Wither Rothenberg?

Whither Rothenberg?

I'm always surprised at the tme and effort the good people over in the MLS Expansion & Stadiums portion of BS spend on developing lists of hypothetical new investors for the league. Seldom is there any real information linking these deep-pocketed individuals with MLS. Rather, what we see is a lot of "wouldn't it be nice if Mr. So-and-so invested in MLS..." kind of threads. Allen, Gates, Lurie, Turner the list goes on and on.

Yet there's one name that even I, as skeptical a person as you're likely to run across when the dual subjects of MLS expansion and new stadium construction come up, wonder about; Alan Rothenberg.

Here's a guy who :

Was President and CEO of USA '94 (the profits from which he used to create the US Soccer Foundation);

Was USSF president from 1990-98;

Was instrumental in the formation of MLS;

Was chairman of the '99 Women's WC;

Is a member of the MLS Board of Governors;

Was linked with a bid to purchase the operating right to the (then) San Jose Clash back in 1998.

Yet now, the only time we hear Mr Rothenberg's name uttered is when the MLS Cup, which bears his name, gets awarded each Fall.

So my question is, what's up with Alan I. Rothenberg?

I guess if I had the $10-20,000 it probably costs to book the guy as a speaker through Nationwide Speakers Bureau, Inc., I could ask him myself. Thing is, there is almost no news about Rothenberg now; his name almost never appears in a substantive story about MLS or US Soccer.

Did his split with Dr. Bob over the USSF presidency lead to a diminished role in the sport?

Has he just lost interest in MLS (being content with his emeritus role on the Board) and, instead, gone back to focussing on his lucrative legal career?

Does he just not have the cash to swing with guys named Anschutz, Hunt and Kraft?

It wouldn't matter so much, but you'd expect someone with such a US soccer pedigree to be a lot more visible today. It just doesn't add up for me. You'd think, too, that he'd resurface as a potential MLS team operator candidate.

So, if anyone has the scoop on Rothenberg, spill it. He's done a lot for the sport here. But if American soccer asks him "What have you done for me lately?" The answer seems to be, "Not much."