indy Eleven our first title, the NASL Spring Championship. The Cosmos needed to lose their final spring match - they did - and we needed to score four or more goals and defeat Carolina by at least three goals. Eamon Zayed's third goal in the 85th minute was the special moment and provided the needed margin. We all stormed the Carroll Stadium field and I cried with joy when the 4-1 victory was official.

Jon Busch

1. Playing in the U-17 World Cup in Japan in 1993 (Jon and his teammates finished 2nd in their Group behind Czechoslovakia before losing to Poland in the quarterfinals)
2. Playing in the Final 4 in my junior year (last year) at UNCC
3. 
   First MLS start with the Columbus Crew vs D.C. United in a 1-0 win (April 27, 2002)
   Walking out of the locker room after warm-ups for start of the game, John Harkes stops me, gives me a handshake and says "good luck kid." I said "thanks" and kept walking. I get a few steps away and I hear him say "don’t shit yourself kid" and started laughing like crazy. I turned around with a smile on my face and said "I will try not to."
4. Winning the Open Cup with Columbus Crew (October 24, 2002 in a 1-0 win against the L.A. Galaxy)
   After the game being in the locker room with a lot of older guys and seeing how excited they were. I remember sitting there with Brian Maisonneuve and talking with him. He had tears and it was then that I realized how hard it is to win a trophy and truly how special it is.
5. Playing first US full National Team game vs Colombia 2005 (Jon also got the start in the U.S.'s 3-0 win on March 9, 2005 with Pat Noonan, Chad Marshall, and Clint Mathis getting the goals and if this match report is correct, Taylor Twellman getting a red card in the 76th minute, just 8 minutes after entering the game.)
   I remember when Bruce Arena told me I would be starting. The morning before the game we were at training and after we did our goalkeeping work with (GK coach) Phil Wheddon, we joined the team. As Bruce started to talk about the game, I remember looking down at my cleats because I truly thought either Joe Cannon or Kevin Hartman were going to start. They were both ahead of me on the pecking order when we entered that camp. As Bruce started to announce the lineup I heard "in goal tomorrow Busch." I looked up at Bruce and then to Phil; I wasn’t sure I had heard it correctly. Phil gave me a little head nod and I knew it was me.
6. 500th Professional Game
   My 500th game was in Miami. Scott Stewart knew it was my 500th, but I asked him not to say anything about it until after the weekend. When I went out for warmups, my wife Nikki, and our good friends Phil and Steph, had secretly flown down and surprised me for the game. I had no idea they were coming or that they even knew it was the 500th. But they did. The result didn’t go our way but it was a big moment. 

Lovel Palmer

1. Scoring my first international goal for Essex Valley in the 1998 Norway Cup in a 1-1 draw 
2. Winning the 2005 Caribbean Club Championship with Harbour View FC
   In 2005, Harbour View became the first Jamaican club to win the Caribbean Club Championship. We went on to play against D.C. United of MLS in a home and away fixture. (Unfortunately for Lovel, D.C. United beat Harbour View by a score of 2-1 in each game.)
3. 
   Becoming the youngest captain to win the Jamaican premier league with Harbour View at age 21. 
4. Playing against and beating my favorite player of all time, David Beckham and L.A. Galaxy 3-0 in a packed Jeld Wen Stadium in front of the Timbers Army was electrifying. (I think Lovel is referencing this August 3rd, 2011 game when Lovel was with Portland.)
5. Winning the 2016 NASL Spring Championship with Indy Eleven (an important moment in Indy Eleven history...)
   Winning the Spring Championship in the final game of the regular season needing to win by 3 goals. Eamon Zayed came up big with a hat trick. We won the game 4-1. Corey Miller was big for us in defense and Don Smart and Dylan Mares dominated in the midfield. The Mike was ecstatic at the end of the 90+ minute knowing Indy just won our first major trophy.

Eleven Park clears another hurdle

With the 2019 session of the Indiana Legislature drawing to a close in the next week, the status of Senate Bill 7 was going to get resolved one way or another. Fortunately for Pacers and Indy Eleven fans, it didn't die in committee, which I thought was a distinct possibility for the Indy Eleven stadium component nor did it just run out of time. After making its way through the Senate Appropriations Committee, the full Senate, the House Ways and Means Committee, the full House, and then a Motion to Dissent, the Senate voted Tuesday on Senate Bill 7. Here's a quick run-down of its official path through the Legislature:

1. January 15 - Introduced as SB 7 by Senator Mischler
2. January 15 - Referred to the Appropriations Committee (Chaired by Senator Mischler)
3. February 25 - Amended to include language for a soccer stadium that was originally in Senate Bill 543 authored by Senator Sandlin
4. February 25 - Approved by Appropriations Committee
5. February 26 - Approved by full Senate
6. February 27 - Referred to House of Representatives
7. March 4 - Referred to Ways and Means Committee
8. April 8 - Approved by Ways and Means Committee
9. April 11 - Approved by full House
10. April 12 - Returned to Senate
11. April 16 - Motion to Dissent filed
12. April 22 - Motion to Dissent withdrawn
13. April 22 - Motion to Concur filed
14. April 23 - Approved by Full Senate

When Senator Mischler filed a Motion to Dissent last week, I really believed that it was because he was never a big fan of having the stadium amendment attached to his original CIB/Pacers bill and voted against it during its initial time in the Senate. During Tuesday's vote in front of the entire Senate, he indicated that he submitted the Motion to Dissent so that he/they could more thoroughly evaluate the changes that the House made before it was placed for a vote in the Senate. Having read the modifications, which included removing the name of a specific hotel from the original bill and the removal of the MLS requirement to be just a "professional soccer league," they were convinced the changes were acceptable and withdrew the Motion to Dissent. From there, things happened quickly. During Tuesday's discussion on the Senate floor, only Senator Michael Young (who serves Guilford and Liberty Townships in Hendricks County and Decatur and portions of Wayne Township in Marion County) expressed anything against the bill. Most of his argument seemed to revolve around the mismanagement of the CIB and how this bill only extends the "temporary" taxes that the CIB were given in 2009. Nobody said anything negative about the inclusion of the stadium. Given the past history with the stadium and the legislature and some folks dislike or mistrust of Ersal Ozdemir, I was surprised at how little of a fight was put against the stadium language in the final voting.

In anticipation of this hurdle being cleared by the team, I reached out for comment from two very important people in Indy Eleven's history; former President and General Manager, Peter Wilt, and former goalkeeper Jon Busch. As I kind of expected, Peter was a bit more verbose on his answers to my questions than Jon, but both took time to answer my questions.

When asked about whether the stadium increases Indy's chances of becoming the 30th MLS team, Jon felt that Indy was still on the outside looking in. Peter disagreed with Jon's assessment stating, "Absolutely. A stadium like this controlled by the team is a prerequisite for an MLS team and there are not many other markets that can offer a soccer centric stadium. There are other factors of course including proper ownership, desirable market, and demonstrated fan and community support." So based on my quick poll, looks like Indy has a 50/50 shot at getting the 30th MLS spot.

Both Jon and Peter were impressed with the renderings of Eleven Park. I asked Peter how he thought the renderings compared to the 2015 "Stadium for Indiana" version and he indicated that the "Eleven Park renderings are spectacular and show a stadium and an overall development that is better than the Stadium For Indiana version. Minnesota United supporter Bruce McGuire recently commented that the best part of Allianz Field is that it is the exception to the rule of stadium renderings, as the end product is better than the renderings. We all hope the same will be true for Eleven Park."

Like Peter, I like the new renderings of the stadium with the development around it, but I did not have the same visceral reaction to the new development that I had to the original "Stadium for Indiana" renderings. The obvious difference is the surrounding development around the new proposed stadium, whereas the last version was a stand-alone stadium. The stand-alone stadium was more striking to me, maybe partially because I know how new apartments in downtown Indy tend to look and I think the Eleven Park renderings will get watered down once it actually goes into design.

I also wonder about whether the inclusion of the offices/apartments overseeing the field will help or hurt the team’s financial assumptions. Originally, I felt that it would hurt the financial assumptions made by the Indy Eleven for the stadium because there would be a potential loss of revenue within the stadium as folks are able to watch from the offices or apartments and eat their own food there rather than through concessions. You're also less likely to get someone to buy merchandise at the stadium if they are watching from their apartment windows. I liken it to the Wrigley Field rooftops, where the Cubs eventually had to work together with them because they were losing money to them. Peter was more pragmatic about it.

"I believe that is a great benefit to the team’s financial assumptions directly and indirectly. Some people potentially can watch the games from their residence or office, but having a captive audience of residents and workers will improve ticket sales by many of those who live and work on site. It will also create a unique environment that will make attending games there more enjoyable for all." - PJW

Now that the legislature has passed Senate Enrolled Act No. 7 and sent it on its way to the Governor, there are still more hurdles to overcome, most notably coordinating with the City of Indianapolis and the City County Council (CCC). A major point of interest in those discussions will be the location of the new stadium. I've said since 2014, when I first starting writing about a potential stadium, that I thought the empty lot southwest of Lucas Oil Stadium could be a fantastic location if it is built within downtown Indianapolis. Some folks know this as the old Valspar paint plant location. I have always referred to it as the Sand Street Stadium site because 1) the maps show an old road running through it called Sand Street, and 2) I like alliteration. See below with Chicago's Toyota Park superimposed on the site.

The old GM Stamping Plant was always in my top 3 locations and is particularly more attractive now over the Sand Street location with the addition of the "transformative neighborhood development that will include a hotel, office, apartments, retail and public areas." All of that "development" would fit better in the GM Stamping location than on Sand Street. However, the new language created in the Act in IC-36-7-31 Sec. 4.(a) states (emphasis mine):

"The tax area may include a facility described in this subsection and any parcel of land on which the facility is located. An area may contain noncontiguous tracts of land within the county. However, the straight line distance between any point in the tax area and the facility described in subdivision (1) may not exceed one (1) mile. The area must be separate from other professional sports development areas established under IC 36-7-31."

That provision to allow the facilities of the development to be "noncontiguous" and to be one mile from the stadium (that's what is meant by "the facility described in subdivision (1)" for those who haven't read the entire bill/act) is significant. It would allow the stadium to be at Sand Street and the development to be somewhere within a one-mile radius. I'm not sure how that will play out as things move forward, but it definitely has the potential for the team to do some creative things with where the development (stadium plus hotels/apartments/retail) are located in relationship to each other. It would seem to imply that the rendering could be nothing more than a pretty picture. This would give the naysayers a lot of gasoline to throw on their hate fire of this bill, so it's incumbent on the team to be true to their word and the vision that they sold to get to this point. A separated stadium and development aren't going to win over any new fans.

For what it's worth, I don't think the discussions about the use of Broad Ripple High School will amount to much as this moves forward. It's more of a gut feeling, but I don't think that is where Mr. Ozdemir and the owners group want it to be located. I often question what advice he is still following of Peter Wilt's, but I do think he is holding fast to that advice. However, Peter sees some advantages to the Broad Ripple location, but recognizes that there are issues too: 

"That is a unique site with good opportunities and challenges as well. It is important to have a site where fans can have activities before and after. Broad Ripple is one of the best locations in Indianapolis for eating and drinking establishments. The new mixed use development will provide more options for fans, too. Ingress, egress, parking and neighborhood security are issues that may be heightened in Broad Ripple, but will need to be addressed regardless of the site." - PJW

Here is the language about how much of the stadium Mr. Ozdemir and the owners group are required, by law, to contribute to the stadium cost, found in IC-36-7-31 Sec. 7.(d), (d)(5), and clarified in Sec. 7.(f).

(d) In addition to the requirements under subsections (a) and (c), covered taxes may not be allocated unless:
...
(d)(5) "the owner or owner's of the professional soccer team have provided at least twenty percent (20%) of the cost of the project to construct the facility that will be used to host professional sporting events;"
...
(f) "For purposes of subsection (d)(5), the term "twenty percent (20%) of the cost" means either: (1) an initial contribution made before construction begins equal to twenty percent (20%) of the total capital construction cost of the facility; or (2) a commitment to pay twenty percent (20%) of the annual debt service or least rental payments payable for the facility until the financing obligation for the facility is paid in full."

Much of the media seem to have characterized the financials of the stadium incorrectly, routinely highlighting the $550M value and mostly glossing over the fact that $400M of that is for the surrounding development with the remaining $150M going to the stadium. For those that do make that distinction, the requirement for the owners group to account for 20% of the $150M has rarely, if ever, been mentioned. That is a very important piece that the House of Representatives added and one that satisfies many people's complaints that the owner/team should have some "skin in the game." A $400M development and 20% of the stadium cost are not insignificant values. To me, this is one of the key reasons this version differed from previous iterations. Peter agreed that there were a number of things that the team did this time around that worked to their advantage:

"Indy Eleven did a very good job on several fronts. They took more responsibility for funding than before, they educated the public and legislators better on the funding mechanisms, they remained open to location options and they made clear the mixed use elements to the proposal they packaged it with the Pacers proposal." - PJW

Finally, one of the items that was written into the financial packet that Indy Eleven provided to Indiana Legislators was a chart indicating the anticipated type and number of events to be held at the stadium so that an estimate could be made for ticket sales, concessions, merchandise, etc. One of the line items was a "Pro Women's Team." I would love for there to be an NWSL team to further take my disposal income, but I question whether that is a realistic assumption to make for a number of reasons. While I had Peter, who has started an NWSL team in Chicago, I asked him whether he thought this was realistic. "NWSL has been slow to award expansion franchises, but a new stadium controlled by the team would make Indy a desirable market."  So not a "no," but not quite a "yes" either. I have vague recollections of conversations that Indy has previously approached NWSL about adding a team and that the league was receptive, but the league has been hesitant to expand too quickly. So it's possible that line item could become true, but I don't know if I would have built my feasibility study, that was provided to the Legislature, with it included.

Indy Eleven have cleared another hurdle on their way towards getting their own stadium and I honestly did not expect it to reach this point when the Legislative session began in January. It's a testament to the work that Ersal (and his lobbyists) and the front office have put in to finally get the ball into the net. I believe that getting the language attached to the CIB/Pacers bill ultimately helped the Eleven's cause, but I still had thoughts that the entire stadium amendment could easily get dropped while the rest of the bill passed. Getting the language into the bill that the owners group had to put 20% into the stadium, as well as the development around the stadium are what I believe helped push this bill through. Getting it through the CCC won't be easy, but it should take significantly less time than the 6 years it has taken to get to this point.

Oh, and I wouldn't expect it to be called Eleven Park for very long once the team narrows down the site and gets it constructed. Does Eli Lilly finally become a corporate sponsor?

New forms of speculation can begin now that Indy has cleared the legislative hurdle...

Peter Wilt - The Exit Interview

My company during the preseason game vs Louisville

The time is fast approaching where the Indy Eleven's first President and GM officially steps down as a member of the front office staff and joins the ranks of fan like the rest of us. Section 111, Row A, Seat 1 will technically belong to just another season ticket holder, even if that holder's name is Peter Wilt. So before Slaughterhouse 19's Patron Saint takes his talents, (apparent) insomnia, and constantly-on-the-move Honda north to devote all of his time to creating us a regional rival in Chicago, I asked Peter if he would be willing to answer some questions about his time here in Indianapolis. I asked him questions about the business and soccer side of his time here, but also some more personal questions. In true Peter Wilt fashion, he answered all of my questions. In fact, and I'm glad he did it this way, he was more verbose on the questions that weren't directly related to the business and the team. Peter was not only a champion for this team, but he seemed to become a champion of the history of this state and its people and now probably knows more about the State of Indiana than most life-long residents.

I wanted to give Peter the opportunity to answer the questions without feeling like he would have to temper his conversation and could write as much or as little as he wanted so this interview was through email exchanges. Plus, let's be honest, I'm a writer (with three kids) and not an interviewer so it was helpful for me to do it this way too. I've included his responses to the questions below with only minimal proofreading edits, but I have taken the liberty to include as many links as I could to the people and places he referenced. Many of the links take you to Peter's Twitter account because he does an amazing job in that medium of documenting his substantial travels.

Thank you Peter for your time. Both in this interview and your work to help get this team off the ground and running.

1. When you and Ersal were considering the possibility of a team in Indianapolis, there was a relatively small group of fans discussing the idea of a team in Indy. What were some of the things you saw with that group, and beyond in Indiana, that made you believe that a team could succeed in Indianapolis?

PJW:  It came down to three experiences I had the first time I came to Indy to learn about the project.  I think there were 80 Likes on the BYB Facebook page when I first met with Josh Mason that evening to talk over a couple of beers about bringing pro soccer to Indiana at the Chatham Tap in Fishers. That conversation, and the time I spent with Ersal earlier that day, convinced me a team in Indy COULD succeed. As I told Ersal that day, there were a number of variables - some controllable, some not - that would determine if the club would be successful or not. The factors that convinced me it could succeed included the BYB's professionalism, commitment, and organization as described and exemplified by Josh. Ersal's vision, knowledge, and energy were also positive factors, and finally, Indy itself sold me.  The tour Ersal gave me of Carmel and Indianapolis showed me a beautiful and dynamic city ready to add another cultural property to its growing progressive identity.

2. Once it was determined that it appeared to make good business sense to move forward, what were some of the short-term and long-term goals for the team, i.e. 1-year, 2-year, 3-year, 5-year, 10-year?

PJW: From the beginning, Ersal wanted to build an important sports property for Indiana that he and the state could take pride in. He wanted to make sure it wouldn't be perceived as minor league. The target numbers and growth rate was never as important as the club's sustainability. Initial forecasts for tickets have been well publicized in the mid-four figures for average attendance. Similarly, a long term goal of an 8,000 seat soccer specific stadium was discussed. Those initial goals now look modest due to the sensational response of the community.

a. How many of those goals were met?

PJW: All of the initial revenue goals were met….and far exceeded in every area.

b. Which ones were not? Why do you think they weren’t met?

PJW: We certainly planned to be competitive on the field from the start. We weren't competitive in NASL until the 2015 fall season. There are two main reasons we fell short of our goals on the field. I made two bad decisions. The investment in Kleberson did not pay off due to injuries. His salary used up nearly one fourth of our player budget, which effectively put us in the lower third of NASL player budgets. Secondly, I hired a coach without proven head coaching experience. Juergen Sommer met and even exceeded many aspects of his job, but not the ones that meant the most.

c. How many needed to be altered after the team officially started?

PJW: The revenue goals all were adjusted upwards after we recognized in late January 2013 that the season ticket base alone would exceed the previous total attendance goals.

3. Does it disappoint you that you’ll be leaving before a soccer-specific stadium has been approved to move forward? Did you think that it would be an easier sell?

PJW: Yes, I am disappointed and no I did not think it would be an easier sell. While I did not originally expect a new stadium plan to be approved in the short term, as the effort in the 2015 legislation unfolded, my hopes were raised. I believe we did a good job educating the legislators and public about both the value the stadium would bring and the benign funding mechanisms to pay for it. I am confident that ultimately it will be built and I think the end result will be better than if it were approved in 2015.

4. You have helped start or worked with several teams, notably the Chicago Fire, the Chicago Red Stars, the Indy Eleven, and now the Chicago NASL team. How many more upstarts do you envision in your future or does the Chicago NASL start attempt to satisfy an itch to remedy any things that you have learned about running teams in Chicago since your time with the Chicago Fire?

PJW: I can't predict what the future holds, but I do know that I see an opportunity to make something special in Chicago and fill a void for soccer fans there.

5. What is the thing that you are most proud of helping to accomplish here in Indianapolis?

PJW: I'm proud that I was able to assemble and work with a talented, hardworking staff to create a culture of inclusion with so many varied interests in Indiana in support of Indy Eleven.

6. What surprised you most about bringing a team to Indianapolis and joining the NASL?

PJW: The universal love for Indianapolis and desire to work together to support Indy Eleven surprised me. It was wonderful to see all the youth soccer interests unite behind the team and see civic, cultural, social, media, and sporting organizations also support Indy Eleven as strongly as they did.

7. Was there anything that you experienced with the Eleven that you hope you can duplicate with Chicago NASL or future starts?

PJW: Certainly the passion and immediate emotional connection with the club is something that every organization should aspire to happen.

8. Were there ever any moments where you found yourself as Peter Wilt, the fan, and not Peter Wilt, President and GM?

PJW: Whenever I have the opportunity to sit in my seat or stand with the Brickyard Battalion and watch the game I feel like a fan.  And to some extent I think I always carry the fan perspective with me.  Two particular moments I recall being more fan than executive were when Mike Ambersley scored in our first game and when we finally won at home against Minnesota.

9. You seemed to make a concerted effort to learn the history of Indianapolis and Indiana, going so far as visiting each of the county courthouses and several high school basketball arenas. Which ones were your favorites?

PJW: Decatur County's courthouse in Greensburg will always be special due to the trees that grow organically out of its tower. Being able to tour and climb up to the top of the towers of the Johnson County Courthouse in Franklin and the Rush County Courthouse in Rushville made lifetime memories and they happened to be two of my favorite courthouses as well. Reaching the Perry County Courthouse in Tell City late at night July 9, 2014 to complete my 92 courthouse quest was memorable. The lighting of the courthouse and fountain outside it was inspirational.

My favorite #INcountycourthouse. Decatur County Courthouse in Greensburg, IN. #treecity pic.twitter.com/zuHWTRztcx

— peter wilt (@PeterWilt1) September 5, 2015

The gyms in Knightstown, Westchester, Muncie, Marion, Lebanon, Newcastle, Loogootee, Southport, and Southside Turners were my favorite basketball venues for different reasons, but they all shared the commonality of local basketball history. My favorite memory was at Muncie, seeing players lift their disabled team manager on their shoulders to help cut down the net after a state tournament game. Like so many high school basketball games in Indiana, it was emotional and it represented all that is good about the people in Indiana.  

10. What are your favorite things (people, place, event, etc.) about Indianapolis?

PJW: The qualities of unselfishness and local pride are my favorite things about the people of Indiana. Mayor Greg Ballard; Slaughterhouse 19 leader Peter Evans; Golden Ace Inn co-owner Jim McGinley; and author, playwright, and NUVO beer critic Rita Kohn (who is an absolute treasure and one of Indiana's most amazing people) are just four Hoosiers who exemplify those qualities.

There are hundreds of wonderful places that I love in Indiana, but my favorite is the Shrine Room atop the Indiana World War Memorial. The building and its contents are beautiful, strong, educational, historic, and inspirational. The Shrine Room itself is a place that memorializes those who fought in war yet at the same time it is the most peaceful place in the state. I visited the Shrine Room once a week for the last several years. It was my church, a place I could clear my head, become grounded and think more clearly.

2/3 I'll miss Indiana World War Memorial. This is where @IndyEleven name was born. Thx Donna Schmink & Gen. Goodwin. pic.twitter.com/FTpEjGZ4dQ

— peter wilt (@PeterWilt1) March 24, 2016

Editor's Note: This is also one of my favorite places in Indianapolis. If you have never made a visit to it, do it. Make multiple visits. There is so much to see that I have taken to focusing on a single area on a lunch hour trip. Use your first visit to get the layout of the museum and follow-up with key areas in subsequent visits. The sign over one of the interior doors indicates, "Enter with Reverence, Leave with Pride." I leave every time with pride and humility.



More history, culture, and art can be discovered in Indiana's cemeteries. Some of the best have beautiful statuary, trees, and hills. Crown Hill, of course, is the greatest of all with one of the city's highest points at James Whitcomb Riley's grave and final resting place of John Dillinger, Alexander Ralston, James Baskett, Benjamin Harrison, Zerelda Wallace, and dozens of other historic and cultural luminaries. Hoagy Carmichael's grave in Bloomington, Eugene Debs in Terre Haute, Tony Zale in Portage, Ryan White in Cicero, Frances Farmer in Fishers, Oscar Charleston in Floral Park Cemetery on Indy's west side, the Chevrolet Brothers in Holy Cross Cemetery on Indy's south side, and James Hubert "Tarzan" Pierce in Shelbyville are just some of the other famous graves in Indiana that are on my list of favorite places.

In Indianapolis, my favorite events include any Indy Fringe performance, especially the annual kickoff at the Athenaeum, any charity event at the beautiful Indiana Rooftop Ballroom, any low budget pro wrestling matches at WCWO Arena (an automotive garage on Kentucky Avenue), and any play, concert, beer tasting, or book reading I would attend with the aforementioned Rita Kohn. Outstate (and at Indy's Speedrome) I discovered the fun of watching small oval racing. Dirt and asphalt tracks from Kokomo to Lawrenceburg to Terre Haute's Action Track all provided wonderful entertainment with sprint, midget, and modified car racing. The best out state event I attended by far though was the Schnellville, Indiana Sesquicentennial Parade. There were more floats than Schnellville's population of 170. The community spirit at the parade was wholesome and fun. I attended that parade with BYB leader Andrew Retz and that same day we sought out and found five of Indiana's six moon trees - trees that grew from seeds taken to the moon on Apollo 14. We later filled our bucket list item by finding the sixth Indiana moon tree near Cannelton.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention a few other places around Indiana that made my time here truly feel like home. My adopted home neighborhood of Irvington has great history, restaurants, and locally owned businesses. Fair Oaks Farms at I-65 mile marker #220 always provided a respite on my commute to and from Milwaukee for a warm grilled cheese sandwich or cold dish of delicious vanilla ice cream and the opportunity to watch the cheese and ice cream being made! And Whiting, an Indiana Lake Michigan shore community that has a feel of a rural Norman Rockwell town with an annual pierogi festival, weekly hot rod shows on its main street in the summer, and the oldest single screen movie house in Northwest Indiana.

The Landmark For Peace Memorial at the site of Robert Kennedy's most famous speech where he told a crowd of his African American supporters about Martin Luther King's assassination on April 4, 1968 is one of my favorite places. I didn't visit it quite as often as I did the Indiana World War Memorial, but it was definitely my second most visited historic Indiana destination. I enjoyed taking people there and telling them the story about RFK's insistence on going through with the planned stop on his presidential campaign, giving the incredible speech extemporaneously and being credited with preventing violence in Indy that night.

1/2 And some pics of Indy's Kennedy/King Park. The speech engraved & the beautiful sculpture of RFK & MLK. pic.twitter.com/jF8T9ulc6z

— peter wilt (@PeterWilt1) April 4, 2016

Editor's note: Address of memorial - 1702 Broadway St. Indianapolis, IN 46202

All these places and all these people in Indiana always made me feel at home and for that I will always be grateful.

11. One of the things that I’ve always been impressed about by you is your approach-ability and interactions with the fans. I’ve heard others say they are surprised to find themselves having in-depth conversations (not just soccer related) with someone who is so well-known in the soccer business. As you head off to a competing NASL team, how do you want the Indy Eleven supporters, and even casual fans, to remember you and what would you like them to know about you that they might not already know?

PJW: I hope they remember me as someone who cared about their state and worked hard to add a quality team to the Indiana sports landscape. I don't think most fans realize that leading a team is like being a goalkeeper - I get too much credit when things go well and too much blame when things go poorly. It really is a team effort and the successes of Indy Eleven are due to everyone on the team, starting with Ersal Ozdemir and including every team and front office staff member.