Carver Doone Evanston, Ill. I am very concerned over the dismissal of Sunil Gulati as MLS deputy commissioner. I understand that his vast amount of power could lead to some favoritism and could upset people and create plenty of enemies, but it seems to me that at one time or another, practically every team in MLS has cried foul about his allocations and player dealings. To me that means he’s doing a pretty good job — everyone is being treated reasonable equally. What was the real reason for Gulati’s firing/removal? I can’t believe it’s because of the re-signing of Tab Ramos — there must be something more than that. And do you think Ivan Gazidis be able to fill Sunil’s shoes? Also, does this mean that the MLS owners (particularly the MetroStars, who probably want to make like the Cosmos and bring in some expensive, big-time players) are attempting to force the league to allow them to buy their own players without regard to the salary cap? If that happens, or even starts to happen, then what happens to teams in smaller markets without that kind of cash behind them, such as league-run Tampa Bay and Dallas? And are the owners knowledgeable enough to be able to do this, especially if they have previously turned away foreign talents like Paulo Wanchope and Theodore Whitmore? Ridge Mahoney: Our story in the March 15 issue of SA addresses most of your questions — I’ll agree that Sunil certainly grated on people, but if the league wants to maintain its single-entity system, it needs a person like Sunil: Smart enough to do an impossible job as well as it can be done, and a strong enough person to tell teams: “No.” I respect Ivan’s knowledge, but if placed in the same role, I’m not sure if he can be tough enough. Here’s the central issue: Now that Subotnick has won a power struggle over Gulati, the most influential American in the sport, can Ivan risk standing up to Subotnick or any other operator-investor without great fear of being fired? So a natural conclusion is that indeed, the system will change. Teams may lobby for the freedom to buy their own players. However, as we reported in the March 8 issue, controlling salaries with a cap is not enough. Teams could easily get into a bidding war for a player, which would drive acquisition costs up. This was perhaps Sunil’s most important function — to stock a American pro sports league utilizing bargain-basement resources. The $15 million he spent to sign players in the league’s start-up would pay pitcher Kevin Brown’s salary for a year!! Opening up the checkbooks would, I think, destroy the league’s stance of single-entity and thus force a quick resolution of the player lawsuit. Which way the operator-investors jump, I can’t predict. As stated in our stories, the entire structure is designed to keep the deep-pocket monoliths like the Metros and Galaxy from crushing the likes of Tampa, Dallas and Columbus. I find it ironic that at the same time the league is cutting expenses and telling its player dept. to bargain tougher, it complains about the player dept. handling player salary issues. Also worrying to me is that Subotnick knows very little about soccer regardless of how much he knows about business, and he has no experience in pro sports, much less pro soccer. (The Hunts, Krafts, and Philip Anschutz have simply added soccer to their pro sports interests. Indeed, the Hunts have a long, impressive history in the game.) For years, Subotnick has been listening to Charlie Stillitano whine about the league this and Sunil that, and in this narrow stream of information and growing frustration over the team’s poor record and sliding attendance has his resentment festered. It all came crashing down on Gulati, who certainly should have consulted Subotnick given Ramos’ high salary, tepid performances, and no-trade clause. Gulati acknowledged his mistake, but Subotnick felt he’d been lied to and did not accept the explanation, Logan backed one of his bosses, and the other bosses backed their partner. Exit Gulati. His influence in MLS will persist, and I see him working with CONCACAF and Nike and in a lot of areas. Your assessment of the Wanchope situation is a commonly held misconception. Regardless of whether or not a team wanted him, MLS was never able to come to terms with him, and thus the league might have been thwarted even if a team did want him. There have been a lot of erroneous e-mails and postings on the Wanchope topic, but the bottom line is, according to information I’d received, is that MLS never agreed to personal terms with the player. Also, he may not have been willing to go just anywhere in MLS, and I doubt he’d have agreed to sign with the league and then been whisked through training camps as if on a book tour. Could MLS have enticed a sponsor to chip in sufficent cash to supplement the maximum salary? Doubtful — this was not a case of Donadoni or Campos, a proven international with prestige and appeal at the gate. From what I hear, there was some mild interest from MLS teams in Whitmore, but his club wanted such a high transfer price — given the fees paid recently for Ricardo Gardner, Deon Burton, and others by English clubs — that he was not attractive to MLS. I didn’t hear any reliable numbers. Excellent query regarding some of the critical issues facing MLS! Seth Salisbury, N.C. I have heard numerous people criticize the French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez. Many people feel that he is “shaky,” as Seamus Malin put it before eating his words during the World Cup final. I feel that his criticized aggressive nature to leave his area is one of his best qualities. I think it is extremely entertaining, and a benefit to his club and nation when he challenges forwards for a cross or fifty-fifty ball. What is your opinion of this flamboyant keeper? Scott French: I agree that Barthez has been underrated, and his performance in the World Cup last summer should have quieted his critics. He made no errors (no major errors, anyway), and I, too, prefer an aggressive goalkeeper (as long as his aggression doesn’t cause him trouble). However, it is wise to remember that much of his France ’98 success can be credited to the world’s best defense. With Desailly, Blanc, Thuram and Lizarazu in the back, and Deschamps, Karembeu and Petit in midfield, French opponents rarely found paths to the goal. Even you or I could have looked good in the nets with that kind of lineup in front of us. Robert Fitzsimmons Portland, Ore. Do you know what has become of former University of Portland star Andrew Gregor? He was drafted by the Crew last year and got some playing time while the team was short during the World Cup. I have heard no news of him since. He’s not listed on the Crew’s 99 roster, but also was not listed as a non-returning player. Pete Bailey: Unfortunately, Robert, Andrew’s MLS career is over. He was diagnosed with a heart condition towards the end of last season and doctors have determined that he is not able to play in MLS. The league told me that he is currently coaching at Portland. Enzo Basciano Toronto, Ontario I was wondering why it is so difficult to find the names of the non-roster invitees in each of the MLS preseason rosters? Over the last four years MLS has made it a tradition to keep the players they are pursuing or hosting for trials top secret. I would think that MLS needs to alter this position so that fans can start to do some armchair quarterbacking and conversation about the teams amongst fans can be based on some solid facts rather than crazy speculation! Ridge Mahoney: But speculation is what it’s all about anyway, and between newspaper reports and web-site postings, it’s possible to get a feel for who’s in camp. Every major-league baseball camp has a few minor leaguers working out — if they do something, they get noticed, and their names surface. How can a player be listed on a preseason roster if he’s not on it? In MLS, a rostered player is under contract and insured. I agree MLS is far too secretive for fear of losing face; Colorado didn’t acknowledge Limpar was in camp, in case it didn’t work out. That’s a little bit absurd. Yet MLS press releases can be rather hyperbolic anyway, and until that NAIA kid who scored 45 goals last season proves he can actually trap and pass the ball, his presence in camp doesn’t strike me as a big deal. Eventually it came out that the Revolution had Andrew Williams in camp, and the team looked dumb when he moved on to Columbus. But for every A. Williams there are dozens more who get two or three days of exposure and then vanish. Jeff Cobb Houston I have a question about the offside rule. While watching Italian soccer recently, I noticed a player who had run across the goal-line and stayed there in what looked like an effort by him to avoid being offside. Is a player who is out of bounds (past the goal-line or side-line) not considered for purposes of the offside rule? Mike Woitalla: Jeff, that’s a very good question, and U.S. Soccer’s manager of referee development & education, Alfred Kleinaitis was kind enough to help us out. He said, “Not everything is black and white in soccer and this is one of those cases.” He said it’s quite legal for a player to leave the field to declare himself not involved in an offside position. “Nothing wrong with that,” says Kleinaitis. “A player may do that. That’s what the spirit of the game demands, for the benefit of the spectators and so on. But to come back on the field of play, the player must get the referee’s permission. But if the player deliberately steps on the field without the referee’s signal, the referee has two choices. “He can stop the play and caution the player for unsporting behavior — for entering the field without permission. That’s the letter of the law.” So if the player left to keep his teammate onside, and gets back on with permission, everything is fine. However — here’s option No. 2 — a referee could also rule that the player was indeed getting involved with the attacking offside position while he was leaving the field — and call offside. But the rules are quite clear, I find, in a situation where a defending player leaves the field to put an attacking player in an offside position. In that case, play on, and caution the defensive player for his scheme. If a goal was scored, it stands. Just to confuse you a little more, in U.S. Soccer’s guide to cautionable offenses, it states a player should get a yellow card if he “leaves the field other than through the normal course of play.”