No, because of U.S. employment law. All people with a right to work in the U.S. (citizens, refugees, green card holders, etc.) have to be treated as equal and all people able to work in the U.S. on a visa have to be treated as equal so you can't have a rule that treats Canadians as different than Jamaicans (for example). Only visa vs. non-visa players, which is how MLS's international rule works. Players with a green card (Cummings, Koz, etc.) are treated like domestic players, players without one (Janniere, Smith, etc.) are treated like visa holders.
Thanks very much...and if I may, one other question. We traded one (or two?) of our international spots recently. After a cetain time, does that spot somehow simply revert to us, or do we have to trade for another team's spot or spots?
Depends on the trade. The spots can be traded for a set period of time or permanently. For example we got a permanent spot from FSL in 2005(?).
MLS roster rules for 2012- some changes from before http://www.mlssoccer.com/2012-mls-roster-rules CHANGES IN 2012 --- The salary cap has been raised to $2.81 million, up about five percent from last year's $2.675 million. --- The minimum salary for veterans has been upped to $44,000 from $42,000. --- The minimum for young players, sometimes referred to as "apprentice salaries," is $33,750, up from $32,600. These players must be under 25. --- The summer transfer window will be from June 27 to July 27. The monthlong window closed on Aug. 14 last year, so the league must feel that an earlier window would make it easier to acquire international talent. The primary transfer window closes on April 15. --- Designated players now count $350,000 toward the cap (midseason DP signings count $175,000). --- DPs from ages 20-23 count $200,000 toward the cap and DPs younger than that count $150,000. The Young DP rule was announced last year. All DP charges can't be bought down below $150,000. --- More on Young DPs: if they join midseason the cap hit is $150,000 and that amount cannot be bought down with allocation money. If a Young DP is going to be a team's third DP, they won't have to pay the $250,000 surcharge. OTHER NOTES/REMINDERS --- Only the 20-man senior roster counts toward the salary cap. The rest of the roster is often referred to as "below the line" players, and Generation adidas players fall here. --- Team can leave two "below the line" spots empty on their roster and receive $35,000 in allocation money for each empty slot. --- Guaranteed contracts are exactly as they sound, guaranteed, even when cut. Players on non-guaranteed contracts waived before July 1 won't continue to count against the salary cap, but after July 1 they will. --- Teams are allowed eight international roster slots at the start of the season, which can be traded and stockpiled. --- Teams pay DP salaries over the $350,000 charge. --- Roster are frozen from Sept. 15, 2 p.m. PT, through the MLS Cup on Dec. 1 (except in the case of extreme hardship, which is up to the discretion of the league). --- There is no salary cap relief when players go on the disabled list, and they must sit out for six games. They can be replaced on the active roster. --- Teams can have up to 10 players on their discovery list and can remove/add at any time. Teams can make six discovery signings in one season (expansion teams can make 10). --- Allocation money can be received for failure to qualify for the playoffs, the transfer of a player to a club outside of MLS for value (transfer fee), being an expansion team, qualification for the CONCACAF Champions League, trading in up to two "below the line" roster spots (previously mentioned) and when teams pay a third DP surcharge (given to teams without them, I believe). --- Allocation money can be used to help sign players who didn't play in MLS the previous season, to re-sign an existing player (subject to league approval), to buy down a player's charge to the salary cap and, in the league's words, "in connection with the exercise of an option to purchase a player's rights or the extension of a player's contract for the second year provided the player was new to MLS in the immediately prior year."
The part about IR isn't new, that's how its always been. I think FIFA sets the transfer window dates, not the league, but I could be wrong about that.
Sorry, highlighted stuff was what I thought would be most important to us, IR because of injuries we have and an open timeline for some of them to return. There was comment by Sounders guy that MLS moved up end of window because they thought it would help our teams bring in talent (No clue why date change would do this myself- especially pre olympic one at that.
It also closes a month before most of Europe's, doesn't it? I'm also not sure how this helps bring in talent. Although MLS often targets out of contract guys, so maybe it doesn't matter so much.
I went to the Nuggets game on Monday, and I have to say that all our complaints about the state of refereeing, cynical play, and atmosphere are overblown.
Astro-turfed... Really without the music and Rocky there just isn't much engagement by the crowd. Even with them, I'm not sure there was much engagement. In fairness to the Nuggets, I hope the game wasn't representative. It was not good. (That's the problem with being a moderate fan. It was a bad game and I'm not upset by it. It was just bad, and I don't know the team well enough to give credit for pulling it out with a bunch of scrubs. That's how a lot of people see the Rapids, I know.)
That doesn't sound much different then any of the professional basketball/hockey/baseball games I've been to. When things are going well, or singular great plays, the fans make noise, other times, it's driven by the music/announcer/jumbo tron. Soccer seems to be unique with the feeling that fans should be active non-stop, or said another way, part of the show.
Some countries celebrate baseball in a way that is more the way you describe soccer. Apparently they find it ok to follow their cultural practices despite the US origins of the game. I was a little surprised the Nuggets game was dead as they seem to get decent support. Though they have hit a rough patch, and maybe deron was also comparing to them to the idea of a live soccer crowd. The tv timeouts for basketball don't help, either.
I went to a couple of Spurs games when I lived down in Texas and I have been to about 30 Nuggets games in my life going all the way back to 93 and I was surprised at how good the Spurs fans were, frankly I didn't know that people got into basketball that much because they sure havent at any of the Nuggets games I've been to. Still nothing compared to soccer.
It's a little difficult to express. I'm not one for wanting fans to be part of the show, and that's not quite what I mean. I know it happens in other sports. I also know this is a single data point. Take all the bells and whistles away and there should still be a vibe in the air. Pent up emotion for a good play, bad play, or game momentum should express itself somehow. There should be a sense that something could happen. I just wasn't "feeling it", there was no vibe, no expectations, no response to the game. Just noise. And Rocky, everyone likes Rocky.
Thanks for clarifying. I think I understand what you mean. I sense that at play-off games. For me, it seems to be an organic thing fed by circumstances and significance of the game. Something that's just not there during regular games. I suppose some might say that's what separates fans into categories.
FC Denver, Colorado's top adult-amateur club, just had two teams (Men's Premier and Women's team) return from the Las Vegas Silver Mug Invitational Soccer Tournament last week, where the men qualified into the elimination rounds. FC Denver is looking forward to the Spring 2012 campaign. The link below is the latest addition to our FC Denver Green Army Blog. The post briefly discusses the past off-season and looks ahead to what's to come. Thanks for reading and following along. We appreciate our fanbase. http://fcdenver.org/blog/index.php/2012/02/25/spring-2012-is-here/
Got to give props to the US National Team! Beat Italy for the first time ever yesterday. Michael Bradley is a beast, Clint scores goals, and Tim Howard is a wall. Good game for Spector who had a bunch of blocks. Jozy played good target forward as well. Also, super-legit new jerseys! GO USA! ...and GO RAPIDS!! Season opener in less than 2 weeks!!
Wow. Whitecaps waive Nguyen. Pretty surprising unless something is in the works. Sorry for the Ives link. http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2012/03/whitecaps-cut-nguyen.html#comments
He seems like someone the Rapids could potentially be interested in. I thought I read somewhere that he signed with MLS for only $60K for 2012.
They waived him today. He will be in the waiver draft tomorrow. I just thought the Rapids could be interested as he could play up top on the wing while Casey is out. No substance to that.