February 14, 2008
In today's paper, Bob Matthews compares Don Cherry and what he did to save the Amerks in 1971 to Soccer Sam and how he could save the Rhinos in the unfortunate event that Dan Williams does not purchase the team and PAETEC Park.
That's a very interesting comparison and one that I never thought of before.
Both Cherry and Sam are horrible dressers, have big mouths, love their sports, and get people all worked up.
While I hope that Sam doesn't have to buy the team, if he is a part of a group that owns a USL 1st Division team in Rochester, I hope it works out a lot better than Cherry's ownership of OHL's Ice Dogs.
Could good news on the Amerks front foreshadow good news on the Rhinos front?
It looks like Amerks minority owner Randall Latona is now working with Steve Donner to resolve their differences and get things moving with regards to bringing in new investment to the indoor side of the Rochester Sports Group.
Let's hope that NBT Bank picks up the phone today and opts to make a deal with Dan Williams this week. I want to see what new ideas Williams can bring to the Rhinos. Especiazlly with all the hints of solid talent that he is planning on bringing aboard.
Ryan Whirty wants a healthy dose of skepticism
While I believe that Ryan's questions are valid, I also would hope that a lot of the issues that he is asking about have already been agreed to by all the parties involved and really all that needs to happen at this point is that NBT Bank and Dan Williams need to agree on a number.
The best case scenario is that this is a lot like a deal for a house where everything is agreed to but the selling price and the two sides are negotiating to get a number that they can deal with.
I would expect that things move very smoothly once Dan Williams and NBT agree on a number. But, maybe I'm not as skeptical as Ryan is.
News & Notes:
- Dunord is speculating that Benny Feilhaber could be headed to the Houston Dynamo. Feilhaber and DeRo in the midfield ? That would have to make Pat Onstad a very happy man!
- Speaking of Houston, they have dealt defender Ramiro Corrales to San Jose for allocation money that they intend to use on a forward.
- The Houston Chronicle has a Q&A with MLS commish Don Garber.
- This has nothing to do with the article about DC United's defense , but I really like the new font on the back of United's jerseys.
- Steven Goff is putting some DP news hints out there. And as far as Sheva to MLS goes, call me when he signs on the dotted line.
- Another player that falls into that category is Ronaldo. And if this is how those rumors end , it is certainly not how I would choose for that to happen.
- Steven Goff is also saying that Pablo Mastroeni now appears to be staying in Colorado. Makes perfect sense to me if they can fit him in under the cap.
- Randy Lerner is saying that he has big plans for Aston Villa. I love how their manager says that he'd have no qualms spending money in the transfer market if it were made available to him. What manager wouldn't spend money if it were in the budget?
- Will Rocha have a bigger impact for FC Dallas than Denilson did? That's setting the bar so low, that it would be shocking if he didn't.
- Michael Lewis at Big Apple Soccer.com talks to Red Bulls midfielder Dema Kovalenko about the transition from Bruce Arena to Juan Carlos Osario.
- What will be announced first, Philly getting an MLS team or Dan Williams buying the Rhinos? I'm betting on Williams in this race.
- No full scale brawl? I'm disappointed...............
- Sorry for no updates on guests for Saturday. But as you could probably tell from the way things have gone lately, things are very fluid this offseason and you never know what tomorrow may bring......................
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.
