Still curious....... It didn't mention the French-Cook trade, which was perhaps the most `controversial' off-season move the team made...... I'm still frustrated that we gave away more than we got during the off-season...... especially frustrating is the fact that we still don't have a 4th International player to replace Roseli, and we won't get a draft pick next year...... I like the fact that 5 of the players we dropped outright (including 4 out of 5 regular-roster players) are still doing well in soccer. 1)Krista Davey plays for the Power; and, at the end of the season, started. 2)Justi Baumgardt-Yamada (is that Japanese?) also plays for the Power, and also began starting. 3)Amanda Cromwell often comes off the bench to play for the Beat. 4)Dawn Greathouse is the chief backup goalie for the CyberRays. 5)Keri Sarver is one of the leading scorers of the W-League (or so I read somewhere). Even Kacy Beitel and Amy Gray, I heard, are fairly successful in the W_League. The only mystery is that pint-sized girl with the goofy smile who ran for Vice President in 2000 with Al Gore.
Re: Still curious....... Well, I'm feeling a lot better about losing that draft pick these days - if we'd missed a chance to pick up, say, Christie Welsh, I'd be most annoyed. And if I'm not mistaken, we now have two international spots open now that Mak has her green card. That could more than make up for losing the draft pick.
Green card does not mean anything. She is still not a US citizen. She is a Finnish national who now has a green card to work in the US. I would expect she still counts towards the foreign player limit. I think I also read that we used up our discovery spots for a couple of years, so if they get another foreigner it would have to be through the draft. I think the more immediate concern is the possibility of losing the Chinese for next year. I read there is a possibility that their gov't may keep them in China next year to prepare for the World Cup.
She doesn't count anymore - Green card holders have the same working rights as US Citizens and the same work status - it is ILLEGAL by federal law to count her as a foreign worker. Check the Atlanta board for further discussion (Hooper is likely to have her green card by next season now that she's married an American). MLS learned this early on, and WUSA will have to follow the same rules. Hopefully, you're wrong about the Chinese players but unfortunately I can see it happening. I think China would be better of letting them play here though in 2003, they could learn a lot about their competition and get more high-quality matches in WUSA than with China. Dang, we could have ZERO internationals on our roster in the off-season
Dude, I'm gonna be upset if we lose our Chinese players. I've grown really attached to those little ladies. I think you're so right about allowing them to stay on the basis that they'll learn more here. I honestly think they learn more playing with such a diverse league anyway, rather than just one another. Zero internationals? I know Steffi doesn't count. Mak doesn't count anymore. Yikes...that is everybody. But hey, we've still got Stef and Mak.
That is definately true but they can also play in the new Chinese Super League that they have set up over there.
Well perhaps you are right about the green card issue, but the problem with picking up more foreigners is that they take up a lot of cap room. While Anne and Steffi may not count in the 4 player limit, they both make in the 45-55K range. There may not be that many other foreigners out there that are worth that type of money. As we learned last year, you don't want to shell out the bucks and then have the person come in and sit on the bench. Barring any foreigners leaving, I would expect the current roster to remain relatively intact. We draft so late ( could be as late as last pick in 2nd round), that any players drafted will have a hard time making the team. The only player I see as a shoe in to get released is Milburn, but who knows, he kept her last year