Freddy Adu AND his effect on the West

DC did nothing.

The League signed Adu and basically said that Adu would play for DC and no one else (at Adu's request). Dallas is lucky that they're getting an allocation, as Adu could wait to sign after the draft and then be allocated to DC.

 

ADU's EFFECT ON THE WEST - QUIT CLOSING THREADS!

Yes there are plenty of Adu threads. That is no excuse to close a thread on this board about a player that most certainly WILL have an effect on the KC Wizards.
Ancellary thread avenues:
*Maybe a few of us would prefer the input of those regularly on this board
*Maybe I would prefer not to sift through the 1000 inevitably arrogant "this will return United to it's rightful place of glory" posts People ask why I hate dc...there you go.
*Adu's effect on TV Nat'l games.
*What can KC do to stop Adu?
*It's interesting that every year dc gets the young unpcoming stud and they still suck.
*Adu's going to dc is an allocation for Dallas. That fact alone could be a difference in KC's playoff standing next season.

My opinions:
*Count me among the number
*Definitely that's me. As if dc's injuries didn't have an effect on their season. My God, they have been given Convey, Olsen, Adu, Reyes, Every Metro reject that failed due to lack of proper coaching, others, 2 Q's, and an Esky. Is there much doubt who should be winning? Salary Cap my SS.
*Now we'll all be treated to every single "Deuce" MLS game being either CHI, dc, or MET, with an occasional HDC game thrown in. SO package - $49, if you ever want to see a West game. I'd also suggest a second VCR/Digi recorder as all East games will be picked up and SO packaged at similar times to KC's games.
*KC has proven they have no answer for extreme speed of thought or pace. Adu isn't a game-changing pro just yet. By all accounts by 20, when his contract runs out, he should be. Almost assuredly he will not be in MLS. Point being, KC needs game changing speed to go with their veteran smarts and undeniable heart. This speed will help stop Adu and whoever comes after him. Nothing else will have a chance.
*Couldn't happen to a nicer group of fans. For the US Nat Team's sake let's just hope Adu doesn't experience Olsen's difficulties.
*Unless Dallas' allocation is a defensive one that has the ability to make 3-4 guys instantly better, Dallas still has problems. Kreis and O'Brien will be back for Dallas. Burciaga and Wolff have histories of always being injured. Meola's play is apparently regressing. Countess' was filled with poor rebounds and distribution errors that found their way home, it can only improve with his physical play. LA can't suck as much as they did this season under next year's humane schedule. SJ is in the final, could win, and still had numerous injuries and absences. THe Rapids have a bona fide striker. They might have won the KC series barring the GK controversy and Trembly's (COL's Zags) injury. KC's has hurdles that are getting higher and it isn't a function of coaching.

Barring some major change, It will not be shocking if KC is picked last in the West in '04.

 

Re: ADU's EFFECT ON THE WEST - QUIT CLOSING THREADS!

Chill, take a breath. That's the bad news.

The good news is theorheticly every change creates an opportunity under a salary cap. DC will be saddled with unbelievable cap problems eventually. They will be worse the second dc wins anything. Teams must change, even under the BS salary cap MLS loosely uses. The TV schedule could turn around because people get tired of watching the same crappy soccer teams every week. Mathis is presumably leaving, etc.

KC's on field problems distill to: Get faster, GK consistency, sign an impact SI (or two), someone to finish, and pray CJ can navigate the seas. I think everyone understands my opinion of his limitations in this area, but I'm willing to defer reasoned doubt in favor of some blind faith until next May or so.

If Wolff and Burciaga can provide some game and depth then KC is right there as we just witnessed in the Semi. It's a big if. Wolff needs to rehab, regroup, get his head right, and show up. He will not be traded, he has little value except upside. Basicly KC is stuck with him. We know he has talent. It has to be tough to carry his injuries with the mantle of potential. Burciaga's 6 games in 2 seasons or whatever just say that he can be a shut-down corner type player. You can't have 6 games in 2 years and be paid.

Will KC get 4 goals from Jimmy or 41 points from Preki next year? It's hard to plan on. Garcia, Klein, and Gomez are all capable of playing at a much higher level. Do they want it? Arnaud has shown spurts of ability, defense and a :90 brain would help. Quill has alternating moments of clarity and muck. Is there a solution? Simu is a clutch weapon when healthy. Oshoniyi has proven capable and much improved. I don't know that he's as good as say Reis or Garlick...or Conway or Baumstauk/Warren in dc or Ring. It's hard to tell. Pretty much you know what you get with everyone else.

 

Happy Dave? I opened the other and merged, just for you.

jdouble, I'm with you. I'm sick of every major signing/allocation/discovery/etc. pickup for MLS having some sort of stink on it. I've voice my concern over on the MLS forums, to no avail obviously. Basically saying that yes Adu is great for MLS, BUT for the love of god I'm sick of these crap explanations and creativity MLS uses to justify things. If theres going to be a system that most teams have to run by, then either make all 10 run by that system or freaking just dump the system all together.
The crap with KC getting screwed trying to pick up players (Spencer and Twellman) makes me that much more pissed when a different team gets a player they want and there are all these creative excuses as to why its allowed. Adu isn't the only one I'm talking about, so these feelings aren't based just on today's news. This deal just brought them out again.

Dave:
*The TV schedule will have more DC games, but since there were already a vast majority of Eastern games on ESPN2 that shouldnt be effected all that much. FSW seemed to do a better job of mixing it up, but I'm sure they'll grab a good number of Western games that Adu is in.
*Bringing us to the next point, will Adu even be in? I personally don't think so. First, the articles basically say he'll join the team AFTER he graduates in MAY. That means he'll miss 3-4 months when the team will already be together. Just from that fact and his age I'd venture to say he'll be a sub most of the season and won't see game action until sometime in June, nearly half the season lost.
Will he increase attendance at away games? Sure, maybe a little, but again probably only for half the year. And then if fans realize (if they even pay attention) that he isn't playing but 10 minutes a game they may not bother to come if they were coming JUST for Adu. MLS would do good to advertise in each city that "Adu is coming..."
*The only direct effect on the field this deal could have on KC is by making Dallas better. Dallas needs an impact player, and if I understand correctly they will be getting an allocation/SI/"some other creative way for MLS to word it" player. If that player is effective, Kreis comes back to some form, O'Brien gets back to form and their keeper developes some they could be a decent side. What I wonder about is if Dallas gets more than one "thing" for Adu, if they get an allocation type and a draft pick or two and are wise with in the draft (as in Damani Ralph, Rico Clark) then they could have half a new team and become pretty darn good.

 

Seriously, will KC EVER get a break from MLS. I mean the only decent player that MLS has given us was Molnar and he was only here for a year. I mean we had both Twellman and Spencer but then MLS gives them to someone else. Come on give us a break.

 

I don't really the whole store on Twellman and Spencer coming to KC only to go elsewhere, anyone willing to do a little recap for me?

 

Gansler was pretty actively involved in convincing Twellman to come back from Germany to play in MLS.

Mo Johnston was the one who got Spencer to come over from Scotland.

I don't know the whole story either, but I'm sure somebody else can elaborate further. Seems to me like the team that does the recruiting should be the one to sign the guy.

 

Yes, thank you for the courtesy.

True. I would just rather see two West teams on Sat afternoon. That might happen 2-3 times now, if that.

He was on Letterman saying "...March...". Apparently the accelerated 3/04 grad date was part of the behind the scenes for Adu's contract signing. If he's good enough to start, he'll be available. ABC isn't going to want Adu on the bench regardless. I'll bet anyone a tailgate fee that Adu starts the first TV game in '04. PM me if you want a piece of it.

Agreed. The problem is LA will definitely be better, even if they stay pat due to humane scheduling. SJ will be a similar team and they have proven youth.

That leaves KC and COL in the basement if DAL finds a way to get better and avoid injury back in the Cotton Bowl. Presumably they should be better as grass will injure less, they get allocation and two studs back. With the new stadium coming DAL will get league treatment over the next three years as well.

 

Yeah, I saw him last night as well. The things Hudson has said is that he wouldnt be a starter. Granted, Hudson may be on his way out, but no one knows. I agree though that ABC (who already announced DC's opener of April 3rd will be on ABC) will want him in the game. That tells me something very bad: this kid, ready or not, will be pushed to start because of pressure outside the team. I personally don't like to see that.
I think to say that we'll be stuck in the celar with CO is not true. You never know how good each team is going to be. We've probably got just as good a chance as anyone, save San Jose.

 

Gansler had a very important role in bringing Twellman to MLS, and KC thought they could get him with a discovery. MLS ruled that he needed to go through the draft even though Twellman had been earning money to play soccer for 2 or 3 years in Germany. Don't want to say we got royally hosed, but every time I see him score, I keep thinking that he should be a Wizard.

 

BUT THANK GOD HE'S NOT!!!!!

 

Interesting debate about Adu on Meola's 810 show tonight on the drive home. Basically just talked about the situation with non-soccer people thinking "14 years old?!? This is insane. He can't be that good!" Oh yes, yes he is.

And yeah, the way the MLS went about this is stupid. Don't disguise this, just outright give him to DC. They deserved him anyway spending two years training the guy.

But did you really expect anything else from the MLS offices?

 

The league did the same type of thing for Beasley & Donovan...

Anybody know if there were similar transactions "fabricated" for those two situations?

 

Actually, they didn't fabricate anything for Beasley. He was in the P40 system when MLS was still allocating P40s rather than putting them in the draft. DeMarcus went straight to LA (his original team, remember) without any machinations. (The only possible fabrication was the Chicago-LA trade, though LA got two number one picks for DeMarcus, not a bad swap.)

In fact, the Beasley family didn't particularly want DeMarcus going to LA; they wanted him with his brother in Foxboro. MLSHQ decided (wisely, in retrospect) that it would be better to not have DeMarcus being coached by Zenga....

 

Let's not confuse a few practices with "training Adu for two years". dc sure as hell isn't a marytr in this deal. The silver lining for me is that if there is an actual salary cap functioning in MLS, adding Adu at a rate on par with the highest paid in MLS only adds to their collective problems. Convey/Olsen/somebody will have to leave. If Adu isn't a productive starter right away, he will be more of a drag (next year) then Jones and his Max Salary is on LA.

That aside, dc won the cosmic lottery in this one with Freddy winning the genetic lottery with his talent (and maybe his little brother as well), Mrs. Adu winning the actual Ghanan lottery to get out, then that the Adu's ended up in the dc area, and finally him signing with Nike first and then MLS. If it's possible for him to completely suck in a dc shirt until traded here and be all-world in the US colors, that would be my soccer utopia.

As for the MLS office, I don't know how you can fault them. The potentially biggest item in the history of the league had some demands. Unmet demands meant no signing. It's easy for MLS to bend, stretch, or whatever. Adu's already paid for his signing bonus and first year's salary in free PR, impossible-to-buy air time everywhere, STE's in dc, single game tix everywhere else, sponsor happiness, future jersey sales, etc. Nobody in the FO or anywhere else cares if Lucid in KC is upset. The young man is already underpaid. Several national honks are on record as saying they will now buy a ticket (use a press pass) and go to an MLS game just to see what all the fuss is. If he lives up to even a small portion of his potential, we will all witness something the magnitude of which may only be fully appreciated later.

That's the good news. The bad? For me, it ignites the cycle of superagents coming into this game, salaries driven up in the game ala Tiger for the PGA, more expensive seats, etc. The Hunt's of the world get richer and we get to pay more for it. Sports owners are like pharmaceutical companies. They don't care how high the bill is because it's always passed on to people who can't find a way to live without the drug. It matters little if the drug is prosac or adrenaline. The higher the price the better, more margin that way.

On that note, March (and the next "fix") is a long way away...

 

Wow, but that's unkind. How much money has Lamar Hunt lost over the years in the process of putting a product we enjoy in front of us?

I hope Mr. Hunt makes one hundred billion dollars off of his MLS investment. From where I'm sitting, he deserves it.

 

Re: Diversity Lottery

Ah, the new "in" phrase. Basically the replacement to "affirmative action" in the workplace. My company actually has diversity teams and groups. In 10 short months here I've already seen two big promotions in the name of diversity where the promoted person was far less qualified than the others up for consideration.

Back on topic...
I actually read a poster from DC talking about how the DC area "produced" Adu. I laughed my ass off! What a joke.

 

Re: Re: Diversity Lottery

They make it so easy to hate them. Unmittigated arrogance. No small coincidence that dc dresses in black. Mark my words, Adu's career will truly sprout the second he separates from the "black and white".

Good cannot fully blossom surrounded by evil.


Lottery: Interesting backstory. Still it points to the happenstance required. I had to wonder if the lottery was controlled by someone who knew of the potential of young Freddy. You never know what letter from someone in Ghana his whoevers desk in the Dept. of Immigration. Hmmm.

It's probably time to end most things affirmative action. Most qualified should rise, not some quota created token. Entry level things like college admissions, etc should be the standard to anything that remains. Break down the barriers of entry into the game. The rules should be the same for everyone once entered. The problem is that all things involeved with this are difficult to quantify. Where you have that you have lawyers arguing the grey areas. To the Corp. the lesser evil is the slight of the more qualified vs lawyers and tort judgements rendered by 12 people who are purposely not experts in the area.

Not banging on Lamar Hunt. Not at all. Just not in a hurry for MLS to be NHL. Mr. Hunt is in all of his businesses to make money. That's a concept to be respected in my book.
I have no doubt he loves soccer. I also don't think for a second that his "love" is the sole or even main reason for MLS. Not for a second do I think that. Same for all the other owners and future owners.

You can't hope for the HSG to make billions, fine. Just know from which pocket the money comes.
-oot