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| Friday, September 14, 2001 24:16 EST |
MLS should have sent stronger message
By Jeff Bradley
[ESPN The Magazine]
Bad job, MLS.
Plain and simple, your Disciplinary Committee had a chance to do the right thing and it messed up. There is no way Mamadou Diallo should have gotten off without, at the very least, a one-game suspension for his reckless, late, dangerous challenge that resulted in broken ribs, a punctured lung and a lost season for MetroStars keeper Mike Ammann.
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The First XI
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Great moments in the history of the now defunct Revolution fanzine, Pictures of Chairman Mao, as presented by PoCM's editors:
11. Being told by Imad Baba to put our 'zine where the sun don't shine.
10. Learning that the Boston soccer press hates MLS more than the local baseball press.
9. Making up the "Lalas-to-Chicago" rumor that was picked up by Univision.
8. Perfecting the "Six Degrees of John DeBrito".
7. Publishing more proposed stadium designs than HOK Architecture .
6. Paying tabloid photographer for picture of Alexi Lalas in the hot tub with two bikini-clad babes.
5. Hearing Lalas' cover of "Like A Virgin"
4. Printing the first extensive analysis of MLS Player Lawsuit
3. 3. Casually leaving copies of POCM in the boot room of Chelsea. (Gianluca Vialli had to be confused)
2. 2. Unexpectedly catching Seamus Malin thumbing through an issue at a local newsstand.
1. Publishing semi-naked pictures of Zenga's girlfriend accompanied by a bad pun using the term "clean sheet."
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I've read all of league vice president Ivan Gazidis' well-measured comments on the play, but I'm not buying the verdict. If you missed it, here's what Gazidis had to say:
"What is shown by the videotape evidence upon repeated viewings and close analysis is the following:
That Diallo runs 35 yards at full speed in an attempt to catch a through ball from Valderrama.
As Diallo approaches Ammann, who is also racing out to meet the ball, it becomes clear very late that Ammann is going to reach the ball first.
That Diallo stutter-steps on his left leg and extends his right leg forward.
That the sliding Ammann takes control of the ball less than a yard and a half in front of the onrushing Diallo.
That Diallo's right leg makes contact with Ammann's head and that his planted left leg makes contact with Ammann's sliding midriff. The left leg is the leg that causes most of the damage to Mike Ammann."
Is this description accurate? Yes.
But it really doesn't get to the heart of the issue, which is simply this: Diallo got there late and nailed Ammann.
That, in itself, is enough for a red card and a one-game suspension. One game would have been an easy way for the league to tell Diallo, "You cannot play the game out of control." Instead, Diallo gets away with something that, in no way, can be considered an acceptable soccer play.
And another thing.
If the referees didn't see the infraction during the game, well, what's wrong with going back a few hours later and changing the verdict? You see it in hockey and baseball all the time. And we saw it in MLS last year with Chicago's Dema Kovalenko. When MLS reviewed the tape of his tackle that broke the leg of Dallas' Brandon Pollard, they suspended Kovalenko for Game 3 of the Fire-Burn playoff series. As in the Diallo incident, Kovalenko did not even receive a yellow card for the tackle at the time it occurred.
This year, the only time MLS has given next-day suspensions is when Miami's Martin Machon and Henry Gutierrez chased after the referee following a Fusion loss.
They could have used the Kovalenko Rule any number of times pre-Diallo. It would have served as a warning to players: Just because you get away with it during the game, doesn't mean you're clear.
It wouldn't undermine the referees to review dangerous plays. On the contrary, it would make them feel like someone is standing behind them.
Metros pile on
With all that said of the league's handling of the Diallo situation, the comments from MetroStars general manager Nick Sakiewicz and defender Mike Petke that Diallo belongs "in jail" are over the top and unnecessary.
This was a collision on a soccer field that had a terrible result. It was far from a premeditated assault.
Petke's "Crime of the Century?Revenge is Coming" T-shirt was also bad form. Why not simply honor your fallen teammate Mike Ammann by wearing his number on your sleeve or something? Is the macho posturing and the threat of violence really necessary?
The league was right to fine Petke for the T-shirt.
Unfortunately, they didn't get the first part right.
Up with the Cup
Wouldn't it be great if this was a breakthrough year for the U.S. Open Cup? A year when, finally, people would begin to follow and understand the whole "Cup Concept?" A year that would convince the folks at the USSF and MLS to really plan the thing out?
There's certainly been enough excitement for the fans in the Final Four cities to latch onto.
Chicago's extra time victory over Los Angeles on Wednesday night in Fullerton might have been the most intense game I've witnessed this season and I expect the same when the Metros and Miami hook up at Long Island's Mitchel Field on Sept. 12 for a semifinal.
On the whole, the Cup has been a hit this year.
The games have drawn respectable crowds at smaller out-of-town venues, and the teams generally seem to be taking the competition seriously. We had the Metros beating Columbus on penalties ... Miami ousting D.C. United on Jim Rooney's Golden Goal ... even the obligatory stunners, such as when the Mid-Michigan Bucks, Chicago Sockers and Richmond Kickers all knocked off MLS teams.
Now, with the Fire through to the final, we should be guaranteed a crowd of 20,000 or more for the final, figuring the game will either be held at Soldier Field or at Giants Stadium the week after the MLS Cup final.
It has all been positive.
No longer naive
MetroStars coach Octavio Zambrano started a familiar refrain on Wednesday night, after the Metros and Kansas City played to a scoreless tie at Giants Stadium.
"I wish I could give everyone who came out tonight their money back," the coach said.
But then, just when it seemed he would go out and blame the Wizards for their defensive tactics, Zambrano blamed his own team for not being able to break down K.C.'s wall.
Call it the End of Innocence in MLS.
Where the league used to throw a phony "commitment to play attacking soccer," MLS now deals in reality. And in real leagues, teams like K.C., who came into the game with a one-point lead over the Metros and without strikers Mo Johnston and Miklos Molnar, play for a result. It was incumbent upon the MetroStars to win the game Wednesday, not the Wizards. So Zambrano had no one to blame for the tie but his own team.
Kudos to him for doing just that.
Who needs relegation?
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The real playoff picture
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Top of table
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Played
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Points
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1. Kansas City
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28
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49
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2. MetroStars
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28
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48
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3. Tampa Bay
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28
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47
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4. Chicago
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27
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44
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5. Los Angeles
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28
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44
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6. Dallas
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28
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40
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Drop Zone (top two to playoffs)
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7. Columbus
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27
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38
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8. Colorado
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27
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36
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9. New England
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27
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36
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Miami
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27
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35
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Out of the playoffs
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San Jose
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28
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26
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D.C. United
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28
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24
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A lot of us soccer geeks like to dream about promotion and relegation, but let's face it, we'll never have it in the land where Major League means "Major Media Markets."
So, I got to thinking, in the current MLS system, who really needs promotion and relegation when we've got the season and the postseason? All we need is for someone (me) to print the top and bottom of the league tables like this and you'd sense the drama:
Pub talk
Oops. In an MLS ExtraTime report a couple of weeks ago, I stated that Jorge Dely Valdes had another year on his contract. That is wrong. Dely Valdes' contract is up at the end of this season. Sorry for the error.
Don't be surprised if both San Jose's Lothar Osiander and D.C. United's Thomas Rongen are both standing in the coach's box for the same clubs on opening day in 2001. I don't have it from any good sources, it's just in my gut that they'll both be back.
Brian O'Donovan stepped down this week as GM of the New England Revolution and I just wanted to say I will miss him. I will look back at O'Donovan and former Metros GM Charlie Stillitano as a couple of ego-less gentlemen who took the rap for their clubs' failures even though, in MLS, the GM does not truly control his club's destiny.
I've voted enough for the all-white MLS game ball now that I know, if it doesn't win the whole thing has been fixed. And, yes, I'll be looking into that.
Big props to the MetroStars for drawing over 16,000 for a Wednesday night game. I was wondering if the bandwagon would ever get rolling.
Is it just me, or does anyone else miss the Gazza rumors?
No offense to the people who've been trying to sell the tickets that will give the United States a home field advantage for the game against Guatemala at RFK Stadium, but I'll believe that one when I see it. I'm not sure I have an answer to that problem. I did, after all, watch the U.S. Olympians play in front of a partisan Honduran crowd in Hershey, Pa..
Sat with the Chicago supporters Saturday and with the MetroStars supporters Wednesday and here's my review: Chicago's Barnburners and Ultras make more consistent noise, know their strength comes from a couple of good songs and aren't afraid to stick with them. The Empire Supporters are rude, crude, clever and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. Thanks to both clubs for showing me a good time.
My lawyer, however, will be contacting The Stars and Beyond, the unofficial fanzine of the MetroStars, and a writer named Mr. Meatpie for his attack on me, my lack of on-air confidence and lack of height. It's called defamation of character, Meatpie.
Jeff Bradley covers soccer ... among other things ... for ESPN The Magazine. Boot Room hits the web every Thursday evening.
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