maybe this will help, yes the women told mls to piss off: "We will not play for WMLS," said Foudy, a sentiment echoed by Whalen: "We will not be forced into playing for anyone." ---- What has the women antsy is the fact that little is known about the MLS proposal -- in fact, Contiguglia said he knew none of the specifics at all. In contrast, the WUSA group has been holding regular press conferences, and recently released an impressive roster of financiers and a television partnership with Turner that seems to back up their ambitious efforts. Certainly, the players are sold. "I trust John Hendricks," said Whalen. "Where was MLS two years ago? What are they offering? When we looked at what the WUSA was offering, it was clear that they met and exceeded our ideas for what a league should be. We need a league, and I just hope that we can come to some arrangement that won't hurt soccer in general. "MLS just proposed this -- the WUSA found investors, and their efforts show how much heart they have and how much they want to help. The idea of MLS coming in is a little shaky, because they seem a little shaky. In the long run, though, we need to help both groups." "We've won the war for 20 players," said Foudy, "but now we have to win it for 200. That has to be our legacy." The women have made it clear that they would be willing to work with the men, but they also seem to be determined to go it alone. In fact, there has been some behind-the-scenes bickering centered around a core group of four or five women players who wish to have nothing to do with the men's game at all. And, as Whalen noted openly, they have watched what has happened to their compatriots in MLS. "I know guys who just aren't making very much money," she said. ------ "I had never really thought about the money when I was growing up," said Foudy, "because there was no national team. A year ago, we still had players struggling to survive, needing help from their parents or friends. Obviously, that's changed. On top of that, we have the platform to promote important issues: Now, people listen to us, and we have to take advantage of that opportunity . "With the league next year, we'll be in front of the public eye. It's an unbelievable group of investors, but we're realistic about how hard it is. I see a group that is passionate about women's soccer who want to cooperate with MLS in stadiums and cross-promotion. At the end of the day, we in soccer have to work together to succeed." WUSA will go it alone WUSA might not share those exact sentiments. Said Burke: "We firmly believe that the MLS should concentrate on what it does best and we should concentrate on what we do best. We are convinced that we must be separate organizations." Certainly, WUSA has earned the women's trust: Burke organized and promoted the "Toys 'R Us Victory Tour,", the indoor barnstorming event following the Women's World Cup that reportedly netted each player $100,000 last fall. And, while Burke expressed confidence in his group's getting the nod from USSF, he says "we will go forward, in any case." http://espn.go.com/soccer/s/2000/0412/477455.html however, don't forget where the mls was in 2000: "We don't know how good the business plan was that MLS offered, but I'm going to go out on a limb and assume it was lousy. Let's remember those heady, halcyon days when the millennium was about to turn. While the rest of us were digging out from under the Y2K crisis that shattered the global economy and claimed the lives of billions, the women were basking in the glow of just being the flavor of three consecutive months. Remember what MLS was doing in 2000? That's right. Flatlining attendances. Propping up failing franchises in Florida. Drawing people by the non-drove in San Jose and Kansas City. Watching Lothar Matthaeus and Luis Hernandez bring the credibility of the league to new and wonderful depths. Paying hideous stadium rentals and leases in Los Angeles, Dallas and New Jersey. Moving into suburban junior college stadiums in Illinois. Buying time for their TV broadcasts. Yes, Columbus Crew Stadium was nice, and all, but other soccer stadiums looked like pipe dreams. And they were still, after more than two years, trying to get the stink of the 1998 World Cup out of the air. The WUSA would end up with teams in non-MLS markets such as Atlanta, Carolina, San Diego, and Philadelphia. Furthermore, the Boston Breakers and New York Power played in different facilities than their MLS neighbors. Either MLS would effectively have expanded into four new markets (ask Tampa and Miami how that probably would have worked out), or they would have had to write off three or four of their more successful teams. And at the time, the only stadia MLS owners controlled were the ones in Foxboro, Kansas City, Miami and Columbus. None of those strike me as options much better than what WUSA found for themselves. What MLS did have, of course, was ownership more committed to the long term than the WUSA ownership, and more realistic about how the growth of the league would probably go. That doesn't mean that would have come across in the business plan, and that doesn't mean that in 2000 MLS was ready to subsidize or run an entirely different league with an almost entirely different fan base. And MLS players were still suing them at that time, a development hardly likely to have won over the women's national team players. Should, in hindsight, the women have gone with a WMLS? I don't know." http://cybersoccernews.com/columnists/loney/030919loney.shtml
Buttressing what GL Bryan said about post WUSA humility: "In hindsight the ideal situation would've been to join forces; not have the same investors, but learn from each other, build the sport together," Foudy said. "From the beginning from both sides there was an attitude of competition. I don't point the blame at them; I think we're probably the ones [at fault]." From: HALF-EMPTY CUP ; WUSA WOES MAKE TOURNEY BITTERSWEET BRIAN LEWIS. New York Post. New York, N.Y.: Sep 20, 2003. pg. 070
I have a few thoughts. 1) Should have been much more on the early days -- the games in Italy and Blaine, MN. The earliest footage was around 1990. 2) Great "bad hair" segment! 3) Apparently, our women did wear red jerseys and white shorts before the 2003 World Cup semifinals -- way back in 1990. 4) Liked the fact that Billie Jean King encouraged Foudy and the rest to solve their problems with the Federation instead of using the Women's Sports Foundation as a crutch. 5) Waaaaay too much PTH. 6) The film set the record straight about "The First World Cup." There never was one; it was "The FIFA Women's World Championship for the M&M's Cup." 7) The expectation that there would be the same screaming crowds at LaGuardia Airport in 1991 that there were in Guangzhou Province is, frankly, hubris. The players were far too young to realize that the only reason that the people were cheering for them is because the Politburo ordered them to do so. 7a) I have a whole new respect for Bora Milutinovic.
I didn't expect this movie to be anything earth shattering. A. I'm happy that the team got major props from HBO, and that HBO has treated the team with respect and has hyped the crap out of the movie. B. It was exactly what I wanted it to be. A great Homerific WNT love fest. Anytime they can pull out never before seen footage of this team its a win-win for us. (IMO) It was a tribute film after all. Not a hard hitting investigative piece. Maybe that'll be next.
I know Foudy has her detractors. Say what you will about her, but how often do you hear someone flat out admit that they were wrong?
Has Thomas Flannigan been barred from posting on these threads or something? I'm sure he would have a comment in this thread by now.
I'm with you on all but #5 - help me out, PTH? That Bora took the time to be at JFK is amazing. I can't believe that FIFA had all the women on one charter (at least that is how it sounded when they discussed the return flight taking 42 hours "so they could drop the other teams off").
Pony-tailed hooligans ... the kids screaming "MIIIIIIIAAAAAA" like they were a bunch of long-lost cats.
Another one of my favorites who is one of the top goal scorers, one of the top in caps who got no press in the movie and in my opinion got shafted was Tiffany Milbrett. I am sure her displeasure with the coaching for the WNT had something to do with it. Too bad politics plays a role at that level too.
Got it, thanks - hadn't heard that one for a while. The other thing that disappointed a but was what Robin Roberts had to say each time she was on screen. Her offerings all seemed like backhanded compliments.
I didn't think about it but you are right that Tiffany who is a huge part of this team's success was not even mentioned. Heck, the 91er's could have won it all by themselves without any supporting cast.
Don't think it was a political conspiracy. I just think they were focusing on the 91ers and those that were there pretty much from the beginning, i.e., Carla and Akers.
Milbret's first NT appearance was in 1991. She wasn't included into the 91er club by the charter members. How Dare she Dream!
Good point. She wasn't really a mainstay until 95 (20 caps between 91 and 94) but I suppose the same could be said of Chastain.
Tiffany is just not with the in crowd yet there are only a few with 100 goals. What else does she have to do to be in that elite group?
It was a good documentary. There's no point in ripping it apart over who had how many goals. Tha's F'ing retarded.
I liked how when they were pointing out that there were naysayers about playing WWC '99 in major stadiums that the ONLY article they showed an image of was one by Jamie Trecker.