Man, in 1996 and 1997 our FO was awesome. We used to be the envy of MLS. We've gone rapidly downhill since then.
Our FO went into stasis during Will Chang, but only because his ownership was barely hanging on without any other money, and the failure of two stadium proposals. But the basic framework and institutional memory was there. Along with a benign neglect towards SG (a least that's my observation). The FO really started a nosedive after the current owners did a wholesale removal of all the remaining people. The descent has been rapid since then, but not before.
Will Chang is the only reason DC still has an MLS team. Had he been able to get a stadium worked out the current situation would look much better between the SG and the team. james
That was not intended to be a criticism of Will Chang's ownership. He did indeed keep us afloat without any other help. But after two failed stadium initiatives, the FO sorta hit a wall.
On the subject of ownership, the initial divestment by Soros is what hurt the team. The dude sold after 5 or so years and the team hasn't been the same. DCU was the model for the league at the time, yet the league was faltering. That guy wipes his @$$ with 100s, but couldn't hang on to DCU?!?! Always frustrated me that he sold because he literally let Kevin Payne run things while he signed the checks. He dropped over $100M on the last election and that didn't turn out the way he planned. Could have spent the money on a higher quality stadium with that. If only he could have fallen in love with the team...
He may have seen the writing on the wall. The original MLS owners certainly didn't see themselves building stadium. The Crew early on got a stadium because they literally didn't have another place to go.
I remember reading a report not too long ago that MLS essentially “folded” after the 2002 season. It was Hunt who pushed everyone to continue — the result was the contraction of the Miami and Tampa Bay franchises. That’s how DCU got Ray Hudson, Nick Rimando and Ivan McKinley.
Seems like a good idea if you're unscrupulous and want to scam people out of the price of an annual magazine subscription or credit card fee. Seems like it could backfire with something as expensive as a season ticket however.
They hired marketing and sports entertainment people. Not soccer people. The result is my game days experience has gone from an A- to a D- . And the grade keeps going down.
I feel sorry for Bill. He deserved better. The only saving grace is that he is still considered young for a GK.
Gotta respect Uncle Phil. This league exists 'cause he and Lamar took over all the teams when investors left. Kraft just kept NE going
What do ya mean "deserved better"? Bill made two separate contract requests, DCU met them--doubling salary to $700k and 3 years guaranteed--and Bill reneged twice. That pretty much tells ya Bill is not remotely interested in staying in DC. Now that the club is out of the playoffs, it needs to evaluate the roster. As great as Bill has been, he has let a bunch of goals in this season. He gets injured frequently. Seeing what Clark can do is part is a requiremint if the club thinks/knows Bill is leaving next season. I don't blame Bill for wanting to test the waters in Europe; it's every American 's soccer players dream. Bill is in his prime. If he goes somewhere that can improve him some more this winter, Bill might even secure a World Cup roster spot this summer--assuming we qualify. Now, did Bill deserve better from the club when these scouts were at that recent game? Sure, another opportunity to play in front of scouts should help Bill find a job overseas. Now should Bill have been more forthcoming with his intentions this summer with his honesty to re-sign with the club? Yes, because now the club can't recoup any of their investment on their homegrown player when he leaves on a free transfer unless he signs with another MLS club.
Bill deserved a better team during his tenure at DCU. Starting every season knowing that you were going to be the only thing stopping the whole enterprise from getting flushed down the toilet and your defense was essentially the equivalent of training dummies has to wear on you.
I don't buy the idea that the club benched Hamid when scouts came to see him thing. Why would DCU have him train abroad so much the past few years if they were trying to hide him?
They weren't hiding him away. Both Clark and Hamid were told Clark would get this start, before knowledge of any scouts coming. It would be wrong to pull that start away from Clark after he'd been told he was starting.
Tim Howard is making $2.5 million as a shitty keeper on a shitty team. Hamid has been the best keeper in the league for years. He deserves 7 figures. I'm hoping against hope that this is all just positioning for off season negotiations. Whatever money they're thinking about handing off to Nigel DeJong, a bad person who badly plays a position that DC doesn't need an upgrade, should go to Hamid. Everyone wins.