Tony Brasunas Guangzhou, China My question to you and to MLS is, why not get rid of these conferences? They seem to be a useless construct to legitimize the playoffs. In fact, I think this current NBA/NHL-like system doesn’t properly emphasize being a good soccer team week in and week out, which should of importance to MLS. Rather the “season” becomes an extended sort of preseason round-robin. I say make MLS Cup the whole, big end-of-season tournament (isn’t that name right now just the final game?) and separately also crown the regular season standings champion, with the teams all in one conference. I think adopting this more European system would be more fair to the teams, ensure better play week in week out, further heighten excitement at the end of the season, and moreover, show the other sports leagues in America a better system. What’s the feeling on this at SA? Has MLS thought these questions out? Ridge Mahoney: Keep in mind the U.S. is a huge country, with prodigious travel distances. Playing every team the same number of times would greatly increase these travel demands. I don’t see any problem with the conference alignment and playoffs; they work for other American sports, and MLS is an American soccer league. However, allowing four of five teams per conference into the playoffs does render the regular season less important, but MLS owners — again, all of them American — are acutely aware of how deeply playoffs are ingrained into American sports. And playoff attendances for many of the games last year were quite good. By what rationale do you assume interest would be highest at the end of the season in a single division without playoffs, since it’s quite possible only a few teams would be in contention for the championship? And you can forget American sports adopting a European system. How could you accommodate 30 NFL teams, or 28 NBA teams, in a single division? China is much larger than the U.S., but all of its First and Second Division teams are in the eastern part of the country. You see, Tony, I met my wife in Guangzhou at the women’s world championship in 1991, so I’m interested in the Chinese league as well as MLS. When we visited China in 1995, we saw Guangzhou Apollo beat Shanghai 1-0, although Shanghai clinched the title the following week. The U.S. is still learning about soccer, and most fans have no concept of separate league and cup competitions as is customary in other countries. For now, the conferences and playoffs fit in with other American pro sports. At the same time, MLS has agreed to play in the U.S. Open Cup, a knockout tournament that has been played amongst semi-pro teams for decades. Adam Zebrowski Philadelphia Given the less than stellar USA men’s national team’s performance, under what circumstances would Steve Sampson be replaced? Who would be likely candidates to replace him? Would it occur during qualification? Duncan Irving: Easy. (a) If they fail to qualify. (b) Long answer: Name the coach of your choice, give Hank Steinbrecher a suitcase full of money and a plane ticket and instruct him to tell the world’s media who he’s after. That way the coach can use the U.S. job as leverage for a better deal with his current club and Hank can hire …. Clive Charles. Simple answer: I don’t know. (c) No. Tim Hinkley Milpitas, Calif. Is Andrew Shue for real? I hope he is an MLS quality player and not being kept on the Galaxy for non-playing reasons. I for one would like to see him play. Ridge Mahoney: He’s not a quality player, although he’s not terrible. He did play for Dartmouth and for a year in Zimbabwe. MLS painted itself in a corner last year with this publicity stunt and now it is stuck with him. If you haven’t seen him play — I have — believe me, you’re not missing anything. Gabriel Santander Irvine, Calif. After reading a couple of back and forths on the Project-40 versus college question, I feel its important to bring up a few points, especially since I believe you are and will continue to be a major influence on young players. * The use of colleges as a developmental league by the pros is unique to America and thus to some American sports (basketball, football). In its perfect form, it gives pro-caliber athletes a much needed cushion from a time-limited and risky pro career. In its imperfect form, it can provide athletes some additional and vital skills they probably missed earlier (reading, writing, arithmetic, etc.) that again will aid to cushion the statistically likely fall and eventual termination. * A group of collegians will probably never consistently defeat the reserves of Manchester United, or of Cruz Azul for that matter, because of the disparity in level. However, not facing the major leagues until age 22 or 23 does not preclude the opportunity for stardom. (i.e., Harkes, Wynalda, Keller, Pope, Lassiter, etc.) but merely delays it. Proof of this also lies in the NBA and the NFL, where rookies have to learn and move a level up or be cut (they see Chinese ingredients for four years and then are forced to cook Japanese). * In terms of the total advantage a college education can bring an athlete (knowledge, intelligence, perspective, greater future earnings, etc.), it is a worthwhile delay for most individuals. (This is a good question for Mr. Keller, as I’m sure that had he gone the reserve system he would have made it big in his early twenties rather than his late twenties). * Finally, with the current educational demands for those entering the work force for the first time (a bachelors in now a minimum rather than a distinction), I do not believe it is sensible advice for aspiring youths to chuck college and roll the dice with a reserve or Project 40 type program. The list of young hopefuls who had the “right stuff” for the pros in their youths but who eventually did not make it is longer than any attendance list for any Brazil game at Maracana in this century. If the U.S. contributes anything to world soccer (bigger nets and pop music after goals are an example of what should not be), let’s hope it is the college sports system for youths. Mike Woitalla: It’s hard to argue with any of your points. Perhaps it should be noted, though, that in the U.S. you can find enough players for a Project-40-like system among young men who had no attention of attending a four-year college in the first place. In other words, the system could work without directing young men away from college. Those who don’t want to go to college shouldn’t be forced to because it’s the only avenue to high-level athletics. I would certainly advise everyone to receive a higher education, if not a four-year degree, then the type of technical training that has become more and more important in today’s job market. Who knows, maybe Project-40, with its offer of tuition money, will steer some young men toward an education they wouldn’t have considered in the first place. Division I schools that offer scholarships, for instance, have certain academic requirements, e.g. SAT scores, that exclude players who wouldn’t be denied the education tuition from Project-40. John Puglisi White Plains, N.Y. Why is CONCACAF using South American referees for our Federation’s World Cup Qualifying? I think it’s terrible that our own Federation doesn’t have the confidence in our referees to handle the top competition under its authority. Our top referees sacrifice and work extremely hard to gain their status. If I were one, I would hope my work might be acknowledged by a World Cup assignment but by going out of the Federation, our referees don’t have a chance. Curious to note, no U.S. referees or assistants were selected for the upcoming youth World Cup in Malaysia. I realize these competitions are chances for smaller nations’ referees to perform on the world stage. Where does the U.S. fit in? Duncan Irving: You answered your own question. They don’t have faith in CONCACAF refs whose countries aren’t involved in the Hexagonal. Nor do they really trust the impartiality of the ones whose countries are. Which is unfortunate. To be fair, CONCACAF refs were used for Jamaica-U.S. and Mexico-Canada (Hondurans) and a Guatemalan for Costa-Rica-U.S. I think it’s a case of not having the quantity of refs of the right quality to get the job done. Better training and more funding is needed on the part of U.S. Soccer, which needs to push FIFA a damned sight harder than they’ve been doing to promote American refs. Consequently, South American refs get to do the Hex as well as their own gigs — nice work if you can get it. Tom Hill Boxborough, Mass. I really enjoyed the recent article on organized fan groups such as Sam’s Army (U.S. national team), Midnight Riders (Revolution), Screaming Eagles (D.C. United), and others. I particularly liked the reference that inferred “professional fans” like Krazy George in San Jose may be a dying breed! In any event, with organized fan groups in every MLS city, don’t you think MLS can do a better job of scheduling the “derby” games involving clubs close enough to make a single-day bus trip possible? This would include all games involving NE-NY, DC-NY, LA-SJ, and next year, Miami-Tampa, Chicago-KC and Chicago-Columbus. It seems to me that all these games should take place Saturday or Sunday afternoons, but many such games are midweek (or Friday night) this year — as well as last year! — making it virtually impossible for significant away support. Yes, there’s always the issue of stadium availability, but perhaps if the league scheduled these games first, and filled the remaining dates with other games, they could add a few hundred or more to the gate. Ridge Mahoney: Tom, you’re the scheduling expert. I suggest you submit your ’98 schedule to MLS as soon as possible. But San Jose-Los Angeles is a seven-hour bus ride, so you might have to make that a weekend trip. Derby matches usually involve teams from the same city, or cities close together. In the four major American sports leagues, comprised of more than 100 teams, I counted only 14 derbys. Chicago and Kansas City are more than 400 miles apart, and Chicago to Columbus is more than 300 miles. Miami and Tampa are about 280 miles apart. These are trips of perhaps four or five hours one-way, certainly not out of the question, but since many of the fan clubs consist of only a few dozen members at this point, derby weekend matches may not have the impact you foresee. Most of the games are on weekends this year, although schedule revisions have reduced the number of weekend games from the original 149 of 160. The first two D.C.-MetroStars matches were on Saturdays, and the first New England-D.C. game was played on Sunday. J. Gray Mansfield, Texas If a goalkeeper is holding the ball with one hand, is it considered in his control? Or can a player head the ball out of his hand? What is the ruling on this situation? Mike Woitalla: I think it would be called dangerous play — indirect free kick. But to be sure, I suppose you could give it try. But try not to hurt the goalkeeper, or your head.