Welcome to the first post in my Planning for Greatness with CITY SC series. It’s a series I just made up, so we’ll see how this goes.

First off, and this is important, posts in my Planning for Greatness with CITY SC series are purely for fun and enjoyment – there is nothing legal here. I’ve wanted to write about CITY SC for a while but never found the time or angle. This format gives me the perfect excuse to keep up with the team and write whenever I feel so moved. Plus, I happen to have a website to publish on.

The concept of this series is simple: tracking how close CITY SC is to achieving greatness. Think of the idea as a reverse doomsday clock with a CITY SC twist. And instead of counting down to catastrophe (apparently we’re 89 second to midnight, whatever that means), I’ll be measuring the progress of CITY SC toward achieving greatness! And like the doomsday clock, I’ll update whenever something notable happens with the team.

Also, full disclosure, I’m an estate planning and family law attorney posting through my law practice website (I don’t have another website). If you’re still reading, I’m pleasantly surprised. While these posts will be for fun, the “planning for greatness” theme connects with how I help clients strategize their cases and estate plans. Though I may not use those exact words with clients, I enjoy discussing the necessary steps to achieve optimal outcomes in their legal matters. The connection between my practice and these posts is definitely a stretch (ha), but it works for me.

And to be clear, these posts contain only my opinions, and again, are just for fun and personal enjoyment. And I’m just a fan like you. I watch most games and follow the team closely, so you’ll get my genuine perspective – but again, I’m just another fan.

Now, let’s get into the first edition of Planning for Greatness with CITY SC

Side note. It’s Saturday, July 26, at 9:23 am. I should be working, but I’ve been excited about writing this. Not exactly how I planned my morning, but here we go.

CITY SC is struggling right now. There’s no way around it. Along with numerous injuries, strategy changes, and coaching adjustments, we’re performing poorly. This season is effectively over, with no real playoff hopes or tournament success. However, I still believe in many players on our roster! If everyone were physically and emotionally healthy, and playing to their potential (I’m looking at you, Teuchert), we have the foundation for a good team. And yes, I know this is not a novel thought, with every fan of every losing sports team ever saying this about their team, but consider our potential attacking lineup: Klauss, Hartel, Teuchert (glass half-full), Celio, Lowen, and Durkin. In what would likely be our 4-2-3-1 formation, this looks like a playoff-worthy group when healthy and performing well. Add solid options like Ostrak, Xande, occasionally Becher and Wallen (or maybe not), Joyner (!?), Jeong (?), and others – I think there’s definitely hope.

So, without further ado, our current greatness status: CITY SC is about 28% of the way to greatness. I wanted to say 30%, but couldn’t justify it after that recent 3-0 defeat. Despite this, I believe we’ll upset some teams and create some exciting soccer moments in the second half of this year, and maybe even tonight against the Loons. I genuinely like many players on our roster (yes, yes… I’m biased), but there’s no denying this season won’t bring any trophies. So we’re going with 28% of the way there for the initial greatness check.. Now, this begs the question, what exactly is the framework for my greatness scale? 

I’m glad you asked. I”m admittedly making this up right now, but on my scale, 100% greatness means CITY SC wins the MLS Cup and every tournament they enter for the season. This may never happen, but it’s the gold standard. At 1%, the team finishes last in the MLS Supporters Shield standings with no hope for either the current or upcoming season. And 0%? That would be something like Carolyn pulling a Kroenke on us. There’s your framework.

And for this first post, I thought it would be fun to include how this young franchise has moved along my greatness scale, that I just made up, since its beginning

We’ll start with the end of the 2023 season. We were Western Conference Champions, though we exited the playoffs immediately against rival Sporting KC and made a quick exit from the Leagues Cup. As a fan, that was an awesome season, despite getting gutted in the playoffs by Sporting KC – which hurt. I’d say we finished that season at about 70% of the way to greatness… or maybe this would have been our mark right before the playoffs. The number feels high, but I respect the success of our inaugural season. So here’s to you, Carolyn and Lutz, with getting 70% of the way there in year one.

But, by the end of the 2024 season, we plummeted down to about 15% of the way towards greatness. This might seem low, but outside of our in-season signings and some late-season flashes, 2024 felt rough. We finished near the bottom of the table and made no impact in tournament play. I could probably talk myself into a higher mark based on the signings of Hartel, Teuchert (or at least his 2024 form), and Becher, but we’ll stick with 15% for the end of 2024.

Which brings us back to today at 28% of the way to greatness. Admittedly, after writing this post, 28% feels a bit generous. I’m thinking the novelty of our new signings is anchoring me a bit high, and it’s a game day, so that always brings some energy. All that said, and this being my first post, I’ll reserve the right to adjust if we get smashed by the Loons tonight. Also, and especially for anyone still reading, I envision future posts to be more detailed and technical. I just wanted to get this first post out, and am honestly still not convinced I will be posting it as I’m writing these last sentences.

And as mentioned, I’m an estate planning and family law attorney. You’re actually on a website for my law practice, and when I post this blog, there will automatically be a link below offering a free consultation. My webmaster has that set up on all posts (I’m guessing he didn’t foresee a CITY SC post, ha), and I have no idea how to turn it off. So, if you are interested in a free consultation regarding an estate planning or family law matter, please feel free to use the link below.