Before I knew Wes Burdine as owner of the Black Hart of St. Paul, a wonderfully unique soccer bar within a shortish walk of Minnesota United FC's home stadium, I knew him as a fellow Howler collaborator back in the day when Howler was first bursting onto the scene and helping launch some soccer writing careers.
Burdine, in addition to keeping a truly open-to-all bar open — he bought the bar in 2018 and turned the mainstay LGBTQ+ bar with drag shows into a mainstay LGBTQ+ soccer bar with drag shows — maintains a deep knowledge of the hometown Loons.
(I still fondly remember walking up to the door to start 2022 MLS All-Star Week and seeing the "Welcome Realtors" sign out front – a joke that maybe only soccer journalists really appreciate. It's really a perfect place to have a beer, meet other soccer fans, and nerd out about the sport you love.)
Speaking of nerding out, I reached out with some questions.
Minnesota United has appeared to be, for the last few years at least, a team consistently good enough to make the playoffs but not quite good enough to win a title? Is there a sense among fans that this year is different, and if so, why?
I think there is definitely a feeling that Minnesota is in the top third of the West this year. The West is usually a couple of great teams and a whole lot of mediocre. I've felt we've been a good mediocre for a long time. This year, I think Vancouver is great and there are a couple of pretty good teams and I put Loons in that category. That said, this three-game stretch of Vancouver, Austin, and Miami is one that I look at as the first real test. If Minnesota want to be a real contender, they need to win in Austin. But the second part of your question is can they do more than just get into the playoffs? I think fans are having fun (I am at least), but this team and Ramsay need to prove that they're more than just fun.
Bongokuhle Hlongwane is, among all the good things that he is, one of the most non-defender defenders available in MLS Fantasy. What does he do to make this team better, and how is he typically deployed? (We hear with Kelvin Yeboah possibly out, Hlongwane may be an actual forward this weekend.)
The entire Loons set up is so different this year that I don't think I've fully understood how it all is working and so it's hard to answer that question about Bongi. He's been used as a wingback and he's been surprisingly good at times defensively. His best role is off the ball and popping up into space. Or, being on the ball with a lot of space (perfect for a wingback). If Yeboah is fit, we'll see Bongi in that wingback role, but with our struggles in creating, I think Ramsay will start playing around more with moving Bongi closer to goal.
Now that head coach Eric Ramsay's settled in, what's the general vibe around him and his leadership? Can he last as long as Adrian Heath did?
Some of the Ramsay excitement comes from seven years of having a coach who hated the fans and the fans hated him. That said, Ramsay has a lot of support in Minnesota. He's a positive, thoughtful coach, but he's also quite obviously clever. His use of defensive midfielders in the third CB role so they can move into the midfield is really fascinating to watch. And it's also fun to watch a coach who is obviously trying things. It helps that those shifts often get results. Will he stay for seven years? Doubtful. I think at best we have him for another season after this and then he gets poached by an English club. I just hope he wins us a trophy before then.
Bonus question: Why is the Black Hart of Saint Paul the happiest place on Earth?
I'll give you the extremely earnest answer. Black Hart is the happiest place on Earth because it's a place where people come together, people of all kinds. It's really encouraging and lovely to be around queer joy and I think a vast majority of soccer folks who show up want to be part of a space like that. It was really hard for me to sell people on the idea that soccer fans wouldn't just bro the place out, but we've been able to keep the place mega-queer and have soccer be part of it. I love it. It gives me a lot of joy.
Before I knew Wes Burdine as owner of the Black Hart of St. Paul, a wonderfully unique soccer bar within a shortish walk of Minnesota United FC's home stadium, I knew him as a fellow Howler collaborator back in the day when Howler was first bursting onto the scene and helping launch some soccer writing careers.
Burdine, in addition to keeping a truly open-to-all bar open — he bought the bar in 2018 and turned the mainstay LGBTQ+ bar with drag shows into a mainstay LGBTQ+ soccer bar with drag shows — maintains a deep knowledge of the hometown Loons.
(I still fondly remember walking up to the door to start 2022 MLS All-Star Week and seeing the "Welcome Realtors" sign out front – a joke that maybe only soccer journalists really appreciate. It's really a perfect place to have a beer, meet other soccer fans, and nerd out about the sport you love.)
Speaking of nerding out, I reached out with some questions.
Minnesota United has appeared to be, for the last few years at least, a team consistently good enough to make the playoffs but not quite good enough to win a title? Is there a sense among fans that this year is different, and if so, why?
I think there is definitely a feeling that Minnesota is in the top third of the West this year. The West is usually a couple of great teams and a whole lot of mediocre. I've felt we've been a good mediocre for a long time. This year, I think Vancouver is great and there are a couple of pretty good teams and I put Loons in that category. That said, this three-game stretch of Vancouver, Austin, and Miami is one that I look at as the first real test. If Minnesota want to be a real contender, they need to win in Austin. But the second part of your question is can they do more than just get into the playoffs? I think fans are having fun (I am at least), but this team and Ramsay need to prove that they're more than just fun.
Bongokuhle Hlongwane is, among all the good things that he is, one of the most non-defender defenders available in MLS Fantasy. What does he do to make this team better, and how is he typically deployed? (We hear with Kelvin Yeboah possibly out, Hlongwane may be an actual forward this weekend.)
The entire Loons set up is so different this year that I don't think I've fully understood how it all is working and so it's hard to answer that question about Bongi. He's been used as a wingback and he's been surprisingly good at times defensively. His best role is off the ball and popping up into space. Or, being on the ball with a lot of space (perfect for a wingback). If Yeboah is fit, we'll see Bongi in that wingback role, but with our struggles in creating, I think Ramsay will start playing around more with moving Bongi closer to goal.
Now that head coach Eric Ramsay's settled in, what's the general vibe around him and his leadership? Can he last as long as Adrian Heath did?
Some of the Ramsay excitement comes from seven years of having a coach who hated the fans and the fans hated him. That said, Ramsay has a lot of support in Minnesota. He's a positive, thoughtful coach, but he's also quite obviously clever. His use of defensive midfielders in the third CB role so they can move into the midfield is really fascinating to watch. And it's also fun to watch a coach who is obviously trying things. It helps that those shifts often get results. Will he stay for seven years? Doubtful. I think at best we have him for another season after this and then he gets poached by an English club. I just hope he wins us a trophy before then.
Bonus question: Why is the Black Hart of Saint Paul the happiest place on Earth?
I'll give you the extremely earnest answer. Black Hart is the happiest place on Earth because it's a place where people come together, people of all kinds. It's really encouraging and lovely to be around queer joy and I think a vast majority of soccer folks who show up want to be part of a space like that. It was really hard for me to sell people on the idea that soccer fans wouldn't just bro the place out, but we've been able to keep the place mega-queer and have soccer be part of it. I love it. It gives me a lot of joy.
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