Season may be in jeopardy

This is completely opposite of everything I’ve heard over the past couple weeks. I know everything told was secondhand “friend of a friend told me” sorta stuff…but man. This scares me not only for the season but for soccer as a legitimate player in the US.

I want what’s best for the players, but the league is still fragile. This isn’t the time to overhaul everything.

Union wants to put pressure on management. If they had intended to strike, they should have several weeks ago.

Simply stupid for the players to do this. If nothing else, they will end their own careers. Goal should be to take smaller steps toward the ideal.

If what they say is accurate, management essentially opened with a take-it-or-leave-it offer and haven’t shown any willingness to budge, mainly because they don’t believe players will actually strike. In some ways, this is the union’s only option if they are serious about making any gains — and what they’re looking for certainly sounds perfectly reasonable.

MLS PU Attack?

Yesterday’s sudden wave of noise from the Players was notable for it’s ratcheting up of the rhetoric. Out of nowhere, it seemed, the players rattled their sabers, letting anyone who would listen know that the League is holding things back. Playing the victims, as they’ve done throughout, they carefully and methodically chose the moment to let fly with a controlled message.


It started with two prominent soccer writers (Ives Galarcep and Jeff Carlisle) posting stories on the matter, with direct quotes from Pat Onstad in one case and Joe Cannon in the other. It continued on Twitter and Facebook…

Most of the same sources that reported on the MLS Players Union gave equal space the next day to the MLS response. In a nutshell, MLS claims they have given significant ground in almost all areas except free agency. Here’s the money quote from the Washington Post’s Steven Goff.

However, Abbott said the league will not budge on what appears to be the biggest issue in the talks: free agency within MLS. Under the current system, a team retains the rights to a player whose contract has expired, consequently making it difficult for a player to sign with another MLS club unless a trade is negotiated. Players are, however, free to sign with an international club.

The head of the players union responded to MLS’s claim of their offer raising player compensation by $60 million over the life of the CBA.
He basically calls MLS’s formulations “fuzzy math.”

Here’s a link to the best ideas/analysis of the overall situation I’ve seen so far:

http://www.bigapplesoccer.com/columns/mytwocents.php?article_id=22680

Like this guy, I’m not really on the side of the players or the league. They both need to grow up a bit. I’m on the side of the fans. If there’s a work stoppage, it doesn’t matter who gives in first or who “wins”, the fans and the sport in this country lose.