Something sinister might be going on in Dallas

By: Robert | September 5th, 2007

A game and half into the Denilson era and two things seem certain: 1) he hasn’t played a competitive game in awhile because he seems just a bit off 2) he has ideas and is trying things that might not cross the minds of most soccer players in this country. His appearances on the pitch have definitely been welcomed as he wasn’t supposed to see the field just yet – supposedly five to ten business days for a P-1 work visa. But sometimes the wheels of bureaucracy turn a little bit faster and much to the chagrin of the Houston Dreamsicles (you know they don’t want to see FC Dallas get better) Denilson is a Hoop.

The most intriguing part of the story, however, might be how FC Dallas actually made room on the roster for a second Brazilian import (Ricardinho.) As mentioned earlier, for Denilson to come aboard one of the Hoops four other senior international (S.I.) players (non-citizens, 25 or older) would have to be let go, but as the situation stands the former World Cup winner is here and so are all four S.I.’s – sorta. As was announced the day Denilson received his visa, defensive midfielder Marcelo Saragosa was placed on the season’s ending injury list because of persistent knee problems and while I don’t doubt the authenticity of the injury – his knee had already caused him to miss games this season – something about the timing just doesn’t feel right.

By placing Saragosa on the season-ending injury list FC Dallas will be allowed to keep all four of their prized S.I. players as they wait on the arrival of forward Carlos Ruiz’ green card – the backlog can be up to eight months. When Ruiz becomes a citizen the four other senior internationals will be allowed to stay. Yet one day before Denilson’s surprise visa arrival Coach Steve Murrow claimed that Marcelo’s injury was not serious and he just needed a little rest. Something doesn’t seem right about a knee that one day is “just a little sore” and the next needs major surgery. Maybe the story is just the way they say it is, but maybe it’s something different. Years ago, in the era of a weaker NFL player’s association (weaker than even now) management would walk up to players they didn’t want to waive but couldn’t keep on the roster, tap them on the shoulder, say “Sorry to hear about your tendonitis” and place them on injured reserve (IR,) enabling a team to keep players around because injured players cannot be cut. By comparison MLS’ player’s union is a little over four years old and it’s not hard to envision them even weaker than the NFL unions of old; therefore it should come as a shock no one if these same actions were being replicated across sporting lines.

But that is definitely unloading the cart before even beginning to put it before the horse as it makes no sense for Steve Murrow, whom I assume to be intelligent, to go on record about the severity of an injury (or lack thereof) only to contradict himself a day later once the situation had changed. Actions like that would definitely draw the scrutiny of a media intent on finding the truth (or at least the Hardy boys and Nancy Drew) even if the story was just as he said. Athletes routinely try to out-tough their injury regardless to the detriment to their bodies out of fear of losing their position on the roster or some type of machismo inherent in top-level athletes. It should come as no surprise if this is what Marcelo Saragosa tried to do because he wouldn’t be the first. Stories always seem to turn up of sore knees and sore elbows getting X-Rayed only to show the results of a more serious injury.

But with all that in mind I’m still skeptical, maybe it’s the contrarian in me, but maybe it’s something more devious. Organizations of all shapes and sizes know it’s not what you do that gets you in trouble it’s what you get caught doing that counts. I don’t have access to the darkest parts of the locker room or front office but I hope I’m wrong, because in Dallas I fear that FC might stand for “fabricating cracks.”

HOOPS PRIDE!

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