IM not-so-humble O is a GREAT article by Ian. I agree w/just about all of it. I agree w/what both Arena and Lalas said. Can't have a little color and truth come out....nono, gotta fine anybody who says anything interesting... Wake me up when this season gets interesting. It's the dog days of summertime....
Ian continues to think all us Yanks are complete, ignorant fools. I feel certain that if Sir Alec, for example, opined in public that he would treat the likes of Thierry Henry better than his present club, the proverbial whatyamacallit would hit the fan in the olde country just as it did here.
Interesting take. While I think Arena's comments are much different than Lalas', there certainly is an element of truth about the fear among the soccer elite in the US (both officials and fans). Just look at the vitrol that gets poured out after Kornheiser or Fisher go off on soccer. I dread the day when some of the talking head programs on ESPN2 start taking up MLS issues the way they take up MLB/NFL/NBA/NHL issues - I think I've heard them advocate stoning of a player for being an all around asshat... Over the years, we've all gotten caught up in a conversation with a soccer basher and gone off the deep end, but to see any whiff of critique as soccer bashing (or MLS bashing) is taking it too far. US Soccer and MLS sometimes have the appearance and attitude that they have never made a mistake and that it is "their way or the highway". However, I do think "unsettling" a player in mid-season is inappropriate. One only has to look at comments made by a certain Spanish team from Madrid to see a club president make these asinine statements solely meant to unsettle a player. Lalas' comment was of that variety and Payne has every right to demand punishment. If Lalas had come out an said "hey the DC United Front Office blows big chunks" then I think he'd be within his bounds (insanely wrong but within his bounds), but he chose to specifically target a player and say "hey, come up here to my team and we'll make you happy." That is "right out" in any sports league.
There are in MLB too (though they can be somewhat selectively enforced at times). Where Payne is off target is that in MLS' case, where the league controls all contracts for all teams, the rule would be superfluous. Since the Metros can't tender competitive bids for Adu against DC United, even when his contract is up, tampering really makes no difference at all. Such is not true in the EPL or MLB.
a) i disagree with sir ian. I am glad to see payne react the way he did-that he takes his team seriously and is not acting like some street corner whore, desparate for the littlest bit of attention he can get from anyone. We are a real club, not some bizarre freak show that is willing to bite the heads off of rats to get some coverage. I like Freddy, and want him to do well, but am also proud that DCU has the gravitas not to just stick him on the field b/c he's "freddy". b) every time i see the metrotards mentioned it makes me hate them more. really hate.
I agree with Ian on Arena's comments, but disagree with him on Lalas' comments. Maybe it's because Arena is "one of us" and Lalas represents the MetroScum, but I don't think so.
It's my genuine belief Lalas was attempting to twist the knife of Adu's reported discontent. And to get Metro-puking-scum fans all worked up and vocal about Freddy going there. I find that reprehensible. It's one thing if a player contract is coming up and discreet, appropriate contact is made. It's quite another to do what Lalas has. I seriously doubt MLS will do anything more than tell Lalas to shut up, if that. Sorry Ian, as you can see, I disagree, mate. Bugger Lalas, the Metros are truly on thier way down the bin now. Mark
What I find particularly reprehensible about Lalas' comments (and I've liked him in the past) is the subject. Many pro athletes act like children. This one is one. He is a petulant teenager prone to minor tantrums and not taking discipline well. How many of us have experienced that activity, either with our own kids (thank God, I have none) or remember pulling that stuff ourselves? This is analagous to your next door neighbor mumbling over the fence to your own daughter to stop taking her birth control pills, wear that revealing bikini top, and while you are at it, drinking is fine. Encouraging a kid in rebelling against authority does harm to the kid and adults should know better and be held accountable. If he was telling Jaime that the Bolivian restaurants are better in NYC, that's one thing. Jaime can make up his own mind. This is why we have an age of majority. Teenagers are prone to making bad decisions, not all but many. (Something about the frontal cortex developing last, more significantly in males than females.) Alexi might as well offered him Jesus juice and asked to tuck him in.