I knew she'd been at UC-Irvine for one season but she didn't stay long enough to make any sort of impression now did she. Also, the brief stint @ UC-Irvine was before her time @ FIFA and the technical committees so that still fits the main point of my post. My laziness (in that post) is limited to not including the qualifier of "more than one season" but thanks for the unnecessary attempted face slap. No idea why you needed to elivate the intensity of what was a friendly conversation. You still haven't answered the question of why you think she'd be a terrible hire.
Take one candidate out of the running to be the next WAS coach. shlj reports that Hayes is now the Technical Director for the WNY Flash.
Dan Borislow, a communications entrepreneur and inventor of the magicJack internet telephone product is the new investor for the Freedom. http://www.womensprosoccer.com/Home/dc/news/general/101202-Statement-Maureen-Hendricks
Great Q&A by Jeff Kassouf from the equalizer! New Freedom owner's ambitions: South Florida, team identity change and Marta, splitting home games btwn DC & FL! http://equalizersoccer.com/WebPages/blog.aspx?postid=877877aa-8dcb-4db9-bfab-7a4fe22bf0ff
It's his couple million dollars . . . whatever he wants to do. Now, that doesn't mean I like it or think it's real smart . . .
A couple of things. It could be worse. Your team could have folded, a la Gold Pride. That said, splitting the games between DC and FL is pretty bizarre. Obviously they have to pick one of those as their 'home' for the season, as the players need a place to live, you need a regular home training facility, etc. They'd need staff in both places, since so much of the ticket sales depends on connections to local clubs. They'd need two sets of voluneers to staff the games. Also, since local player appearances seem to be key to building the fan base, how do you juggle that? Something tells me this guy hasn't really thought through all the details of his scheme, especially when he talks about staff downsizing. Pulling off what he's talking about would seem to require more staff. I can see Western NY using two venues in the same state, as they're still dealing with a single youth soccer organization, and the same core of clubs and fans. It certainly sounds like you'll just have the team for one more season, then it would move to FL. Of course, you could throw a monkey wrench into the works by getting record crowds out for your home games. I feel bad for you guys, you've really hung in there for the long haul. I wonder what the other owners think of this multi-state concept? Obviously the league office is not going to put up any objection, since the owners basically took control. And I can't see US Soccer getting too upset about it, since, after all, it's just women we're talking about here. Well, at least this gives us some interesting stuff to talk about before the league cranks up again this spring.
Well, the old Homestead Grays split their home schedule between Pittsburgh and DC in baseball. It's always the implementation that's key . . . conceptually I'm not sure you couldn't do it with one central office and some part time folks telecommuting from FL. FWIW, it doesn't sound real well thought out - but it's not nuclear physics, if you don't mind losing some money you can learn on the fly. Might actually make a lot of sense if the team is really star-studded - people like the circus.
He's far from being the only stakeholder in the team. You can make the argument that he's the only one who counts, but I think an ethical owner at least considers the views of all parties involved and doesn't just do what he likes.
Remember, nothing is official at this point but the idea of adding Marta would sure be nice. one of the 5 best players in the world (in my opinion). http://www.squidoo.com/top-5-soccer-players Also remember, in business any attention is good for the bottom line.
If we can get her at a reasonable price, that would be great, but I don't think it's a coincidence that both WPS teams she's been a part of have shut down. Only if it results in additional sponsorships or ticket sales.
I'm in total agreement w/ SCF* We've seen (twice even) that Marta's presence on a team does pretty much nothing to enhance a team's long term viability. Of course, this whole "play in 2 places" thing will do wonders for brand awareness and loyalty... *here's a hug that I think you probably need (((hugs)))
Another article. http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/soccer/2010/12/washington-freedom-set-name-change-and-move-south-florida
Well, there's the whole potential folding thing. For DC area fans, sure there's honest debate over whether having your team sold and (potentially) rebranded, and moved is worse than having your team fold. But for the league, it is MUCH better to have the news be "Freedom Sold to New Investor/Owner" than "Freedom Fold but we have a new team in FL." Because all anyone will hear is "WPS lost another team" and then you can cue the "how long b/f WPS dies" stuff. And maybe someone with a women's soccer background will drop some knowledge on Mr. Borislow and some of his "hey, look at the shiny new toy I have--let's spitball some ideas" crazy will take a more realistic turn. SCF, surely Borislaw's email address is somewhere on the 'tubes....maybe he needs to hear from the supporters' group...
If the Examiner piece is reasonably correct, the new owner is a tool. "Magicjack SC", oh for fcuk's sake, are you that insecure? Let 'em move to South Florida, the graveyard of all pro sports franchises except, maybe, the Dolphins. The WPS is in a death spiral. No league after next year at the latest.
This is maybe the dumbest idea I've ever heard. Either move or don't. And the name "magicTalk/Jack FC"? Really? Why not just use that as the shirt sponsor. I'm as big of a believer in the viability of South Florida as a soccer market as anyone, but a women's team has about the same chance of surviving down here as a snowball. That being said, if they do move to South Florida full time, I would have to suggest the name "Magic City FC", which is the nickname of Miami. It would serve this guy's self promotion urge but would make the team less of a joke. There are really only two real venue choices if they don't want to play on turf(turf at Florida International University, would-be-home of the failed FC Barcelona-Miami MLS bid). One is Lockhart Stadium, home of the old Ft. Lauderdale Strikers, Miami Fusion, Miami FC and next year the new Strikers. The other is the Central Broward Regional Park Cricket Stadium, which hosted the MLS Combine last year and will again this January: IMO it would be beneficial for both clubs if they held doubleheaders with the Strikers at Lockhart, but I don't know how feasible that is. The cricket stadium is more intimate(5K capacity with a roof), brand new, but it does have less than ideal sight lines. Just a weird story though. I hope for the sake of Freedom fans that they end up staying in the DC area.