Letter from Peter Wilt

joseph pakovits · Feb 4, 2003

Originally posted by willydonc
The Gals had to move Robin Frazier due to the salary cap.
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That doesn't exactly count as a "dismantling", does it?

Now if they'd have had to get rid of Cobi, Sasha AND Robin...

VortexUnited · Feb 4, 2003

Re: Whack Attack

Very "whack" indeed...

Sincerely,

WhackDaddy McWhacken

www.vortexunited.com

datruthhurts · Feb 4, 2003

Could I Double my salary cap by making trades for salary cap room and giving away my next two to three years picks? Just a thought! I am surprised New York has not done it yet and acauired Roberto Carlos. (with more money under the table of course)

Fonsos · Feb 4, 2003

Re: whack attack

Originally posted by lethargytartare
I think it's whack to bust out some cold whack-ass arguments that your GM didn't have a plan to avoid the whack dealing of Peter Nowak to some whack-ass East Coast team of beotches when the self-same GM already sent your whack ass a letter explaining that he did, in fact, have a plan, but that whack circumstances caused it to fall through, forcing us into the aforementioned whack dealings.

I also think its whack as all get out to continually harp on everyone who disagrees with you as "whack" or "blind" or say they be busting out with the ill communication when you present all your whack comments with the reading and comprehension skills of a whack-ass 4th grader.

I think I'll just whack off,

ltt
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Days late,dollars short,get a life

Fonsos · Feb 4, 2003

Originally posted by datruthhurts
Could I Double my salary cap by making trades for salary cap room and giving away my next two to three years picks? Just a thought!...
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Funny, LOL.

bunge · Mar 3, 2016

alf said: ↑

For those of you who are not, subscribe to the Fire Insider, here is another reason why:

The Fire Insider - Wednesday, January 22, 2003
www.chicago-fire.com
--------------------------------------------

Dear Fire Fans,

I would like to take this opportunity to explain the Chicago Fire's recent moves and try to address any concerns you may have about the Fire going forward. The Fire had an embarrasment of riches over the last several years - we had assembled more talent than any MLS team has ever had. Last year, many players deferred salaries, gave up bonuses or hadn't reached their salary potential, which allowed the Fire to stay under the
League salary budget for the 2002 season. This year, everything kicked in at the same time resulting in the quantum leap of salaries sending the Fire more than $1,000,000 over the salary budget.

Even with the pending move of Hristo Stoitchkov, the trades of Dema Kovalenko and Josh Wolff, along with several players taking pay cuts this year, we were STILL significantly over the limit, resulting in the unthinkable trade of our
captain and leader Peter Nowak. Unfortunately, the only real aternatives to trading any of those four in order to get under the salary budget included
trading Carlos Bocanegra or Chris Armas, which we refused to do for the following reasons.

We believe that Carlos and Chris can help the Fire compete for more championships for years to come while Peter and Hristo would likely only give the Fire one more year. Josh had requested a trade knowing that the Fire could only afford to keep him or Ante as a maximum salaried forward and his injury
history meant he felt that he needed a fresh
start with another team. Dema is another player that we did NOT want to trade, but given the option of trading him, Carlos or Chris, we believe we made the best move for the Fire and our fans.

I am more frustrated and torn about losing Peter than anyone could be with the exception of Peter himself. We exhausted all options including naming him a player/assistant coach in order to shave some money off the player budget, but it was still not possible to keep him and keep the team under
the salary budget. Any alternatives would have resulted in crippling the team.

Despite all the trades, we STILL have one of the most talented groups in MLS including Zach Thornton, Orlando Perez, Carlos Bocanegra, Jim Curtin, CJ Brown, Evan Whitfield, Chris Armas, Jesse Marsch, DaMarcus Beasley, Ante Razov and Rodrigo Faria - seven US National Team veterans and eight MLS All-Stars in the group! The difference this year is that our depth will be much younger and less experienced than last year.

Chris will now be the oldest player at age 31 and the average age has fallen to 24. i do believe that Justin Mapp, Dipsy Selolwane, Kelly Gray, Craig Capano, Henry Ring and our SuperDraft picks including Nate Jaqua and Damani Ralph - will
give the Fire the most talented youth group in MLS. The challenge will be developing them quickly enough to contribute when called upon. We are now positioned well to start another five year period of success in Major League Soccer.

I understand fans' reluctance to accept the young players as important contributors to the team. Please remember, however, the Fire's situation five
years ago - several veteran players (Nowak, Roman Kosecki, Jerzy Podbrozny, Lubos Kubik, Francis Okaroh, Frank Klopas) mixed with many young, inexperienced players looking for a chance to prove themselves (Thornton, Brown, Wolff, Armas,
Diego Gutierrez, Marsch, Razov).

When you think about it, we are now in a very similar position, only now the veterans are the former young Americans (Thornton, Brown, Armas, Marsch, Razov) who have taken the mantle and the group of young players are as talented or more
so than their predecessors - Beasley, Bocanegra, Gray, Whitfield, Selolwane, Rodrigo Faria, Capano, Ralph, Mapp, Jaqua, Mike Nugent, Logan Pause, Ryan Mack, Phil Swenda, Chad Dombrowski and Ryan Futagaki. The Fire has always taken great
pride in developing young American players and we will continue to do so.

The MLS system makes our job challenging. It also gives all teams a chance to compete rather than the dynastic situations created in sports without salary caps. I believe that we are smart enough to play within the rules and stay one step ahead of the curve in order to maintain a Fire team that can continue to compete for the MLS Championship every year. We have made the playoffs every
year and we provided Fire fans three championships in our first five years.

I understand that people will miss certain players. Some of those people may choose not to support the Fire anymore. If that is the case, then I believe that they were never truly fans of the Fire, but only fans of those individual players. I hope you will all continue to support the Fire in our new era as you have in the past. Your support is important to me and the team - we care.

Thank you,

peter wilt
General Manager
Click to expand...

Thanks @Peter Wilt

"The Plan" all makes sense now.

bunge · Dec 19, 2016

alf said: ↑

For those of you who are not, subscribe to the Fire Insider, here is another reason why:

The Fire Insider - Wednesday, January 22, 2003
www.chicago-fire.com
--------------------------------------------

Dear Fire Fans,

I would like to take this opportunity to explain the Chicago Fire's recent moves and try to address any concerns you may have about the Fire going forward. The Fire had an embarrasment of riches over the last several years - we had assembled more talent than any MLS team has ever had. Last year, many players deferred salaries, gave up bonuses or hadn't reached their salary potential, which allowed the Fire to stay under the
League salary budget for the 2002 season. This year, everything kicked in at the same time resulting in the quantum leap of salaries sending the Fire more than $1,000,000 over the salary budget.

Even with the pending move of Hristo Stoitchkov, the trades of Dema Kovalenko and Josh Wolff, along with several players taking pay cuts this year, we were STILL significantly over the limit, resulting in the unthinkable trade of our
captain and leader Peter Nowak. Unfortunately, the only real aternatives to trading any of those four in order to get under the salary budget included
trading Carlos Bocanegra or Chris Armas, which we refused to do for the following reasons.

We believe that Carlos and Chris can help the Fire compete for more championships for years to come while Peter and Hristo would likely only give the Fire one more year. Josh had requested a trade knowing that the Fire could only afford to keep him or Ante as a maximum salaried forward and his injury
history meant he felt that he needed a fresh
start with another team. Dema is another player that we did NOT want to trade, but given the option of trading him, Carlos or Chris, we believe we made the best move for the Fire and our fans.

I am more frustrated and torn about losing Peter than anyone could be with the exception of Peter himself. We exhausted all options including naming him a player/assistant coach in order to shave some money off the player budget, but it was still not possible to keep him and keep the team under
the salary budget. Any alternatives would have resulted in crippling the team.

Despite all the trades, we STILL have one of the most talented groups in MLS including Zach Thornton, Orlando Perez, Carlos Bocanegra, Jim Curtin, CJ Brown, Evan Whitfield, Chris Armas, Jesse Marsch, DaMarcus Beasley, Ante Razov and Rodrigo Faria - seven US National Team veterans and eight MLS All-Stars in the group! The difference this year is that our depth will be much younger and less experienced than last year.

Chris will now be the oldest player at age 31 and the average age has fallen to 24. i do believe that Justin Mapp, Dipsy Selolwane, Kelly Gray, Craig Capano, Henry Ring and our SuperDraft picks including Nate Jaqua and Damani Ralph - will
give the Fire the most talented youth group in MLS. The challenge will be developing them quickly enough to contribute when called upon. We are now positioned well to start another five year period of success in Major League Soccer.

I understand fans' reluctance to accept the young players as important contributors to the team. Please remember, however, the Fire's situation five
years ago - several veteran players (Nowak, Roman Kosecki, Jerzy Podbrozny, Lubos Kubik, Francis Okaroh, Frank Klopas) mixed with many young, inexperienced players looking for a chance to prove themselves (Thornton, Brown, Wolff, Armas,
Diego Gutierrez, Marsch, Razov).

When you think about it, we are now in a very similar position, only now the veterans are the former young Americans (Thornton, Brown, Armas, Marsch, Razov) who have taken the mantle and the group of young players are as talented or more
so than their predecessors - Beasley, Bocanegra, Gray, Whitfield, Selolwane, Rodrigo Faria, Capano, Ralph, Mapp, Jaqua, Mike Nugent, Logan Pause, Ryan Mack, Phil Swenda, Chad Dombrowski and Ryan Futagaki. The Fire has always taken great
pride in developing young American players and we will continue to do so.

The MLS system makes our job challenging. It also gives all teams a chance to compete rather than the dynastic situations created in sports without salary caps. I believe that we are smart enough to play within the rules and stay one step ahead of the curve in order to maintain a Fire team that can continue to compete for the MLS Championship every year. We have made the playoffs every
year and we provided Fire fans three championships in our first five years.

I understand that people will miss certain players. Some of those people may choose not to support the Fire anymore. If that is the case, then I believe that they were never truly fans of the Fire, but only fans of those individual players. I hope you will all continue to support the Fire in our new era as you have in the past. Your support is important to me and the team - we care.

Thank you,

peter wilt
General Manager
Click to expand...

Beautiful stuff.

milicz · Oct 25, 2022

Leadership:

alf said: ↑

For those of you who are not, subscribe to the Fire Insider, here is another reason why:

The Fire Insider - Wednesday, January 22, 2003
www.chicago-fire.com
--------------------------------------------

Dear Fire Fans,

I would like to take this opportunity to explain the Chicago Fire's recent moves and try to address any concerns you may have about the Fire going forward. The Fire had an embarrasment of riches over the last several years - we had assembled more talent than any MLS team has ever had. Last year, many players deferred salaries, gave up bonuses or hadn't reached their salary potential, which allowed the Fire to stay under the
League salary budget for the 2002 season. This year, everything kicked in at the same time resulting in the quantum leap of salaries sending the Fire more than $1,000,000 over the salary budget.

Even with the pending move of Hristo Stoitchkov, the trades of Dema Kovalenko and Josh Wolff, along with several players taking pay cuts this year, we were STILL significantly over the limit, resulting in the unthinkable trade of our
captain and leader Peter Nowak. Unfortunately, the only real aternatives to trading any of those four in order to get under the salary budget included
trading Carlos Bocanegra or Chris Armas, which we refused to do for the following reasons.

We believe that Carlos and Chris can help the Fire compete for more championships for years to come while Peter and Hristo would likely only give the Fire one more year. Josh had requested a trade knowing that the Fire could only afford to keep him or Ante as a maximum salaried forward and his injury
history meant he felt that he needed a fresh
start with another team. Dema is another player that we did NOT want to trade, but given the option of trading him, Carlos or Chris, we believe we made the best move for the Fire and our fans.

I am more frustrated and torn about losing Peter than anyone could be with the exception of Peter himself. We exhausted all options including naming him a player/assistant coach in order to shave some money off the player budget, but it was still not possible to keep him and keep the team under
the salary budget. Any alternatives would have resulted in crippling the team.

Despite all the trades, we STILL have one of the most talented groups in MLS including Zach Thornton, Orlando Perez, Carlos Bocanegra, Jim Curtin, CJ Brown, Evan Whitfield, Chris Armas, Jesse Marsch, DaMarcus Beasley, Ante Razov and Rodrigo Faria - seven US National Team veterans and eight MLS All-Stars in the group! The difference this year is that our depth will be much younger and less experienced than last year.

Chris will now be the oldest player at age 31 and the average age has fallen to 24. i do believe that Justin Mapp, Dipsy Selolwane, Kelly Gray, Craig Capano, Henry Ring and our SuperDraft picks including Nate Jaqua and Damani Ralph - will
give the Fire the most talented youth group in MLS. The challenge will be developing them quickly enough to contribute when called upon. We are now positioned well to start another five year period of success in Major League Soccer.

I understand fans' reluctance to accept the young players as important contributors to the team. Please remember, however, the Fire's situation five
years ago - several veteran players (Nowak, Roman Kosecki, Jerzy Podbrozny, Lubos Kubik, Francis Okaroh, Frank Klopas) mixed with many young, inexperienced players looking for a chance to prove themselves (Thornton, Brown, Wolff, Armas,
Diego Gutierrez, Marsch, Razov).

When you think about it, we are now in a very similar position, only now the veterans are the former young Americans (Thornton, Brown, Armas, Marsch, Razov) who have taken the mantle and the group of young players are as talented or more
so than their predecessors - Beasley, Bocanegra, Gray, Whitfield, Selolwane, Rodrigo Faria, Capano, Ralph, Mapp, Jaqua, Mike Nugent, Logan Pause, Ryan Mack, Phil Swenda, Chad Dombrowski and Ryan Futagaki. The Fire has always taken great
pride in developing young American players and we will continue to do so.

The MLS system makes our job challenging. It also gives all teams a chance to compete rather than the dynastic situations created in sports without salary caps. I believe that we are smart enough to play within the rules and stay one step ahead of the curve in order to maintain a Fire team that can continue to compete for the MLS Championship every year. We have made the playoffs every
year and we provided Fire fans three championships in our first five years.

I understand that people will miss certain players. Some of those people may choose not to support the Fire anymore. If that is the case, then I believe that they were never truly fans of the Fire, but only fans of those individual players. I hope you will all continue to support the Fire in our new era as you have in the past. Your support is important to me and the team - we care.

Thank you,

peter wilt
General Manager
Click to expand...

milicz · Oct 25, 2022

Peter discussing moves, maybe mistakes, openly and candidly. Leadership.

Peter Wilt said: ↑

regrets, i've had a few....

If Bob and i were going to self evaluate the Fire's moves - or non-moves in some cases - the last couple years, there would certainly be a couple regrets.

HS guaranteed for two years after 2000 -there were some extenuating circumstances that i'd prefer not to make public, but all in all - not wise.

Everything else, trading Diego before '02, not trading Josh during '02....basically as Fonsos said, "going for broke" in '02, i think we would do again. No one could have anticipated the plague of '02. And even so, i believe we were still very close to getting to Foxboro 10/21/02. If you feel strongly that you have a chance to win the Championship, i believe you need to go all out to win it and not white flag it for the future.

This is not a League that rewards teams who plan to be succesful three to five years out. You must plan to win in the current year with a strategy to remain competitive for the Championship the following year - and to a certain extent, the year after that. Keeping the same core of a very good team together for four years is POSSIBLE if enough of them start the stretch very young and hold low numbers on the budget. Five years is nearly impossible if the players are performing well and earning suitable increases.

If they are not performing well, then you are able to keep them together, because their salaries probably aren't escalating, but you probably don't want to.

i believe we are positioned well for another run each of the next three years - though theire are certainly unknowns out there that we will need to continue to react well to - and i don't believe that keeping the recently traded players in lieu of Chris or Carlos would have helped our chances this year or in the near future.

Thanks for caring enough to discuss so passionately.

peter
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