In Which We Discuss the UW, and the Horrible Idea of an MLS Strike
It's now less than a week from The Big Dance, aka the NCAA Basketball Tournament, and like some of us in high school, the UW men still aren't quite sure yet if they're gonna get asked or not.
The NCAA Selection Committee, who'll pick the 65-team bracket Sunday, can be a bitch if they're not sufficiently impressed, kind of like the girl in biology class who snubbed us for that taller upperclassman before Sadie Hawkins. (We're not still bitter.)
The good news is the Huskies took a step towards an invitation last night, coming from behind to beat Oregon State 59-52 in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 Tournament.
Sophomore Isaiah Thomas kept the Huskies from NIT-lameness, at least for a day, leading the second-half comeback from as much as 11 behind.
Each win the Dawgs can rack up in LA is like a pound of muscle, persuading the committee that they indeed are a worthy date, despite some early-season missteps like general performance anxiety away from home.
As of this morning, ESPN's Bubble Watch still thinks the Huskies need another win to secure a tourney berth. Up next tonight is #7-seeded Stanford, who upset #2 Arizona State Thursday to advance to the semis as well. It's worth noting that the Cardinal gave the Dawgs their first road win earlier this season. UW hasn't lost a road game since, and they're peaking at the right time, winning 10 of their last 12 games.
Other notes:
-UW softball pitcher/cyborg Danielle Lawrie struck out 14 batters in her second perfect game of the season, a 3-0 shut out of Miami of Ohio. It was the first night game ever played in Husky Softball Stadium, where new lights went up over the field just this season. Tonight the Huskies play Miami again at 6 p.m. if the weather holds. Should've asked for a retractable roof along with those lights. Oh, well.
-Sounders FC took a tough loss on home pitch last night, 1-0 against the soon-to-be-MLS-bretheren Portland Timbers. While we hate relinquishing bragging rights to the Timbers Army, more daunting news came from Washington DC, where forces are conspiring to kill American soccer.
MLS players voted overwhelmingly to go on strike if a new collective bargaining agreement isn't reached by March 22, just before this season's kickoff game between the fledgling Philadelphia Union and our Sounders FC.
The league and players union are squabbling over things like the fact that players sign contracts with the league rather than individual teams, and that those contracts are rarely guaranteed. Not to mention, the median salary for an MLS player is $88K, and the minimum for a senior roster player is $34K, which puts some players in the same tax brackets as bank tellers and Walmart greeters.
But, and this is a tough "but", does anyone outside the MLS bubble really think a strike is a great idea right now? Keep in mind, this is a sport that a lot of people in this country don't understand and don't want. If there's a worse death knell to the continued growth of soccer's popularity and development in this country, we can't think of it.
In the big picture, sadly, a strike is most likely gonna be met with one big Middle American yawn.
