Some News for Fri Mar 12, 2010
MLS COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT
I must admit that I did not think these two sides would let this drag on so long and cause this much tension coming up to the start of the season.
With thousands of fans all set to travel for opening weekend away games, the MLS players would be making a HUUUUUUUUUUGE mistake going on strike. They would be pissing off their most hardcore of fans. All sympathy would be gone. Just look at these big matches:
Seattle Sounders v Philadelphia Union - not only Seattle's sell out, but the first ever game for Philadelphia so you know they are sending a boatload of people west.
Columbus Crew v Toronto FC - this heated rivalry has seen hundreds head south for prior meetings
FC Dallas v Houston Dynamo - the Texas derby always sees large numbers of Houstonians invade Frisco.
New York Red Bulls v Chicago Fire - The grand opening of Red Bull Arena, and Chicago sending lots of fans for this one.
Kansas City Wizards v DC United - DC has had decent traveling support longer than anyone else.
dN
The current deal expired on Jan 31, 2010, but the two sides agreed to originally extend it until Feb 12, and a further 13 days to Feb 25. And now that Feb 25 has come and gone with no new deal being finished, we enter the Twilight Zone.
dN
Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America talks to MLS Commissioner Don Garber about the ongoing process/progress.
Beau Dure of USA Today on the back and forth between the players and league.
Jeff Carlisle of ESPN Soccernet talks to some more players about negotiations.
CONTEST du NORD
We are closing in on 1000 Twitter followers & the person who becomes that number gets a prize. A Nike baseball cap from your choice of teams: Paris St Germain, Atletico Madrid, Manchester United, Barcelona, Werder Bremen or Inter Milan.
Don't hesitate. Join today.
And watch for more give-aways very soon.
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
James Lawton of The Independent looks at the big money teams who are OUT of the tourney already.
Lyon, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Arsenal as half of the Quarterfinals field is set.
dN
Round of 16 2nd Leg Matches & Scores (with 1st Leg scores included):
-Tue Mar 16
Sevilla v CSKA Moscow (1-1)
Chelsea v Inter (1-2)
-Wed Mar 17
Barcelona v Stuttgart (1-1)
Bordeaux v Olympiacos (1-0)
CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Quarterfinals 1st Leg Matches & Scores:
-Tue Mar 9
Columbus Crew 2-2 Toluca - CC goals both by Steven Sheepshead Lenhart. Tol goals by Antonio Naelson & Antonio Rios.
-Wed Mar 10
Marathon 2-0 UNAM Pumas - Mar goals by Walter Martinez(PK) & Carlos Mejia(PK).
Comunicaciones 1-1 Pachuca - Com goal by Rolando Fonseca. Pac goal by Paul Aguilar.
-Thu Mar 11
Arabe Unido 0-1 Cruz Azul - CA goal by Cristian Rivero.
Away goals is the tiebreaker.
dN
Quarterfinals 2nd Leg Matches & Scores (with 1st Leg scores included):
-Tue Mar 16
Pachuca v Comunicaciones (1-1)
-Wed Mar 17
Toluca v Columbus Crew (2-2)
Cruz Azul v Arabe Unido (1-0)
-Thu Mar 18
UNAM Pumas v Marathon (0-2)
STORY OF THE DAY
The Independent reports that Portsmouth players are gathering money to pay for some of the staff that was fired this week as the team goes through bankruptcy. They better.
MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS
Glenn Davis of Fox Sports Houston wonders when we will see the real Luis Landin on the field for the Dynamo. Or is this overweight lazy guy the real one?
dN
Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com with a look at preseason for Chivas USA.
Chivas USA has signed Costa Rican international fullback Michael Umana. At one time he suited up for the Galaxy.
dN
Chicago announced the signing of forward Collins John, who at one time played at Fulham with Brian McBride.
MLS RUMORS
Soccer 365 with a couple of new MLS-centric rumors heading into the weekend.
MLS PRESEASON GAMES
Portland beats Seattle, and I know its a preseason game, but it's the big rivalry.
San Jose beats Colorado in London, and does not give up a single goal in their 3 matches in England.
And New York gets three goals today by rookie Conor Chinn!
dN
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Mar 11
Houston Dynamo 1-1 Chicago Fire
Match report by Jose Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle.
Seattle Sounders 0-1 Portland Timbers (USSF D2)
Match report form the Seattle Post Intelligencer.
-Fri Mar 12
San Jose Earthquakes 2-0 Colorado Rapids - in London England
Match report from the Tottenham website.
Miami FC 1-3 New York Red Bulls
Tampa Bay Rowdies (USSF D2) v FC Dallas
Carolina Challenge Cup:
-Sat Mar 13
Real Salt Lake v DC United
Charleston Battery v Toronto FC
-Wed Mar 17
Charleston Battery v Real Salt Lake
DC United v Toronto FC
-Sat Mar 20
Charleston Battery v DC United
Real Salt Lake v Toronto FC
USSF DIVISION 2
According to Inside Minnesota Soccer UD2 will webcast all games this season, just like USL1 had done over the previous couple of seasons. Great news.
USA WORLD CUP 2010 SOUTH AFRICA
Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated gives us his picks for who will be on the USA World Cup roster.
-The one name that I think Wahl has to convince me the most on is Sacha Kljestan.
AMERICANS IN EUROPE
Arch Bell of Yanks Abroad talks to Clarence Goodson about the beginning of a new season in Norway at Start.
AMERICANS IN ASIA
Greg Seltzer of Soccer 365 talks to Lee Nguyen about playing in Viet Nam again this season.
ENGLAND
Top Premier League Team Standings (29 of 38 games played)
63 Manchester United - Next: Sun Mar 14 v Fulham
61 Chelsea - 28 Played - Next: Sat Mar 13 v West Ham
61 Arsenal - Next: Sat Mar 13 at Hull
49 Tottenham - 28 Played - Next: Sat Mar 13 v Blackburn
49 Manchester City - 27 played - Next: Sun Mar 14 at Sunderland
- - - - -
48 Liverpool - Next: Mon Mar 15 v Portsmouth
45 Aston Villa - 26 played - Next: Sat Mar 13 at Stoke City
SPAIN
Top La Liga Team Standings (25 of 38 games played)
62 Real Madrid - Next: Sun Mar 14 at Valladolid
62 Barcelona - Next: Sun Mar 14 v Valencia
46 Valencia - Next: Sun Mar 14 at Barcelona
43 Sevilla - Next: Sat Mar 13 v Deportivo La Coruna
- - - - -
43 Mallorca - Next: Sat Mar 13 at Getage
41 Deportivo La Coruna - Next: Sat Mar 13 at Seville
40 Athletic Bilbao - Next: Sun Mar 14 at Sporting Gijon
FRANCE
Top Ligue 1 Team Standings (27 of 38 games played)
52 Bordeaux - 24 played - Next: Sat Mar 13 at Monaco
52 Montpellier - Next: Sat Mar 13 v Auxerre
50 Lyon - Next: Sat Mar 13 v St Etienne
- - - - -
49 Marseille - 26 played - Next: Sun Mar 14 at Toulouse
48 Lille - Next: Sun Mar 14 v Grenoble
48 Auxerre - Next: Sat Mar 13 at Montpellier
GERMANY
Top Bundesliga Team Standings (25 of 34 games played)
53 Bayern Munich - Next: Sat Mar 13 v Freiburg
51 Schalke - Next: Fri Mar 12 v Stuttgart
50 Bayer Leverkusen - Next: Sun Mar 14 v Hamburg
- - - - -
43 Hamburg - Next: Sun Mar 14 at Bayer Leverkusen
42 Dortmund - Next: Sat Mar 13 at Bochum
39 Werder Bremen - Next: Sun Mar 14 at Hoffenheim
ITALY
Top Serie A Team Standings (27 of 38 games played)
59 Inter - Next: Fri Mar 12 at Catania
55 Milan - Next: Sun Mar 14 v Chievo Verona
52 Roma - Next: Sun Mar 14 at Livorno
46 Palermo - Next: Sun Mar 14 at Udinese
- - - - -
44 Juventus - Next: Sun Mar 14 v Siena
43 Sampdoria - Next: Sun Mar 14 at Bologna
41 Napoli - Next: Sat Mar 13 v Fiorentina
UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE
Round of 16, 1st Leg Matches & Scores:
-Thu Mar 11
Hamburg 3-1 Anderlecht
Rubin Kazan 1-1 Wolfsburg
Atletico Madrid 0-0 Sporting Portugal
Lille 1-0 Liverpool
Benfica 1-1 Marseille
Panathinaikos 1-3 Standard Liege
Juventus 3-1 Fulham
Valencia 1-1 Werder Bremen
2nd leg reverse fixtures will be played on Thu Mar 18.
COPA LIBERTADORES
GROUP STAGE (runs through to Apr 22) - This Weeks Matches & Scores:
-Tue Mar 9
Universidad Catolica 2-2 Universidad Chile - UCat goals by Matias Rubio & Francisco Silva. UChi goals by Juan Manuel Olivera & Edson Puch.
Racing Club 2-1 Cerro Porteno - Rac goals by Mathias Mirabajes & Martin Cauteruccio. CP goal by Luis Caceres.
Bolivar 0-0 Estudiantes
Cuenca 2-0 Morelia - Cue goals by Gabriel Mendez & Luis Escalada.
-Wed Mar 10
Independiente 1-1 Corinthians - Ind goal by Cesar Valoyes. Cor goal by Dentinho.
Once Caldas 1-1 Monterrey - OC goal by John Valencia. Mon goal by Hector Morales.
Alianza 2-0 Juan Aurich - Ali goals by Jose Fernandez & Giancarlo Tragodara.
Nacional 2-2 Banfield - Nac goals by Gustavo Varela & Mario Reguieiro. Ban goals both by James Rodriguez(1 via PK).
Caracas 1-3 Flamengo - Car goal by Rafael Castellin. Fla goals by Vagner Love(2 - 1 via PK) & Rodrigo Alvim.
-Thu Mar 11
Nacional 0-2 Sao Paulo - SP goals both by Washington.
Quito 1-1 Internacional - Qui goal by Tilson Minda. Int goal by Giuliano.
Italia 2-2 Cruzeiro - Ita goals by Richard Blanco & David Mcintosh. Cru goals both by Kleber.
Emelec 1-2 Cerro - Eme goal by Pablo Perez. Cer goals by Pablo Caballero & Claudio Dadomo.
dN
Standings (6 Rounds):
Grupo 1 (2 played)
4 Corinthians (Brazil)
3 Racing Club (Uruguay)
2 Independiente Medellin (Colombia)
1 Cerro Porteno (Paraguay)
Grupo 2 (3 played)
7 Once Caldas (Colombia)
6 Sao Paulo (Brazil)
1 Monterrey (Mexico)
0 Nacional (Paraguay)
Grupo 3 (3 played)
9 Alianza Lima (Peru)
4 Estudiantes de la Plata (Argentina)
3 Juan Aurich (Peru)
1 Bolivar (Bolivia)
Grupo 4 (3 played)
7 Libertad (Paraguay)
7 Universitario (Peru)
3 Lanus (Argentina)
0 Blooming (Bolivia)
Grupo 5 (2 played)
6 Cerro (Uruguay)
4 Internacional (Brazil)
1 Deportivo Quito (Ecudador)
0 Emelec (Ecuador)
Grupo 6 (3 played)
7 Banfield (Argentina)
5 Nacional (Uruguay)
3 Cuenca (Ecudador)
1 Morelia (Mexico)
Grupo 7 (2 played)
6 Velez Sarsfield (Argentina)
4 Cruzeiro (Brazil) (3 played)
3 Colo Colo (Chile)
1 Italia (Venezuela) (3 played)
Grupo 8 (2 played)
6 Flamengo (Brazil)
4 Universidad Chile (Chile)
1 Universidad Catolica (Chile)
0 Caracas FC (Venezuela)
I must admit that I did not think these two sides would let this drag on so long and cause this much tension coming up to the start of the season.
With thousands of fans all set to travel for opening weekend away games, the MLS players would be making a HUUUUUUUUUUGE mistake going on strike. They would be pissing off their most hardcore of fans. All sympathy would be gone. Just look at these big matches:
Seattle Sounders v Philadelphia Union - not only Seattle's sell out, but the first ever game for Philadelphia so you know they are sending a boatload of people west.
Columbus Crew v Toronto FC - this heated rivalry has seen hundreds head south for prior meetings
FC Dallas v Houston Dynamo - the Texas derby always sees large numbers of Houstonians invade Frisco.
New York Red Bulls v Chicago Fire - The grand opening of Red Bull Arena, and Chicago sending lots of fans for this one.
Kansas City Wizards v DC United - DC has had decent traveling support longer than anyone else.
dN
The current deal expired on Jan 31, 2010, but the two sides agreed to originally extend it until Feb 12, and a further 13 days to Feb 25. And now that Feb 25 has come and gone with no new deal being finished, we enter the Twilight Zone.
dN
Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America talks to MLS Commissioner Don Garber about the ongoing process/progress.
Beau Dure of USA Today on the back and forth between the players and league.
Jeff Carlisle of ESPN Soccernet talks to some more players about negotiations.
CONTEST du NORD
We are closing in on 1000 Twitter followers & the person who becomes that number gets a prize. A Nike baseball cap from your choice of teams: Paris St Germain, Atletico Madrid, Manchester United, Barcelona, Werder Bremen or Inter Milan.
Don't hesitate. Join today.
And watch for more give-aways very soon.
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
James Lawton of The Independent looks at the big money teams who are OUT of the tourney already.
Lyon, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Arsenal as half of the Quarterfinals field is set.
dN
Round of 16 2nd Leg Matches & Scores (with 1st Leg scores included):
-Tue Mar 16
Sevilla v CSKA Moscow (1-1)
Chelsea v Inter (1-2)
-Wed Mar 17
Barcelona v Stuttgart (1-1)
Bordeaux v Olympiacos (1-0)
CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Quarterfinals 1st Leg Matches & Scores:
-Tue Mar 9
Columbus Crew 2-2 Toluca - CC goals both by Steven Sheepshead Lenhart. Tol goals by Antonio Naelson & Antonio Rios.
-Wed Mar 10
Marathon 2-0 UNAM Pumas - Mar goals by Walter Martinez(PK) & Carlos Mejia(PK).
Comunicaciones 1-1 Pachuca - Com goal by Rolando Fonseca. Pac goal by Paul Aguilar.
-Thu Mar 11
Arabe Unido 0-1 Cruz Azul - CA goal by Cristian Rivero.
Away goals is the tiebreaker.
dN
Quarterfinals 2nd Leg Matches & Scores (with 1st Leg scores included):
-Tue Mar 16
Pachuca v Comunicaciones (1-1)
-Wed Mar 17
Toluca v Columbus Crew (2-2)
Cruz Azul v Arabe Unido (1-0)
-Thu Mar 18
UNAM Pumas v Marathon (0-2)
STORY OF THE DAY
The Independent reports that Portsmouth players are gathering money to pay for some of the staff that was fired this week as the team goes through bankruptcy. They better.
MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS
Glenn Davis of Fox Sports Houston wonders when we will see the real Luis Landin on the field for the Dynamo. Or is this overweight lazy guy the real one?
dN
Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com with a look at preseason for Chivas USA.
Chivas USA has signed Costa Rican international fullback Michael Umana. At one time he suited up for the Galaxy.
dN
Chicago announced the signing of forward Collins John, who at one time played at Fulham with Brian McBride.
MLS RUMORS
Soccer 365 with a couple of new MLS-centric rumors heading into the weekend.
MLS PRESEASON GAMES
Portland beats Seattle, and I know its a preseason game, but it's the big rivalry.
San Jose beats Colorado in London, and does not give up a single goal in their 3 matches in England.
And New York gets three goals today by rookie Conor Chinn!
dN
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Mar 11
Houston Dynamo 1-1 Chicago Fire
Match report by Jose Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle.
Seattle Sounders 0-1 Portland Timbers (USSF D2)
Match report form the Seattle Post Intelligencer.
-Fri Mar 12
San Jose Earthquakes 2-0 Colorado Rapids - in London England
Match report from the Tottenham website.
Miami FC 1-3 New York Red Bulls
Tampa Bay Rowdies (USSF D2) v FC Dallas
Carolina Challenge Cup:
-Sat Mar 13
Real Salt Lake v DC United
Charleston Battery v Toronto FC
-Wed Mar 17
Charleston Battery v Real Salt Lake
DC United v Toronto FC
-Sat Mar 20
Charleston Battery v DC United
Real Salt Lake v Toronto FC
USSF DIVISION 2
According to Inside Minnesota Soccer UD2 will webcast all games this season, just like USL1 had done over the previous couple of seasons. Great news.
USA WORLD CUP 2010 SOUTH AFRICA
Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated gives us his picks for who will be on the USA World Cup roster.
-The one name that I think Wahl has to convince me the most on is Sacha Kljestan.
AMERICANS IN EUROPE
Arch Bell of Yanks Abroad talks to Clarence Goodson about the beginning of a new season in Norway at Start.
AMERICANS IN ASIA
Greg Seltzer of Soccer 365 talks to Lee Nguyen about playing in Viet Nam again this season.
ENGLAND
Top Premier League Team Standings (29 of 38 games played)
63 Manchester United - Next: Sun Mar 14 v Fulham
61 Chelsea - 28 Played - Next: Sat Mar 13 v West Ham
61 Arsenal - Next: Sat Mar 13 at Hull
49 Tottenham - 28 Played - Next: Sat Mar 13 v Blackburn
49 Manchester City - 27 played - Next: Sun Mar 14 at Sunderland
- - - - -
48 Liverpool - Next: Mon Mar 15 v Portsmouth
45 Aston Villa - 26 played - Next: Sat Mar 13 at Stoke City
SPAIN
Top La Liga Team Standings (25 of 38 games played)
62 Real Madrid - Next: Sun Mar 14 at Valladolid
62 Barcelona - Next: Sun Mar 14 v Valencia
46 Valencia - Next: Sun Mar 14 at Barcelona
43 Sevilla - Next: Sat Mar 13 v Deportivo La Coruna
- - - - -
43 Mallorca - Next: Sat Mar 13 at Getage
41 Deportivo La Coruna - Next: Sat Mar 13 at Seville
40 Athletic Bilbao - Next: Sun Mar 14 at Sporting Gijon
FRANCE
Top Ligue 1 Team Standings (27 of 38 games played)
52 Bordeaux - 24 played - Next: Sat Mar 13 at Monaco
52 Montpellier - Next: Sat Mar 13 v Auxerre
50 Lyon - Next: Sat Mar 13 v St Etienne
- - - - -
49 Marseille - 26 played - Next: Sun Mar 14 at Toulouse
48 Lille - Next: Sun Mar 14 v Grenoble
48 Auxerre - Next: Sat Mar 13 at Montpellier
GERMANY
Top Bundesliga Team Standings (25 of 34 games played)
53 Bayern Munich - Next: Sat Mar 13 v Freiburg
51 Schalke - Next: Fri Mar 12 v Stuttgart
50 Bayer Leverkusen - Next: Sun Mar 14 v Hamburg
- - - - -
43 Hamburg - Next: Sun Mar 14 at Bayer Leverkusen
42 Dortmund - Next: Sat Mar 13 at Bochum
39 Werder Bremen - Next: Sun Mar 14 at Hoffenheim
ITALY
Top Serie A Team Standings (27 of 38 games played)
59 Inter - Next: Fri Mar 12 at Catania
55 Milan - Next: Sun Mar 14 v Chievo Verona
52 Roma - Next: Sun Mar 14 at Livorno
46 Palermo - Next: Sun Mar 14 at Udinese
- - - - -
44 Juventus - Next: Sun Mar 14 v Siena
43 Sampdoria - Next: Sun Mar 14 at Bologna
41 Napoli - Next: Sat Mar 13 v Fiorentina
UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE
Round of 16, 1st Leg Matches & Scores:
-Thu Mar 11
Hamburg 3-1 Anderlecht
Rubin Kazan 1-1 Wolfsburg
Atletico Madrid 0-0 Sporting Portugal
Lille 1-0 Liverpool
Benfica 1-1 Marseille
Panathinaikos 1-3 Standard Liege
Juventus 3-1 Fulham
Valencia 1-1 Werder Bremen
2nd leg reverse fixtures will be played on Thu Mar 18.
COPA LIBERTADORES
GROUP STAGE (runs through to Apr 22) - This Weeks Matches & Scores:
-Tue Mar 9
Universidad Catolica 2-2 Universidad Chile - UCat goals by Matias Rubio & Francisco Silva. UChi goals by Juan Manuel Olivera & Edson Puch.
Racing Club 2-1 Cerro Porteno - Rac goals by Mathias Mirabajes & Martin Cauteruccio. CP goal by Luis Caceres.
Bolivar 0-0 Estudiantes
Cuenca 2-0 Morelia - Cue goals by Gabriel Mendez & Luis Escalada.
-Wed Mar 10
Independiente 1-1 Corinthians - Ind goal by Cesar Valoyes. Cor goal by Dentinho.
Once Caldas 1-1 Monterrey - OC goal by John Valencia. Mon goal by Hector Morales.
Alianza 2-0 Juan Aurich - Ali goals by Jose Fernandez & Giancarlo Tragodara.
Nacional 2-2 Banfield - Nac goals by Gustavo Varela & Mario Reguieiro. Ban goals both by James Rodriguez(1 via PK).
Caracas 1-3 Flamengo - Car goal by Rafael Castellin. Fla goals by Vagner Love(2 - 1 via PK) & Rodrigo Alvim.
-Thu Mar 11
Nacional 0-2 Sao Paulo - SP goals both by Washington.
Quito 1-1 Internacional - Qui goal by Tilson Minda. Int goal by Giuliano.
Italia 2-2 Cruzeiro - Ita goals by Richard Blanco & David Mcintosh. Cru goals both by Kleber.
Emelec 1-2 Cerro - Eme goal by Pablo Perez. Cer goals by Pablo Caballero & Claudio Dadomo.
dN
Standings (6 Rounds):
Grupo 1 (2 played)
4 Corinthians (Brazil)
3 Racing Club (Uruguay)
2 Independiente Medellin (Colombia)
1 Cerro Porteno (Paraguay)
Grupo 2 (3 played)
7 Once Caldas (Colombia)
6 Sao Paulo (Brazil)
1 Monterrey (Mexico)
0 Nacional (Paraguay)
Grupo 3 (3 played)
9 Alianza Lima (Peru)
4 Estudiantes de la Plata (Argentina)
3 Juan Aurich (Peru)
1 Bolivar (Bolivia)
Grupo 4 (3 played)
7 Libertad (Paraguay)
7 Universitario (Peru)
3 Lanus (Argentina)
0 Blooming (Bolivia)
Grupo 5 (2 played)
6 Cerro (Uruguay)
4 Internacional (Brazil)
1 Deportivo Quito (Ecudador)
0 Emelec (Ecuador)
Grupo 6 (3 played)
7 Banfield (Argentina)
5 Nacional (Uruguay)
3 Cuenca (Ecudador)
1 Morelia (Mexico)
Grupo 7 (2 played)
6 Velez Sarsfield (Argentina)
4 Cruzeiro (Brazil) (3 played)
3 Colo Colo (Chile)
1 Italia (Venezuela) (3 played)
Grupo 8 (2 played)
6 Flamengo (Brazil)
4 Universidad Chile (Chile)
1 Universidad Catolica (Chile)
0 Caracas FC (Venezuela)
posted by brucio at 16:49
11 Comments:
"the Texas derby always sees large Houstonians invade Frisco."
Large and large numbers of large Houstonians as well!! Beware small Frisco! You have been warned! And no strike will save you!
I totally disagree with you on the MLS strike my friend. Being part of a union for years and being union busted I understand that there is something that is greater than one event or one weekend. I support the MLS players and whatever they decide to do.
Well put, bq.
-andrew
A strike is probably the only way MLS is going to change. Its been pretty apparent that the owners were going to do anything to keep from altering their rather draconian pay scale to something more in line with the 21st century. A more reasonable minimum, better guarantees on contracts and some kind of sane rules for dealing with players dropped by their teams have to be part of the new CBA. Without a strike threat - or perhaps a strike - the owners would be more than content to continue to treat the players as chattel.
A strike would be unfortunate, but remember - the league would be just as guilty as the players in that event, more so perhaps.
Kelly
I'd say that MLS would be making a huge mistake if they leave it in a situation where the players feel compelled to strike. I'm backing the players on this one, and so the league is the one that I would be really pissed at. Yeah, I know they lose money, yada yada, but I don't see how most of what the players want really impacts the bottom line that much. It just seems like control and "remember who's boss" kind of b.s. and that is what pisses me off.
Enough b.s. Let's play ball!!!
I'm with the players on this one too. They need to do something with the league minimum salary, some sort of free agency for veterans and the players should give the owners a very long term contract to give the league stability over the next several years of potential expansion and growth.
Then get on with the frigging games!
Well put, BQ; I couldn't agree more.
Kevin A.--
So the players should just accept whatever the league offers them so that they don't upset a bunch of fat Houstonians who are going to be stinking up some bus to frisco with their cheet-o farts?
No sir. I don't know all the details. But considering many, many players make less than $35,000 and that they have no ability to change MLS teams if even if a club releases them, I'm inclined to think the players have some legitimate gripes.
Unions are useless agents of industry anymore IMHO. They served a purpose in he industrial age, but have morphed into pseudo-political agencies with their self created bureaucracies and generally run interference to getting anything done.
Players have a choice, like most every physically able American. Players aren't forced into playing soccer in MLS. If they're good enough, then play elsewhere. If they're not, then find work elsewhere where they can have better financial terms and freedoms.
That's how reality works for the 87% of us who aren't in unions and who have to make the tough choices to better our lives.
Unions would be great if they actually served the benefit of their employees and joining was voluntary, but unions don't care about individuals (as evidenced in their name alone and actions to prtect their bureaucracy) and when a shop unionizes, there is no choice for employees to not join.
Unions are a disaster in general and have ruined many industries with their collective agreements, over reaching entitlements and protections for the inept few who should be fired for under performance.
Outside of that, go soccer!
- Barry Soetoro
As far as the players on the low end of the salary scale - there's been no indication that the union has really pressed that issue, or that it's a really big concern of theirs. The 3 issues they are talking up are Guaranteed Contracts, Option Years and some type of Free Agency when out of contract.
Which I'm totally with them on the idea that once your contract is up it's crazy that another team has to trade something to your former team to get you, even if the former team doesn't want you anymore.
But the number of players making under $35k is actually pretty small, and the union doesn't actually seem too concerned about changing that.
I have been searching the series of tubes all morning, and can't find what I am looking for, but....
I seem to remember reading that full free agency is not even legally possible under MLS's corporate structure, and if they opened it up to that they would be subject to some kind of federal employment regulations charges.
Sorry that I have not found the exact thing I am talking about, and this could be something I am completely making up....
Post a Comment
<< Home