From the Editor: New Year’s Resolutions

Well, 2012 has come and gone.  It was not exactly the most exciting year in the sports world by far, and with all the firings in the NFL, 2012 ended in somewhat of a low note.  But out with the old and in with the new, as they say.  2013 is already a time of change as there are a handful of teams that will be receiving new head coaches and general managers, including the Eagles.

2012 turned out to be a bad year for pretty much every team in the City of Brotherly Love. The only exception might be the Sixers, who managed to make the playoffs.  The Phillies ended dead even, failing to make the playoffs for the first time in six years.  The Union, who made the playoffs in 2011, completely fell apart, albeit under a fascist regime, ending their 2012 campaign near the bottom of the table.  The Flyers made the playoffs at the end of the 2011/12 season, but didn’t go very far, and as for the Bullies this season…well there isn’t one.  And we all know what happened with the Birds…

So what’s with all the doom and gloom, you ask?  Well, I’m getting to that.  A lot of these teams have already started making their new year’s resolutions, some late in 2012.  The Phillies have already begun restructuring their aging team with help at third base with the signing of Michael Young as well as help in the rotation with the signing of John Lannan.  While Young may not be…young, he brings much needed help to the infield.

The Union have done a great job repairing the damage done by Piotr Nowak, re-signing fan favorite forward Sebastien Le Toux, while also bringing on Philly native Jeff Parke to help out the U’s back line.  To add more depth to the offense, the Union also drafted veteran striker Conor Casey in this year’s Re-entry Draft.  Things are looking up once again for the Union for their fourth season in Major League Soccer.  With the transfer window now open, who know what other moves they will make?

Since the Eagles fired Andy Reid, things can only go uphill for the struggling team.  While Reid left a legacy and a lot more good than bad in Philadelphia, it was time for a change and there are quite a few candidates for the job.  While there aren’t any specific names going around just yet, you can bet the birds will name a new head coach sooner rather than later.

Then there are the Fly…you know what?  Never mind.

So what are my New Year’s Resolutions?  Well, I hadn’t really thought about them until I started writing this month’s editor message.  I plan on traveling more, with my first stop being Colorado to see the Union open their road campaign against the Rapids.  I also want to see PSL continue to grow.  We have already begun to expand our writing staff and plan to do so more and more in the coming months.

Speaking of expansion and resolutions, it is 2013 and we mentioned near the end of 2012 that we would be bringing you a new soccer specific podcast as well as a live weekly webcast early this year.  Those new additions to the site are still coming as we are brainstorming, making sure we bring you something new and innovative.

Of course, as always, we value your feedback more than anything else, and with it being a new year, we value it even more.  What would you like to see? What can we do differently?  Let us know.  You can email us at: [email protected] or shoot us a tweet @PhillySportLive.  Have a question for me or any of our writing staff?  Feel free to tweet me anytime @JulianB_PSL.  Happy New Year everyone, 2013 is going to be a great year.

All the best,

Julian Brown, Editor in Chief