WXJM Sports--Kevin Payne interview transcript

[Quiet Beast]

Hey guys, I'm a co-host at James Madison University's sports talk show in Harrisonburg, VA.

This week we were very, very fortunate to get Mr. Kevin Payne, Sr. VP for AEG & Managing Director of AEG Soccer (also former DC United GM) to call in to our show Wednesday night. He was a wonderful guest and we cannot express our gratitude enough for giving up his time to us.

I transcribed the telephone interview in its entirety and cropped only the intro and the very end. I've hastily pasted it up on a low-quality Geocities website (sorry).

http://www.geocities.com/xjmsports

I hope that link works.

Topics include:
Assessment of the season
Offseason talk
Freddie Adu to DCU?
DCU stadium issues
MLS expansion
AEG potential moves
And who will MLS Cup 2003.

On behalf of every at WXJM Sports, thanks again

[Atouk]

That's some great stuff! Really excellent interview. Thanks!

A couple of long-term-issue highlights:

On SSS for DC: "our intention is to have a new stadium available for play possibly late 2006, more likely it would be for the beginning of the 2007 season and I believe that we can create a stadium and hopefully a training complex around it that would be similar to what we’ve done in Los Angeles at the Home Depot Center."

On AEG selling DC (after saying that they probably wouldn't sell LA or NJ): "The other teams, San Jose, Chicago and DC we would certainly consider selling. Whether we’ll get the right kind of offer or not we’re not sure and certainly in the case of DC and Chicago we would be looking for a fairly significant premium above what we sold Colorado for or what we would sell San Jose for."

[Serie Zed]

Thanks for posting this. Very nice job on the interview.

[owendylan]

That was a very good interview. Hate him or love him, Payne moreso than most, is a straight shooter and doesn't really try to dance around issues. I think he divulges as much as he can when it's appropriate. It may not satisfy the fans, but in the end this is a privately help business, and with most businesses, most of this stuff is none of our business.

[GoDC]

Great job.

[Bambule GK]

Nothing earth-shattering, but solid in that it confirms a lot of the discussion here. Good job.

Couple of highlights not already mentioned:

* Discussion of Ray's health as a factor in his return. KP discounts this out of hand. I just find that whole thing odd. Ray "doesn't eat well," "doesn't necessarily take care of himself," "eats like a college kid," etc. KP basically saying that Ray is like a hobo or something.

* KP seems VERY open to the idea of Marco becoming a coach. He seems MUCH LESS interested in the player/coach or coach role for Hristo. He doesn't say it outright, but that's the vibe.

I also get a vibe that while KP recognizes the struggles/challenges faced by the team, he's not convinced Ray has the team performing at its best.

Again, good interview.

[revelation]

Great interview!

Thanks for the link.

[andrewt14]

Nice job on the interview.

Thanks for posting it.

[Lowecifer]

Very well done, Quiet Beast. Thanks for posting it, and thanks to KP for doing the interview.

[EdTheRed]

Top-notch stuff. Great questions, and actually some informative answers. Thanks for posting it.

[MeridianFC]

Very nice interview.

I found it interesting that DC is one of the team AEG would be willing to sell. It seems to me if they're not in the picture it might set our SSS issues back a bit, depending of course on who a new owner might be.

[Barbara]

Originally posted by Bambule GK
Nothing earth-shattering, but solid in that it confirms a lot of the discussion here. Good job.

Couple of highlights not already mentioned:

* Discussion of Ray's health as a factor in his return. KP discounts this out of hand. I just find that whole thing odd. Ray "doesn't eat well," "doesn't necessarily take care of himself," "eats like a college kid," etc. KP basically saying that Ray is like a hobo or something.


I think that was all code for "drinks too much."

[Lowecifer]

Originally posted by BarbDett
I think that was all code for "drinks too much."

I thought Ray was a teetotaler, or at least someone who drinks very little.

[scruggs45]

nice work...is the show still on tuesday nights???...i went to jmu and was on the sports show during the 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 school years...it was called 40oz. of Sports and the Sports Donkeys during my years...a couple of my friends continued it as the sports phenoms last year

[Winoman]

Originally posted by BarbDett


I think that was all code for "drinks too much." [/B]

I think that was a code for "Have I got a match for you! Let's have a vedding!" ;)

[sch2383]

We’ve been working…It’s a priority for our company. You don’t hear a lot about it because we typically, the way we operate, we really don’t talk about pending business until it’s really time for it to become public. But we are, we are working very hard. We are in conversations in MD and in the District and our intention is to have a new stadium available for play possibly late 2006, more likely it would be for the beginning of the 2007 season and I believe that we can create a stadium and hopefully a training complex around it that would be similar to what we’ve done in Los Angeles at the Home Depot Center.

This is some of the best news I have heard in a while.

[grumpydcu]

At last something a little more solid about the SSS. Assuming a two year lead time for construction, we should hear an announcement at the end of next season. IF it comes to pass, we only have to worry about the '05 & '06 seasons being screwed up by MLB. With AEG wanting to retain the LA and NY markets, it explains why they are getting SSSs first. It will be interesting to see which one they keep once MLS moves away from SEM and allow only one team per owner.

On the Hudson front, I would be looking for a place to live in Florida if I were Ray. The luke warm endorsement sounded like the kiss of death. It sounds like Marco has a better chance of staying "in the family" than Ray. This sort of answers the question of who decided to resign Marco for this year.

[Sachin]

Fantastic interview.

I'm very interested in the training situation. I know a number of players are very unhappy with the situation as it is now.

Sachin

[fatbastard]

Originally posted by Lowecifer
I thought Ray was a teetotaler, or at least someone who drinks very little.
:chokes on his (sweet) iced tea:
3 words for you:
Newcastle
Brown
Ale

and lots of it!

Thanx for the link (and interview)

[American40]

I'm very interested in the training situation. I know a number of players are very unhappy with the situation as it is now.

So what exactly is wrong with the current training situation?