This entry was posted on 1/19/2008 7:21 PM and is filed under uncategorized.
I don't follow college soccer (they have all the annoying Americanizations that MLS finally abandoned and it bother me for one reason) so I don't know anything about who was drafted. I'm not really qualified to comment on any of these guys since I have never seen any of them play. I will say that I am a bit concerned that we drafted yet another 17-year-old. He wasn't our top pick, and his draft position won't force us into a situation where we feel obligated to keep him on the roster for years even after it's evident he hasn't panned out. Hopefully he is a quality player, but given our past draft debacles, I'm not going to hold my breath on that one.
The point I did wish to make is regarding the super draft itself. In my view, this is yet another Americanization of the sport that really needs to go. What needs to happen is teams need to be free to either buy or develop their own talent just like everywhere else in the world. MLS really needs to follow the example of the rest of the world and let things work that way. They need to drop the conferences and go to a single table. They need to emphasize the Open Cup, turn it into the American equivalent of the FA Cup in England where all teams take it seriously and everyone pushes hard to win. The playoffs need to go, at least how they are presently set up. When 2/3 of the teams in the league make the playoffs and a mediocre team (LA Galaxy 2005 come to mind) can win the league championship after a miserable, losing season, the playoffs are meaningless. Having a better season than everyone else should entitle you to the championship, not a string of 4 games at the end of the season after you barely squeak by for most of the year.
I understand the idea behind the single-entity of MLS-to keep it from losing more money than they already are-but the single-entity model needs to end, the sooner the better. I do think that the end of single-entity is in sight, as more teams start to operate in the black, it will change. The key to operating in the black is a stadium where all revenue streams are controlled by the organization. As much as everyone likes to complain about football lines on the field, if that's the price that needs to be paid to get rid of single-entity, I'm all for it. Single-entity is what is holding up the teams from being forced to develop their own talent. It also is the reason for the salary caps. Again, the time isn't right just yet to abandon all this, not all the teams are making money. Once that is a reality, the rest there should fall into place. My only real fear with abandoning single-entity is the implications for RSL. I think this season will be telling for the team. If there is another losing season with no improvement on the pitch and in the PR realm, the team I fear is doomed. Without the MLS money help, I really wonder what would happen to RSL. I haven't looked at their financials, but I do have to wonder what exactly the county saw in them to believe that the stadium was a bad investment. Without information, all I can offer is speculation and if RSL is like most of the other teams in the league, they are probably losing money, a lot of money. Frankly, I'm amazed how much MLS has lost and still survived. That, thankfully is starting to change.
I know promotion/relegation is not currently possible, but ideally, this should be the goal in the future. Not only should winning teams be rewarded, but losing teams should be punished. It would require enough teams to make viable lower leagues. Maybe something is possible between USL and MLS, but again, I'm not privy to any negotiations, even though that sounds like the most likely scenario. USL teams last year showed well against MLS in the Open Cup, so it wouldn't be surprising to see something worked out that would benefit both leagues and make the whole soccer system in the US better.
In other news away from soccer, I am going through a PADI scuba certification course right now. Today we did our first confined water dive today, it was way cool breathing underwater. I will be in the Caribbean in May, on a cruise and will be diving at Cozumel and Grand Cayman. I'm pretty excited and so far love diving.
