All-Star sports bra frivolity damages MLS public image.

By Robert Wagman
SoccerTimes

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Thursday, August 9, 2001) -- During the five-plus seasons that Major League Soccer has been in existence, I have often lamented its missed opportunities and its unerring ability to shoot itself in the foot from time to time.

I was not going to write the following because I assumed I would get a flood of e-mail accusing me of being old, negative and a curmudgeon. I am old, I try not be negative -- although many people seem to assume that any level of criticism is negativity -- and my fond hope is that while someday I may grown into a curmudgeon, I am not there yet.

I was not going to write about this year’s MLS All-Star game, but after receiving dozens of e-mails asking my opinion, I guess I will have to wade in.

Major League Soccer on national television has pretty much been relegated to ESPN2, and occasionally to the somewhat more widely seen ESPN. On the rare occasion, when the full ABC network carries a match, it behooves MLS to do everything in its power to put its best foot forward, and to display a product that is hopefully going to turn viewers into fans and get them to attend matches in person if they live in, or are visiting, an MLS city.

This brings us back to the All-Star game. Forgetting for a moment it is never much of a soccer game, rather an exhibit of what the sport might look like if all defense was outlawed (I digress, but wouldn’t the match actually be interesting if it were say between MLS and the United States national team, or even back to the American-versus-foreign-player scheme that was tried in the past?). What I am referring to is the sports-bra exhibit, all laughed off as good fun, and in the spirit of the high jinx surrounding an All-Star contest.

One reader sent an e-mail that I think pretty much captures my reaction when I saw what was unfolding, and now that I have considered it further.

Dana Moffatt wrote from Texas: " I am amazed that what passes for soccer media in this country have opted to totally ignore the poor taste displays of Jim Rooney, Landon Donovan and Mamadou Diallo at the All Star game.

"MLS officials speak to the contrary, saying the "tributes" to Brandi Chastain were both offensive and denigrating of the hard work of women soccer players in this country.

"I could possibly have overlooked the actions of Rooney, the original perpetrator, as a interesting practical joke, but Diallo's on camera caressing of his sports bra, and then Donovan's shameless display that certainly elevated his re-entry into the game to a new low, both left me, as a long time fan, coach, player and father and husband of players both male and female, totally at a loss as to what the MLS is trying to market.

"Perhaps I’m just getting crotchety . . . but it pretty much soured me on what up until that point had been a wonderful exhibition of the talent that abounds in this country."

I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Moffatt.

The night of the All-Star match I saw "highlights" on two local television stations that never carry anything about MLS. A breakthrough for MLS? I don’t think so, since all they showed was Donovan prancing around in a bra, with appropriate comments about soccer weirdness.

MLS commissioner Don Garber went out of his way to stress that MLS’s target audience is the young fans of America and the league is going to great lengths and expense to try to convince parents to bring their children to league matches. I can imagine the parents of young people watching Diallo’s brain-dead response to Rooney, and then Donovan’s exhibition, saying to one another how they can’t wait to bring their kids to an MLS match.

Clearly if this year’s All-Star broadcast was to showcase the best of MLS, that was not the result, and I don’t care if Donovan was celebrating scoring his 25th goal of the match. Another MLS opportunity wasted.

By the way, after the match, MLS said the players were "honoring" Chastain. I don’t think so. I think they were mocking her. But don’t get me wrong -- that in itself, in the proper way, would have been good. She should be mocked. I think what Chastain did, as the U.S. won the Women’s World Cup, set women's soccer in this country back 10 years. She took what should have been the ultimate moment in U.S. women's soccer history and turned it into a sideshow for her own personal advancement in a coolly calculated act.

Likewise what Rooney and Donovan did, and especially Diallo’s ugly exhibition, set MLS back in its attempt to attract a wider, younger audience.

I have also received a number of e-mails asking how, under MLS salary-cap rules the Chicago Fire could possibly afford to give Ante Razov a league maximum salary, while also paying substantial sums to Hristo Stoitchkov, Peter Nowak, Josh Wolff, etc.

So it’s is back to MLS Rules 101, class, with the proviso that there is no league rule that does not have an exception, can’t be bent, or can’t be changed completely at the whim of the Competition Committee, or a powerful owner/investor.

MLS does have a salary cap. Although its exact amount is a Major Secret, it is generally known that it is about $1.7 million per team per season, or slightly less than last season. First, one must forget for the moment that some individual players in MLS make half or more of that amount by themselves (so-called "marquee" players). Theoretically, at least, they are counted against the salary cap at the so-called "league maximum" salary of about $270,000, which is apparently what Razov is being paid.

What is central to understanding the salary cap is that essentially it is put into use for only one second a season, on July 1 at midnight.

On July 1, MLS rosters are frozen. More importantly, at that moment all contracts are guaranteed. While the contracts of some players are guaranteed for the life of the contract, most MLS players are on season-to-season deals, that are not guaranteed for the entire season until July 1. A player can be waived or released before that date, and in most instances will not be paid unless acquired by another team. After July 1, if a player is released he must be paid for the full season and that salary will count against the cap of the releasing team unless the player is picked up by another MLS club.

So, in this situation, no matter how much Razov is being paid for the remainder of this year, the salary cap is now a moot issue and does not come into play. Two factors in signing Razov were important though: Chicago had an open roster spot and was due the league player allocation needed to acquire a U.S. national-team player. In MLS, better players are allocated to teams by the league, as opposed to either being "discovered" or drafted.

Chicago had the roster spot since striker Josh Wolff was injured and out for the remainder of the season. Somewhat strangely, Chicago had an available allocation because they were given one when Razov left the team last year to play in Spain. From an allocation standpoint, he essentially replaced himself.

While the salary cap did not come into play this season, there will certainly be an impact in 2002 when the Fire will likely have to divest itself of two significant front line players. This will get very interesting if both Stoitchkov, and Nowak want to return.

Senior correspondent Robert Wagman's "It Seems To Me . . . " appears regularly on SoccerTimes. He can be e-mailed at bobwagman@soccertimes.com..