On Wednesday, the 2014 MLS State of the League Address was conducted, with Commissioner Don Garber answering questions from a media panel. The new format received positive reviews, with many people saying the discussion felt more genuine in comparison to the old method of having a hand-picked moderator being fed questions through an earpiece.
Did it result in any bombs being dropped by “The Soccer Don”? Not really. But for the most part (the Jurgen Klinsmann slap fight aside), Garber isn’t known as one to surprise. Anything particularly newsworthy come out of the event? Yes, but not newsworthy enough to make the front pages.
So having let the 2014 MLS State of the League Address simmer for a few days, I thought now would be a good time to check back on it. We wouldn’t want it to sit for too long and go bad, like the concoction that was my last attempt at making Kraft Dinner did.
Some highlights of the 2014 MLS State of the League Address, along with my translation of the language of Don Garber, in this week’s edition of The Wins Column:
1. Cubo Torres contract situation
Garber: “Let’s say we’d like to. We haven’t been able to make that decision yet…we’d love to have him continue in the league”
Translation: Pretty clear cut. And where there is a will, fans across the league should be hoping there is a way. Since joining Chivas USA on loan in July 2013, Erick “Cubo” Torres has scored at a rate of a goal every other game. Yes, a whopping 26(!) players scored at least 10 goals this season, so both the need and the availability of goalscorers might suggest that losing Torres, who hit for 15, isn’t a huge blow.
But just as with former Chivas USA teammate Dan Kennedy, one surely has to wonder how good Torres could be on a good team. Torres has stated that he wants to come back to MLS if he can stay in Los Angeles and play for the Galaxy. 20 goals in 2015 is definitely not out of the question in that case for the 21-year-old. That mark has only been hit six times. In the last five seasons. How expendable is he now?
2. CBA Discussions
Garber: “Of course we’ve started discussions… I’m confident that we’ll be able to reach an agreement that will be good for the league and good for the players…the dynamic (between the two parties) is one that I would describe as positive.”
Translation: Go to your kitchen and grab your salt shaker. You don’t need to take this with a grain of salt, but have it at the ready. CBA negotiations will heat up this week, and the landscape is very different from what it was at the start of the 2010 season when the expiring CBA took effect.
There’s more money to go around (the new TV deal helps), but at the same time the league still claims to be losing over $100 million a year. But hey, Garber went on to say that neither side wants a stoppage. As cookie-cutter of a statement that that is, a common goal is a good place to start. There’s no way everything is peachy between the players and the league, but it seems to me that nobody will be throwing punches anytime soon.
Garber: “We’re (the league) kind of getting into the college age where we’re trying to figure it all out…It’s better for everybody that that state of Major League Soccer is better than what it was 10 years ago, or 20 years ago…we need to continue to grow, continue to prosper”
Translation: I’m not sure if Garber was talking about Major League Soccer or me. The philosophical is straying away from the hard answers. But hey, after 20 years apparently “the training wheels are off”. I remember when that happened for me…10 years ago. Better late than never I guess!
3. Expansion
Garber: “We will be 24 teams before the end of the decade…we don’t have all the answers on what our future will hold…in the next six months…we want to be able to put a stake in the ground as to how many teams will be coming in.”
Translation: Okay…okay…OKAY! Later confirmed by Garber in a separate announcement, there will be expansion news in the first half of 2015. But if we count “we’re not quite sure yet what’s happening in Miami” as a team, that makes 23 teams for 20__. The league recently met with groups from Minneapolis, Sacramento, and Las Vegas to discuss future expansion. Throw San Antonio in the mix as well and you’ve got three unhappy cities in six months’ time.
But as long as New York and Los Angeles each get two teams to support everyone’s a winner, right?
4. Stadiums
Garber: “If we don’t have the right stadium plan, we’re not going to Miami, nor should we go to any market without the right stadium plan.”
Translation: Full credit has to go to FOX Soccer’s Rob Stone for immediately calling Garber out on this one as soon as the commissioner stopped speaking. A quick search through the Oxford Garber dictionary reveals that the term “market” applies to any North American city, with the exception of New York and Los Angeles. They fall under the term “kid-at-a-candy-store drooling sounds”.
5. Rule Changes
Garber: “There’s nothing coming down the pipe where there will suddenly be a dramatic change (in the Designated Player rules)… On any given day, any club can win if they’re smart…The concepts we have in place…all of that will be shared with the public.”
Translation: Don’t expect the maximum number of DPs per team to increase. Seeing as they aren’t a requirement for teams to have (though every team did have at least one in 2014), letting teams have more will only benefit the big spenders. The second block of Garber’s quote is straight from the heart and is the ideal that will be preserved if clubs are limited to three DPs.
As for the transparency, mainly in regards to the Jermaine Jones blind draw and allocation money in the State of the League Address, I feel that things will still be kept behind closed doors. Things will get better, because the “certain threshold” that DPs have to be to avoid the allocation ranking could change based on which side of the bed Garber woke up on.
I used the following analogy when live tweeting the address: When it comes to transparency, MLS used to blindfold us, turn out the lights, and close the steel door behind them as they left the room. And then they would discuss transparency. Come 2015, we won’t be blindfolded.
To summarize, the 2014 MLS State of the League Address had harder answers than normal and for the most part conveyed optimism. But there are still issues to be dealt with and time to pass. Keep those salt shakers handy people.
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