Lion Links: 10/29/15

Happy Thursday morning to you all, Lions Nation!

Halloween is just a couple of days away and, like some of you, I’m still trying to figure out what I want to dress up as for the work party Saturday night. A ghost? Nah. Orlando City player? Too easy. Oh, I’ve got one — Pro/Rel Guy!

Don’t know what I’m talking about? Of course you do.

Pro-Rel Guy is still a solid Halloween costume idea: pic.twitter.com/TqNKcWJc3J

— Maxi Rodriguez (@FutbolIntellect) October 28, 2015

And with that, let’s move on to the main event: today’s Lion Links.

Alex Morgan Bigger Than Kaká?

Orlando City has a knack for entering with a bang.

In 2014, the club announced Kaká as its first designated player signing heading into MLS, and just this week, Orlando Pride announced USWNT star Alex Morgan as one of the club’s first three signings as it builds towards its NWSL debut in 2016. In terms of age, skill, and marketability, one could argue that Morgan is actually a bigger signing for the first-year club than Kaká, a World Cup champion (like Morgan) and former FIFA World Player of the Year. Like Kaká, Morgan is on board with the idea of helping raise soccer in the south and taking women’s soccer to the next level. And she’s ready to do that here in Orlando.

Former Lion Wins USL Defender Of The Year

Former Orlando City defender Bryan Burke was named the USL’s Defender of the Year on Tuesday. Burke spent two seasons with Orlando after joining the club in 2013. He was one of the Lions’ best defenders in 2013 before a terrible leg injury forced him to miss the remainder of the season, then almost the entire 2014 campaign. Without injuries, Burke, I believe, would have surely joined Orlando City in MLS. Burke will be looking to make the jump to MLS this winter, and there’s no question teams will come calling for Louisville City’s top defender, but could a reunion with Adrian Heath in Orlando be possible? A need for depth at full back says so.

Milestones Galore After First MLS Campaign

Orlando City’s first season in Major League Soccer is in the books, and even though the club missed out on the ultimate goal of making the playoffs, the Lions have plenty to be proud of this season. As explained in this piece on OrlandoCitySC.com — written by The Mane Land’s own Sean Rollins (hooray for team synergy!) — City accomplished a lot in 2015, with milestones going down all over the place. If you’re looking to make yourself look smart the next time you end up in a conversation about the Lions with some of your friends, go ahead and pop on into that link.

NBA/Soccer Crossover

The 2015/2016 NBA season tipped off this week — the Orlando Magic kicked off their season last night against the Washington Wizards. So, for whatever reason — to celebrate the start of the season, maybe? — an internet artist took it upon himself to redesign NBA team jerseys as soccer kits. The results were pretty amazing, though I must admit I’m not a huge fan of the Magic design (below). But you be the judge, and check out the other kits.

Wait, So Euro Kids Like MLS?

I’m going to leave you guys this week with an interesting story from the New York Times. While American soccer fans spend countless hours each day criticizing MLS for how it’s vastly different from its European counterparts, an interesting trend is taking place over in Europe, in places such as England: millennials over there actually take a strong liking to MLS because it’s everything the Premier League is not — every team has a chance to win in any given year, there’s a playoff system, and more importantly, no promotion-relegation! Yes, apparently this entire time we were trying to get MLS to be more like European leagues, European fans like what MLS is doing just fine.

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That’s it for me this week, folks. Until next time, Uncle Gav out.