The following are quotes from the April 20 media teleconference featuring MLS Commissioner Douglas G. Logan, MLS Executive Vice President Ivan Gazidis, Dallas Burn Head Coach David Dir, and Dallas Burn forward Jason Kreis (MLS Player of the Week – Week 5). Doug Logan Opening Remarks “We have a couple items I want to touch on before I turn it over to the Dean of MLS Coaches, David Dir … In the next 24 hours and maybe later today, we expect an announcement regarding a major trade for Miami midfielder Carlos Valderrama… Secondly, the field conditions in Chicago, while greatly improved from the opener, are still of great concern, but the grounds crew has said as the weather gets better, the field will improve … We are concerned about the way RFK Stadium managed the game this weekend in D.C. … It is unconscionable the way they failed to open up all 24 ticket windows …” “There also was a lack of public safety … We have a long history of good relationships with the RFK Stadium management … I was distressed to see the way our crowd was taken care of … D.C United is a great team and there will be several more well-attended matches there … We hope that Mr. Dalrymple and his staff give us what we’ve contracted for.” “Again, 55% of our games (15 of 27) have been decided by shootout … As I said last week and as history dictates, that percentage will drop as the season goes on.” “All-time we’ve averaged 3.36 goals per game, and last year we were at 3.58 goals per game … But now we are at 2.6 goals per game, leading to the early overabundance of shootouts … I don’t know what the specific situation is that has contributed to the decline in goal scoring … Some of the teams that have traditionally scored a lot of those goals are having trouble this year, like Los Angeles and Kansas City.” “Finally, our disciplinary committee is taking a look at the situation from the past weekend in Chicago where two of our players recreated the Three Stooges routine … Levity has been introduced to our league and I’m sure it won’t go unrewarded by the disciplinary committee.” Ivan Gazidis Opening Remarks “We have one player announcement today … A discovery player was signed today for the Dallas Burn named John Jairo Trellez, a Colombian National Team member who has played for Boca Juniors and FC Zurich in his career.” “Clearly the dropoff in the number of goals is contributing to the number of shootouts … we are concerned and giving thought here at the league office … if it continues it is an area of concern that we will thrust under the microscope.” David Dir Opening Remarks “Trellez was with us in France for five days, and he scored three goals in the two games that he was with us … His signing is not an answer to a question about the forwards that we have, but he plays at a very high level and you are always looking to add quality to your team … We have every intention of getting better and that includes scoring more goals … We don’t sit around and ask guys not to score, we ask for the opposite.” Jason Kreis Opening Remarks “It’s really early in the season, but I hope my early success continues … Obviously the signing of Trellez is an important one for the team but maybe a nervous one for me … Offense comes as the season progresses, but defense is set from day one … As the season goes on I think you’ll see Dallas and all the other MLS teams playing attacking and attractive soccer.” Logan on the Valderrama trade “Carlos Valderrama is under contract to the league and has been instrumental in a pioneering way in getting our feet on the ground in the markets he’s played (Miami and Tampa Bay) … It’s silly to leave him in a situation where he isn’t playing … We are a facilitator to get him somewhere where he can contribute.” “Miami has a squad that won its game on Thursday against Dallas despite having a very young team … The resources at the team’s disposal are up to [Miami Head Coach] Ivo Wortmann and the Fusion front office … They have the talent to be competitive and to play the type of soccer that should be attractive to their fans … There’s an awful lot of season left to be played, and the makeup of the Fusion still reflects the demographics of that market … We will find a home for Carlos where he can contribute his vast talents.” “The impact of a player as a visiting team member with the presence of Carlos Valderrama on the away team adds numbers to the stands regardless of where he is playing … The problems in Miami are going to require long-term hard work and a lot of patience … Wins go a long way toward giving the fans a reason to follow the team.” “I can’t comment on a trade that hasn’t been made yet … One of the reasons that this has been delayed is that Ivo and Carlos worked out their differences from last season’s All-Star Game … That hasn’t been the case this year so we’ll go a different route … The trade is not done … I expect it to be done in the next 24 hours.” Logan on the excessive number of shootouts “Reiterating what I have said the last two weeks: the shootout remains the way we decide our games for the balance of the season … Every August our Competition Committee evaluates the shootout, and there is a heated and spirited debate … This year it is an early-season aberration and the numbers will diminish … The shootout remains for the season, controversial for people who are emotional about it, pro or con … Last weekend I witnessed a rabid partisan crowd in D.C. that experienced great drama, great passion and great excitement … What we sell is competition and excitement … We will look at it again this August, but for the balance of the season it remains intact.” Dir on shootouts “Its not my money, so I don’t decide how the league is run … If it’s your cash, you should do what you think is best … Personally, it is very confusing in the standings and the tiebreaker has nothing to do with the games and nothing to do with scoring … No one in this league is so good at shootouts that they play for them … The press looks at records … I think people are smart enough and will understand ties like they have in hockey … I also see the excitement at the end of the game … The league is doing the best they can to give the people what they want to see … People are intelligent to know that teams like San Jose are 4-1 with four shootout wins … They’ve had some tough wins, and I don’t have to tell you how hard it is to go to D.C. and get a shootout win.” Kreis on shootouts “It doesn’t come into my mind in the last 5-10 minutes … All the teams press to win the game, period … If it goes to the shootout it’s a disappointment … We play to win.” Logan on D.C. crowd situation/how it affects RFK lease “During the last three years, there have been maybe a half-dozen isolated incidents with fans on field and other things going on in the stands … There are exuberant fans in D.C. who need management … I believe in crowd management, not crowd control … They [the D.C. Sport Commission] need to be reminded what we’re contracting for … [D.C. United President] Kevin Payne and I are upset with what occurred … People got turned away in the parking lot and at the ticket booths … That’s pretty shabby treatment to the anchor tenant of that stadium and it will affect our contract negotiations.” Logan on scoring decrease/non-calls for penalty kicks “I don’t think that the absence of goalscoring is correlated with officiating … My sense is that it has more to do with the fact that we have started in cold weather and that defenses seem significantly more organized than offenses and it is an early-season aberration … We will put it under the microscope if it is merited.” Gazidis on scoring decrease/non-calls for penalty kicks “There is no difference in the philosophy that we’ve given our referees … We’re hard on tactics that destroy the game … The emphasis is the same as last year, when we had our highest goals-per-game average ever.” Logan on having the Miami Fusion play in the Orange Bowl “My view is not to take the Fusion out of Lockhart … They need to market the game in Dade County and those places where we know we have fans of the game … A lot of fans in Miami don’t know how to get to Lockhart … I think we should take some games out of Lockhart and put them into the Orange Bowl as part of doubleheaders or exhibitions, similar to what’s been done in Giants Stadium and other places around the league.” Dir on the perils of coaching in MLS “I’m sad when my peers lose their jobs, even though we all know it comes with the territory … There are obstacles that the public is not aware of … We have to have patience when the team is in a rut, and then you have try anything to get the team on track … In any sport, you bring in marquee players, but you can only do so much research on their backgrounds and what makes them tick … For the most part, you hope that they feel at home and as comfortable as possible to get their best performances … Many of the coaches who have been let go have had more trouble with the American players … The pressures of MLS and the A-League are very different, as paying fans every day make the difference … There is a lot of pressure now to promote the league … This league is structured differently, as a lot of things are done for the good of the game instead of just focused on a particular team.” Kreis on his 1999 performance “I’m putting myself in positions to score … It’s still early, but hopefully I’ll be able to put chances away … I don’t think teams are playing defense differently, its just that teams are better organized … After seeing Chicago’s stifling defense last year, we saw that defense can be a successful starting point … I’ve been lucky … The ball has fallen to me in some very convenient situations where it was easy to score.” Dir on Kreis’ 1999 performance “For our team Jason has always been a quality finisher … Our team has a whole has not finished well … A lot of the imagination and understanding up front come later than on to those playing defense … Around the league, the finishing has been poor but it won’t stay that way during the season.”