Doug Hartmann
Collinsville, Ill.
My son’s team (SIU-Edwardsville) went from Division I to Division II this year, and there seems to be some confusion on how a men’s Division II team gets a [postseason] bid. Is there some secret way these are selected? We played Northern Kentucky [recently] and read in their media guide that they were the conference champs last year, but didn’t get a bid! As a long-time SA subscriber, I don’t recall any information about bid selection. Any ideas, or do you know where to point me?
Mike Woitalla: The NCAA awards Division I tournament spots to certain conference champions from conferences it deems worthy of automatic bids. (Most conferences consider their tournament winner, not the regular season winner, their champion.) The NCAA distributes the rest as at-large bids chosen by the championship committee. But at the Division II level, conference winners are not awarded automatic bids to the NCAA tournament. Three teams are chosen from each of the four geographic regions. For more information on how that works, I recommend contacting the NCAA at: 913-339-1906.
Ralph Culver
Burlington, Vt.
Someone with some authority in MLS had better do something to avert future incidents like what happened during the shootout in the D.C. United-Metros series Game 1, when Peter Vermes shot out of order. I cannot believe for one moment that Vermes and the Metros’ coaching staff didn’t realize what they were up to. So now we have the teams involved in the shootout — at the playoff stage, yet! — appearing to be able to cheat with impunity. It astounds me that MLS administrators shrugged this situation off as blithely as they did (“no advantage” was given by permitting Vermes to shoot out of turn — didn’t he get an extra five minutes or longer to recover from injury?). Is this just another example of Bruce Arena’s statement — and how ironic that his team should be burned in the process — that soccer is the “cheatingest” sport on earth? And finally, how much responsibility should the refs shoulder for this debacle?
Ridge Mahoney: The refs should certainly know the rules, and it’s true the MetroStars took advantage of a technical violation and MLS execs cravenly let the result stand.
We’re stuck with the shootout. All I can suggest is to bombard the league and MetroStars’ office with faxes and letters — don’t phone — expressing your views. But only if thousands of fans boo, AND LEAVE THE STADIUM, when the shootout starts will Logan and his cronies re-think their position. You see, the league has you where it wants you — you hate the 35-yard dog-and-pony show, but you’re compelled to see how the match turns out, no matter if it’s by shootout or overtime or tug-of-war or human sacrifice.
Brit Francis
Muncie, Ind.
With the history that the U.S. has had trying to begin a pro league, do you feel that with the success MLS has had, that now the time is right for soccer to join the top four sports in the U.S. and make it No. 5? If this is so, do you also feel that the marketing techniques used today will help the progress of MLS?
RM: Believe it or not, it’s a big jump into the realm of NFL, NBA, etc. Frankly, I don’t see MLS hitting that stage for many years, but I also believe it can be quite successful if it can fully develop the huge pool of potential soccer spectators and capitalize on the companies and businesses interested in sports sponsorships but unable to cough up the huge sums demanded by the big four.
The problem is that this spectator pool is divided into several smaller pools:
Anglo suburban, casual sports fan, local aficionado, and dozens of ethnic groups. Each segment must be marketed differently, with the league needing broader media coverage — not ad buys, but stories in newspapers and magazines and highlights/features on TV — to penetrate these various segments. Take Sports Illustrated: During a spectacular first season, MLS rated just four stories, and one was a disgraceful rip at the opening game. The powers-that-be are filling their pockets doing what they’re doing, so why change?
Competition among sports teams in most MLS cities is fierce, and no matter if the Buccaneers and Jets/Giants are pathetic losers — they are part of a vast, powerful sports league with decades of tradition, not to mention hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues, sponsorships, salaries, etc. This is what the MLS is bucking, not to mention virulent pockets of scorn and hostility in the sports, media and business worlds.
Commissioner Doug Logan is right when he says the league has a long way to go; my worry is that I don’t think he knows how to get it there.
Lou
Springfield, Mass.
Is it true that coach Arrigo Sacchi and player Daniele Massaro are going to the NY/NJ MetroStars???
RM: I don’t think the MetroStars can afford to pay Sacchi, and I doubt if the league will cough up the millions needed to buy Massaro from a J-League club. I rate both possibilities as minuscule.
Paulo Aquiles
Elizabeth, N.J.
If MLS doesn’t need a coach like Carlos Queiroz, what kind do they need?
RM: Someone with a decent amount of experience, willing to shoulder the burdens of working with many players of limited skills for far less than $2 million a year and staying more than five months if a better offer comes along.
MLS does need a coach like Queiroz, but can’t realistically afford to pay the astronomical sums he can command. And I doubt if he’ll last more than two years in Japan.
Eric Warasta
Medford, Mass.
Recently, MLS has received some criticism for the lack of high quality play. Now, nobody expects the league to be a top flight league right away, but if quality doesn’t increase soon, will the fans continue to come? My question is, how was the J-League so successful in Japan? Did they allow more foreigners per team? Was the Japanese player development system ahead of ours? Are there any valid comparisons between the two leagues?
Paul Kennedy: The J-League relied upon huge investments and corporate support — far greater than MLS has achieved — to get off the ground. The J-League allows three foreigners on the field. In 1994 and 1995, the foreigners signed were big-name players like Leonardo and Jorginho of Brazil, and today, Evair, Edilson, Frenchman Basile Boli, and Italian Toto Schillaci are among the top international stars.
Japan is spending millions of dollars on player development, and their young stars, Shoji Jo and Maezono to name just two, upset heavily favored Brazil at the Atlanta Olympics. MLS has Project-40, which is just that — a project.
The level of play in Japan has increased, though MLS’s level should increase at a not dissimilar pace. The biggest problem for MLS could be what’s hurt the J-League — a drop in interest after the initial hype. Like the J-League, MLS has exceeded expectations in terms of number of fans and enthusiasm. Witness the final: who would have ever figured 34,000 plus fans would venture out to Foxboro in a monsoon?
Sean Curry
Jefferson City, Mo.
My 9-year-old son is an avid soccer player and fan. Pele is one of his favorite soccer players. He would like to write him a letter. Do you know of a postal address for Pele fan letters?
Pete Bailey: Write to Pele in care of:
AF Sports Agency
P.O. Box 925
New York, NY 10150
Michael Vraney
Appleton, Wis.
Whatever happened to Trace Video? I am interested in buying NASL videos, but as far as I can tell Trace no longer exists. Are you aware of anyone that still sells old NASL matches?
PB: Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to locate a company that has any NASL videos. Perhaps some of our web site visitors might know of one?
Martin Lacey
Cambridge, England
Do you think American youth teams get much benefits from playing European teams in tournaments, such as the USA Cup.
Dan Woog: Absolutely. The more different types of competition a team gets, the better.
Keith Armstrong
Spotsylvania, Va.
A defensive player other than keeper intentionally handles the ball in an attempt to prevent a score, but the ball enters the goal. The center referee does not see the play, but the linesman does and indicates a foul. The center referee stops play and goes to the linesman. The player who handled the ball “leaves the scene” and mingles with others, so that neither the linesman or the center referee can identify the player who handled the ball. How should the center referee rule?
Poul Swain: Give the goal. No other action. If the referee can’t identify the player who committed the infraction, he can’t punish him.