Expansion, Hall of Fame
In case you didn’t see it, Bernie Miklasz column-ized on St. Louis and MLS expansion this morning. It’s the home stretch - 17 days until the league’s deadline — and the focus is on Harrisburg, Pa., and whether the Pennsylvania legislature approves funding for a stadium in the Philly suburb of Chester. If they do that, Philly gets team 16. If not, they could name St. Louis. Or they might choose to wait longer.
Meanwhile, I got my ballot for the Soccer Hall of Fame today. Here are the eligible candidates. A * means they’re newly eligible, a + means this is their last chance before going to the veterans committee. They’ve changed the rules slightly. It used to be only two - or three if the third person got 75 percent - got in each year. Now, anyone who gets over 75 percent is in. I’m inclined to vote for Dooley, Wegerle, Stewart, Valderrama, Fawcett, and I think a case can be made for Preki, Etcheverry, Agoos, Cienfuegos and Moore. (I can vote for up to 10.) I’ve got a few weeks to make up my mind, so I’ll be stewing over this for a week or so before voting.
*Jeff Agoos *Robin Fraser *Oscar Pareja
+Brian Bliss *Brian Kamler Cindy Parlow
Mike Burns Dominic Kinnear *Preki Radosavljevic
*Mark Chung Frank Klopas Mike Sorber
Mauricio Cienfuegos *Manny Lagos *Earnie Stewart
*Troy Dayak Roy Lassiter Steve Trittschuh
Raul Diaz Arce *Shannon MacMillan Carlos Valderrama
Thomas Dooley Pato Margetic Tisha Venturini-Hoch
John Doyle Joe-Max Moore Peter Vermes
Marco Etcheverry Victor Nogueira +Roy Wegerle
Joy Fawcett Peter Nowak *Evan Whitfield
*Danielle Fotopoulos *Richie Williams
