Roomies! http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1055916891159040.xml Its a puff piece but, I thought some might find it interesting.
Yummy! Clark: "I've got different eating habits than him, so usually, I cook for myself. Or, I go out. I usually go to this burrito place in Hoboken. ... They sell big burritos." Anyone know what place he's referring to?
I feel a little sad for them with their pittance salary (P-40 guys) and having to cook rice and pasta to survive. What is the current minimum? $25K?
Yeah...tough life......to guys with a High School education getting to play a game for a living and travel the country.....
As opposed to a guy with a high school education who just signed a 90 million dollar contract? These guys are or could end being considered world class athletes. Under that circumstance, 25k is not anything.
From the article it sounds like both sets of parents (particularly Clark's) are doing fairly well and probably have the means to chip a buck or two in here and there (and certainly, unlike in other cases, are not in any need of support from their sons). You'd be amazed at how far you can make 25K go when you've attempted to live on two-thirds as much. The deal maker really depends on the level of chippies an MLS player can get. Obviously the big three get higher quality groupies, but exactly what's the level typical MLS guys (read: not Landon Donovan) can get?
Re: Yummy! He is probably talking about Qdoba. The burritos are huge and weigh about the same as a brick.
Clark and Magee were the No. 2 and 4 picks in the draft and were high profile youth national team guys when they signed. There's no way they make league minimum.
On another note, this must be the first Metro related article on the front page in almost a year and a half. Since mid-way last year, we've been lucky to get an article on gameday, let alone a pointless mid-week article on 2 of our young players...which can only help(plus a picture of beckham). My first thought on this, is that the Ledger will treat the Metros as a true sports story, since now the Devils + Nets are done. It looks positive, as this is the first true day without any nets/devils postgame news, and just that quick, theres a front page story. Not getting my hopes up, but with if the ledger treats this team with some respect, it can only help ticket sales, as well as the game in general.
There's a lot of people living in the Passaic-Clifton-Paterson area who wish they could drive from Clifton to Hoboken for a burrito when they felt like it. How do you know their parents aren't helping out with the rent or car payments? The article didn't mention anything about that.
Apples and Oranges.........under the current circumstances 25k is appropriate.... I don't want to have this conversion again...but, the pay is the pay...if they don't like it, look elsewhere.......and I am tired of reading about parents helping the players out......25k is fine if you are rooming with someone at this age.....are they rich? nope......struggling kids just starting out in their profession.....seems about right until the league starts making money.... Then everyone can b!tch about how there is no way some 18 year old kid was worth the half million dollar contract he signed.......and that the tickets are now 100 dollars for midfield seats.
Good point, this is something I want to know. Where's the investigative task force when you need it? I also noticed that Rico has some nice threads. Wonder who picked up the tab for those? Time for the Ledger to get on the real story here. And as glamorous as it seems to play soccer for a living and all, in the case of a kid like Magee, you gotta acknowledge he chose a more difficult path than the full-ride to UVa., Notre Dame or Stanford, where he'd have his butt wiped for four years while getting a $150-200k education tab picked up for him. The Pro-40 players are dreamers. Some will turn into Beasley and Donovan, others will end up somewhere next to Carlos Parra and Barry Swift.