Hard to say for sure, as with any thing the cockamamie MLS HQ concocts on draft day, but just like the way that all the teams were told to lay off Ralston, Williams, et al so that the Revs could achieve parity, the way the SEM just said okay; Give DJ Countess to Dallas and take this crap player, Alecko to Metro just smells like an SEM gerrymander waiting to happen. The story is too good, and in a league DESPERATE for good stories that Son of Cosmo thing is made for news print. Plus Metro counts heavily on the suburban Bergin and North NJ press for its best and sometimes ONLY daily coverage and it would be a nightmare for them to have regular coverage of Alecko's comings and goings for United compete for feature sports status in the local jersey press. Not hard to imagine Hudson's comments are meant as a wink and tweak at the SEM before bowing to their will. Maybe they will even dress it up as another draft day trade, but it would be damn hard to imagine a league office with this much hands on activity being capable of leaving this one to fate. I guess if Bradley isn't that high on AE that could factor but probably not. JMO.
Thank God that draft shenanigans have never, ever happened in New York before, or it would throw the credibility of any league into serious doubt.
Anything can happen in this league but if this is going to happen I don't understand why they didn't orchestrate this above board as part of the "Mega-Trade". All we had to do is swap our #2 pick with DC's #1 pick as part of the Mega-Trade and the stage would have been set.
I'm totally with Congo on this one, especially after reading Hudson's "He belongs in the Swamp" comments... The draft charades really must stop. I can't imagine anyone buys into them being "on the level" anymore.
Re: Re: Esky to Metro? Smells like another SEM puppet show How DARE you question the SEM's methods! The SEM is infallable. Yes, we could have made the draft pick switch part of the "Mega-Trade", but this way we can send the MetroStars other allocation to DC as part of a draft day trade. Also, look forward to acquiring Roy Lassiter sometime in the near future ... we have to give him to somebody and you won the "lottery".
Congorilla has accurately laid out all the incentives for some MLS/Metro "Alecko to MetroStars" deal. The sad truth is that it is entirely believable. In some ways the MLS front office remains immature --still convinced that they have to deliver some bauble to every segment of the market to achieve success. The "ethnic star" is, of course, the most enduring myth. The Metro though has always had a perverse penchant for the "must have" local homegrown "star" on the roster. Maybe, just maybe, someday the Metro will believe that victory is welcomed by all market segments and start to build a team based on that objective alone. I pray for that day. Tell you what, if Bradley really wants Alecko, let him say so, sign him and take the responsibility for it. If not, say so and move on. If Nick is helping to orchestrate such a move with Garber regardless of Bradley's wants or needs, then why did we hire Bradley? Just let Nick run the whole show because for once we'd have something we've never had at Harmon Meadows -- real accountability.
Two totally reasonable possibilities that get Esky to Metro: 1. Metro use their allocation on him, taking him out of the draft (aka the Bonseu method) 2. DCU uses an allocation on a forward. If Hudson believes that he's better off starting Quaranta and the allocation up top, he may look for midfield help before taking another forward. Virtually any other series of events that get Esky to Metro without a trade are and should be suspect.
QUOTE by The Ghost of BillR4: "Just let Nick run the whole show because for once we'd have something we've never had at Harmon Meadows -- real accountability." Are you F'N kidding me (!), or are you his boy? What have you asked Nick accountability for? BAH-AH-AH-AH! You sound like a freaking lamb! I wasn't a big Charlie fan, or Leo, or Leahy, but jeezus-cripes, Nick hasn't done any better. Except lose a franchise in Tampa. Oh yeah- he's been EOY a couple of times-DUH!
You have notoriously missed my point as badly as Faria can miss a sitter. Calm down, read again and then, of course, apologize. Shithead.
This is perhaps the best post I have ever read on these boards. MLS has to get rid of the "mickey-mouse" gimmicky way of thinking. This is a 1st division league in a country that made the quarterfinals of the World Cup. It's time the teams as well as the fans start getting treated as if they are more than just some co-ed team in an afternoon league.