Yeah, for me (obviously biased if you see my avatar) its Messi first, Ronaldo a distant 2nd. I'd also take Xavi and probably Eto'o over him. On current form, I'd pick Tevez over him as well. I'm guessing he'd end up somewhere from 5-10 on my list. If they get more for him than they did for Ronaldo, that's straight up theft. That said, i don't think they'll end up selling him. I can't see Barca or Madrid take him. Inter has Eto'o and Milito. I don't think there is anyway SAF sells him to another English Club and only Chelsea and Man City would even entertaining paying him what he wants (200,000 pounds/week!). The only club I can see being in the market for him is Milan. I just don't see it happening. The best part about these massive contracts are the buyout clauses. Messi's is 250M Euros. Ronaldo's is 1B Euros!
Perhaps. But I do know one thing - I'll be attending PGE park way more now than I would had the MLS never come to Portland. And I know I'm not alone.
It's a huge error by the administrators of this city to not build a stadium capable of housing MLB or NFL. MLS is great, and I plan on following it, but I still think this city is thinking small time, and it's an error.
Refurbishing PGE Park for soccer/football has absolutely nothing to do with getting an MLB or NFL team here. The city borrowed like 15 millions dollars to chip into the project. An MLB or NFL stadium would cost 500 to 700 million dollars. Jeez man!
That doesn't change the fact that I think it's an error. There have been plans before to upgrade PGE to an MLB capable stadium. It's doable. Yes, it would cost significantly more money, but I'd rather this city spend money on a stadium rather than stupid bike lanes.
The NFL almost DID come here back in the 60's. God I wish we had built the Delta Dome. This city has always been short sighted.
To go back to the player acquisition methods, Portland and Vancouver will be picking up players by signing D-2 guys, bringing in designated players, the first year player draft, and the expansion draft. I skimmed the explanations posted on the second page and they look pretty much right, but they're missing one of the big sticking/confusion points of MLS roster rules. MLS has single entity ownership, meaning that the majority of players sign contracts with MLS and then are placed on the league's clubs. There are just two exceptions to this. Designated players (aka the Beckham rule) where clubs can go well beyond the salary cap and contract rules to sign superstar players (ex. Beckham, Landon Donovan, Rafa Marquez, Theirry Henry). The other is that teams can go outside of the number of players on a roster to sign guys from their youth academies. Each MLS club has one as a part of the US Soccer development program and clubs and sign their own guys who start training with them as young as 12. Its how the rest of the world does it. I know Vancouver has had one for a couple of seasons already to prepare for the MLS requirement of a youth set-up, not sure if Portland has done the same or how long they have to make it happen. There was a coin flip a while back to determine who would get first pick in each of the player acquisition modes. Here's a post from the Timbers' subforum on the Americas soccer forum. VANCOUVER- First pick in the MLS SuperDraft PORTLAND- First pick in the Expansion Draft VANCOUVER- USSF Division- 2 Pro Player Priority on opening of signing period PORTLAND- Designated Player Ranking VANCOUVER- Allocation Ranking PORTLAND- Discovery Ranking VANCOUVER- Waiver/Re-entry Draft Ranking PORTLAND- Lottery Ranking Vancouver won the coin toss and got first pick of all 8 signing methods. I'll summarize them (hopefully) very briefly: MLS SuperDraft - Draft for amateur players (college and high school) seeking entry to MLS. As draft time gets closer you'll hear about Generation adidas contracts, which are for underclassmen (high school grads or college kids) to keep them playing in the States, rather than seeking European opportunities. Their salaries are significantly higher than other rookies and don't count against the cap. Expansion Draft - MLS clubs can protect 11 guys from their roster, Generation adidas players are automatically protected, and developmental contracts (most other draftees and promoted youth players) are protected as well. Vancouver and Portland will pick 11 guys and a single MLS side cannot lose more than 2. Not sure if this is the case this year, but in past years if a team had a player drafted, they could pull another back and protect them. USSF D2 Signings - Both teams can take as many as they want from their current rosters (see today's four for Portland). If they want a guy from another D2 team, Vancouver gets first dibs. Designated Player Rankings - Not quite sure about this one, so what I'm about to say may not be accurate. If an American international is looking to return to the States to play and earns a DP contract, Portland will have first choice to take or refuse the guy. Allocation Ranking - This one I really can't guess. I don't know what the difference is between this one and the Lottery Ranking below. Discovery Ranking - If you go on a scouting trip and find a guy, you can put in a claim with MLS giving you exclusive rights to that player if they sign with the league. Waiver/Re-entry Draft - If a club releases a player, they remain under contract to MLS and enter a waiver pool. Vancouver would have first choice on the released player, followed by Portland, then the rest by last season's record. If you claim a guy, you move to the back of the line. Lottery Ranking - Americans capped at the U-20 or senior level sign with the league and get assigned to a club via a weighted lottery. The higher up on the list you are, the more likely you are to win the player. From the looks of things, Vancouver is building for the future. Portland appears to be looking to win from day one. Cronin has MLS experience with DC and LA. Pore played with fairly regularly in three MLS seasons Kansas City. Johnson and Dike have no MLS experience. Dike was a first round pick by Columbus in the draft, a pick that was widely panned as a horrendous one, and was released before the season started. Dike appeared to lack the athletic ability and intelligence level to play in MLS and the Crew's reaction to him seems to indicate the same thing. Johnson came through the Manchester United youth set-up, but like most of the guys coming from their youth set-up, he never played for the senior side (for every superstar they develop like Ryan Giggs, there are probably two or three Eddie Johnsons). That said, has a guy who came through that system, he's been developed at the highest possible level of anywhere in the world and definitely has a soccer brain. And with all that out of the way, I'd love to see some Timbers fans joining the few of us posting over in the Americas' Soccer forum. There's a couple of us with a lot of info about American soccer and another who keeps us updated on South America. Hope to see some of you here.
It is. Its sort of an odd hybrid of traditional US sports roster rules and International Football rules. Its an American league operating in the world's game, so there is bound to be some confusion. Its a lot clearer in practice than on paper. Most of those things come up so infrequently that if you don't know about them, they'll be explained when its relevant.
Yeah, no shit. That is one thing I don't like about soccer. Too many divisions, leagues, etc...etc....but that's just the "dumb American" in me I suppose. I just think that simplifying things would do the sport a great service.
Wikipedia lists 16 active basketball leagues in the United States. Just for a point of comparison. They could simplify roster rules somewhat, but the stuff they have in place is to keep competitive balance and prevent a repeat of the NASL of the 70s which took off and bankrupted itself in less than a decade. There are only three things the Timbers need to worry about next season, MLS, reserve league and the US Open Cup. The Cup involves any professional club in the US that chooses to participate. The reserve league gives the backups and some youth players a chance to play when they aren't getting time with the Timbers. If they do well, they'll be in the CONCACAF Champions League or the SuperLiga. CONCACAF is the regional federation for North and Central America and the Caribbean and the Champions League involves the top clubs from those countries. SuperLiga features the next four (top four are Champions League) from the US and Mexico. Its not that there is that much more soccer being played in the US than other sports. There's just a lot more that's worth giving a shit about.
