Probably quite a few, especially those who weren't here long and/or have no family in the area. Most of these guys are paid peanuts, and the cost of living is presumably better there.
They're pros. They know that if they want to continue their careers they will stay with the team that they are under contract to. The only ones I can see choosing retirement over Houston are Onstad and Chung (didn't he already announce he was going to be a coach somewhere in Colorado?) Kinnear has lots of ties to the Bay Area, but Garber said that he will be at the press conference in Houston tomorrow. He may be the Coach of the Year, but he's only got two years as a head coach and five years total coaching experience. He can't call his own shots yet, and it's not good for his future coaching career to take a step down and go be a college coach somewhere locally. Doyle -- good point, he may not go to Houston.
Garber: "It is our intention to continue this soccer tradition and bring the Earthquakes back to the Bay Area with a new expansion team as early as 2007." Yeah. And, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
Hell, Becky, I'm going to miss everyone. You've all become quite a bit more than casual acquaintances. Bring out the Jagerbombs, someone.
The bit about losing money is ****************. The team was going to make money next year. Due to that "other" company with it's US headquarters in Portland, OR.... UGH!
2007 might be way too optimistic. It could be 3 years, maybe even longer before the Quakes return to San Jose.
So Garber said all coaches and players under contract will move to Houston. But what will the reality be? Will Dom really relocate to Houston? If he does, will John Doyle go with him? They both would have to give up their local youth soccer gigs and start them up anew in Houston. Will all the young players who make peanuts and who have ties to the Bay Area but no ties to Houston pick up and move? Or will they seek something in the A-League? Or overseas? Or something that does not involve playing soccer for a living? Cailiff's MLS contract expired and he went overseas. Anyone else's contract expired? With a Toronto team starting up in 2007, wouldn't this be a great year for DeRo (and Onstad?) to enjoy the overseas experience? Will a few of the older players simply retire rather than have to pick up and move again (Onstad, Chung)? How will Waibel rebound from his year long injury? Will AEG seek to add players with ties to Texas to the roster to assist in the marketing effort? Will the new GM seek to remold the team, including the roster, in his image (and will the identity of the new GM affect Dom's decision to go or to stay)? How many 2005 Earthquakes players will actually end up seeing any playing time on opening day 2006 for the Houston team, when you factor in retirements, transfers (within MLS or to another league), moves to A-League, player loans, injuries, expiring contracts, trades, etc.? Any predictions? P.S. I am not wishing for Houston to have a bad year next year, but I do think by the time the dust settles, it will be a "rebuilding" year as far as the roster is concerned. (Of course, 2005 was supposed to be a "rebuilding" year for the Quakes, also. )
Houston captian Wade Barrett and goalkepper Pat Onstad are schuedule to appear with new Houston franchise coach *shudder* Dominic Kinnear on the Cuty Hall steps in tomorrow's press conference...
All good questions. I, too, am wondering what the state of the team will be when April 2, 2006 rolls around. I think it will be quite a different one than the one that leaves SJ.
Another factor is if any given player is single, married and spouse has ties to a given area or spouse is the primary income earner, married with kids, married with school age kids, has a great non-soccer or non-soccer playing income which won't be there in Houston, etc.
I am sure that if Pat Onstad is under contract with MLS for the 2006 season and he has any hope of playing for the Toronto team in 2007, he isn't going to piss MLS off by refusing to go to Houston. He and his agent might work behind the scenes for something in the next several months (loan overseas?) but until something like that actually happens, he will have to be the consummate "team player" if he wants to make it to Toronto for opening day 2007.