Category: soccer

soccer

All the Borislow-WPS legal documents (so far)

Posted on by Beau Dure

Plenty of people have been asking to see the exhibits. Careful what you wish for. See the whole thing at Scribd. Some language NSFW.

Links to the individual documents follow (since I can’t get the Scribd widget to embed here) …

Previously linked here:

Borislow’s exhibits

  • Exhibit A: WPS LLC agreement
  • Exhibit B: WPS agreement with teams
  • Exhibit C: Sun-Sentinel feature on Wambach
  • Exhibit D: Letter from WPS attorney Pamela Fulmer on summer dispute
  • Exhibit E: Follow-up letter from Fulmer
  • Exhibit F: espnW story on new CEO Jennifer O’Sullivan
  • Exhibit G: One page of an invoice. WPS disputes that it sought $2.5 million from Borislow. There’s no context in this invoice, so it’s very difficult to tell what’s being sought.
  • Exhibit H: Letter from Borislow attorney Louis Ederer on “purported termination”
  • Exhibit I: Response from Fulmer to Ederer
  • Exhibit J: Palm Beach Post story on termination
  • Exhibit K: Palm Beach Post story from summer

WPS exhibits

  • Exhibits 1-15: BoingBoing story on Borislow’s suit against their site, email exchanges over sponsor signage, email from Briana Scurry, and a couple of insulting emails.
  • Exhibits 16-28: League notice of several violations from first magicJack home games and from public comments.
  • Exhibits 29-40: Atlanta Beat protest, email exchange over whether Borislow contacted bench during suspension, union grievance.
  • Exhibits 41-62: All about the termination.

And that’s all for now.

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The WPS vigil: Nov. 29 update

Posted on by Beau Dure

http://storify.com/duresport/the-wps-vigil-nov-29-update.js?border=false&header=false&sharing=false&more=false

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WPS rips Borislow in legal documents

Posted on by Beau Dure

Update: My story on the situation has been posted at espnW.

For those just joining us: Dan Borislow, who turned the Washington Freedom into a star-studded South Florida team called magicJack last year, is suing WPS over his termination from the league. See the legal documents on his lawsuit, the espnW story on the suit, Borislow’s statement on the suit, and Borislow’s second statement after WPS was not immediately granted Division I status with five teams for the 2012 season.

Today, I’ll have another story at espnW on the league’s response to the lawsuit and U.S. Soccer’s decision to delay Division I sanctioning for next season. In the meantime, I have the league’s legal response to the suit (“opposition to motion”) and its motion to dismiss the suit. They’re PDF files, of course:

Opposition to Motion

Motion to Dismiss

WPS is seeking dismissal of the suit plus legal fees for this suit and the August lawsuit.

 

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Borislow: Reasons WPS is dead, how to save it

Posted on by Beau Dure

Update: From Philadelphia – “The accusation that the franchise offered $6,000 to a WNT member for the year is completely false.  The Independence has been in talks with WNT members and none of them have been offered the amount put forward by Dan Borislow’s statement.”

Original post: The dispute between magicJack owner Dan Borislow and Women’s Professional Soccer could have an impact beyond the courtroom. Over the weekend, U.S. Soccer decided not to sanction WPS as a Division I league next season — for now. U.S. Soccer says it’ll give WPS 15 days to expand from its current five teams to six.

Two ways to read that decision:

1. USSF will sanction WPS but wants to give it a little more time to nail down a deal for an expansion team. No point in sanctioning five right now if there’s a significant chance of having six instead.

2. USSF has given WPS an ultimatum — get a sixth team, or you’re not Division I.

The latter would be a major problem. If WPS isn’t a sanctioned Division I league, there’s no way U.S. national team players would participate. (They’re already hesitating to sign up for next year, multiple sources have said.)

A sanctioned Division II league really wouldn’t make a lot of sense. Why have only five pro teams in a league when they could just as easily join one of the existing pro-am leagues (WPSL or W-League)?

Another option: Just take a year off, given the fact that the Olympics will pose a major conflict in the first place (assuming the USA qualifies, which is not a safe assumption). Perhaps teams could play a brief exhibition season, which would provide a nice change of pace from residency and friendlies — which also cost U.S. Soccer a considerable sum of money.

No one has raised that option in public, though Borislow suggests a one-year hiatus below. But WPS and USSF aren’t saying anything in public right now. They’ve made it clear that they prefer to keep their discussions private.

That’s not the Dan Borislow way. The following statement includes a few substantive disagreements over the direction of the league — how much to pay players, how much emphasis to put on U.S. national team players and so forth. It also includes a few petty insults of a few of the league’s officials.

I feel compelled to point out that some of the things stipulated here are not verified. The accusations that the league “extorted” and “stole” from magicJack without due process will be argued in court, unless the parties settle before that date. We don’t know CEO Jennifer O’Sullivan’s compensation or Philadelphia’s contract offers.

Several league officials have been contacted for comment. They may choose not to comment because litigation is pending, and if they choose not to speak, their silence should not interpreted as acceptance that the following statement is accurate.

With all those disclaimers out of the way, here is Dan Borislow’s statement.

The 10 reasons the WPS is Dead and the only possible life support

1. The Governors thought they were bigger than the rest of organized soccer. They never follow rules including the USSF rules. The Governors and their coaches oversize egos thought they could have a successful league without the best US National team players. They have no idea it’s all about these players.

2. They hire “yes” CEO’s who cannot control their constant misbehavior and bad decisions, therefore there is no checks and balances.

3. Mike Stoller and the Boston Breakers are a solid pair, but they will never close their investors to keep the team alive after the league stole the magicJack team without due process. Who could ever give somebody money knowing the other side has a history of stealing it after extorting the investor for even more money?

4. After the owners find out what the teams want to pay Women, they will bail on the team and the league. I believe the owners of NJ haven’t a clue of what their Governor is doing. I do not believe a person who owns Bed, Bath and Beyond can support a league who wants to pay Women close to what the average income is in the poverty line. These Women would be better of on welfare in many cases. Recently Philadelphia offered a US WNT player $6,000.00 for the year.

5. The proposed pay schedule would have an inexperienced CEO of the league get paid more than what the whole starting team of the US Womens National team get paid. The CEO will make almost as much as what Atlanta wants to pay all their players combined.

6. The league hasn’t an idea of what the product should be. To me ,it is so obvious when we saw Abby’s name being chanted so loud at AWAY games. These games are like rock concerts, where they are just looking for the best performance from World Wide stars. Most teams believe the league can prosper without these type of players. They believe a competitive game is the key. The fans can care less. They want to see Abby, Hope, Christie, Meg and Shannon.

7. The league grossly miscalculated almost every important decision. They first extorted and stole money from magicJack and then when that didn’t work, they seized the team without due process, never thinking they needed a sixth team to be certified a Division 1 team when they are supposed to have 8 teams. They actually think our best WNT players will degrade themselves and play in a Division 2 league without pay. The best players look to endorsements to make a fair living. Who wants a Division 2 player endorsing their product? Injure themselves for what?

8.The league will lose it’s litigation with magicJack and the only chance it had was to listen to us about what the product should be and how to build it. It takes an investment to build something good. They want to pay a worse than worthless CEO and most of the other league leaders, but they dont want to pay the players. What kind of professional sports league is this? It reminds me of the NBA who pays their leader $20 Million a year? are you kidding me and where are they now? Part of the whole problem of the NBA is what this one person makes. But at least he does not get paid more than a whole team does. They will lose the litigation because they are wrong and think they are above the law, the USSF and the players.

9. The league never realized they were in a crisis situation. They thought once they had magicJack save the league, that they would use us as a place holder until they found another sucker who would bow to their demands. I begged and pleaded with the Governors to act like they were in a crisis situation, but like most Bankruptcy situations, the owners don’t know they are dead even after they are sitting in Bankruptcy court. It’s will be a remake of the “Night of the Living Dead”

10. The league is represented by one of the the dumbest lawyer’s, Pam Fulmer who is actually involved in the conspiracy to attempt to destroy magicJack. The league has three Governors who couldn’t run a lemonade stand. They have coaches who couldn’t train Lassie to bark. I genuinely feel sorry for Boston and New York who wanted to put on a great show and willing to make the investment to do so.

magicJack believes to save the league, the WPS needs a whole new management team, lawyers, business plan which includes wanting to pay the real Pros real money. All the players would have to become free agents again. The league should ask for a one year hiatus from the USSF and get its act together during that time, including getting owners who can afford to make the proper investment. With the Olympics and all the current controversy, it can never be a successful year for the league. Philadelphia and Atlanta must be replaced for they will never understand what will make this league succesful. New Jersey needs to replace it’s Governor. A reporter said that the players should potentially play this season for the betterment of women’s soccer. This notion is ridiculous, for all of the Women in the world, they should seek some form of equality when they are the most successful soccer team in the US and one of the most succesful -Men or Women-in the World. This league is not good as it stands,it needs a major overhaul. Just because the great majority thinks something is right,doesn’t make it right. Some of the greatest tragedies in the World were premised on that line of thinking. It takes a lot more courage to do something different than the rest of the crowd, but it doesn’t take any courage if it is the ethical thing to do.

Albert Einstein quote:

A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?

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Will WPS stars sign up for another season?

Posted on by Beau Dure

Here’s a bit of irony: iTunes, in shuffling through my music library, has just called up Stevie Wonder’s Signed, Sealed, Delivered.

If you look at the list of players who have and have not signed with WPS teams for 2012, you’ll see that an awful lot of players are in the “have not” category. That includes most of the U.S. national team assembled for Saturday’s revenge friendly against Sweden.

A couple of sticking points:

1. When will the WPS season take place? The Olympics fall rather inconveniently in late July and early August. (Yes, if things go awry in January’s qualification tournament, that could be a concern for the Canadian players and not the Americans, but we have no reason to assume such things.)

2. The league has no collective bargaining agreement at the moment. That’s also ironic in a sense, given today’s events — there’s no salary cap, so the league isn’t preventing owners from paying Borislow-style salaries to stack their rosters.

WPS CEO Jennifer O’Sullivan had this to say in a conference call last week: “We certainly believe that a CBA is a vital component. At the same time, we have to kind of move forward as it stands. There’s a tremendous amount of talent.”

The union, though, is a little disappointed with progress so far. Here’s a statement:

This off-season the players union has been busy working with players on various matters, but talks with the league have seemingly stalled regarding scheduling, salaries, contract terms, and other issues subject to bargaining. The owners have not responded to player proposals regarding minimum salaries in any real way and are proceeding as if uninterested in a CBA. The players recognize WPS is in flux but find the league’s lack of responsiveness disappointing – a CBA would only contribute to the stability and professionalism of the league and there is no reason one could not have been reached before free agency opened. We are, however, moving forward with plans for next year and are hopeful and excited about the 2012 season and beyond.

The next key date for the league is Sunday. Each year, pro leagues and teams go through a review with U.S. Soccer’s professional leagues task force (in the past, that group has included USSF secretary general Dan Flynn, executive VP Mike Edwards and board member Carlos Cordeiro), which makes recommendations to the U.S. Soccer board. That board will meet Sunday before the MLS Cup final in Carson, Calif. For a thriving league like MLS, this review won’t generate any news. For a league that needs to apply for a waiver on the minimum of eight teams, there’s a bit more to discuss.

If you need to catch up on today’s news, check out the espnW story on Dan Borislow’s lawsuit and read the preceding two posts.

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Borislow-WPS suit documents

Posted on by Beau Dure

Reminder: Here’s Dan Borislow’s statement on the lawsuit and the espnW story.

Here’s what we have. As you read, please bear in mind that these are legal documents representing one side of the case. We have not yet heard from WPS in public, nor have they filed a legal response.

– The complaint is attached. It’s fairly straightforward, setting out why Borislow is demanding reinstatement of his team.

– The motion, also attached, goes into more detail. One key excerpt (page 15, paragraph 21) explains Borislow action after withdrawing August lawsuit: “Satisfied that the League was not going to attempt to terminate the Team during the 2011 season, and believing its disputes with the League were behind it, the Team redoubled its efforts to complete the 2011 season in the most positive possible way, and dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice.”

One item worth singling out: magicJack claims several of its players continue to contact the team expressing a desire to play for the team in 2012. The team also had been contacted to play a “series of lucrative preseason international matches against professional teams in Japan.” (p. 21-22)

A guide to the exhibits mentioned:

– Exhibit A: The league’s LLC agreement (78 pages)

– Exhibit B: Operating agreement with teams (98 pages)

– Exhibit C: Sun-Sentinel feature on Abby Wambach, July 26. This is used in motion to reinforce argument that Borislow kept league afloat.

– Exhibit D: Letter from WPS lawyer Pamela Fulmer to Borislow, explaining league’s position on disputed portions of LLC and operating agreements and offering dates for meeting in person or on the phone, July 5

– Exhibit E: Follow-up letter from Fulmer offering another (earlier) meeting time, July 7

– Exhibit F: espnW story (mine) on new WPS CEO Jennifer O’Sullivan, used in Borislow motion to establish that O’Sullivan had stated publicly that the league was working to resolve dispute with him, Oct. 19

– Exhibit G: This is puzzling. It’s one page of an invoice, and I hesitate to describe it in any more detail for fear that I’m taking it out of context. In the motion, this is described as an invoice for “over $2.5 million in alleged ‘damages’ relating to the 2011 season.” The motion pegs the date on this invoice at Sept. 13 and says O’Sullivan and Fulmer said the league would not allow the team to play in 2012 if it didn’t pay. It did not.

– Exhibit H: Letter from Borislow lawyer Louis Ederer to O’Sullivan (Re: Purported Termination of Membership Interest). Letter states Oct. 25 letter fails to state grounds for terminating team, and Ederer/Borislow ask the league to state what was discussed at Oct. 25 board meeting. Ederer/Borislow also state that league failed to give Dispute Notice or opportunity for hearing — this is discussed at greater length in the motion. Letter dated Nov. 8

– Exhibit I: Response from Fulmer to Nov. 8 letter (Exhibit H) and a Nov. 7 email from Borislow to O’Sullivan (not included). Fulmer starts by informing Ederer that it’s improper for Borislow to contact O’Sullivan on legal matter without consulting WPS lawyer (Fulmer).  Fulmer responds to substance of letter by saying Borislow had been invited to Oct. 25 meeting (he was, after all, a member of the board at that time) and also did not accept several invitations to hearings in June and July.

One ominous point in Exhibit I: “Finally, the League will hold Mr. Borislow accountable for any attempts at disruption of its business relationships with potential expansion teams, sponsors or other third parties such as the USSF. We again reiterate that he cease & desist immediately from making any further inappropriate contact with the League’s business partners.”

In the motion (page 19, paragraph 19), this letter is used in an effort to establish that the termination is a “new” dispute, NOT the same dispute under which magicJack had been threatened with termination over the summer.

– Exhibit J: Palm Beach Post’s Hal Habib story on magicJack termination, Oct. 27

– Exhibit K: Post/Habib story previewing first magicJack home game after World Cup, July 26

PDFs:

Complaint

Motion

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Dan Borislow statement on WPS suit

Posted on by Beau Dure
Full statement – story later:
Today we filed a lawsuit to get back what was stolen from us by the WPS.The many travesty’s outlined in the lawsuit include a scheme by Jennifer O’Sullivan and Kristina Hentschel ,being defended by their lawyer Pam Fulmer whom in essence is one of the acting leaders of the WPS,is a plot to extort magicJack of over $2.4 Million.O’Sullivan had been quoted”Dan very much wants to be a partner in this league” when we already were a paying partner(In the millions of dollars)in the league.magicJack possesses these “invoices’ from the WPS .
The lawsuit also spells out how we saved the league when nobody else wanted to,then went on to being the Focus team of the league having the foresight to obtain the four most popular fan favorites of the US Womens National team.magicJack was by far and away the largest draw for fans to the league.If it wasn’t for the outrageous behavior of the WPS management,it would have gone on to win the Championship too.There wasn’t a team in the league whom we didn’t beat convincingly.Now the league decided  the best thing to do,is to steal the team and it’s most valuable assets- the players-and enhance their own team after learning how to be successful like magicJack.The problem for them is,and the reason the US Womens National team cannot play for the WPS anymore,is they think the dont have to pay these players.magicJack on average paid its National team members an average of over $45,000 plus a super apartment and many other valuable benefits.The others figured if they got rid of me,there would be no competition to have to pay the players what they deserve and need to live on.After they got rid of magicJack,most teams have been offering these players in the $10,000 to $20,000 per year range.This is an impossible salary for the WNT players to play for.This is a league who’s primary function, in the eyes of the governing body , to supplement the US WNT salary and provide a farm system to develop the best players for our Country.What it has turned out to be is a league who doesn’t pay a fair salary and it’s best players will probably be foreign born.
We got into this to help the girls in our youth leagues,to help our Country build the best National team and to help Women see a path to fulfill their dreams.Now we have some foreign born coaches and Governors who seem to care little to none about our Womens National team.I personally play soccer with mostly foreign born people and share their Love for the game.But I know,when it comes time to watch the World Cup,they are cheerinf for where they were born in most cases.It’s a fact of life and something I would practice if I lived abroad.The last Men’s World Cup played,I participated in a game where we had Americans play against English born guys.These are players who normally play together all the time,but at World Cup and Olympics everything changes.I honestly believe three of the teams in the WPS would like to see the Americans lose to the Country they were born in.That being said,Pia our National Coach is the most avid fan of her own players and the US National team.It’s because she coaches the team,is ethical and understands this wonderful opportunity provided to her.I am also sure that the team she wants to come in second is the Swedish team.
So I believe the league is actually anti USA.It’s a league who doesn’t want to do the right thing for it’s Women’s US National Team.It’s a league who doesn’t follow one of the most valued principals of the USA-due process of the law.Did you see the NFL take away Al Davis’ team-NO.The NBA take Mark Cuban’s team-NO.The MLB take the Dodgers-NO.Some people will have a different opinion of how things should be and their opinions in many cases be cherished.The fact of the matter is,magicJack was the success of the league.Now the WPS did something that most undoubtly will be overturned in an American Court because they didn’t allow us our rights.Can you imagine if the government and others seized your valuable property for no reason,something you worked your whole life for?.This wouldn’t be the United States anymore.It would be anarchy with people getting killed.
I believe the only solution is to have a trustee run the league and try and reverse the damages the best they can.To make sure our Women get paid a fair wage and work in close cooperation with the US Womens National team.Without WNT success,we won’t have a product anybody will want to see anymore.It’s another unfortunate day in Soccer in the US,but hopefully part of the process to better things.magicJack remains committed to Professional Soccer for Women.
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Single-Digit Soccer: “Boot it!”

Posted on by Beau Dure

Just another good piece on the value of understated coaching.

I had observed this parent’s sideline behavior several times, and had also seen him silenced by his daughter’s coach on more than one occasion. This parent’s pearls of coaching wisdom included phrases like “Go!” ”Get the ball!”  “Shoot it!” “Get back!” “Hard kicks!” “Don’t Bunch!” and liberal doses of the one phrase guaranteed to make me cringe whenever I hear it: “Boot it!”

via SoccerAmerica – Sideline coaching — Dump the GPS and let the kids drive 11/09/2011.

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The annual MLS playoff fretting

Posted on by Beau Dure

Every year, MLS has exciting playoff action, and every year, people complain. Then people complain about the complainers.

But the argument changes a little each year. Especially this year, with the first 10-team playoff in league history. The tournament has produced its share of excitement as always, and it allowed the big-money, big-market, big-name New York Red Bulls to overcome that pesky stretch of winning two out of 20 games. (Hey, they only lost five.)

I’m not completely joking here. One advantage of a playoff format is that it allows a team to sort things out over the course of a season and build toward something big at the end. The Red Bulls might not be the best example, but consider Real Salt Lake, an obviously excellent team that was battered by injuries and a busy schedule. Jason Kreis’s club will face the Galaxy on Sunday in one of those truly outstanding matchups that the playoffs can produce.

Here’s the problem — we have less than 72 hours to build up to that game.

You might not be thinking, “Hey, how does this affect USA TODAY?” But it does. I was able to get a story in Wednesday’s paper on the Galaxy-Red Bulls series and other games — just my third MLS story of the year, which indicates a few more problems. A story on the Salt Lake-Galaxy semifinal would be great, but it can’t be done for any print version of USA TODAY. The Galaxy-Red Bulls game ended at 1 a.m. ET, beyond all reasonable deadlines for the Friday paper. USA TODAY doesn’t publish again until Monday. (Some sports merit online-only coverage on weekends, but MLS isn’t there. Yet.)

Other media outlets have similar problems. Everyone has to scramble to get things ready for a huge game in just three days.

Then there are those other people who have just a couple of days to prepare. What are they called? Oh, right — players.

So to sum up — the biggest games of the season so far will feature two tired teams in a media dead zone.

Tweaking the schedule could help a little bit. But the basic problem is that a 10-team playoff forces another round of games to be squeezed into what is already a narrow window of decent weather in North America.

Everyone has a favorite fix-all for the playoffs. I posted mine at this time last year, and it was ignored as always. The basic idea: Play an Apertura and Clausura season, with a Cup tournament at the end of the Clausura (before the summer break). You could even give the Supporters Shield to an Apertura winner, MLS Cup to the Clausura/playoff winner and an MLS SuperCup to the winner of a big neutral-site game in August, when there’s less competition for attention.

Barring a major shakeup like that, though, the simplest thing to ask would be to scale it back to eight teams. Just not enough time to get those wild cards in the mix.

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