Good point Focker. I bet they were cruising in Nikki's Dodge Neon, talking it over, listening to the worst song ever, with the corniest lyrics ever, thinking about taking their ball and going home ....
They didn't exactly have a "League Manual" made up with all their rules and regulations, before announcing the league, or immediately afterwards (heck, they still don't even have a website yet). And I would personally LOVE a copy of the "NWSL Employee Handbook". Actually, I'll post it below .... NWSL Employee Handbook Do not murder any player on your own franchise, or any other franchise Do not make fun of the non-allocated players on any franchise for being "poor" Do not ask for funding if you get a blank allocation Do not complain if the league puts 2 of the Top 4 best players in the world on the same team Do not pass go and collect $200 Well, "Here we-go", it's the start of a new league, and not the name of a dog in a beer commercial The rest of our employee handbook will be released soon, as "we-go" through the motions.
Well if Krzysik wants play she is a valuable commodity. She is from NJ and played at Virginia. If she is interested in either Washington or Sky Blue or maybe even Boston and WNY her rights certainly have trade value. If she just doesnt want to play this year then it was a wasted pick.
Seattle baffles me with how they've handled their roster-building on defense in free agency and in the supplemental draft. They may only walk away with "one" defender (Kate Deines) in 11 total potential picks (from the 5 free agent spots they were given, and 6 supplemental draft picks). That is absurd, when defense was "BY FAR" their most glaring need going into those 11 picks. It's iffy on Krzysik right now, and Fountain is taking her flowing water elsewhere in another career.
The financial aspect of the salary cap and the min/max 18/20 roster size is what would have prevented Portland from getting all of the top shelf players.
They still would have been able to put together roster that was basically unstoppable. It all comes back to the allocation. There wasn't parity in the allocation so the powers that be in NWSL had to look for ways to even the playing field.
But the league shouldn't be making "urgent" impulse decisions still, to do that. Let it play out naturally. It only makes things worse when they try to over-interfere within the process.
And who cares, anyways? I'm not sure team balance is a primary need right now. It's not something France has and they're the ones whose league is siphoning off our best. If I'd been running this thing I'd have thought it'd be more important to put big stars where they'll be best used for local star power (Rapinoe in Portland, Perez in Seattle, etc) and let free agents go where they may. Balance be damned, anything that puts butts in seats is good. But that ship's long sailed.
That's all fine and good for the West Coast. What happens when people don't turn out in markets without super stars and those teams fold? Bye, bye NWSL!
There's plenty of stars without strong ties to any of the eight localities that could have gone anywhere. I don't think it would be a killer. I think it'd be a net benefit.
Well, they did get Elli Reed. And if Krzysik plays, they have this to trot out there on the field. Elli Reed (starter) Kate Deines (starter) Nikki Krzysik (starter) Emily Zurrer (starter) Jenny Ruiz (reserve) Lauren Barnes (reserve) If they were smart, they'd get one more defender, a starting caliber one, because there's no guarantee Krzysik will be there. And you never know with injuries.