Adam Cristman Superstar?

One of the few pleasant surprises during the preseason has been the ability of Revs rookie Adam Cristman to find the back of the net for both club and country. His remarkable form has yeilded a least a goal in each of his outings with the Revs and a few goals for Bob Bradley's US U-23 side. Not too shabby for someone the Revs picked up late in the fourth round on draft day. What makes this even sweeter is the fact the team traded Kyle Brown in order to pick him up.

So is he for real? I have no freakin clue. The Revs have been playing inferior competition. That's what you do in order to gain form as a unit the months before the season kicks off. Lee Martin performed well in preseason friendlies for Man U last summer, but he's a long ways away from even making their bench (currently on loan). However, Cristman had to prove that he belongs on an MLS pitch. I believe he has gone a long way in doing just that.

With Pat Noonan suffering from nagging injuries, Cristman is our likely starting forward alongside Taylor Twellman in Chicago next week for the opener. That'll be his first true test. If Noonan had been healthy, he could have settled in with the large group of freshmen comprising quite an intriguing reserve side. This is the first year I'm actually excited to go watch the reserves play, and Cristman is one of the reasons. Who knows, maybe he is the real deal and I'll never see him take the reserve pitch? Just in case, let me offer up some Adam Cristman songs:

I saw three shots go sailing in
On Cristman's day, On Cristman's day
I saw three shots go sailing in
On Cristman's day in the morning

Adam Crist(man)! Superstar!
Do you think you are what they say you are?

It's Cristman's time in Hollis, Queens
Momma's busy cooking up collared greens...


Alright, maybe not that last one.

Relaunch/Cross-Country Odyssey

Just in time for the 2007 season, Blue Blooded Journo is back from the dead. Where have I been? Well, I had an invite to join an old friend of mine in Vegas for the NASCAR race a few weeks back. Since I was driving, I decided to get in touch with some old navy buddies along the route and see if they wanted to get together and catch up on old times. Well, that steamrolled into a cross-country trek that took me to Pittsburg, Oregon, LA, Las Vegas, San Antonio, Alabama, and I'm spending the current week in Orlando.

As a result, I haven't been able to share my views on the Revs' preseason. It has been quite eventful by Revolution standards: Joseph's trade demand, Cristman's goal scoring, Joey's leave of absence, captain's carosel, etc... My merchandise whoring endeavor has also been dormant.

Well, fear not. I'm back on this blog. I plan on doing a quick preview and recap of each game which will be heavy on the editorial side. I also plan on giving my own unique preview of the team's 2007 season in the coming days.

Other than that, Rangers are pretty much a lock for second in the SPL and Manchester United are a virtual lock for the EPL, FA Cup final at Wembley, and have a shot at the European Cup if they can avoid another injury in their backline. Once again, sorry for the absence and stand by for some quick shot posts....

Revs Pick Six

The New England Revolution managed to turn four picks into six, get rid of a horrible player, and grab a 2008 pick while only giving up $125,000 in cap space in yesterday's MLS superdraft.

Coach Nicol surprised many with the fifth pick yesterday. Many observers thought the pick acquired for a portion of the Clint Dempsey allocation money was to ensure Nicol Colaluca would be playing for his local team. Instead, Wells Thompson, a player some thought was a third rounder, was the selection (Colaluca went 6th to Colorado). Thompson is a M/F out of Wake Forest. He appears to be the player the coach had his eye on. Stevie Nicol has shown in the past he could pick'em, but was the cap space worth it? I think it was if Thompson can be a serviceable substitute the first year and ready to start the second year.

There's another way I look at this. Last year, we received a partial allocation for our 13th pick. This year, we got the 5th pick and a conditional 2008 2nd round pick for the same amount. Granted, last year's draft was a disaster for the Revs, but I'm just looking at what a 5th pick is worth. There's also the point that LA also had the 10th pick. They could have traded that pick instead, but Stevie held out for the 5th.

Passing on Colaluca doesn't concern me. He's local and it would have been nice to have another Rhode Islander on the team. However, he practiced with the team last summer and the Revs knew him well. The fact they passed on him means they think Wells can offer more. If Colaluca winds up being the next Dempsey, we know where to place blame.

For our natural first round pick, we selected Amaechi Igwe out of Santa Clara. He's on the U-20 team and players LD. He played forward in his first and only semester in college and can also play LM. He's already 6'0" and has decent speed. He'll join fellow U-20 Micheal Gonzalez on the Revs.

The second round pick was another Wake player in Ryan Solle. He's a midfielder with tremendous feet and passing skills for a college senior. Some had him going in the first round. I'm very happy we got him where we did. That makes four Wake Forrest players on the roster and they were all teammates together for two years. That can't be bad for chemistry.

The third round pick was Bryan Bryne out of UC Santa Barbara. He's a native of Ireland and will turn 25 during the season. Many teams stayed away from him because he'll count as a senior international. I watched him in the College Cup and he is a maniac wide right, will run at anyone, can pass, and is an exceptional crosser. I'm looking forward to watching this character on the field.

In the last round, the Revs traded away Kyle Brown for a late pick. They took target forward Adam Cristman out of Virginia. He seems to have a chip on his shoulder with something to prove after being selected so late. The last pick for us was athletic defender Kyle Helton out of Duke.

All and all, I thought the picks were decent. The Wells Thompson pick had a lot of people scratching their heads. There's always the notion that Nicol just wanted another 1st round pick and the fifth was the cheapest one they could get.

We'll see how this pans out, but this new group looks like a fine young base on which to build the future starting XI on.

Revs Draft Grade: B

Beckham Signs With The MLS

David Beckham, celebrity husband, has signed with the LA Galaxy for a reported $250 million over five years.

Good for the league? Yes and no.

First off, he won't be getting most of that in salary. Granted, he'll be getting paid over five times the second highest contact in MLS history with $10 million a season. However, most of the money will be coming from renewed endorsement deals and merchandising. Don't be surprised if he rakes in just $150 million over five years. Poor baby.

What he will do for the league is flywheel the mainstream media attention now that Freddymania is dead. That won't last. It's also good for the league if he attracts more big-name players to come over, within reason. AEG, the Galaxy's owner, has deep pockets. With the MLS's designated player rule, MLS will only pay the first $400,000 of his contract. AEG pays the rest of it as well as some supposed profit sharing. Less affluent need to beware. The NASL went out of business because owners tried to duplicate what the NY Cosmos did, but didn't have the backing of Warner Bros. to do so. If the Revs were to ever try this, they would be offering far less. I'm hoping a team like KC doesn't even think about it, because that would be the end of the Wiz.

His presence will also raise attendance when he travels to each stadium for the first time. Since he won't be joining LA until August, it is highly unlikely we'll see him in Foxboro until 2008. This logic lead Chivas USA to trade their DP slot to NY a month ago. They'll see higher home attendance from visiting stars while they strengthened their team with Amado Guevara. Some are expecting the Revs to follow suit.

This signing does raise some interesting questions. If an owner of an MLS team is willing to pay one player that much, why are there so many players making under $50,000 a year? I'd be upset if I were a guy like Andy Dorman who contributed so much on the field last year but is only making EITC wages.

There's also the question of AEG spending so much money for a player on LA, yet owning two other MLS teams. Will they spend even a fraction of that on a DP for those teams? Not likely.

I welcome the signing for the league. However, I have no expectations of mainstream America adopting soccer as a major sport. Only years of producing talent that can compete with the world's best can we even begin to think about competing with France's and Holland's league for quality players in their prime. There's also a lot of economic growth MLS needs before this can happen. If it does, many more players will want to come to America to both live and play soccer in a good league.

Is Beckham the first step in respectability? Maybe. Maybe not. We'll just have to wait and see.

Dempsey To Fulham!

Clint Dempsey had his work permit approved. He is now a member of Fulham Football Club of the English premiere league. I, along with Revs fans around this country, wish him well.

I'll write about my favorite of Clint in the near future.