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| Friday, September 14, 2001 24:15 EST |
Some soccer sites to consider
By Jeff Bradley
[ESPN The Magazine]
I'm coming clean right out of the gate. This is a throwaway column. Everyone does one from time to time, but not everyone lays it right out there for you, or better yet, tells you why they're doing a throwaway column. Me? I'm telling you right now.
I'm on vacation, actually a few hours away from a flight to Myrtle Beach, where for the next three days I will play 36 holes a day, eat coronary-inducing, deep-fat-fried seafood, play cards, smoke a Macanudo or two and maybe even drink a beer. So, as much as I love soccer, my mind right now is on something else.
So there, I'm guilt-free.
The MetroStars stadium presentation party on Tuesday was a nice high-gloss event. The video that showed the Metro area's passion for soccer was well-done. The comments from everyone, from Investor-Operator Stu Subotnick to GM Nick Sakiewicz to Economic-Impact maven Rick Horrow were fine, too. The drawings were also nice.
But I'm going to go out on a limb and say, if the Empire Soccer group really thinks it can get two stadium/community centers up and running in time for the 2003 season, they're going to have to be in the Meadowlands and Flushing Meadow Park.
I know the supporters are going to want to kill me, but think about it ... if Empire Soccer wants to begin construction in September, are cities like Newark and Harrison going to be ready to move by then, first on city approval, then on road-reconstruction, land cleanup and the like? That's a lot of political red-tape. And a lot to ask.
In the Meadowlands, where they've already told Empire they can have the land free, you could start rolling the excavators in tomorrow. No new exits on the Turnpike. No concern about finding parking spaces. No citizens to protest. It won't get any cleaner than that.
Same thing in Flushing Meadow Park, where currently the U.S. Tennis Center keeps them busy for a few weeks every summer. There's parking at Shea, John Rocker's Number 7 train and the Long Island Railroad. If the city thinks a 25,000-seat soccer stadium would be a nice addition to the park -- everyone knows the park is one of the city's hot spots for pickup soccer -- then there you have it.
Basically, you'd be looking at building a couple of stadiums, and nothing else.
I also can't help but think, if Empire can reach an agreement with the NJ Sports and Exposition Authority, where the Empire takes care of soccer and the NJSEA can take care of the concerts, lacrosse and XFL games, everything should be relatively seamless. If Empire needs to employ some type of "entertainment and non-soccer" subsidiary, it just seems like a much more difficult transition for Subotnick and Co.
Of course, I could be entirely wrong on both counts.
By the way...
It's going to be interesting to see if MLS fixtures like Preki, Leonel Alvarez and Raul Diaz Arce will swallow their pride and play for big paycuts in 2001. Diaz Arce has indicated he will come to terms, while Preki still hasn't gotten over the hurt. Perhaps they should all look at the example set by Tab Ramos and John Harkes a year ago.
Expect some significant trades in the next week or two, at least one involving a prominent MLS star. Here's why. Many teams know they're going to have cap problems once the 2001 Salary Budgets are released, so they know it's time to start moving pieces around, so they can head to camp ready to train.
Before KC fans start getting too down about the re-structuring of their championship side, they should remember that title-winners that stay in tact often have problems finding the same intensity a year later. By bringing in Roy Lassiter and Mark Santel to replace Miklos Molnar and Chris Henderson, Bob Gansler is keeping with his "veterans win" philosophy while also adding a little new volatility to the mix.
Last week, I defended former Rapids coach Glenn Myernick, and after hearing GM Dan Counce's comments about wanting Colorado to become more "entertaining" I'm on Mooch's side more than ever. Myernick had a threadbare roster for most of the season and, out of necessity went into bunker mode to try to keep his team's season alive. Maybe Counce should have told him, "just entertain, baby."
After seeing Dave Dir, Tim Hankinson and Myernick get the axe this season, I hope all MLS coaches get a guaranteed one-year's severance as part of any deal. It's not like these guys are making big money, most are pretty much working-class guys, and to think you can be fired because, in the case of Hankinson, the GM isn't "on the same page" as you, and, in the case of Myernick, because your team wasn't "entertaining" enough. Who would want to take these jobs at these low, low six-figure salaries, re-locate their families, etc., knowing you can do well and still get canned? Not worth it.
Along those same lines, after reading a lot of the transcript from the Players lawsuit on geocities.com/combedge/home.htm, I really hope some strides are made to make the lives of these players in MLS better. I understand that a lot of college kids go to work for $24,000 - $40,000, but most don't have to worry about being traded or released. I know there's risk in everything, but I'd like to see the minimum salary go up and some type of free agency added to the single-entity mix. The more young players that can stay close to home the better, in my opinion.
Now, I've got to go clean off my sticks and polish my golf shoes...
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