Dempsey would've been the striker they needed too. Dempsey coming here is a good sign though as DPs are getting younger and that will surely drive up the Salary Cap again which is a good thing.
The Sounders don't have to dip into their owners pockets to pay for Dempsey, their 40,000 per game, big sponsorship dollars, and a tv deal pays for Dempsey.
Plus, while I have little doubt that both Wolff and Fisher are significantly wealthier than most of us who read BS, neither is among the "elite rich" who might feel comfortable (or at least, would not feel all that bad about losing it) with gambling that kind of personal money on a player deal. There are people who are "well off", there are people who are even "wealthy", however there are but a few who are actually "rich". I don't think the owners of the Earthquakes are among the "rich" by any definition.
Wolff and Fisher are both extremely well off, wealthy, rich--whatever word you choose. Fisher is a multi-billionaire: http://www.forbes.com/profile/john-fisher/ Wolff probably has a net worth of hundreds of millions of dollars. For comparison, median household net worth in the United States is $68,828 as of 2011, down 35% from 2005: http://www.census.gov/people/wealth/files/Wealth Highlights 2011.pdf
I don't disagree that both are very "well off". I think I made that clear in my post. What I said is that they are not at the same level as someone like a Larry Ellison or Bill Gates. A net worth of $2.2 Billion is a far cry from anything that most anyone here will ever see I'm sure, but it is certainly not "filthy rich" by any means.
Are you looking for a team owner or a sugar daddy? We are currently playing in a 10,000 seat college stadium. Until the new stadium opens and starts selling out on a consistent basis we arent going to be looking to make huge signings. I am not going to have unrealistic expectations of how much the owners should be willing to spend on players. I want to root for a team that is run in a responsible manner, not as a toy for a billionaire to throw money at.
Seriously, who cares about Dempsey? I know I don't and now that he is a Sigi-Flounder , I hope Bernardez squashes his arse when we play him! Screw you Clint!
I'm not happy Dempsey is in Seattle. I'm worried about Dempsey getting injured on that piece of crap plastic pitch. Him getting injured, or to use to high bouncing balls would not be good for the USMNT. Before Seattle spends $32 million to bring in a important USMNT player, they darn well need to spend a few dollars to improve the quality of that field, so it doesn't become a killing zone for soccer players careers.
I'm starting to think he knew his time (abroad) was coming to a close so he is probably coming here to collect a final paycheck. I think he is a good player but not worth 1/2 of what they paid for him. He could turn into another Reyna although he is a little younger. Either way, he is our enemy now so other than a national team game or two, I don't care about him anymore.
It has been said by someone that Klinsmann wants Dempsey to get more time on the field, he would not get that required amount of time playing in Europe, so, therefore, moving to an MLS team means playing almost every game from beginning to end. I think that is the most plausible explanation for this move.
Klinsie has engineered it so that the guy gets more playing time. What you are saying is irrelevant to the issue.
Whether Klinsi engineered this or not is not really my point. What I'm saying is very relevant as to why Dempsey returned to MLS as I don't think he will be a big time player in Europe anymore at 30 years of age! He is basically done as far as big European club circles are concerned and that is why he is here otherwise he would have stayed just like he didn't want to remain at Fullham last year.
Honestly, I would rather our USNMT prospects play in mid to lower level EPL teams. I think that simulates better they type of conditions that they will experience at the World Cup. When the US is up against a Germany or a Spain in the World Cup, it is like a Fulham up against a Manchester United. Dempsey was getting good experience at Fulham. I was happy with him there. It made him a better player.