Monday Morning Centre Back: Trying to Make Sense of the Brian Ching Situation

If the L’Impact don’t have to sign him, and let’s say they don’t (b/c none of their hopeful trades worked) what happens then?

…why Dynamo fans are ticked off at the Impact and Marsch.

I’m a Sounders fan. My team was initially built via an expansion draft. Yeah, it would be nice if a team wasn’t built that way, but it’s MLS.

Moreover, we’ve lost multiple players the last couple of years in the draft. We love James Riley. We loved Seba LeToux.

But we didn’t get mad at the teams that picked them! Why would you get mad at someone for saying “hey, this guy is good, I want him on my team and he’s available”?

When Ching said he’d retire if drafted, one of two situations was in effect. Either:

A) Dynamo management knew he was going to say that and it played into their decision to leave him of the protected list, or

B) Dynamo management didn’t know he would say that, or did know but it didn’t make any difference to them because they didn’t want to protect him.

If you’re a Dynamo fan, either way you should be pissy with your own FO, not at the Impact for drafting Ching.

If it’s (A), then the Dynamo were trying to get away with protecting 12 guys and were counting on Ching’s declaration to scare off the Impact. You should be mad at Dynamo.

If it’s (B), then the Dynamo staff just didn’t think Ching was worth protecting. (Which seems to be the argument presented in this article- that somehow the Impact are jerks for asking for too much for Ching.) Thus, you shouldn’t be upset that he’s gone.

In either case, and now that the Impact are talking trade, here’s the reality: The Impact are just trying to make the best team they can. That’s their job. If you have an emotional tie to Ching, well, I feel for you, but that doesn’t mean you should be mad at the Impact or Marsch.

If Ching chooses to opt out of his contract and retire, that’s his call. Montreal had to weigh that possibility against whoever was the next-best guy available to them (by their evaluations). Either way, it doesn’t make Montreal villains; it just means they thought Ching was worth it.

Ultimately, it’s Houston’s FO that created this situation.

You know, I don’t hold the decision to leave Ching unprotected against the team at all. In the same interview in which he said he’d retire if drafted, Captain Kameahmeah himself said it was a good move and he would do it if he were in the team’s shoes. And it was a good move for many reasons. As has been stated ad nauseum, he’s a beat up striker in what is very likely the final year of his career. He makes $450K guaranteed for 2012. He’s a liability everywhere but where his presence would have an intangible aspect, meaning Houston.

So leaving him unprotected accomplished the following goals, all pretty much good:

1. His undesirability for just about any other team at that price means that, essentially, we tried to protect 12 players. Bully for us. A reasonable gamble.

2. He gets unpicked and we get a player who’s a financial liability, but a huge emotional presence, back in the locker room. Well, nothing is for nothing. For Ching, we’ll take it.

3. He gets picked and either goes to Montreal or retires. In either aspect, that’s $450K additional available for a player who might just contribute more than the Flyin’ Hawaiian. If he retires, you get to keep the “Face of the Franchise” in the front office (at less than $450K for certain). If not, you stick a division competitor with a part-time player who gets paid $450K. Win-win. Also, his getting picked protects other, perhaps more desirable players Dynamo might have lost instead (cough-cough Danny Cruz cough-cough).

As a matter of fact, the only downside to this whole thing I see is that our captain, the player we all as orange-bleeding Dynamo supporters love with our whole hearts, is stuck in the middle, forced to retire before his time and unable to lead the squad out onto the field at Dynamo Park on May 12, 2012. And that right there just hurts me in my broken orange heart. I feel for the guy, and if he’s not there on May 12, there will be more than a bit of me that will be bittersweet.

So why do I hate Jesse Marsch? I don’t so much hate him as I see him as a complete and utter moron. There is no way he is getting anything at all for this pick. You find a realistic outcome that is favorable to Marsch and/or the limpact.

1. Ching retires and plays not a second. In that case, Marsch didn’t just waste a chance to help his club. He wasted the No. 1 pick in the expansion draft. Result: Marsch looks like a moron.

2. Ching plays part-time and $450K of the limpact coffers goes to an unhappy veteran forward who more than likely will play only half of the year, and that in an unmotivated funk. Result: Marsch, who’s responsible for dragging this guy there, looks like a moron.

3. Ching follows Jose de Jesus Ortiz’ advice, goes to Montreal, feels a knee or two twinge in his first training session, elects to have season-ending knee surgery and hangs out in Houston all year while drawing $450K in money from Montreal. (Q, I know in some cases, money made abroad by an American is tax free. Does that apply to Americans working in Canada? Please say yes.) Result: Marsch = moron.

Brian Ching is a smart guy. He is a guy who by his own account, feels emotionally vested in Houston and with the Dynamo. This is a terrible situation he is in. Marsch was well within his rights to select him in that expansion draft. However, that pick was first and foremost detrimental to Marsch’s own club and to Marsch personally. That’s why I hate Jesse Marsch, because I have this absurd desire to have my team’s competitors compete well. I want to beat them at any time and under any circumstances, but it’s more fun when the opponent is playing well and at their best. That’s why I left the Phunion series hating Piotr Nowak (Fair play: I hated him before that to be true.), because he made his team so inept tactically.

Marsch seems be all accounts to be an asshole. I don’t know. Maybe he is and maybe he isn’t. But one thing I do know right now is that by his actions, he is a moron.

Brian Ching is my favorite player. Ever. Dynamo from Day 1, 4 goals in his first game, crack back goal against New England in the 06 Cup, countless other memories and overall nice guy every time I’ve crossed his path. I wish he could wear orange forever. Sadly, all good things must end and his career as a player here is done. I’ve accepted it.

As for Montreal, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Suckers! Y’all know he’s gonna be 34 next season, right? You know he hasn’t been healthy in years, right? You know he’s going to retire next season no matter what, right? Frankly, I was hoping he’d retire this year and go out on top. LOL, thanks for the cap space. Thanks for saving the front office the unenviable task of benching the greatest Dynamo for his last season, or worse, cutting him. Thanks for giving us a new villain. Thanks for maintaining the Canadian MLS tradition of being a terrible franchise. And most of all, thanks for sucking. See you next year.