Yes I have. It occurs to me that JK9 was not willing to stay under the provisions established by the FO so he was traded so that FCD could get somthing of value in return.
What surprises me about this deal is that RSL will play on plastic in the near future - probably for as long as Jason plays for them..... I thought he didn't want to play on plastic. As with many other issues, I'm with Jonno on this.
from a cap-room point of view this is a fantastic piece of news for Dallas as for sentimentality, well, at least he got the scoring record in a Burn uni
You guys lost a helluva person - not sure how much he had left in the tank as a player - but from a personal standpoint I will always liked Kreis. From the first year in MLS where his name was the only thing I could understand on Univision - "Ahhh, Jason Kreis!" to the United for DC golf outing after the AS game three years ago. Guy had a stomach flu, temps were pushing 100, he stopped every hole to hit the bathoom, but no matter how much we insisted he just head back to the clubhouse and rest he still wanted to play on. And three years later he still stops by my seats at RFK to chat when they are in town. MLS needs more players like Jason
Jason was upset to the point of tears when the front office told him basically he was released at the end of the season. He would have loved to stay in Dallas. But he couldn't and support his family. Don't ever go near the loyalty issue with Jason.
This is not about loyalty. This is about being part of the future. There was no way FCD could have kept JK9 in the same role and with the same impact to the salary cap. GE informed myself, the press and anyone that was present at the town hall meeting, that Oscar Pareja and JK9 were welcomed to stay w/ the club but under a different structure on the field and on the salary cap. Evidently JK9 could not live w/ the changes as you say "couldn't support his family". FCD would have lost most of the value in JK9 if released or unprotected under the Expansion draft so FCD did what any organization would have done. Get the most bang for the dollar. This is a win win situation. JK9 will go to RSL and be the star that he once was in Dallas. He forever will be the King of Goals Jason Kreis Superstar in a Dallas BURN uniform in Oneonta, NY. I never questioned JK9s loyalty. JK9 is a professional and as such he sought were he could apply his skill as he thought they would be better suited for hismself and his family.
Could be worse As a Kreis fan, I am actually kinda happy for the guy. I know he wanted to get to 100 goals (he needs nine), and RSL gives him his best chance to do it (I hope he does). There, he'll be with a club he knows will play him. And if he does get to 100, he'll have something no one can take away from him, being the first ever to do it (as opposed to being the current all-time scoring leader, which someone in the not too distant future will probably pass). (250 pts would be nice, too, but not as nice as 100 goals)>
I'm sure Jason doesn't see it this way, but I'm glad this year is an expansion year. I can't imagine any other established team wanting him at his high salary number. This way he can still make his money and have a legitimate shot at starting. Goodbye and Goodluck JK9!
In MLS, you can trade some portion of your cap room to another team. You'll have less cap room, but if you think that you're not going to use, you can get something useful for it. For example, a couple of years ago, Chicago was decimated by injuries and they wanted to sign David Vaudreuil to fill out the roster. Problem was, they didn't have the room under the cap. However, we did, so Mike Jeffries (our coach at the time) traded some cap room to Chicago and got Chicago's first-round pick in the following year's draft for it. It was a good deal for us.
I'm sorry to see Jason go, but I understand that it would've been impossible for him to stay. The team wasn't going to pay him what he feel that he's worth and give him the playing time that he feels that he's earned. Personally, I don't blame him for not taking what the team was offering. Loyalty is nice, but it doesn't put food on the table, clothes on his family's backs, and a roof over their heads. If I were in his shoes, I would rather play somewhere else than have my paycheck and playing time cut the way that Dallas wanted. Meanwhile, I don't blame the team for going down this road. As Bill Parcells has said, if you're in professional sports, you're in the "replacement" business. If you as a coach don't replace players at some point and you don't win, the team will end up replacing you. If the league didn't have a salary cap, yeah, I would want them to keep Jason Kreis on the team until he retired. But they do have a salary cap. Good luck, Jason.
I am just relieved overall. I echo Dustin's thoughts above about it probably being best for all concerned. Certainly I do not begrudge Jason wanting to achieve all he can. For the past couple of years I have had this weird confused feeling about Jason's role. More and more I have hoped that the coach picked somone else to play up top. Last year & before it was EJ & then more recently it was Toni (since EJ was already a lock). Jason just wasn't producing & even worse he wasn't a good fit with those he tried to play with. I don't like hoping that our franchises greatest overall player is not picked. I don't like hoping that the guy who busts his ass more than any other player is not picked. But when it comes down to it I want the team to win first & Jason starting was no longer putting us in the best position to do that. Now I no longer feel guilty and I can just be grateful for all that the King of Goals did for this club. Good luck Jason, your shirt will belong in Dallas when you retire.
Kreis quote: “I definitely have some mixed emotions,” Kreis said. “Dallas has become my home. A lot of me wanted to stay and play in one uniform for my entire career. That’s what makes it difficult for me to leave.” GE quote: “Ultimately, we respectfully disagreed on his projected role with the squad,” Elliott said. “When Real Salt Lake approached us, and it was clear that Jason would be in favor of a move there, it was a simple decision to accommodate his wishes.” Balonpie above in this thread: "GE informed myself, the press and anyone that was present at the town hall meeting, that Oscar Pareja and JK9 were welcomed to stay w/ the club but under a different structure on the field and on the salary cap. Evidently JK9 could not live w/ the changes as you say "couldn't support his family"". Translation to follow when appropriate. On The Waterfront, people. On The Waterfront. -bs
Read the tea leaves, Jonno. Kevin said it best. Rice-Eccles is Field Turf. Why on earth would JK9 want to make this move? -bs
Let's just say that I don't think that HSG was going to engage in the shenanigans that you're implying, in order to keep him in Dallas. After all, as you seem to imply, they could keep him around, pay him $30,000 "on the books" and some unspecified figure "off the books." The question then would've become whether he wanted to make good money riding the bench in Dallas or make good money being a starter in Salt Lake. But, as you seem to imply, such financial shenanigans were never considered.
Maybe Brushes would like to expound on these "shenanigans". I don't have the patience or the inclination to figure out what he is implying.
Ummmm..... so he could start and make more money???? Seems logical enough to me. I'm begining to think you believe that Jason was taken to SLC in black helicopters in the middle of the night.
Why do you feel you have to boo Kreis now? It's not like Jason abandoned us or anything -- he just didn't fit into CC's and GE's plans here. This league needs all the good players it can get, and I'd much rather see Jason playing for RSL than retired or playing for some Division II team in Europe.