A Casual Conversation with Jason Bruzzichesi on the Rowdies and Al Lang Field

I first met Jason at a recent St. Pete City Council meeting where the issue of the management Al Lang field was supposed to be on the Agenda but was delayed at the last minute when the Agreement between the Edwards Group and the St. Pete Baseball Commission seemed to fall apart. It appears that deal is back on, and will be discussed this Thursday at the next City Council meeting.

Jason had some pretty interesting things to say when he spoke to City Council during the public forum.

Jason is a local product, went to St. Pete High School and played soccer there, although he also played baseball and football. Despite not being a starter, interest in soccer has followed him since high school.

After moving around a bit and some time in the Marines, where he also played soccer, Jason found himself back in St. Pete and he took an interest in the Rowdies after accidentally catching a match with a friend on a night off from work. He says, “I was blown away by the atmosphere; how friendly everyone was, and how everyone was involved in the match.” Now, I try to pass that kind of energy along through Ralph’s Mob. I feel it is a way to connect with your city and be proud of it at the same time.”

My first question was, “What soccer groups are you working with here in St. Pete”?

Jason replied, “I am working with the Tampa Bay Soccer Supporters Alliance which is the corporate name for Ralph’s Mob – who supports the Rowdies in the NASL (North American Soccer League), and hopefully one day soon, the MLS (Major League Soccer). We have also incorporated the Cigar City Corsairs which is the supporters group of the Tampa Marauders, who play in the amateur ranks of the NPSL (National Premier Soccer League). There’s a lot of crossover amongst the soccer fans, but at the same time, we support a variety of different teams. Many of our members are also members of USF Goalmouths, who support USF men and women’s soccer. We even have a large group of Ralph’s Mob members who attend Tampa Bay Lightning games as ‘Sticks of Fire’ – and they try and bring a lot of the soccer atmosphere into the hockey games. It’s an absolute riot.”

Jason continued, “I am now president of the American Outlaws chapter in St. Pete that supports the national team that played in Brazil, as well as the US Women’s National Team that will be playing in the Women’s World Cup in Canada next year. The amount of soccer that you can get involved in is absolutely astonishing, yet most people in the US don’t even know it existed outside of the World Cup. We’re more than happy to re-introduce them to the sport, especially on the local level.”

“Where do you see soccer going here in St. Pete”? I asked.

“Short term we are going to struggle because we compete against three other major league sports teams; the Bucs, the Rays and the Lightning, not to mention collegiate football” Jason replied. “We will probably see about 5000 to 8000 people at the games in Al Lang stadium in its current configuration, but I don’t think that’s really indicative of what we’re capable of. It wasn’t that long ago that the Mutiny filled up Tampa Stadium with 45,000 screaming fans. It’s not like those people went away.”

Jason continued, “People know about the Rowdies, but a lot of that is by word of mouth. The team has existed in some form or another since the early 70’s, even after the NASL collapsed in the 80’s; they carried on as an indoor league team well into the 90’s.”

“Bringing them back to life in 2010 was like reconnecting with your first girlfriend, and finding she’s just as beautiful as you last saw her. The magic was immediate. But it’s not like the Rowdies were starting over. They have a long legacy and they are a pretty well established brand. “

Next I moved the current hot topic: Al Lang field. “How does Al Lang Field fit into soccer in St. Pete and Pinellas County”? I asked.

“Well, there weren’t a lot of places for the Rowdies to play to be honest with you,” Jason replied. “There was a referendum in Tampa in about 2010 to build a stadium for the Rowdies at the old Bern’s tomato patch. It failed miserably and the City (Tampa) didn’t want to put up any money. At the time we were in the USL as FC Tampa Bay. There was not a lot of support for third tier team so they played at Legends (now Steinbrenner) baseball stadium. It was a terrible configuration with half the pitch in the outfield and the other half clay. You got the impression that the Yankees were not very enthusiastic about having anybody else there, especially a bunch of soccer players.”

Jason went on, “If you look around Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties, I can’t think of another place that is more centrally located than Al Lang. It is probably one of the best locations for any soccer team in North America to be honest. It is a prime downtown location.”

What would you like to see happen at Al Lang”? I asked.

“I would like to see a museum honoring the baseball history there; I love the baseball legacy that is Al Lang. It definitely has a history for spring training, but no major league team has played at Al Lang since 2006/2007 even then it was a minor league Devil Rays team.”

Jason continued, “Baseball at Al Lang has such a rich history, but we have to be honest and say that it does not have a future there. The structure was built in the 1970’s, and it shows. It’s just not capable of housing a professional baseball now, and I’m pretty sure everyone knows it. I would love to see it (Al Lang) reconfigured and built as a multi use soccer stadium with shop fronts and restaurants in the base of the structure. St. Pete has the opportunity to put in place the only waterfront soccer park in the country. David Beckham can’t even deliver that right now.”

“Do you think the current issue on the table with the Edwards Group taking over management of Al Lang Field is a positive step”? I asked.

“Absolutely,” Jason replied. “How can the St. Pete Baseball Commission manage a facility that is primarily used for soccer? It’s kind of like having the NBA (National Basketball Association) manage Tropicana Field. It makes absolutely no sense. International baseball plays for about 8 to 12 weeks, their highest attendance over the last three years is about 300 people, their lowest attendance was less than 20 and that was this year.”

Jason continued, “If you look at the condition of the Al Lang complex, it was not up to professional standards for anyone, even at the high school level. If I was an international baseball player, I would be upset with the condition of the stadium. We thought that it was just our lot in life to have to suffer through the conditions in order to support our team, even as they won the championship in 2012. To see the influence of Mr. Edwards and his resources available to enact some sort of change is a fan’s dream come true.”

What do you think the City should do regarding Al Lang field”? I asked.

Jason replied, “Truthfully, if there is going to be a twenty or thirty year master plan for the City, they have to embrace change. What is going to be the next thing? Unfortunately, I don’t believe the Rays are going to stick around without a massive billion-dollar investment they’re going to demand the city pony up. That’s just not going to happen.”

Jason continued, “So what is going to be the sports identity for St. Petersburg? Is there even going to be a sports identity, or are we content to be the quirky, artsy younger sibling to Tampa? Realistically, I’m hoping it will be soccer, because the support is already here, and we are just begging for the opportunity to showcase how much it can do for the region.”

“Do you see the effort of the Edwards Group to take over management of Al Lang field as a good move”? I asked.

“I think it is the only move they have,” Jason replied. “I am not involved in their politics or anything like that but the current contract with the St. Pete Baseball Commission runs until 2018 or something like that. But they weren’t doing their jobs. I mean, they weren’t event interested in changing the grass until the city step in and threw a lot of money at it. If they hadn’t done that, the field would be completely unplayable.”

Jason added, “I wouldn’t expect the St. Pete Baseball Commission to enact any revolutionary changes, so it had to be a law suit. It’s unfortunate, but I think it is a good thing it happened this way. It shows what was going on with the St. Pete Baseball Commission. It shows the level of frustration that the soccer fans were having with the facilities, and the indifference of what was essentially the landlord. There are not a lot of successful soccer teams that play in baseball stadiums without major accommodation. They were barely willing to let the Rowdies put signs up on the front of the building, let alone reconfigure the field. It was a terrible situation for soccer.”

“What can the City do better to support youth soccer and professional soccer in the short term”? I asked.

Jason thought for a moment and said, “I would like to see them tie in a lot of the public parks where we have soccer fields. Places like Puryear Park or Walter Fuller, and some well maintained fields on the south side. I would like to see the city get behind soccer and subsidize some youth programs. It’s one thing to have a soccer team in your city, it’s another to build a community that loves and plays it every day. I want to be able to say 20 years from now that this is the birthplace of soccer in the southeast, where many of the superstars in the game were raised and grew up. We have the opportunity to do that right now.”

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