Revs News 8/2/02

[John Lewis]

Revolution: Notes from the Front (http://www.cybersoccernews.com/mls/revs/020802Revs.shtml) by Emlyn Lewis - Cyber Soccer News

Twellman family tradition piece (http://www2.bostonherald.com/sport/soccer/ap_revs08022002.htm) from the AP - same article that appeared in the Washington Post yesterday

Revs acquire Griffiths and Leonard (http://revsnet.mlsfansites.com/story.php?news_ID=181&PHPSESSID=a237943ec91c512cca366e353f155515) by Mike Marshall - Revsnet

HTML doesn't seem to be working....you'll have to cut and paste the URLs I guess.

Ok..that's bizarre. I've always used regular old HTML in the past.

[Tony Biscaia]

John, you need to use "BigSoccer Code tags," straight html doesn't work in here.

From the faq (with inverted ['s so it shows up):

If you want to include the BigSoccer Code, you may simply surround the address with [url] tags as shown below. (The BigSoccer Code tags are shown in red).

]url]www.bigsoccer.com/forum/]/url]

You can also include true hyperlinks using the [url] tag. Just use the following format:

]url=http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/]Click here to visit the BigSoccer forums]/url]

[rkane1226]

From Todd Smiths Inteview


CSN: Do you think your fans are unreasonable?

Todd Smith: No. I don't think it's unreasonable to have high expectations for the team. I think everybody should, as a fan. I think one of the things that I have seen though is that people have been very quick, when you discuss certain things, to look back instead of looking ahead. Guys like Steve Nicol, Sunil Gulati and Todd Smith had nothing to do with decisions made when this wasn't part of our watch.



Todd:

Looking back, the fans of this team have NEVER had any choice but to look ahead. The past and the present have been to scary to think about. And you and Sunil have certainly been around long enough to be ashamed of "your watch." Looking ahead (sic) this team is on the wrong course. You can get your "6 starters" back from injury and you STILL will have a bad team. Tar yourself with the present. You WERE at the helm when this team was built.

[ToMhIlL]

From Todd Smith's Interview:
I've seen some comments about why it seems ludicrous that we wouldn't request or offer a physical, none of the six players had one. Because the league owns the contracts of the players it really is a moot issue. The only the thing is that it's "buyer beware."
OK, that clarifies the league policy on this issue (thanks, John), but it raises yet another question for the Socialist Soccer model. The fact that all the contracts are owned by the same entity, and that all paychecks say "MLS" and not the team name is just a structural/orgainzational/bookkeeping issue. The problem is that unlike other businesses, it really does matter if "Asset A" is moved by corporate from the midwest regional office to a similar job in the northeast. In MLS Inc., it is imperitive that if the northeast regional office is sending assets to the mid-Atlantic office, that they be of more or less equal value, or at least in the eyes of those making the decision.

In the competitive and often ugly world of pro sports, the temptation to try to pull one over on a rival is great, especially among nearby teams in the same division. Far be it for me to suggest that an "ethically challenged" GM wouldn't be looking for any edge he can find, just like his players in the heat of the game. For that reason alone, leagues act as the mediator in these cases, and will void a trade if a player is "damaged goods." In this case, Todd says Serna was fine, but given his history and that players can often play through a semmingly minor injury, it might have been wise to fly Doc Zarins to NJ to have a look before finalizing the trade.

The fact that MLS considers trades to be "all in the family" is a seriouisly flawed idea, and has nothing to do with the business structure.

Tom

[Rev-eler]

all right.....i've been like way asleep here. i was thrown for a loop when i read garber's state of the league address where sunil is called the executive vice president. for some reason, i was under the impression that as a consultant for kraft soccer....he was no longer employed by the league.

at least major league baseball has the decency to pretend that there are no conflicts of interest anywhere.

[Alex Sanz]

Gulati, I think, is the Exec. VP of US soccer. He used Sunil's name in the context of speaking about US Soccer. It had nothing to do with an MLS position.