October 8, 2008
There are some interesting tidbits out of Jeff's latest blog posting after he talked with the Rhinos brass about how they intend to move forward this off season in building the 2009 roster:
- Alen Marcina is listed as a free agent. When the Rhinos acquired Marcina from Minnesota, the press release said that his contract included club options for 2009 and 2010. It would appear that the Rhinos have alreaady decided not to pick up the 2009 option on Marcina's contract. That is far from shocking. But, it is a bit noteworthy.
- It will be interesting to see how Seattle moving to MLS will affect the Rhinos ability to lock up guys like Scott Palguta and Luke Kreamalmayer sooner, rather than later. I would expect that both players would be looking at MLS options for 2009.
- I am curious to see what happens to Alfonso Loera. He is listed in the signed or the club has an option group. But, he did not see much playing time this past season and it would be surprising if he returned in 2009.
- Amongst the young free agents, I would single out Ryan Heins and Daniel Antunez as guys to try and retain for 2009. Both showed flashes of being productive members of the squad moving forward.
News & Notes:
- The Carolina RailHawks have made it official - Chris Economides and Scott Schweitzer are out. Also, TriSoccerFan.com isreporting that former Red Hat CEO and founder and CEO of Lulu.com Bob Young is a new RailHawks investor. I wonder if they will rename the team the Penguins? The would have a logo ready.....
- The USMNT is in DC ahead of this weekend's match versus Cuba. The USMNT blog has some good stuff such as how Cheesehead Jay DeMerit felt about the Brett Favre saga.
- Dwayne De Rosario's 88th minute goal gave Houston a 2-1 CONCACAF Champions League win over San Francisco FC of Panama.
- Portland has sent a formal expansion bid to MLS. The USL has to be rooting for cities like St. Louis and Ottawa, right?
- Grant Wahl has a blog posting about how Beckham's celebrity status is stillin full effect even though his on the field impact has fallen off and the Galaxy are putrid. As the saying goes, sell the sizzle and not the steak.........
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Rochester Rhinos or SoccerSam.com. Feel free to send any comments or complaints to news@soccersam.com. James promises to read (but not to respond) to all of them.
