After taking last week off to re-charge a bit from the exciting run through the playoffs I thought I should drop back in with my own assessment of the season that was. I figure the least I can do is take a look at some of the major milestones and events that marked the 2002 season. There was a new champion, a couple of teams on the brink disaster that somehow made it through the season, and a bunch of great individual performances not to mention a number of noteworthy developments off the field as well.
First, let's tackle this new champions thing. For those of you who weren't with us throughout this roller coaster of a season you may not realize that Milwaukee, while consistent all year long, was not what appeared to be championship material especially on the eve of the playoffs when they lost the man that some believe is their engine, Digital Takawira. To put it in perspective, it's sort of like D.C. United circa 1996-1999 losing Marco Etcheverry. Of course, that could just be my opinion and besides, they apparently had more than enough talent to get through the A-League playoffs. Really, these playoffs were sort of a coming out party for Miguel Saavedra who appears to be living up to some of his massive potential. We'll see if he's back next season to defend his current club's A-League crown or if he'll move on to other leagues.
At the end of the playoffs, though, the entire team for the Rampage had worked their way to an A-League championship against a club, the Richmond Kickers, that had their own bit of magic after toppling would be giants, Rochester and Charleston, before reaching the championship match. Milwaukee proved to have the strongest steel among them as they won their title as they got everything right in the end. They may not have seemed convincing back in April or August but when the bright lights came on in September they went about their business the way that champions do.
How should we eulogize the teams that finished in the wake of the Rampage? Should we even take a moment to think back on it? I definitely think so but at the same time it could be a case of "the king is dead, long live the king" especially in the Eastern Conference where Charleston and Rochester will both inevitably reload with each other and the Kickers on their minds. In the Western Conference Vancouver, Minnesota, and Seattle returned to a bit of prominence with the Sounders winning the regular season league championship thanks to pounding that side of the league into oblivion for most of the time from April until August. They had possibly the biggest let-down of all as Vancouver demolished the Western winners in the second round of the playoffs which was really the first round for Seattle thanks to the bye they had earned as conference champs.
Meanwhile, back East, Charleston played a little "anything you can do, I can do better" after watching the Sounders flame out by not closing the deal against Richmond after winning the first leg of their second round playoff series at home. The Coppertops gave up three first half goals n their most critical match of the season and once again the hopes of Battery fans were dashed during September. The Kickers then went on to grind out a penalty kick series win against the Rhinos, in Rochester no less, to get to the championship match. This coming after winning last year's regular season championship and now it looks like Leigh Cowlishaw's team has a good chance to frustrate the big spenders once again but a lot can change from now until next April.
Now, we can't mention Vancouver without considering their crisis this season as the league has guided this rudderless ship through the season. At the same time we can't forget the debacle that was the re-instated Mariners and their initial ownership group. The Whitecaps previous owner, David Stadnyk, bailed on the team when he realized that losing, not making, money was the name of the game in North American soccer, especially with a team in Canada playing in essentially an American league (see the Vancouver turned Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA for further illustration of this point). Stadnyk left while shouting his losses to the rooftops essentially scaring off any potential investors so now the league and Bobby Lenarduzzi, one of the people run off by Stadnyk, will look to find a buyer for the Whitecaps before next season. It was a miracle they made it through this season, stay tuned.
So the Mariners are back in business, right? Well, they were almost out of business again as quickly as they seemed to rise from the ashes. Essentially the team was snapped up as a bit of a play thing by a group that knew next to nothing about running a pro sports, let alone pro soccer, franchise. They then promptly got themselves into financial troubles by not realizing the types of costs one should avoid in this business. Of course, when everything started to go haywire a New York attorney was left holding the bag that might as well have been flaming and full of the by product of puppies. To her credit she did what she had to do which was essentially take all the heat for the ensuing debacle while trying to broker a deal with the league and a possible new owner. She seems to be the only one from that group willing to put her neck on the chopping block while everyone else ran for cover.
So, a deal was reached and once again the Mariners were in business this time with a "local" running the team, Mike Field. He seems to be a soccer fan with a major interest in keeping the club going while realizing that it's not going to make him any money anytime soon. It's a good attitude to have especially when you're spending the kind of money he may throw around next season to try to bring the Mariners back full circle. There are a lot of fans and observers around the league who hope he does just that especially those of us who remember the past in Hampton Roads (now they'll be the Virginia Beach Mariners) that included current Columbus Crew goalkeeper, Jon Busch.
Now, what about the outstanding individuals this year? Well, there's Miguel Saavedra in Milwaukee, the quartet of Marco Ferruzzi, Josh Henderson, Kevin Jeffrey, and Ronnie Pascale in Richmond, most of the players in Seattle who poured in the goals during the regular season especially Darren Sawatzky, Brian Ching, Leighton O'Brien, and Viet Nguyen, the seemingly ageless Paul Conway in Charleston, the double Johnny's - Menyongar and Torres - in Minnesota, another great season from Jason Jordan in Vancouver, a half a year's worth of a coming out party for Cincinnati goalkeeper Mike Ueltschey, Riverhawk/Lynx forward Ryan Lucas and newcomer Nick Budalic in Toronto, and the twin cannons in Timber-land, namely Fadi Afash and McKinley Tennyson. These are just a select few players that had outstanding years. Guys like Conway, Ferruzzi, Jeffrey, Menyongar, Henderson, and Sawatzky have good to great years every year in the A-League. There are also always some young lions that come roaring out of the pack to prove themselves. Those guys this year included Saavedra, Tennyson, Budalic, and Ueltschey. The major point being that there were a lot of great, great performances this season and there will no doubt be many, many more next season but for the time being here's to all of the things that made 2002 a fantastic year around the A-League including a television deal that saw more USL postseason matches make it onto the tube than MLS. Hopefully next season both leagues' numbers will increase but until then, cheers, for another fine season.
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