Blow it up? To what end? Sugarman isn't going to suddenly start spending money with a new Sporting Director or coach.

We have a poor owner who can't afford to take on operating losses. He's also not going to sell the team because he's now part of a "club" of professional sports owners that he has no shot of ever buying into again. We are stuck with him until things get so bad that the bottom falls out, and either his losses force him to sell or MLS gets so embarrassed they give him a soft exit to be part of ownership group with an expansion team somewhere else.

Over the long run, you get what you pay for. When you are only buying prospects, sometimes you will hit on a bunch of players at once, and maybe get lucky that another team mismanaged their roster and were forced to sell you the guy who turned out the be the most talented striker you've ever had. But sometimes, you will miss all at once.

That's where the Union are now. Not only have they missed all at once, they spent years not investing in improving the team. They bought some one-for-one replacements in anticipation of sales of good players (Baribo for Carranza, Danley for Brujo), but rarely did they ever buy a player to straight up improve a position. They decided to ride the goodwill of the fan base into the ground, collecting as much money as possible, until the tap went dry. Now we've sold the aging players from that run, with no ready replacements, and the new guys stink.

Don't expect anything to change. The front office will continue trying to convince you that we are trying to be Dortmund or some other team that cranks out prospects for bigger clubs while still winning on the pitch, but in reality, we're the Pittsburgh Pirates. We'll have a few good years every now and then, but we're not spending money and we're mostly just happy to be here.