Trent Hergenrader

Chicago

I have a question regarding Ridge Mahoney’s article, “Expansion Gets the Green Light.” For the Chicago team, do you have the prospective owner’s name and a possible way to contact him? I recently moved to Chicago and I would love to be a part of starting a new Chicago soccer tradition.

Ridge Mahoney: According to the MLS office, Trent, the league plans on running the Chicago team, at least in the initial phases. It hopes to open a marketing office early next year, and we’ll run the contact person(s) and numbers as soon as they’re available.

Also, start thinking of a good nickname — no question the league needs some help in that department!

Dan Roudebush

Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

When will you raise the issue of MLS’ failure to establish a development system for junior players under the age of 19. You own staff quotes extensively that college players don’t really hack it in the MLS or on the international scene, despite the few exceptions. Also, over one third of all high school graduates fail to go to college, and the ratio is higher for Hispanics. Are you afraid this will hurt your college coverage? When will you print a summary of USISL players by nationality and age. The results should tell you that no real junior player development is going on.

RM: Sounds like you have a conspiracy phobia skewed along ethnic lines. As we’ve reported, MLS and U.S. Soccer are currently devising a program to pick elite young players and groom them for professional soccer. And by what absurdist logic can you accuse us of not raising the issue at the same time we quote “extensively” that college players can’t hack it? Sounds like we’re talking about the issue quite a bit.

A full-fledged reserve team program for each MLS team is still not feasible financially; you seem to think it’s an automatic offshoot instead of a costly operation made complicated by NCAA restrictions on players who wish to play both college and club soccer. A new program, called Project-40, addresses these problems (see SA issues of Sept. 2 and Oct. 7).

We are not the official newsletter for the USISL; the league can supply you with rosters, including nationality and age. We cannot print them because of space limitations. (We print nationalities for MLS players because of the league’s limits on foreign players, who tend to be somewhat popular.)

Most of the USISL players are young, and so in a haphazard way, that league and the hundreds of competitive club teams around the country and U.S. Soccer’s regional and national programs have been developing players for the past decade. And how many times have we written about how Steve Sampson and other U.S. coaches want more opportunities for Hispanic players?

It’s unlike the system used in other countries for the simple reason the U.S., due to its extensive college system and absence of a pro league for more than a decade, is unique. If by “real” player development you mean a Real Madrid-type system catering to American Hispanics, you’re dreaming.

Ron West

Walnut Creek, Calif.

Just read the latest Q&A with the Editors — I always find this to be enjoyable & educational. A few questions about next year’s MLS season:

Do you expect to see Tampa Bay or Colorado move on to new locations?

RM: Not for next year, although rumors have recently surfaced about Tampa moving to Ft. Lauderdale. Colorado will stay.

For a few years, the NHL played a few regular season games at neutral sites. Do you think the MLS might take this up as a way to gauge interest in possible expansion cities?

RM: Maybe for the second round of expansion the league might stage some “test matches”. As for 1998, Chicago is all but confirmed, and the other could be Charlotte. Keep in mind, though, that MLS teams are still struggling to build fan bases in their own cities — it’s a little early to do the barnstorming done by profitable operations like NHL, NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball.

Are any cities firming up plans to move into soccer-only facilities? With football teams now tearing up the turf, the fields often look terrible —
especially the MetroStars playing on the fake stuff. While Giants Stadium is a great place to watch soccer, I think they might be better off at Rutgers Stadium or one of the NY baseball parks. However, if the MetroStars had their own facility…

RM: MLS is a long way off from being able to wield the political and financial clout to build their own stadiums, but in a few years they might be able to join with communities and/or NFL teams to develop soccer-friendly facilities. I can see it happening in Columbus before the end of the century. The MetroStars can’t convince the New York Giants to put grass in the Meadowlands; Rutgers has a nice field and is the right size, but access is terrible and there are all sorts of problems about licensing, sponsorships, etc. Plus, it’s not the Meadowlands. And playing soccer on dirt? NASL teams did that, and it was horrible. If MLS succeeds, in a few years it will be able to start designing and building stadiums suited for soccer.

Rob Rickenbach

Roswell, Ga.

I’m curious about Wolde Harris. Is he on the Jamaican national team? For MLS purposes, would he count as an allocated player or a U.S. player? Do you have any idea if and where he might end up in MLS? Thanks!

RM: He is a Jamaican international and played for his country recently in CONCACAF qualifiers. I don’t know if he’d be rated good enough to be an allocated player, but could be classified as such if a team wanted him badly enough. Harris has resided in Florida since high school, so he should have a green card, making him an “American” for MLS purposes. He certainly deserves a shot in MLS, and I’m sure some team — I don’t know which one — will try to get him.

Greg Reich

Boulder, Colo.

Any ideas on who the Rapids will name as their new coach? With all due respect for Mr. Houghton’s coaching record, and despite all of the injuries, I still think the Rapids played by far the most ugly style of soccer I’ve seen in a long time. I know a lot of fans who stayed away from Rapids games because it was so terrible.

RM: Two leading candidates are Fernando Clavijo and ex-U.S. head coach Bob Gansler. You should contact the Rapids immediately, as should those fans who stayed away, and let the team’s management know your feelings about the ugly soccer you saw at Mile High this past summer.

Brett Daly

Rochester, N.Y.

The Rochester Rhinos recently defeated and outplayed the Tampa Bay Mutiny for much of their U.S. Open Cup game (except for an early second half spurt). This brings up the question of how much of a real difference their is currently in quality between the two leagues. I personally believe once you get past the top two or three players on each MLS team the quality is somewhat similar, at least with the top five A-League teams. I was curious on your opinion. Also the MLS will overlook Rochester in the first round of expansion (Doug Logan said possibly third or fourth round of expansion) due to TV, as they want large TV market areas. Is it really the right approach to pass on teams that will be stable for possibly risky areas such as Atlanta (Rochester has averaged over 11,000 in Frontier Field)?

RM: That average attendance would put Rochester near the bottom of MLS, with minimal chance for improvement, since the stadium is so small. It’s a perfect Second Division market until a bigger stadium is available. And MLS is not going to Atlanta.

I disagree with your assessment. The difference in quality of play is significant, and has become quite obvious late in the MLS regular season and in the playoffs. Most A-League games are ponderous and sloppy compared to MLS games.

I’ve heard the same argument from patrons of Division II and Division III college teams; they beat a Division I school and immediately claim they’re just as good, ignoring the fact that if they played Division I schools every week, nearly all of them would get thumped regularly. The Open Cup game meant everything to the Rhinos and very little to the Mutiny, but as you say, Rochester deserved its victory. All credit to its players and its fans for a truly memorable night of soccer.

I think you have the player analysis backwards. The top A-League teams have perhaps two or three players that can, and probably will, make the jump to MLS as starters or at least regulars. I see Wolde Harris, Marcus Hahnemann, Wade Webber, Carsten Siersbaek, Jason Dunn, and Lenin Steenkamp as players who could make the jump to MLS.

A few of the rest might sneak onto a roster, but the majority will stay at their current level.

Iriq Asobad

Washington, D.C.

Are there any players in the CISL and the NPSL who did not sign with MLS this year who could play next year and if so, whom are they?

RM: They can all play next year, the question is can they be freed from their current contracts and will MLS teams want them. There are far too many of them to list here; read Soccer America in the coming months and we’ll provide a rundown of the best prospects from the indoor leagues. I can think of a few who’ve done very well — Sean Bowers, Mark Chung, Denis Hamlett, Rhett Harty, Matt Knowles, Jeff Baicher, and, of course, Preki.

Gary Frankin

Cordova, Tenn.

The talk around my TV and local soccer of Memphis has been the change in TAB RAMOS. What is his deal? When did he become a jerk or has he always been a hot-head? Great player gone wrong or what?

RM: Ramos claims this is how he played last year in Mexico (three red cards), and people in the U.S. just aren’t used to seeing him play. I don’t buy it, although he’s certainly tougher than he was before he went to play in Spain. Remember, he used to disappear from games if fouled a few times. It’s possible his head injury at the 1994 World Cup has altered his personality somewhat; that incident and being hacked for more than a decade has shortened his temper fuse.

Patrick

Springfield, Mass.

How much longer before the MLS can afford to pay a player $1.000.000.00

RM: If the league signs a new TV deal in 1998 and can command a hefty rights fee, you might see a million-dollar player early in the next century if attendances and sponsorships double from the first year. But don’t hold your breath.

Miguel Enguidanos

Mill Valley, Calif.

Looking at the scorecard for European games the crowds are no better than they are for MLS games. Yet the American press is fond of pointing out that the MLS won’t make it. Is it fair to compare European crowds to American? Why don’t European games draw more fans? A look at recent French League games drew no more than 20,000. MLS crowds varied in the same issue of SA from 6,368 to 26,184 for a San Jose vs. LA game.

RM: The American press is, fairly, comparing figures to those of other American sports, although their assumptions the league will fail are just that, assumptions. America has a much larger population and a higher percentage of people with significant disposable incomes than any other nation in the world. And no nation can match the incredible attendances for major college football games. On a given Saturday, a dozen colleges might draw more than 60,000 people to each game.

Take a city like London, with several Premier League clubs. Combined, they might draw 100,000 fans on a good Saturday. How can you compare that to an MLS crowd, or an NFL crowd?

French league matches have never drawn crowds of the scale of Italy, Germany, Spain or England, and this season most games are available on television. And MLS teams are drawing much bigger crowds than many South American leagues, on average — but comparisons are mostly specious. The important factor is if attendances increase in the second or third year.

And let’s face it, critics who say MLS won’t make it usually hate the sport and don’t want the league to succeed. They also said the World Cup would be a flop, attendances would be poor, the U.S. team would stink. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

By predicting MLS failure, they have a few years to crank out stale stereotypes and soccer-bashing cliches. I just ignore them.

Brooke Tunstall

Arlington, Va.

About a year ago you reported on Jimmy Crawford, a member of Newcastle’s reserve team who was born in Chicago but moved to Ireland at a young age. At the time you said Steve Sampson was interested in him but he was considering playing for Ireland. Which country did he chose, is Sampson still interested and what club is he with now?

PB: We haven’t been able to determine whether Jimmy is still with Newcastle’s reserve team; he is not on their first team roster, but he played for Ireland’s U-21 team during Olympic qualifying, so he is no longer eligible to play for the U.S.

Keith Keener

Alexandria, Va.

Is there any chance that videotapes of the Women’s Gold Medal Olympic victory will be available soon? I’ve called a number of the usual suppliers (e.g., TSI, Eurosport) and they don’t seem to know if NBC or the IOC will ever release the tapes. It’s bad enough we were frozen out by NBC’s lack of coverage during the event. Is there any way to ensure we will at least get the opportunity to purchase commercial videos?

Pete Bailey: According to the folks at Soccer Learning Systems (1-800-762-2376; www.soccerlearningsystems.com), there have been numerous queries about the availability of U.S. Women’s Olympic matches. They are optimistic that some videos will be available this fall — perhaps by November.

Jim Williams

Northfield, Ohio

Now that MLS looks to make it (hopefully), how do you think the NPSL & CISL will do in the future. Unlike some, I enjoy both indoor and outdoor soccer and I really hope the indoor game continues to grow.

PS: Only time will tell.

The NPSL operates in the MLS offseason, so players should be able to double up (MLS teams don’t have a problem with that). Although the CISL season runs concordantly with MLS, it is a league that has no plans to try to compete for players. It has strong ownership, NBA and NHL owners, that is keeping a tight budget.

As long as the fans keep coming, indoor soccer will survive.

Bob Marshak

Sugar Land, Texas

I recently became hooked on Olympic pins for soccer and I am trying to find a way to find out what pins were made for this and previous Olympics so I can have a complete collection. If you have any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.

Mike Woitalla: Try calling Sports Pins International at 909-985-4549 or 800-949-7467.