I'm sure he will get something from the league if he is agreeing not to file. From Shek Borislow twitter: http://twitter.com/shekborkowski I'm wanting to agree with Shek Borkowski.
the first i did not know and is a good point. as for the second, i didn't doubt they would be picked, but whether they would be at their best. there's a big difference between "staying in shape", being in true match shape, and being up to kickass justwinbaby competition speed.
Yeah, there has been talk/rumors that some of the top USWNT players may be wanting to skip the WPS season this year to "heal up", etc. So my guess is playing a few games rather then no games other then USWNT camps may be more attractive to these players. And living in South Florida while you're at it.
Yea and everything is all rosey. I can tell you've never met Dan. Not involved,it's not in his DNA. He will be involved in every decision regardless. The man never stops.
Nope. Never personally met him. But his team is not officially in WPS. He is not a WPS Board member. He may make all the decisions as far as MJ is concerned, but WPS, I don't see how.
Someone will probably have pointed out that your conclusion doesn't necessarily follow from your premise here. He should have no problem managing all of those things from the outside of the circle. If no one has, I am.
There was never anything from the players saying the refused to play in the WPS this season. Clearly a few of the USWNT players left MJ and went to other teams. Each of the players needed to make their own decisions. The main ones we are talking about are the big names who happen to be older and coming off of injuries. Their primary goal is winning the Olympics and they said in interviews (at least Abby did) they were making playing decisions based on that. Some of them may have been waiting to see what happened to MJ. Clearly they had bigger salaries and perks down there. But we don't know what they would have chosen to do. We still don't know what they will chose to do. None of them have said that they have signed with MJ. And relating to someone elses post above that it was part of the MJ - WPS settlement, there is nothing that MJ or WPS can do to force players to sign and play with MJ. If they decide not to, then it doesn't happen. I doubt that the players were involved in working out that deal. Other then the USWNT players that Dan fully supports and who get the main perks, who is going to want to play a partial schedule season from outside the WPS. Dan has proven to not treat non-USWNT players very well. In fact he was said to not pay them anywhere near as well either. I suppose it will be people who didn't get signed to any of the WPS teams or find a better deal overseas. If that is the case, they are probably in for a bumpy ride.
She did blog about her time at MJ and didn't color her time there in the most favorable light: http://www.pitchsidereport.com/2011/09/28/ella-masar-true-colors-entry-1/ Knowing what I know of DB, that seems like enough to guarantee she won't be returning to MJ anytime soon.
He will get College players and NON proffessionals to play with his darlings. Remember he still has cash and can pay teams for players if he wants to BTW... you all wanted relegation, this is relegation in the WPS.... I heard this is the trial for MJ getting back in the WPS if he does certain things..namely hiring a real coach and a GM and not causing any waves in the WPS.... THey will have him on a leash with termination clauses that he will have to abide by.. The big issue is that WPS is very silent on all of this and they are allowing him to make the spotlight and let people speculate on a very shaky league By allowing him to be the only side speaking of this, the mamoth brain trust of the wps looks foolish after all their posturing.
I think she even went so far as to leave the team mid-season, but then came back and everything was all happy/smiley after that. Can't remember whether it was on her twitter or blog, but there was definitely a cloud of mystery around her status with the team for a few weeks. I don't think we ever found out what it was though.
Unless you think about it for about a nanosecond. I mean, you can spin away (and DB will), but MJSC got kicked out of the league and the the league office is making that stick (EVEN AFTER LOSING IN COURT). I'm not sure ANYONE wants a WPS franchise with sufficient capital to disappear, so having a pathway forward that doesn't dissolve the franchise sure likes a win for the league which also will have the guy by the nuts going forward - if he doesn't do what they want, the team is gone and DB has no standing to make more waves. Plus they keep a guy who, for all his faults, wants what they all want involved and contributing money to the cause . . .
From what I understand she did not leave the team but was going to have surgery on a broken nose, but decided not to and wait and came back to finish the season with MJ. That's why she was in Chicago at mid-season from what I've heard. Because of the nose not because she was quitting MJ, is my understanding. http://blog.ellamasar.com/2011/12/fourth-time-is-a-charm/ It looked to me like Masar was more disappointed when Wambach took over the coaching and decided not to player her as much. Remember, I believe it was a playoff game in South Florida on FSC and Wambach did not sub or barely subbed and they showed a couple of shots of Masar at the end of the bench and it was the most dissapointed look you will see.
I am confused because I always thought you advocated for DB's return (for entertainment purposes, at least). I myself wanted magicjack back for : 1) Keeping the number of teams at an even number avoids bye weekends and keeps the schedule balanced 2) Keeping enough players on the payroll (shrinkage is bad for the league) 3) Attempts to Keep this league national, instead of just NE regional +Atlanta 4) You need 6+ teams for playoffs pasoccerdad I have issues with the scheduling too. Especially since there are 2 home games and 6? away games. How does magicjack make revenue, a split gate???? but I guess how it will work out somehow: It seems they will be able to play whatever WPS teams are on the bye. The WPS teams will have this as an additional revenue opportunity, since the national team players are a big draw.
Entertainment value is all it offered last year... I thought this guy was crazy and when I read the documents (all of them) I was good with him being out. But It is never good to lose a team. less teams mean you see the same ones more often... It has never been about the gate for MJ, it is a toy for his daughter to get to hang out with the players.
unless guignol is much mistaken (always a good bet i'll admit) all sports events where admission is charged are split gate, from the MLS world series right down to french division 2 volleyball. the gate however is after expenses, so it's wrong to think DB is pulling a fast one by finagling a mostly away schedule.
i'm not so sure. who said wps teams share gates? this guy gave $60k to the university. he was only pulling 700-1200 people a game at $6-$10 per person. do the math. that's 100% of his gate to the university. bottom line. he has a $40M tax bill from Uncle Sam and the Big Girl Jacks are a nice $1-$1.5M advertising write off.
That is right. According to what we read he did give 100% of gate revenue to FIU. Also his is the only company that put their money where his mouth is and actually sponsored WPS programming on FSC. I did not see Fitz's company of any of the other WPS owners company's commercials on FSC. But we did see MagicJack. Although he may be perceived as arrogant, etc., he does put his money where his mouth is.
I don't really consider that putting his money where his mouth is - that's simply purchasing advertising, which he would do on some other program if there were no WPS match on FSC. Putting his money up would be investing in the team or league in a manner not calculated to benefit the MagicJack business, such as building a training facility for the team (building a stadium would be good too, but that is partially a money-maker itself, being rentable for concerts, etc., and also serving as direct advertising: "MagicJack Stadium")
i stand humbly corrected... perhaps. if he had to pay more than the actual gate to rent the venue (and on top of that comes usually municipal fees for policing, and other ancillary expenses) then there is no after expenses gate to share. something that often happens to minnows who draw big clubs in cups: they end up losing money because they have to rent a venue homologated for that kind of event. which is why they sometimes give up their right to host. especially since the big clubs traditionally give up their share of the gate as a goodwill gesture.
One advantage having only two home games seems to have is the ability to try to schedule them at FAU's new 30K football stadium, as a test case, rather than at the low capacity soccer field.
Yeah, but I don't see any of the other owners doing it. And no. it's not just simlpy buying air time for his product and he would have done it somewhere else. WPS is on TV because there are sponsors willing to pay for the air time. In America nothing is free. On the other hand yes, he could have bought airtime on another show, but he chose to support the WPS. At least that's the way I look at it. I'm not defending DB by any means for his actions, but there are a couple of things that he did that do deserve merit.
pasoccerdad - DB couldn't use current college players to fill out his roster b/c they are not allowed to play with players who are getting paid to play, they lose their eligibility if they do. In the WPSL or W-League the players who do get paid are usually being done so for coaching/appearances or being given housing etc. Not being paid directly to play.