Good Monday morning Caps fans, hope you all had a relaxing weekend and that you succeeded in putting up any festive decorations you have lying about (or not, if you’re holiday neutral).
I had a dream that I needed to re-write this column quickly after a massive MLS cheating scandal broke overnight involving the Caps. Fortunately, no such changes are required.
Still, MLS is never dull, particularly in the playoffs, and that was certainly true in the conference finals on Saturday night. Most notably, we saw Caps alum (sobs) Julian Gressel leading Columbus to come back from a 2-0 deficit to knock out Supporters Shield winners in a FC Cincinnati and host MLS Cup in a week’s time.
Indeed, the results were pretty good from a Caps perspective as LAFC saw off Houston to book their ticket to Columbus. Not good for those who direct schadenfreude at Max Crepeau perhaps, but if the Caps were gonna go out, you might as well go out to the best.
For Vancouver, the highlight of the news cycle, so to speak, is probably the announcement that the Caps declined Russell Teibert’s option ahead of the league deadline. This isn’t a massive revelation, as it more confirms what the club indicated in the first round of option decisions. And the fact that the Caps are still negotiating with Rusty means that there will likely be some arrangement that brings him back on a massively reduced salary.
I don’t think Rusty has really anything to offer the club at this point and question why he wouldn’t want to ride out his career getting more playing time. But if we’re talking an Andy Rose-style veteran leadership/coaching type deal that involves minimal risk and cost, sure why not? Anything more would be a disservice to both the Caps and the legacy of one of the team’s most loyal players.
And if the Caps wanted to find a machine to clone Julian Gressel and sign him to a long term deal, well, that wouldn’t be so bad either.
Best of the Rest
Inside Columbus’ epic comeback on Saturday night
In a sad commentary on society, FC Cinci’s Alvas Powell received racist messages after his side crashed out of the playoffs
Canada started their tour to bid Christine Sinclair farewell with a 5-0 thrashing of Australia
An ownership group with Liga MX ties is taking over the CPL’s York United
I would love to see an in depth report on how owners in this league use their teams as tax shelter write off havens but con gullible supporters into pleading poverty on their behalf.