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Yet another off season middle finger has been shown to the Chicago Fire. Who is responsible for this one? MLS? Ron Waxman/Dominic Cervi or the Fire front office? All three parties certainly share culpability. As an isolated case, it's understandable, but it's the fifth incident of its kind this past off season. Juan Carlos Osorio, John Spencer, Wilman Conde, Matt Pickens and now Cervi have all told Chicago that they aren't willing to make certain sacrifices or commitments to represent the Chicago Fire. This is cause for concern and indicates that Chicago's grass is no longer greener.
It is hard to know exactly the level and nature of the front offices responsibility, yet in each case, the front office had an important role and each time failed to keep or get their man - although Conde's case seems to still be unresolved. In the Cervi case, the front office's responsibility was to convince the player/agent that: A) Dominic would receive plenty of games to prove himself. This should've been easy given the team's track record in the US Open Cup and Jon Busch's age and health. This was a perfect situation to groom a young goalkeeper into the Fire's keeper of the future. B) Dominic would be rewarded with a new contract if and when he proved himself. A good relationship with the agent should provide a comfort level that the player would be treated fairly. Denis and Dominic are both represented by Ron Waxman, so one would think there would be enough trust in the relationship to make this point moot. C) MLS would be a good opportunity to showcase for U-23 and USMNT. This was always a huge sales opportunity when Bruce was with the Nats and Bob and Dave were coaching the Fire. Players rightfully always believed that the national team coach would get a better idea of their abilities and current playing level due to the relationship between our club and country's coaches. It should still be the case due to Bob and Piotr's relationship with the current Fire technical staff. D) Chicago's intangibles are valuable for development, quality of life and profession. The ability to convince players to forego extra money in exchange for the above has been a point of pride for the organization in the past. The recent experiences with Osorio, Spencer, Conde, Pickens and now Cervi makes it apparent that this is no longer the case. Make no mistake, the loss of Cervi is large for three reasons: He could very well be a national team caliber keeper in a few years, it's another sign that Chicago is not the special place where people will make personal sacrifices to stay and it's the loss of a valuable draft pick that could've been used on another good young player. While the MLS draft overall can be a bit of a crap shoot, the first round is much more of a known quantity and Cervi's departure means the Fire lost the 12th pick in the first round of the draft. While the Fire retains Cervi's MLS rights through the end of 2009, there's a very good chance that this will be the League's first number 12 pick not to sign and play for the team that drafted him. Eight of the League's 12 players selected 12th overall in MLS Super/College Drafts since the beginning of MLS are still playing in the League or in Europe. Passion, Honor and Tradition are simply words if not backed up in practice. The five 07-08 rejections are a canary in the coal mine indicating that this club could end up as just another MLS team. It's time to address the concerns with an emphasis on doing the little things right that are behind Passion, Honor and Tradition. No one knows those little things that make a difference better than the 12th pick in the first MLS Supplemental Draft - a tough as nails defender named Denis Hamlett. A Dozen Number 12s 07 Amaechi Igwe 06 Nathan Sturgis 05 Tim Ward 04 Chris Wingert 03 Eddie Gaven 02 Lee Morrison 01 Jose Burciaga 00 Bobby Convey 99 Paul Broome 98 Wade Barrett 97 Scott Coufal 96 Miles Joseph
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