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Throw-ins
Not everything rosy for MLS
Posted: Friday October 13, 2000 11:56 PM
Updated: Monday October 16, 2000 9:28 AM
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Even after the Kansas City Wizards' tense 1-0 MLS Cup victory in front of more than 39,000 fans Sunday in RFK Stadium, these are not the best of times for Major League Soccer. Attendance
was down slightly during the regular season and considerably during the
playoffs and there are rumblings that ABC will televise only two games next
season.
On Friday, MLS commissioner Don Garber met with a small group of journalists
to discuss today's most pressing issues and concerns and tomorrow's
challenges.
Among the highlights of the interview:
On slumping attendance: Seven of the 12 teams dropped in attendance as did
the overall league attendance. "I would say our attendance has stagnated vs.
dips. We're down about three percent. That's several hundred people a game.
Not improving is what my concern is. Next year we've got to show progress.
The last year I didn't make predictions. My friend Doug Logan (former
commissioner) made predictions and that wasn't great for his career. We're
not going to predict that we're going to hit a particular number. I will say
that will must get better and will get better and improve our attendance. . .
. . Am I concerned about it? Yeah. I would like to be sitting here and
telling you that our attendance has gone up."
On ABC deciding not to televise as many games in 2001: "If ABC exercises
not to show regular-season games next year, .7 and .8 ratings won't affect
our business what-so-ever. We have a great relationship with ESPN. ESPN is
committed to soccer in this country. Whether we have one game, three, five or
eight games on ABC, it won't affect anything other than maybe making it out
as an indication of dark things to come. Year One we had one game and no one
was saying, 'Why don't you have six games on ABC.' We need to have the right
schedule, the right partners, the right production. If it's not working on
ABC, then we'll get the right scenario with those who believe in us."
On the collapse of three-time champion D.C. United's ownership: "The
majority owner of that team and his partners have parted ways. So they have
not been, nor do we have an entity to directly deal with as it relates to
issues on team ownership. . . . There have been several offers to buy that
team. That ownership group has not been able to agree amongst themselves on a
deal. . . . They have agreed, with the majority owner with no interest in
soccer what-so-ever, MLS would take over the sale responsbiy for the D.C.
United's operating rights. I am unequivocally convinced that a team with a
strong a brand in professional sports that D.C. United is that we will be
successful in selling the team."
On prospective investors or owners for Dallas and Tampa, who have been
operated by the league since the first season. "We are and continue to be in
discussions with interested investors in both markets. We are forecasting to
being able to sell at least one of those league-operated teams in 2001. We
are forceasting the sale to the second of the teams in 2002. We continue to
have productive conversations. We have been unable to close with any of those
folks. We did spend a great deal of time with Warburg Pincus , who is looking
at purchasing two teams, D.C. and Tampa. Unfortunately that deal did not
close. It was tied up for a better part of a year."
On potential expansion teams: New York is definite for 2002 and Stuart
Subotnick , investor-operator of the MetroStars, is considering several sites
between Philadelphia and Hartford. "Our goal is to have no less than four new
teams by 2004. We have many other cities, including a representative from one
of those cities who is here waiting for me today, who is from Milwaukee.
There are many cities who we have interested investors and public supporters.
Winston-Salem is one. They already have begun selling PSL's for a new stadium
they hope to build. Rochester is an interested market. Houston is an
interested market. Sacramento is an interested market. Seattle is a very
interested market. So there are many markets for us to pick from. We have to
pick the most appropriate time frame, if you will, for all those markets to
fall into place. New York fell into place and hopefully Philly and Atlanta
will fall into place."
On the possibility of relocating some of the poorer teams. "At this point,
there is no possibility at all. We have issues in Miami. We are committed to
the Miami market and we think the Miami market should step up to the plate
and support the soccer team to a greater extent. We probably can do better in
some of the things that we are doing down there. We're focusing our efforts
on that. It's a major television market. There's not a professional sports
team outside of one that plays with a pigskin football that is not struggling
in Miami. The market is a difficult place for professional sports to work,
particularly in the summer months when its 100 degrees. That market is going
to have to step up and prove they want a soccer team. If they don't, then
we're going to have to sit down and make some tough decisions. We're going to
take a look at what happens this season."
On the Los Angeles Galaxy's proposed soccer stadium: "That project is
moments away from having a shovel on the ground. They have gotten all their
approvals from the city of Carson. They've got some continual work on their
construction and design plan. But they are full steam ahead. That's going to
be a great thing for soccer in this country. Not only for MLS, but great for
the sport."
On what he knows about the Women's United Soccer Association, which is way
behind schedule on its scheduled launch this April. "Very little. We're
hopeful that they are able to launch effectively to show the promise that
professional soccer has to both men and women have in this country. I have
great confidence in John Hendricks and his partners. Like MLS, everything is
scrambled until you have to kick a first ball. So I'm confident they'll be
able to get what they need to get done."
MLS Cup runneth over
MLS Cup 2000 is a great study in contrasts.
First of all, we have the two best teams in the league. The Chicago Fire and
Kansas City Wizards were tied for the most points. But that's where all
similarities end.
The Fire is the top offensive team, while the Wizards were the best
defensively.
The Wizards are the old guard when it comes to the U.S. National Team ( Tony
Meola, Peter Vermes and Chris Henderson were members of the 1990 World Cup
team, which was directed by K.C. coach Bob Gansler ). The Fire is the new
guard of the national side, with Chris Armas, Josh Wolff and Ante Razov on
the team that is trying to qualify for the 2002 World Cup. And my gut feeling
is that Fire coach Bob Bradley will wind up as coach of the National Team in
the not-too-distant future.
Setting it straight: Contrary what you might have heard about former
MetroStars coach Carlos Queiroz turning Wizards defender Peter Vermes into a
defender, it wasn't the first time he was called on to play the backline.
That happened during the 1995 U.S. Interregional Soccer League season
(forerunner to the United Soccer League), when New York Fever coach Mark
Shearer asked his high-scoring forward, Vermes, to play in the back to
stabilize a shaky defense. Vermes played a considerable amount of matches on
defense. He returned to forward when he joined MLS the next season.
Finally: Tony Meola winning MLS goalkeeper of the year was a long time
coming. Guess the voters couldn't pick against his league-record 16 shutouts
or miniscule 0.92 goals-against average. Even though he did not have nearly
the impressive numbers, Meola should have been selected as the league's top
keeper in '96 and '98, leading some speculation in the media that there was a
plot against Meola because some people didn't like the goalkeeper personally.
Regardless how a player is, he should he rated for his on-the-field
performance and nothing else.
The longest season: On Sunday, the Fire played its 43rd game of the
season. That includes 32 regular-season matches, seven playoff games and four
U.S. Open Cup encounters (and that doesn't include four friendly matches).
And it isn't quite over for Chicago, which hosts the Miami Fusion in the U.S.
Open Cup final next week. Whew!
Strange vibes: Yeah, that's what I got from this year's media luncheon. It
was different than past ones, which included a separate room for the league
to honor its MVP and front office award winners and for the commissioner to
give his state of the league speech. Commissioner Don Garber did not give a
speech, although there were "sound bites" in a press release to the media.
Something didn't feel right. Don't know what it is. Hope it wasn't MLS
starting to circle the wagons.
Molnar's goulash: Wade Boggs had to eat chicken before he played. Steve Stone had to have pancakes with a certain sportswriter on the day he pitched.
Kansas City Wizards forward Miklos Molnar apparently has found his unique
source -- goulash prepared by his father.
"My dad will be my secret weapon," Molnar said. "They are flying to
Washington, D.C. He will have plenty of time to prepare my goulash. I don't
know if it is possible for him to make it for me in the hotel. It will be
great to have him at the final."
Tim's fate: The fate of Tampa Bay Mutiny coach Tim Hankinson could be
decided as early as this weekend. Mutiny general manager Bill Manning and
Hankinson have not seen eye-to-eye this season and the team's first-round
elimination from the playoffs could very well signal the end of Hankinson's
regime. We'll see.
Good Riddance, Columbus
While the spin doctors did their best to make the best out of a so-so
situation in Columbus on Wednesday, the U.S.'s performance in this qualifying
round has me worrying big time about the final round of CONCACAF qualifying
for the 2002 World Cup next year.
Of course, I'm assuming the U.S. will beat Barbados on Nov. 15. If the
Americans don't, soccer journalists will have a story to kick around for
months to come.
If it's been a struggle through the semifinal round with the likes of Costa
Rica, Guatemala and Barbados, do you think it will be a walk in the park
against Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago, Honduras, Jamaica and either Guatemala or
Costa Rica next year? That six-team round-robin means 10 games, which means
more chances of bumping into MLS matches, more opportunities for coaches and
players to lose their tempers and more opportunities for the U.S. to fail to
convert their goal-scoring opportunities in close games.
Mexico is considered a shoo-in for one of the three CONCACAF spots. Trinidiad
& Tobago must be considered respected contenders thanks to the organizational
skills of coach Ian Porterfield and the striking ability of Manchester United
forward Dwight Yorke , even after the team's 7-0 disaster in Mexico City last
Sunday. Honduras proved to be a tough nut to crack during qualifying. While
it will be difficult to duplicate the magic of the Reggae Boyz of 1998,
Jamaica is tough at home. So will be Costa Rica or Guatemala.
To qualify, the U.S. needs to stay healthy, stay away from as many red and
yellow cards as possible, stay away from berating incompetent referees after
matches, pull off a surprise victory on the road and have a little luck once
in a while.
Since we've qualified three consecutive times, I shudder to think about the
consequences if the failed to reach soccer's promised land. It would be an
out-and-out disaster.
A couple of other thoughts from qualifying:
How about a date? While the CONCACAF draw for the final round won't be
until Nov. 19, I have managed to ascertain some of next year's playing dates,
thanks to the European World Cup qualifying schedule and a couple of other
sources.
The definite dates: March 24-28, April 25, June 2-6, Aug. 15, Sept. 1-5 and
Oct. 6-7.
At the moment, Feb. 14 and 28 have been designated as international playing
dates. For teams that have to play 10 matches, two more dates would be
needed. They probably would probably come in May, July or November.
This teams the MLS has its work cut out for the league to avoid playing games
during those dates and/or periods. It's not going to be easy, but at least
this time the league knows before hand.
Speaking of dates, barring changes or surprises from FIFA, this is how the
World Cup and Olympic dates will affect the MLS schedule in future years:
2000 -- World Cup qualifying and Olympics
2001 -- World Cup qualifying
2002 -- World Cup in South Korea and Japan
2003 -- What's this? A year of sanity
2004 -- The cycle begins all over again.
Public relations disaster: While I certainly won't begrudge the U.S.
National Team from playing a little gamesmanship against the likes of Costa
Rica and Guatemala, the lack of information coming out of U.S. Soccer was
virtually negligible. Unless you were in Columbus, it was impossible to get
any coherent information about the team. A roster of the players in camp,
whether it was 25, 30 or 35 players, would have been a start. Team spokesmen
said that coach Bruce Arena would not release a roster.
One journalist, whose name I won't mention to protect the guilty, told me to
stop whining and that there were plenty of speculation stories to be written.
To a point. But when that speculation turns to misinformation being reported
-- at least one New York newspaper said that Tab Ramos would be playing
though he never made it training camp -- that's another story.
If this type of policy continues for future games, home or away, then U.S.
Soccer will be ready to set back itself about 15 years. It's difficult enough
trying to convince editors to send you to places to cover matches. Then there
are the papers, editors and writers that need to be spoon fed. If there's no
information going out about the team, it's like playing in a vacuum.
In this country, soccer cannot afford to turn anyone off. In fact, the sport
has to find ways to make new friends, not shut down the communication lines.
If anyone is arrogant enough to think otherwise, he refuses to see the big
picture.
The McBride factor: Losing Brian McBride to a career-threatening (and even
a life-threatening) blood clot in his arm is a devastating loss for the
National Team. Not only does McBride give the U.S. unprecedented air power,
he has scored six goals in qualifier over 533 minutes, an incredible strike
rate of one goal every 88 minutes. Once every other match is considered
decent. Roy Lassiter has an even better strike rate than McBride, having
score three goals in slightly less than three games (283 minutes).
Just remember that it took Eric Wynalda , the U.S.'s all-time international
goalscorer, 906 minutes, the equivalent of 10 matches, to score his five
qualifying goals.
Let's see. McBride has suffered from an irregular heart beat, suffered a
fractured cheekbone and now the blood clot situation in nine months.
He has become this year's version of former U.S. Women's National Team great
Michelle Akers , who threw her body around the field without fear.
A huge degree of difficulty: How difficult it is to score in qualifying?
Since the 1990 qualifying competition, the U.S. has connected only 48 times
in 31 matches for an average of 1.55 a game. A total of 24 players have
scored at least once during that span. Only 11 players have scored two or
more goals.
Bad timing: Given his personal history against Costa Rica, Ramos could
not have picked a worse time to injure his groin. Ramos scored two of his
three qualifying goals against the Central Americans -- in a 1-0 win in St.
Louis in 1989 and in a 1-0 victory in Portland in 1997.
My personal sweet 16: Like the National Team, I, too, have a 16-game
unbeaten streak at World Cup qualifiers, although mine includes several road
games, while the U.S.'s undefeated streak is at home.
During that time, the U.S. has compiled a 10-0-6 record, outscoring the
opposition, 31-7. And oh yes, that includes four scoreless tie.
My last (and only) loss? Against Costa Rica in Torrance, CA, 1-0, on May 31,
1985, exactly a year to the kickoff of the 1986 World Cup, in the CONCACAF
semifinal round.
The last word: Last winter I took a lot of abuse from Canadian soccer fans
when I said that their National Team winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup would mean
nothing if they didn't qualify for the World Cup. Well, Canada didn't,
getting eliminated in the semifinal round (at least Canada reached the final
CONCACAF round for France '98). In this part of the soccer world, every
National Team isn't measured by the friendlies it wins or how strong its club
teams are, but rather how often the side reaches the World Cup and how they
fare in it. In Europe, you might want to add the European Championship to
that list of priorities.
Sacking of the week
This week award goes to that coward, Kevin Keegan , who fell on his sword last
Saturday after his England lost to Germany, 1-0, at Wembley, in his country's
first qualifying match. What a quitter.
By the way, Norway coach Niles Johan Sem offered to step down on Thursday in
the wake of his team's 1-0 defeat to the Ukraine a day prior. The Norwegian
Football Association said no way, although the Norwegians lost a home
qualifier for the first time since 1989.
It's funny that the ones who should quit never do and the ones who deserve
another year somehow get the boot.
Chip shots
Califf's rollercoaster ride: L.A. Galaxy defender Danny Califf , whom I
singled out in last week's column for bouncing back for his MLS team after
making several fatal errors during the medal-round matches for the U.S. at
the Sydney Olympics, wound up on the downside of his rollercoaster ride. In
fact, it was as low as it could get for Califf, who took down
Chris Henderson in the penalty area in the 22nd minute of Game 3. Miklos
Molnar converted the kick in what turned into a 1-0 win.
Only a week prior, Califf needlessly tripped a Chilean player in the penalty
area as the ball was going out of bounds. Ivan Zamorano converted the ensuing
penalty kick in what turned into a 2-0 victory for the South Americans.
Ironically, it was the first PK awarded to the Wizards in more than a year
over 46 matches. Their last penalty was on Aug. 25, 1999.
The Sydney blues: One final look at the Olympics: Did anyone notice that
both the U.S. men's and women's soccer teams wound up winless in Sydney? They
went 0-3 as they were outscored, 8-3. In the other soccer venues (Melbourne,
Canberra and Adelaide), it was a marked contrast. The Americans were
undefeated at 5-0-3 and outscored their foes, 15-8.
Gut feeling: The Fire will prevail over the Wizards, 2-0, in MLS Cup on
Sunday. Ante Razov and Hristo Stoitchkov will score for the Fire. For a more
detailed reason as to why I picked Chicago, please see my head-to-head story.
Michael Lewis covers soccer for the New York Daily News. His third book,
Soccer For Dummies, was published earlier this year.
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