You are kidding right? This is ridiculous. I was once a journalist. I can assure you that I have typos that often go undetected.
Elizabeth, many journalists with lots of integrity have posted in many BigSoccer threads, particularly those discussing their own work. They treat these posts differently - some are anal retentive, some are not. Look up Jeff Bradley or Beau Dure's posts - I think most of us are more than convinced that those guys are actually who they say they are - and maybe that will help you feel like Madden's posts here are more credible. One of the reasons I'm not crazy about e-mail is that people don't bother correcting typos. We're stuck with that, though.
2006 isn't what should be in question with Mcbride. In my opinion he will be somewhere on that team. He'll probably play a role similar to the one Cobi Jones played in Korea. Still not the point. We are going to need him in qualifying as he'll still be effective enough to help us in 2 years. The US can't go into Costa Rica with a team of youngters who haven't played in Central America before and expect to compete. We need the veterans to teach the youngsters, you can't just discard them or we will fail to qualify for Germany.
If you were such a crack-fire journalism expert, you'd know the proper damn use of an ellipsis, says the ex-copy editor. Mark is a pretty versatile guy from my limited knowledge of his work. And given that I went to college with one of his television counterparts in the Burgh, I can say with great certainty that he's at worst the second slowest person on the Pittsburgh sports scene. And Elizabeth - sad thing the database has crashed because I could pick between 5 and 10 very respected journalists who have posted here, some on a regular basis. Hell, I can find MLS players and coaches and GMs in the archives in they ever come back. Back to topic, how is the way MLS handled this any different from how Leeds handled Ferdinand? The employer has put a value on a player and the suitor hasn't met that value yet. This is no different than any other transfer. That doesn't mean Brian doesn't have a right to be upset, but this is not all MLS' fault. There are three sides to a transfer.
Excellent post Aris. This puts it all in prespective. I agree MLS will not sell their best players for only 1-2 million. Hopefully, for a player like McBride, his contract runs out at the end of the season and he can go make some serious money in Europe on a free transfer. There is another issue that needs resolution. When will the MLS get out of the position of acting as a super general manager and allow the clubs to transfer players and act on their best interest.
Re: Re: brian mcbride upset with MLS McBride is 30. If we don't have him replaced and off the team by 2006, we have some real problems in developing competent strikers. Twellman, Donovan, Razov, Wolff, Mathis, Kreis are all younger than McBride. And there are other guys out there as well. I understand that only Razov might be considered a "target" guy in this group I've listed, but I just don't see a 34 year old striker contributing much to our team. And before anyone points to a guy like Batistuta - let's be real. McBride isn't even remotely close to the player Batistuta is and was. Further, we did just fine without McBride on the field in more than one qualifier in C.A. We won at Honduras and tied at Guatemala - and if memory serves me correct he wasn't on the pitch for either game. Mind you we lost in C.R. and Mexico, but McBride would have made ZERO difference in those games IMO. We lost those games in the midfield and were soundly outplayed in each case.
Judging by your typing skills, it's no wonder you got out of journalism. Some journalists make money, but not those whose grasp of written English is on par with Uzbeki schoolchildren!! As for McBride, I had heard the league was going to possibly "reward" him at the end of the season by letting him go to Europe. Hopefully, they will get a little bit of cash for him. It will suck, though, having him arrive in Europe 2 months into the season. I hope he can get into someone's 4 man striker rotation, it might even be best for him to play for a team with a hefty European schedule as well. I think he could have 3 or 4 decent years in Europe. Considering there are plenty of productive strikers at his age or older in the Europe right now, and very few of them scored 2 goals in the last WC! Plus, if he goes, that will just pave the way for Columbus to call back their 2nd round pick from last year's SuperDraft: John Barry Nusum!! Think McBride size, with a little more speed, and linebacker bulk!
I can't think of a single player so far that dominated MLS then went overseas. Sanneh? Hejduk? Moore? Vanney? Bartlett? I suppose you could argue for Stern John of Brad Friedel, but they never took their team anywhere, so I don't think you could say they dominated MLS. Am I missing something? Who are we talking about here? As for McBride, if the premise of this thread is true, then he is just showing his class IMO. Using an interview to badmouth the league would be classless. So would giving an interview and glossing over what's really on his mind. Brian McBride is anything but classless. If any of the original thread is true, he's done exactly what he should do in avoiding taking this issue public. There are certain posters on BS, I won't name names but I think we all know who they are, that have questioned McBride's contributions to the national team or the Crew. I have no problem with that. However, questioning McBride's integrity is totally off-base IMO.
First off, allow me to join the chorus of posters welcoming Mark Madden to bigsoccer! I always enjoy your columns in the PG, and look forward to reading your thoughts here. As for McBride, yes, he is being a baby, but selling him is not a bad idea. The development of the USMNT will in part rest on the ability of the soccer pezzanovanti here in the states to grow the sport's base, and MLS will have to be an integral part of that. Therefore, why not sell the almost-washed-up malcontent? For what they could get, they could probably buy a couple of talented teenage South Americans.
Hey Ayatollah of Rockin' Rollah, good to see you here. Just curious, but did you give an advanced script of questions that would have given McBride the impression that the interview was an MLS fluff piece? I mean, I'd have expected you to be focusing on his time in England, his injuries, his apirations to go back over there, his experience in Korea, and his hot wife. I'd think you'd pay MLS little time. Smack that dufus Jim Colony for me, would you?
Re: Re: Re: brian mcbride upset with MLS 34 is not too old to come off the bench and also to provide leadership for the younger developing players. We might have done fine without him at Honduras but thats not what I was saying. We can't just discard the 30 year old players now because they'll be 34 in 2006. Some of the younger players need to be eased into the fray and we can't expect them to all perform as well as Mcbride would at a game in Costa Rica. By 2006 they'll be ready but we have to get to 2006 first and Mcbride will most likely help us get there.
what kind of dolt would turn a debate over the pros & cons of MLS players going overseas into a dissection of typing styles with a major focus on capitalization? oh, of course, a broad posting on a sports msg board! stick to the topic, or get back in the friggin' kitchen! (by the way, i rarely capitalize when i type for a msg board. msg boards are informal, and since i have to carefully type/edit when i write columns for the pitts. post-gazette, i really don't wanna be bothered here. see, i am a "real journalist." not just a "sports talk host.")
Re: Re: brian mcbride upset with MLS Ask and ye shall receive https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=3237
I don't *think* anyone has made this observation yet The impact of McB's development on the USMNT will be trivial, at the MOST. He's going to be 34 then, right? Or 33. He's going to lose a step or 3. Once he's that slow, he's a shorter Niall Quinn. But MLS needs to be careful. The importance of this has almost nothing to do with McB. It's Freddy Adu et al. If MLS gets the rep. of being unfriendly to players, it's going to be that much harder for them to sign kids. The performance of Landon and Beasley in this World Cup sent about as clear of a message as you could hope for: American kids should sign their first contract with MLS, because they will play and develop there. Being a hardass to McB negates that message. I'm not taking a position on the specific issue, because there's too much I don't know (price? willing to wait until MLS season over?)
What kind of a dolt would turn a discussion about typing styles into a sexist rant? Good to see you here, though.
Excuse me, but you might want to read a few more posts before making that kind of a judgment on women on sports boards. The majority of us "broads" who post on these boards really do know something about the world of sports and soccer specifically. There are, of course, the exceptions (the San Jose board has quite a number of them for obvious reasons, but they're generally harmless), but I think you could actually learn a few things from the rest of us about women fans and what we know. That said, and I'm probably repeating stuff here, I think McBake is right in trying to find the best deal for him. Sure, we do love him in Columbus, but I think if he wants to take opportunities elsewhere, that's OK (sorry all). MLS has turned down more offers than just those to him--offers for Beas have been rejected as well, and for Clintinho, etc. We've had players go to Europe who have met with success (Stewart, Friedel, Keller, etc) others who bombed, and others who weren't really allowed the chance (in this latter case, think Donovan, Twellman, maybe Frankie a little, etc) and even a few who are still working on it (Gooch, C. Casey, Kaslauskas). There are teams that are failing financially in Europe, footy over there is in dire financial straits in some places, and they can't offer MLS the kind of money they want to take our "Strike Force" away. MLS is also not in the best of financial situations (although supposedly better off than some of the Euro leagues) and they don't just want to settle for any old sum. I'm willing to let a few US guys go to Europe to play and keep the ones who want to stay here--I mean, we can't send all our top players over, or MLS will remain consistently below the top Euro leagues or simply become the Euro testimonial league. We need not only players from outside the US, but some of the best Americans, youth and experienced, as well as fan support to make MLS continue to work. I don't know exactly how I feel about McBake not doing interviews, but I do know that I am glad he is still with the Crew for the moment...we'll wait and see what happens after the season is over. Mesabi
Re: Re: Re: Re: brian mcbride upset with MLS Players who will provide leadership in 2006: John O'Brien Landon Donovan Clint Mathis DMB Pablo Mastroeni Maybe Freidel-Keller and/or Reyna Players who will be receiving said leadership: Conor Casey Taylor Twellman Various BS flavors of the month--Quaranta, Johnson, Buddle, etc. Players on ESPN pregame show: Brian McBride jgw DK: Are you sure we can't have just ONE more post on who knows more about typing and journalism?
It would be nice to see this, but I don't see how it would change the circumstances in question. If the Crew had the power to transfer McBride for a mill would they? It's not a simple question really. The Crew may think that with McBride they'll win games and make a nice playoff run, and without him they're toast. I agree it's tough on players not to get what they want, but the people at the club and league level have different goals. The best thing McBride can do is play his heart out in the remaining months and hope that his play will bring suitors from Europe in the off season. Getting involved with all the crap will not help him find a team once his contracts up. McBride should also recognize that while his interests and the leagues have currently diverged, this has been largely a matter of circumstances. I'm not sure McBride would be getting the interest he is today without MLS. No they haven't paid him a lot, but then they haven't been exactly making a lot for themselves either.
Apparently it's easy for all the clubs in Europe that aren't exactly falling over him to say as well. If he were worth more than that, then we'd see bids for more than that. He's out of contract in December anyways. Why waste money on a transfer fee for an injury-prone 30 yearold when you can take your chances, wait until mid season, and get him on a free? Once again, another player is going to walk away without MLS seeing a dime b.c. they're scared of being viewed as a developmental league.
If this REALLY is true, the PR guy was being extremely unprofessional. Why would the guy say something that makes both the league and brian look bad? It's a loose/loose situation. My gutt feeling is this a bunch of bull. Why does Moyes buy McBride? The transfer $$$$ bubble has burst and everyone's being very, very cautious in trying to figure out true player evalutations for clubs that aren't interested into going belly up.
So how is giving an interview after last night's game not helping to promote MLS? Either he blew off Pittsburgh or this is more BS at BS. http://biggsoccer.homestead.com/files/McBride.jpg
Could you please list the players MLS has lost without "seeing a dime." I know there are some, but I suspect that the numbers are tiny, irrelevant even. MLS does a far, far better job of retaining league talent than many people seem to realize.