Chicago Smolderings: What the hell MLS fine deciders/Chicago Fire Academy/Chicago Fire PDL
by Tweed Thornton on Jun 25, 2011 6:00 AM CDT
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Chicago Smolderings for Saturday, June 25, 2011
1. Chicago Fire U-18 tie California Development Academy in USDA Playoffs; Season on the line today at 4:00 PM CST
2. Chicago Fire U-16 kick-off play against PA Classics at 11:00 AM CST today
3. Chicago PDL defeats Indiana Invaders 1-0
4. MLS dishes out some fines with odd amounts for Charlie Davies, Los Angeles Galaxy, and New York Red Bulls
Results, links, Davies dive video and thoughts on these stories after the break.
Chicago Fire U-18 1 - 1 California Development Academy U-18
The Chicago Fire U-18 got a 1-1 draw out of their match yesterday against California Development Academy. Luis Medina scored the Fire goal in the 36th minute but CDA went even in the 80th. In other group play, Players Development Academy defeated PA Classics 2-0. The season will be on the line today when PDA takes on the Fire at 4:00 PM CST. Only the team that wins the group advances so the Fire must win in order to control their destiny.
| U-18 Team | W | L | D | PTS | GF | GA |
| Players Development Academy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Chicago Fire | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| California Development Academy | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| PA Classics | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Before the U-18 plays, the U-16 Fire team will begin their defense of the 2009-2010 USDA Championship. PA Classics U-16 found their way into U-16 Fire's group and the two teams face-off today at 11:00 AM.
| U-16 Team |
W | L | D | PTS | GF | GA |
| Chicago Fire | ||||||
| North Meck SC | ||||||
| PA Classics | ||||||
| South Carolina United FC |
Chicago Fire PDL defeats Indiana Invaders 1-0
The Chicago Fire PDL defeated the Indiana Invaders 1-0 last night. Josey Portillo converted a penalty kick in the 29th minute after Paulo Vaz forced a strong penalty in the box. The team improved to 6-2-1 good for 19 points and 2nd place in the Great Lakes Division. Their next game is the U.S. Open Cup 3rd Round match against Sporting Kansas City on Tuesday, June 28th. Chicago Fire PDL had been scheduled to play Forest City London in a regular season match but that is TBD for now. Either way it will be at Toyota Park along with the two other last games of the season due to construction on Evanston Township High School's stadium.
Charlie Davies fined $1,000 because he intentionally deceived the officials
If you have not seen Charlie Davies' dive that earned a penalty kick in the 83rd minute of last week's Real Salt Lake vs. D.C. United game, take a look. It's a joke.
The subsequently converted penalty kick tied the game at 1-1 and that was ultimately the final score. In other MLS 'fine' news, the league fined the Los Angeles Galaxy $5,000 because MLS "determined that the Galaxy deliberately omitted David Beckham's name from their injury report despite knowing that he would miss the game because of back spasms". New York Red Bulls were fined $10,000 because General Manager/Sporting Director Erik Soler publicly criticized league officials this week. MLS Commissioner Don Garber said, "The statement released by Red Bull New York this week undermines our substantial efforts to continue improving all aspects of our competition".
All three fines were announced in three separate press releases sent out less than 15 minutes apart. To paraphrase someone else, 'If you cheat you get fined $1,000. If you lie, you get fined $5,000. If you tell the truth, you get fined $10,000.' If the fine for diving in the box is $1,000 and you don't even get a retroactive red card suspension (or more!), look for dives to continue. What team wouldn't trade $1,000 for a draw vs. a loss or a win vs. a draw? U.S. Olympic diving coaches will start showing up on MLS payrolls and the bills with Grover Cleveland on them will become infamous for being on thr ready in MLS offices. Meanwhile, bravo MLS. If it's $10,000 for criticizing MLS and apparently quickly rising from when Portland Timbers head coach John Spencer was fined $2,500 just a week ago, I doubt any employees will be speaking out soon.
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This fine stuff is way out of control
I am very skeptical of the approach that MLS and its discipline committee or whatever it’s called have taken towards fines this year. Cracking down on physical play through retroactive suspensions and fines is a very bad idea, evidenced by the inconsistency of punishments doled out and the players who do get away with things without getting fined. It also undermines the authority of the referee. Fining for a dive is absurd, no matter how obvious it is (in my opinion). This is the referee’s responsibility, not the leagues. Because, news flash, players will ALWAYS embellish fouls, especially in the box. It’s basically part of their job, like it or not.
Finally, fining coaches for criticizing the league seems particularly dangerous. This only allows league leadership to isolate itself from criticisms and pretend that there are no problems, which is obviously untrue. I understand that they’re basically trying to protect the value of the MLS brand and image, but this is the wrong way to do it because it will not lead to long-term improvement of the quality of MLS in terms of play, officiating, and business.
While I generally appreciate what the single-entity structure has done for the league, these are clear examples of abuses of power from high-ups at MLS, sticking there noses in places where they shouldn’t.
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