http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/rapids/article/0,1299,DRMN_51_3902511,00.html Also..."Trittschuh sympathizes with Noel's situation but pointed out that many players make sacrifices for soccer's sake." Give me a break! The dude's family is threatened to be killed! Yeah, so many of those players out there deal with that every day. What a bunch of jackasses. Like the Rapids couldn't find 3 grand to get his family out of Haiti. Why don't they use some of their hand over fist money from tonight for that! Sure, Clavijo has a point that he has to work to get a spot on the team..but I'm sure that a lot of other employers out there would be a little more sympathetic if some person that worked for them was in a situation like that!
I think you have to read the entire article to get prespective... It is going to be tough for this kid. But the team is a team not a Humanitarian effort! I think it is good for the team to seperate themselves from his personal life...Yes it sucks and yes it is tragic. But it is not the teams fault and not an issue they need to address. He wants to work with the big boys...he needs to act like one. Be a man and make the most of the chance he is being given and apply himself. Success is what will save his family.
BP Blue Sox.... Why don't you bring along a couple of 5 gallon plastic buckets to the game tonight. Put a sign on them that say "Fabrice will play for money". Start them going around the stadium in opposite directions early in the game. Think about it. If eveyone in the stadium kicked in only 50 cents, and by the end of the game you'd be able to bring over all his aunts and uncles as well as his immediate family. Just an observation...adios
Don't know what to make of the article. BP's choice of quotes from FC is a litte unfair coming on the tail of this paragraph: Well-known for spending his own money to feed and outfit the Haitian national team he once coached, Clavijo said he didn't bring Noel to Colorado as a humanitarian gesture. Still the Rapids seem like they're bending over backwards to (a) stay out of the whole thing (at least publicly - since they did something to help get his paperwork done), and (b) not hype the kid at all. The truly dubious statement was from Wolde, regarding the kids prowess:
I don't believe that getting Fabrice's family to the US has ever been a question of money. Plane tickets aren't the problem. The US Embassy in Hati is probably besieged by people who say they're about ready to be killed by gangs of thugs. Many of them are probably correct about this. It's the sort of thing that can take a good immigration lawyer a long period of time to resolve. My approach would be to keep quiet about this and work on it without making a lot of publicity. The Rapids are playing it smart. There's no guarantee the kid is going to be able to play soccer at the professional level. People read the story of Fabrice's life and get dewey-eyed and they immediately want to believe that Fabrice is a future superstar. The two things are not necessarily connected. If he ever plays a minute in a MLS game, it will be because he toughed it out and earned his shot. FC is showing the kid tough love but it's the only path.