sorry if this has been posted already...but, MLS has ruled that EJ, Ruiz, and Donovan will not be counted as DP's for the 2008 season. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/soccer/11/16/galaxy.donovan/
Ruiz I can understand making an exception for because his salary is just barely above the threshhold. That fact makes it nearly impossible to move him if they wanted to. My guess is his next deal will probably be just south of the cap. But doesn't it seem backward that EJ gets 875K and the little fish gets roughly half that?
Not really this year, consider Eddie had over double the number of goals Ruiz had, and 3 times the number of assists.
I thought Eddie started with back to back hatties? Regardless, his season consists of 6 goals in 2 games, and then the rest.
seriously though, could the league bend over any further for the galaxy? you knew they were going to do something so they could keep him. it'd be nice, though, if the league would stop gifting favors to la.
This league is seriously getting corrupt to the point that it will cause a credibility problem at some point in the future. ESPN needs to quit trying to ruin the competitive integrity of our league so they can get their large market teams in the playoffs. Just in case there was anyone who didn't realize that Garber is now ESPN's sock puppet, I'm putting that on the record now. Prediction 1: NFL style wildcard system will be instituted either next year or the year after, to increase the likelihood of the big 3 markets all getting in. Prediction 2: Philly is in and St Louis has to wait until at least 2011 to get a team. It's all about ESPN's Nielson ratings now, folks.
Hey I'm not the one that has changed numerous rules because they were inconvenient to either David Beckham and/or the Los Angeles Galaxy. When and where does it stop? I know the league is trying to turn the Galaxy into the flagship brand that will be recognized around the world like the NY Yankees brand is. I can live with that if someday there's a benefit to the Kansas City Wizards from it, because ultimately that's the only team I really care about. But MLB has not changed the rulebook to be more convenient to the Yankees, have they? Can you say with certainty that MLS won't take those steps? Because they certainly look like the next logical steps in an emerging pattern.
yeah, I can say that. I don't see the league bending over backwards for LA. All I see are a bunch of fans with conspiracy complexes, because it's much easier to explain it away as a conspiracy.
that's how I read it. conspiracy or not, this is obviously the league doing a favor for AEG and the Galaxy. What's convenient for the league is that they can point to FCD and KC and say "look, it also benefits the smaller-markets."
Yes well a good deal of the reason the Milwaukee bid fell apart was because the league has implemented barriers to entry in the last 2-3 years that make it nearly impossible to get a small market team off the ground or approved. The rest of the reason was that Milwaukee is politically in the stone age, but Wilt's posts make it clear he was getting shot at from BOTH sides, and that the expansion policy has fundamentally changed over the last 2 years. In his own words, there simply were not enough "eyeballs" in Milwaukee to satisfy the league. Now I wonder what has fundamentally changed in the league in the last 2 years that might cause MLS to focus more closely on how many "eyeballs" there are in a market. Hmm, let me consider this puzzler and I'll get back to you... It's not conspiracy theorizing, it's simply putting 2 and 2 together.
I don't doubt that MLS would rather be in markets like Philly and Seattle than smaller cities like Milwaukee and Tulsa. But if Wilt would have gotten a solid ownership group together and a stadium plan through city government (neither of which he was successful at), there would be a team in Milwaukee. He's good, but he's not Deity. (And yes, I read most of his posts in the Milwaukee forum.)