Alright, as prelude to determining which team did best in the International Draft, let's ask who's NOT coming to the party (though they were invited)? I mean, I'm shocked to see Lotta Schelin get drafted because the news was that she signed for two years for a nice chunk of change with Olympique Lyonnaise just a few weeks ago. I don't know how long the draft rights are good for. And maybe someone has 9 or 10 months to go on their current contract so maybe they won't play the first season but they'll play in 2010. So in asking which of these players is not going to play with the team that drafted them, let's say we're talking about the first two years 2009 and 2010. The poll limits us to 16 choices so I have to make an arbitrary decision here. I'm going to eliminate from the poll all 6 Brazilians chosen in the 2nd rd or lower; the 3 Japanese players from 2d rd or lower; Necif from France, Iceland's Vidarsdottir, Canada's Parker. (and sorry, as Dandal points out, that should be Jönsson, not Jonsson. Before my good name is besmirched in the Rivalry Forum)
A great, in-depth post about Lotta Schelin's status: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=15829183&postcount=34
Any of you have some inside information for your picks? Like the ones who are picking Kelly Smith (leading the early vote just ahead of Lotta Schelin)?
A fair number seem to think some of the top Brazilian women won't come to the league including 3 who play in the Swedish league, the Damallsvenskan. Marta. Cristiane. Daniela. The contract for all three is, I believe, up fairly soon. But unless they're going to get more money by staying in Sweden (which means sponsors coming up with the cash), I have a hard time seeing them prefer Sweden to the US. Their national coach is going to be in the US. You can get some pretty decent Brazilian food in at least a few US cities, can you say that about Linköping or Umeå? Can you chow down at a churrascaria in Malmö? They won't have to worry about funny little döts over the "o"s and little "o"s over the "å"s. And if they decide to expand their horizons by taking a film class at the local university, they won't be limited to the Collected Works of Ingmar Bergman. True, the UEFA Cup is quite a challenging competition, but even so I'm having a hard time coming up with a list of reasons why they may want to stay and play in Sweden... They're afraid of missing the giant Ikea factory warehouse sale? Lutfisk (Norwegian: lutefisk) - a Scandinavian delicacy of highly dubious culinary appeal, whitefish dried, then treated with lye, and re-moistened. They'll miss playing with girls like Josefine Öqvist - they're so cute.
Well, yes... Vic Akers will not her come to the US...he won't give anyone rights to negotiate to her. She is running the Academy now and unless they will pay her and Arsenal (Transfer fee) a rediculous amount.... Doubt she wants to come to play for a coach she does not know... When WUSA was starting, she was based in the US and had strong ties here... it was a natural thing to stay. Her website is long gone so she most likely does not confer with the person running it for her anymore. As far as Carney is concerned... with Euros coming up, her NT coach will advise her against coming, or make the team here pay for airfare to all those Qualifiers
-- Lotta, for obvious reasons. -- Smith because she's deeply rooted at Arsenal and has other things keeping her in England. -- Sonia Bompastor because I seriously doubt OL will want to give her up when they're trying so desperately to win the UEFA Cup this go round.
Marta's is up soon, Cristiane's has already expired and she's been playing with a team in Brazil, Daniela was reported to have extended her contract with Linköping during the summer and is still on the squad. Hmm... "Personal reasons"?
Ingmar Bergman!? We don't dub though, so a movie in Portugese is still in Portugese at the cinema here. But sure, I mean, Sweden is a small country with backwater selection in terms of entertainment and commerce unless you are interested in very specific things. Umeå had the straightest edge vegan hardcore scene the world had ever known for a while. Now that's gone and the city has nothing extraordinary to offer anybody anymore.
I am willing to bet the brazilians will all come here, even marta. Culturally its more up their alley (as my brazilian friend sophia continues to remind me, brazilians are like bic pens: they have been tossed all over the U.S. and now everywhere you turn, you see one). Plus its a hell of a lot closer to home for them.
I don't know the contract situation of any one but base on the order of the pick, my guess is that Marta, Kelly, Daniella and maybe Cristiane won't come here. At least not right away. Why else would people pick Formiga over them?
probably because it's rumored that Marta wants $400K to come and play; and maybe nor the NeSmiths or the Breakers want to pay that amount of money; or as another poster noted; maybe she doesn't want to come anywhere else but L.A
The very best kind! Alright, I'm gonna get slapped for going off-topic but it's worth it just to keep luring them in from the Rivalry Forum... How the heck do you go about losing "the straightest edge vegan hardcore scene the world had ever known"? (And how in heck do you go about getting it in the first place?)
Alcohol and McDonalds for the first part, perhaps? Interestingly enough, veganism/vegetarianism is still apparently statistically over-represented in Umeå when compared with the rest of Sweden. Getting it? Local hardcore bands helped. It was a serious answer you were after, wasn't it? PS: I think hagabo is being a bit of a local patriot claiming that it was "the straightest edge vegan hardcore scene the world had ever known". There's quite a telling phrase that pops up every now and again in Sweden: He/she/it is "world famous (in Sweden)".
I'm not a fan in any way, but she's the best in the world and she's still quite young. If I were her, my ego would eclipse small planets.
What kind of crowds does she play in front of during league play down in Brazil? Because she's only going to be having 5-7k worth of people inflating her ego up here.
Marta doesn't play in the league in Brazil. Are you talking about Cristiane or have we got our wires crossed otherwise? If you mean Marta, then Umeå play to an average crowd of 1833 per match.
Who knows what you're after when you tempt the denizens of the Rivalry Forum to come out from the mists and shadows? Could be invoking the trumpets of the Apocalypse for all we know...
"Obvious" may not mean the same thing to regulars on the Rivalry Forum as opposed to the rest of us. I mean, some of us could be tempted to read some juicy rumor into this, like something involving Bente Nordby and her Danish girlfriend who are both now at Olympique Lyonnaise.
We're never in mists and shadows. Foghorns and searchlights are more our style. No, but seriously: They like red wine. Everyone knows what THAT means! Many similar questions beg to be answered. Schelin being a case in point. She just signed up for Olympique Lyonnais from the beginning of September, costing them a bucket load of money (and a big bucket, at that). OL has outrageous amounts of money at their disposal and will not part with their new signing willingly. So what does the US club trying to draft Schelin have to offer or barter with, one wonders? Seems like a waste of a considerable amount of time and effort.
Well we already know WPS is operating fairly cheaply so they obviously can't outbid the international teams so it makes even less sense to draft names like Smith and Schelin. Unless of course their names are the sole reason they were drafted. To create some kind of buzz?
The teams probably hope those players might come over 2, 3 yrs down the road. If this is anything like the NBA, those teams reserve the draft right to those players forever.