OMFG! MLS Fines people!
Do you see the graphic on the right? That is a spine, something that up until today, MLS never really had when it came to dealing with its players. A player would do something and sure, they would get fined and or suspended, but never in a manner that really showed that the league was trying to be serious about dealing with ill behavior or anything.
That all changed today. The aftermath of two playoff donnybrooks that erupted from the Western Conference Semi-Finals leaves several clubs with suspensions and hefty fines, in MLS terms. FC Dallas will have to start next season's 6 matches without their Argentine shotstopper, Dario Sala, because he was suspended and fined for throwing punches at the end of the playoff match that ousted FC Toro from the playoffs. Sala's wallet is a little lighter today as well, as MLS fined him $3,500 for his actions. When you consider that amount against his salary, that is a pretty good fine.
Sala wasn't the only Western Conference player who will be spending time next season on a MLS sponsored holiday, Chivas USA's Juan Pablo Garcia was suspended for two matches and fined $2,000 for his very late, from behind tackle on Houston Dynamo forward Brad Davis. My girlfriend and I were watching this match and when we saw the tackle, she immediately said that it was a dirty tackle and asked me how much of a fine he will get. That was one helluva bad play by Garcia.
MLS fined several other players:
- Colorado Defender Mike Petke: $500 for his conduct during the post game brawl.
- Chivas USA Defender Claudio Suarez: $750 for his conduct during and after the match.
- Houston Dynamo Midfielder Ricardo Clark: $500, for lack of respect for the game. I love this one.
The "best" fine announced though was the $2,000 fine that was handed to New England Revolution coach, Steve Nicol. Nicol wasn't too thrilled with several league officials and he let that be known in a Boston Globe article. I guess if the Revs finally win in the MLS Cup, instead of their customary choke job that they produce, the fine might not sting as much.
1:21pm Edit - I shoulda put quotes around the "best" when talking about the Nicol fine. MLS is just trying to keep the inmates from running the asylum.
posted by Brian at 8:10 AM
4 Comments:
Um....I'm OK with the rest of the fines, but the one for Nicol? That's a good thing? $2,000 for speaking his mind?
That's not a fine passed out by people with the appropriate courage-rendering pieces of their anatomy intact and in use.
Nope. Can't agree here - and it's not the identity of the recipient either.
More here.
No, it is more of a thing of MLS actually trying to control the imates in the asylum. Fining a guy for $2,000 for saying that the officials are crap, doesn't make sense. That was why i thought it was the "best" fine of them all.
Memo to self, put quotes around things when joking....
Ah, my bad. I should have figured as much.
Controlling inmates is generally good; especially something like a hostile tackle after the whistle.
Well the fines for the two fights was something that MLS really needed to do, considering the Eastern Conference final has the possiblity of exploding in the same way. I honestly thing that the fines should have been a little tougher, and everyone who was caught on tape fighting should be suspended.
Nicol voicing his opinion, unless he said that the refs were cheating and really trying to make Chicago win the match, on orders from Garber & Co., is not that good a thing to do. Coaches need to express their opinions and let their players know that they will not allow the refs from deciding matches, that the players will be the ones who decide through their play.
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