Vance Sharpe

Denver

What’s the process behind these online Q&A sessions? How do you choose the questions? Do you answer every question you get?

Pete Bailey: We try to answer as many questions as we can — I’d say around 95%. For our posted Q&A sessions, we usually select questions that we think will be of interest to a number of people. For questions that we don’t use in on-site sessions, we try to send a reply as soon as possible, but reply time varies depending on the difficulty of the question and how much research it requires (remember, we’re putting out weekly issues of SA, too).

Here’s a couple things to remember when sending in questions. First, make sure that you have the correct e-mail address inputted on your web browser. Many times we have replied to a question but the response has been returned to us because the user is “unknown” (i.e. an incorrect address was listed as the return address). Second, consider looking at some of our previous Q&A sessions before sending in a question — it may already have been answered. I am presently working on a Frequently Asked Questions section for the site, so that visitors such as yourself will have an easy way to get commonly requested information.

Finally, a note to AOL users. Due to the recent problems AOL has been having, we are at present unable to reply to any questions sent via AOL. I have sent about 20 responses to AOL users in the past week or so, and all of them are returned to me after 24 hours because mail cannot be delivered to these AOL accounts. I have been resending these messages daily, but until AOL can fix its problems, you probably will not get a reply. Thanks for your patience.

Lark Howorth

Houston

A few weeks ago Sports Illustrated published a story about a lawsuit against Alan Rothenberg over an unfair termination situation. Furthermore, the story described a number of other questionable activities by Rothenberg during the World Cup which I had never seen before. It was disappointing that SA had never published much of this information, and that I got this scoop about the lawsuit from SI, of all places. Can you explain your reticence to jump on this story?

Ridge Mahoney and Paul Kennedy: Perhaps you didn’t read some stories we ran regarding World Cup financing, and the complaints from volunteers about Rothenberg’s bonus and other payouts. A lot of people wrote or e-mailed us telling us they don’t care about the USSF’s problems or World Cup ’94’s finances, but act surprised when they see the information somewhere else.

The story generally is one SI had for four years, but did not run. Hogue’s dispute with Rothenberg goes back seven years. He had been one of the people Rothenberg and Chuck Cale brought in to orchestrate the overthrow of Werner Fricker but never got the position he hoped to receive within the Federation or World Cup Committee.

We are not sure of all the lawsuits that remain outstanding, but the World Cup, by law, must keep millions of dollars aside for such cases.

Scott Kelly

Columbus, Ohio

Which MLS team will likely pick up two-time Hermann winner Mike Fisher? Also, what is the breakdown as far as top college players and the MLS clubs that are likely to pick them up?

Mike Woitalla: It’s virtually impossible to predict where top collegians will land after the college draft Feb. 1-2. So far, MLS coaches have been quite honest in saying that they aren’t real excited by the offerings.

Not that players like Mike Fisher aren’t extremely talented. It’s just that MLS coaches want players who can improve their teams as quickly as possible. Recent collegians will probably need more experience — perhaps in the A-League or USISL — before contributing to MLS teams. Remember, most of the recent collegians who did well in the MLS last year had Olympic team experience (e.g. Frankie Hejduk, Clint Peay) or previous pro experience (Brian McBride in Germany).

Also, keep in mind that last year, there were 180 roster spots up for grabs —
10 teams to fill from scratch! — while the second season sees only a handful of openings.

(By the way, Fisher may choose to pass on MLS to attend Medical School.)

Eric Spurlock

Arlington, Mass.

In the Jan. 3, 1997 Q&A, you say that MLS faces an “impossible” scheduling situation. I wonder, then, why MLS is worsening its scheduling problem by inflicting two “international friendlies” on its already congested fixture list this year, perhaps at the expense of full participation in the U.S. Open Cup. And by “wasting” a week with only MetroStars and San Jose playing on the first weekend. And by announcing its schedule several days before the final France ’98 qualifying schedule was finished. And by playing “best-of-three” playoffs.

Ridge Mahoney: I can’t justify everything MLS does. But it makes economic sense to play an international friendly instead of a U.S. Open Cup match — the crowd is far larger (except in Rochester) and there’s also the TV rights. Except for D.C. United in the final, MLS teams had great trouble promoting U.S. Open Cup games. Nurturing the tournament will take time, and I agree, it won’t grow until they put some muscle behind it. (A TV contract and more sponsorship would help!)

The congestion refers to weekends (Friday-Saturday-Sunday), not midweek.

The league liked the exposure it received last year by staging a grand opener rather than several games on opening weekend, and will do it again next year. For this league at this point in its development, it’s not a bad idea. By next season, maybe they’ll have more teams play on opening weekend. (How about a Friday night match, a Saturday night game, and a Sunday game?)

The league may adjust its schedule now that the qualifying schedule is known. MLS feels the excitement and intensity generated by the playoffs last year outweighs the scheduling problems; many purists dislike the best-of-three, it’s an American custom that for the most part, I think fits into the concept of MLS. Mini-games are a farce, and the two matches, total-goals approach is bit beyond most U.S. fans at this point.

Hideo Aso

Amherst, N.Y.

I am going to travel to Europe sometime in the next month, and am eager to watch some soccer games in England, Italy, France or Spain. However, I am wondering if I can get tickets for the games. Do you have any suggestion or advice?

Ridge Mahoney: You should call or fax the individual clubs for league matches or European games, and the national federations for internationals like World Cup qualifiers. Once your dates of travel are known, contact the ticket departments of these organizations as soon as possible for prices and availability. You may be able to reserve tickets in advance, although some teams do not do this, and big games may already be sold out.

Iriq Asobad

Washington, D.C.

When the U.S. U-20 training camp roster was released I noticed neither Shawn Petroski nor Maurice Ligeon were listed. Is this because they are hurt, too old, out of the picture or because the coaches wanted them to remain with their teams in Europe? I can’t imagine the depth of the team is so strong that coach Hoffman feels players with pro European experience couldn’t contribute.

Also, was the Miles Stoddard listed any relation to Justin Stoddard of the Seattle Sounders, another surprising omission from the roster? Lastly, has the U.S. lost the services of goalkeeper Espen Baardsen completely and might Tottenham lend him to MLS for seasoning over the summer?

Paul Kennedy: Coach Jay Hoffman has never brought Petroski in. Petroski had apparently expressed interest to Hoffman at one time about seeking German citizenship. Ligeon had appeared at the USASA’s summer festival in which the U.S. U-20s competed, and is now with Telstar in the Dutch Erstie-Divisie (Second Division).

Although both are from the Seattle area, the two Stoddards are not related.

Espen Baardsen has chosen to play for Norway. He’s played for Norway in the European U-21 tournament this fall, though these games don’t technically bind him to Norway since this is not qualifying for a FIFA competition. We are not aware of Tottenham loaning him to an MLS club. Since he is the No. 2 keeper and must be on call at all times, he could only be available for a short period of time.

Jon Lake

Geneseo, Ill.

I was wondering when USSF plans to announce the sites of the Hexagonal Qualifying games next year? Who are the leading cities to host them? Would Chicago have a chance at hosting a game considering stadium plans have come to a standstill at Soldier Field. At the Revolution home page I heard something about a Reebok Cup to be held in Chicago and Miami, what is this?

Ridge Mahoney: Call the USSF at 312-808-9555 for schedule information. US-Canada will be at Stanford, while US-Mexico will be at Foxboro. The last three games will be announced later this year.

Chicago has little chance to host a match. There’s a Copa Miami being played with club teams this winter. Reebok has plans four a four team tournament this summer. Among the possible teams are Fiorentina and Boca Juniors. All the teams (or their stars) would probably have Reebok ties.

Gary Riddell

Eugene, Ore.

With the incredible recruiting work that Coach Ray Wells does at back to back men’s NAIA national champs Lindsey Wilson College. Have you heard or can you speculate whether Coach Ray Wells will find greener pastures? It’s difficult to believe that there must be a Men’s D1 soccer program that can challenge this soccer genius!

Paul Kennedy: Wells is certainly well-connected in terms of finding players. Many of them, however, would not qualify for a Division I program academically out of high school. We have not heard of him being in the running for any Division I jobs — there are few vacancies at this time — but his second straight NAIA title will, I’m sure, make ADs take notice.

Alex Seldin

Philadelphia

Recent MLS trades are showing the importance of salary cap management for MLS teams. This is no different from other U.S. sports teams, except that MLS fans have no idea who is making how much on each team.

Given the importance of the salary cap, and the fact that it is crucial for a team that each player play up to his salary level, shouldn’t Soccer America publish a list of MLS players and salaries, so that fans can track rosters and salary caps?

Ridge Mahoney: That information should be available soon, even though it shouldn’t be, since a business’s financial records should be confidential. We do have many of the numbers, but won’t run a list until we have complete information. Many players are in the process of renegotiating their contracts.

Gaining information about players’ salaries in other leagues is much easier since it is available through a source not present in the MLS picture at this time: the players’ union.