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Meola turns up the heat

Hottest American keeper around? No doubt, it's Tony M.

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Posted: Thursday June 01, 2000 02:32 PM

This week's question | Quote of the week | Extra time | Game of the week

Tony Meola spent Tuesday in front of the cameras again. Another new career, big guy? Hardly. The Kansas City Wizards keeper was in Connecticut with a few fellow MLSers (including Ben Olsen, Carlos Valderrama, Adin Brown, Jay Heaps and Cobi Jones) filming one of those wacky ESPN ads for a new weekly soccer highlight show that debuts next month. "It's pretty funny. We hold ESPN hostage until they give us our own show," says Meola, whose main job is to look dangerous and a little bit deranged -- in other words, a lot like he does when he's scolding teammates after stopping a point-blank shot.

That Meola has only one line, a bit part, is of course a complete reversal of the 2000 MLS season to date. You'd be surprised how many people keep Meola locked up in the past, trapped in a glass case labeled 1990 and 1994. I have a buddy (OK, SI's Jeff Pearlman) who likes to say the name "Tony Meola" around me, as though he's some shared totem of our sports-addled youth, like Otto Velez or Gorman Thomas. Trouble is, Meola not only still plays, but at 31 he's playing the best soccer of his career, having gone an MLS-record 615 minutes without giving up a goal for the league-leading 9-0-2 Wizards.

Top of the Table Don Garber and John Hendricks. Who blinked? Who cares? MLS commish and WUSA honcho agree to cooperate, bringing logic, for once, to American soccer. Time (and future soccer-specific stadiums) will tell, but call this one of the top 10 moments in U.S. soccer history. MLS attendance. Over 40K in L.A., almost 30K in New York and (most shockingly) over 17K in Kansas City last weekend. Put those crowds in smaller stadiums, and we'd have Nirvana. Roy Wegerle. Oft-injured ex-forward will find life in front of the ESPN highlight show cameras is much safer than the game itself. (Unless he trips on his tongue.) Relegation Zone Thomas Rongen. Beleaguered D.C. United coach's job may be in jeopardy, but that didn't keep him from posting his own Web site, www.thomasrongen.com. Can't wait to see the message boards from D.C. fans. Hristo Stoitchkov. Injured Bulgarian stages "pitch invasion" against New England, running from the bench onto the field late in the game to retrieve a ball. (He thought offside had been called.) Ron Newman. Former Wizards coach is the last cut from ESPN stardom. (Just call me Rudy Martzke.)

He's got a new contract (Meola agreed to terms with MLS last week), a new radio show (he wants to go into broadcasting after he retires), and a revived international career (despite a dubious snub for this month's U.S. Cup). "I've improved a little bit in all the areas -- crosses, shot-stopping, communication -- but the biggest area has been distribution," he says. "It's important for our team to get out on the counterattack quickly. But I've been getting a lot of help from our defense. Any goalkeeper will tell you if you don't have faith in the guys in front of you it won't work, and we've had, what, nine shutouts in 11 games?"

But what's up with not making the national team? If how you play for your club matters, why did Brad Friedel (no action since October for Liverpool) get the nod over Meola? The U.S. Cup would have been especially important, since U.S. coach Bruce Arena has said he will use everybody on his roster. "It's a minor setback," Meola says. "I thought this was going to be an opportunity for me, but it didn't turn out that way. Based on what Bruce had said in January, it depended on how I did with my club team, but he sent me an e-mail and said I would be part of World Cup qualifying. So I just have to hope I play well."

The Wizards won't mind Arena's decision too much. They begin the most difficult stretch of their schedule -- four consecutive road games -- on Saturday at Tampa Bay, which is 6-0 at home. "We know people still don't regard us as a contender," Meola says, "not until we make some headway in the playoffs. But I still feel good about what we've done so far." If the ESPN ad turns out even half as well as Meola's season has, it will be worth the wait.

WUSA allocation haul: Winners and losers

It's only one of many steps on the way to a full-fledged league, of course, but WUSA's announcement of the American allocations for its eight teams on Wednesday left a few rosters stocked with talent and others desperately in need of some foreign aid. (Read: Brazil's Sissi, China's Sun Wen or Canada's Charmaine Hooper, to name a few.)

Here's our skinny on the way things shook out. (Keep in mind, defender Carla Overbeck will be taking the opening season off for family reasons.):

1. San Diego: M Julie Foudy, D Joy Fawcett, M Shannon MacMillan
Only team with three current U.S. starters will prove familiarity breeds a winner.

2. Washington: F Mia Hamm, GK Siri Mullinix, D Michelle French
If Hamm can get a solid set-up midfielder, D.C. will have the prolific offense to match its tough young D.

3. Boston: M Kristine Lilly, D Kate Sobrero, GK Tracy Ducar
Lilly's consistent brilliance will finally be showcased on a week-to-week basis.

4. New York: F Tiffeny Milbrett, D Sara Whalen, D Christie Pearce
Does this mean Milbrett will finally get the attention she deserves by starring in the nation's media capital?

5. Atlanta: GK Briana Scurry, F Cindy Parlow, M Nikki Serlenga
Could be a sleeper team if Serlenga develops into a first-rate distributor.

6. San Francisco: D Brandi Chastain, M Tisha Venturini, GK Lakeysia Beene
Slotted for a major offensive role, Venturini will have much to prove after being cut from the national team.

7. Philadelphia: M Lorrie Fair, GK Saskia Webber, F Mandy Clemens
Philly fans have to wonder why their team was the only one not to get a single Women's World Cup '99 starter.

8. Orlando: M Michelle Akers, F Danielle Fotopoulos, M Tiffany Roberts
Akers's health could be problematic in a league setting, and Fotopolous and Roberts didn't make the U.S. Olympic residency camp for a reason.

This week's question: Time to settle?

The right to choose to move from one MLS team to another at the end of your contract once you have played four full seasons in MLS and if the new team can fit your new salary under its salary cap. Under this scenario, the central league office would continue to negotiate your salary.

The results:

YES: 21

NO: 7

We asked this question because the two sides in the MLS players' lawsuit against the league haven't had any discussions about a settlement since a ruling last month threw out the players' contention that MLS's single-entity system violated antitrust laws. However, a few issues remain on the table: a dispute over licensing rights, the charging of transfer fees for players whose contracts have expired, and MLS's Division I certification by U.S. Soccer.

Both sides have said they're interested in a settlement, but under what conditions? Those listed above were good enough for 75 percent of the players surveyed. "There needs to be some honest discourse between both parties to bring about a resolution to the lawsuit," explains one player. "It's not good to have it lingering on."

Not every player agreed with the plan, though. "The big problem still lies in the central office deciding how much you can earn," explained one fifth-year veteran. "If a team had the right to allocate its money to whomever it wants, only then would you see players being paid what they should within our modest pay scale. How else can you assess your fair market value?"

Given the three-fourths agreement with the plan on the players' side, I called MLS CEO Mark Abbott and asked what he thought. "We've said all along that we're in favor of negotiating with the players," he said, though he refused to comment on any particular issues related to the lawsuit. Fine. I can deal with that, but what everyone would like to see is the two sides speak with each other and put this lawsuit in the past.

Garth and Grant ... this week's column wasn't big enough for the two of 'em. Ezra O. Shaw/Allsport

Garth Lagerwey quote of the week

I should have known that our favorite MLS backup goalkeeper would take on this topic with extra zeal, considering Garth has already been accepted into Georgetown law school. That said, I wasn't expecting a 1,158-word magnum opus. (Don't worry, we've split it up.) "I kind of Jerry Maguired this one," Garth explained to me. No kidding. Warning to those who proceed: Be very, very afraid.

"The answer is no. Any settlement is an agreement in good faith between two parties. Good faith requires open disclosure of finances so that the parties can determine an equitable split. MLS's track record on disclosure is about as outstanding as their list of spectacular foreign signing busts, led this year by the remarkable Lothar Matthäus, now said to be considering a move to powerhouse SSV Unterhaching."

When Garth Lagerwey was asked the above question, the Georgetown law-accepted backup goaltender opened up his legal vocabulary and nearly emptied the metaphor drawer. To read the remaining 1,090 words of Garth's take, click here.

Extra time

Anyone thinking that D.C. United will re-acquire striker Raúl Díaz Arce in a trade with Tampa Bay underestimates the antipathy that Díaz Arce holds toward United. "Raúl loves his fans in D.C., but he doesn't want to play for a Kevin Payne team," says Cory Clemetson, Díaz Arce's agent. "He thinks he got shipped out unfairly by Payne and Bruce Arena because there was no real salary cap to consider." ... DaMarcus Beasley will rejoin the Chicago Fire on Monday instead of June 12, as originally planned. Facing a thin lineup without Chris Armas and Ante Razov (national team duty) and perhaps Stoitchkov (groin injury), the Fire requested that Beasley join the team instead of traveling with the U.S. under-20 team on a European tour ... Isn't it about time for New England to sign somebody as its allocation? Word is that the Revs are looking for a Portuguese player -- and that the allocation has morphed from a "minor" allocation into a not-quite-major-but-not-quite-so-minor slot thanks to the league's dumping of Eduardo Hurtado back to Ecuador ... The biggest difference about MLS's signing of Luis Hernández was that it actually proceeded like any rich European league. "Normally we look for situations where a team and a player's relations aren't good or the player wants to move on," says MLS executive VP Ivan Gazidis. "In this case, we just targeted the player we wanted." Scary thought: MLS came awfully close to having the deal fall through at the last second. Says Gazidis, "The weekend before last was one of the most stressful of my life." ... Though D.C. United forward Chris Albright has struggled mightily up front (zero goals), coach Thomas Rongen says, "Chris is still our future up front. He'll continue to get a chance." ... Clemetson, who is also Cobi Jones's agent, says Jones deserves "a million a year for five years, guaranteed" when his contract talks re-start with MLS. Adds the agent, "I'm willing to say Cobi will get more than that on the international market." ... MLS hopes to schedule a meeting of the competition committee this week to decide what to do in the playoffs if two teams have the same number of points after three games. The most likely solution will be to have a 20- to 30-minute golden-goal overtime, followed by penalty kicks if necessary ... Before MLS signs José Manuel Abundis for San Jose, he'll need to be determined physically fit after struggling since he suffered a knee injury in this year's Gold Cup.

Game of the week

Kansas City Wizards (9-0-2) at Tampa Bay Mutiny (6-5-0). Saturday, May 27, 4:30 p.m. ET, Telemundo. Something has to give when the undefeated Wizards meet the Mutiny, which is 6-0 at home. Or does it? Look for Meola's 615-minute (and counting) shutout streak to end, but K.C. always finds a way to get clutch goals when it needs them.

Prediction: 2-2 tie.

Sports Illustrated staff writer Grant Wahl -- who is a 2-2 in his weekly predictions -- will keep you up to date on U.S. soccer teams and players each Wednesday. To send him a question or comment click here.

 

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