This is absolute torture for us CRS fans. How close are we? How far away are we? Anything? Do we have to wait to exactly December 15?
This is more painful than I could've imagined. And I don't even live in Chicago; they're my hometown team. But hoping for really good news soon.
I second that but that's more b/c the web version has white text on a white background What sucks even worse for CRS folks is that they had an investor ready to sign right up until the FCGP & WAS news broke. And then that investor backed out. Come On Chicago venture capitalists. The Red Stars are a good gamble to take. If CRS are back for 2011, I will buy season tickets.
Let the freaking out begin... srsly, if the NeSmith decision to not wait another month to announce the end of the team (and/or the new larger escrow deposit and/or no $$ help from USSF) doomed 2 teams and not just 1.....d@mn it.
I wouldn't blame the CRS for closing up shop. I mean look at the league right now and the risks. This is not a league and it doesn't represent the United States. I wrote before about the lack of leadership in this league and I stand behind that. Since The owners run the league are the Sky Blue owners helping the CRS find partners?? Of course not because they would keep it for themselves. If you had leadership I would assume that there goal would have been not to let FC Gold fold. A commissioner would be fighting and figuring out day and night to solve these issues. The Owners only care about their own teams who is developing the league and worry only about that agenda. With FC folding I feel the eastern owners loved it. If the CRS fols I think they will love it even more. They will have a small league with very little travel. Expenses will go down and they will try to run a very lean profitable league. The players union will be weaker and this will give ownership of these 6 teams all the power. The one thing about the CRS is that they have a fully staffed organization. But their president/GM has taken on outside positions and I don't think that was a smart move during this time. She should have been 100% committed to the RS and not move along her own personal agenda. I will tell you this WPS.....Not having Illinois - Texas - and California in the mix you loose the top 3 states for producing some of the best women soccer players in the country!
Carney doesn't surprise me. There was a tiny rumor in the rivalry forum. Davis is still returning from ACL rehab so not terribly surprising w/ Loyden & KK on the books. Engen is the big surprise.
Are you serious? Then we're done. Whiney Engen surprises me. The CRS management was very high on Engen and from what I understand had her signed already for next year. I wish they would just come out and say what's going on instead of dragging us fans through this misery. We have 5 days left to find another owner. And if this doesn't look like it's going to happen then let's know right now. When it comes to the Red Stars, I'm emotionally exhausted.
I wouldn't let the announcement of Engen be the nail in the coffin for you. It is my understanding that this announcement is mostly just really delayed rather than a sign of the franchise crumbling. (ie--Wagner officially retiring for real after hearing the Sol's demise.) I think that at this point with under a week to go that if there is no news yet we can only assume that they're still hard at work to make this happen. So I guess they're not throwing in the towel yet -- which is good. Whether this is harmless optimism on their part (although...optimism seems to be the best word to describe our Stars these past 2 seasons, doesn't it?) or a sign that they're really close to closing a deal, I don't know. I'm certainly hoping for the latter.
So you're saying that Engen was going to be a free agent anyway they just delayed the announcement. Was this her request? I thought she was already signed for next year. I'm confused. And not to mention she is my favorite Red Stars player. Say it isn't so.
I find the Engen situation completely baffling. Isn't she the sort of player that teams would want to hold on to? Her salary is undoubtedly low, and she's a very talented player, so she's excellent value for the money. And though she's probably USWNT caliber, she appears to be out of the mix for the WWC, so she probably won't miss half the season. If I'm a GM, Engen is pretty much the last player I'd want to get rid of.
That's what I'm thinking. However...there's are things IMO, sometimes at play. Is the player happy where she's at? If a player comes to you and says, MR GM I hated it in Chicago. I'm not happy here. I would like to go somewhere else. These kids aren't making 5 million dollars a year. What is a GM to do? I'm not saying this was the case. I have no idea what's going on. But there are many things to think about. Carney and Chapman from England, for instance. If Emma is now gone and the only reason they came here was because of Emma and they want out. What are you going to do? Fight them on it? I can't see how last 2 years were all that fun playing in Chicago. We came along toward the end of last year, but the team rarely jelled. Both years. If Whitney Engen gets signed by another team, I will wish her well and follow her career. She, IMO was the Most Valuable Player for the CRS last season. She will be missed. Also, just because she is a free agent, doesn't mean she won't get resigned by the Red Stars either.