Swagudelo
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| Joined: 23 May 2013 |
| Total Posts: 24436 |
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| 24 Jan 2015 02:51 PM |
Thursday, 8:30 am ET – 4.25 Hours Until Draft
WITH THE EXPANSIVE LOBBY, bar and restaurant of the Philadelphia Marriott serving as a buzzing open market on the morning of the draft, potential deals begin to take shape. Buyers and sellers are out in force, and there are six clubs interested in dealing with Orlando for the top pick.
The Montreal Impact got things started days ago, just after the Combine ended, with four magic words that kick off most negotiations: “What do you want?” The San Jose Earthquakes, Portland Timbers and Toronto FC are also interested, and the Seattle Sounders offered $100,000 in allocation for the pick the night before.
After insisting that he’d hold onto the selection unless a deal was struck Wednesday night, McDonough approaches the situation pragmatically. Orlando are open to offers, though they feel no pressure to deal.
The price will be allocation money in the six-figures, and a high pick that still allows the Lions to land one of their other primary targets. Right now they’re after one of three players: Generation adidas goalkeeper and USMNT prospect Alex Bono, SIU- Edwardsville utility man Matt Polster or St. John’s center back Tim Parker.
Montreal are the most likely trade partners. The Impact hold the third overall pick, desperately need a forward and – perhaps just as importantly – the prospect of taking a Canadian at No. 1 for the first time in SuperDraft history might be too much to resist.
But McDonough sees what everyone else does in Larin, who’s with Canada at the CONCACAF U-20 Championship in Jamaica. And he’s not sure he can pull the trigger on a trade, even if one of the interested parties meets his asking price.
“There’s money in strikers,” McDonough says. “It’s a guy you should take.”
9:50 am ET – Three Hours Until The Draft
WITH THE ORLANDO STAFF increasingly leaning toward holding onto the No. 1 pick, the focus shifts to their secondary targets.
The plan is to take Larin first, and then grab an MLS-ready center back and apprentice goalkeeper with the No. 22 and 25 picks. The problem is, Orlando feel certain their secondary targets won’t be around come the second round.
With that in mind, assistant coach Mark Watson goes to work. He was an assistant to Chicago head coach Frank Yallop in San Jose years ago, and he’s been tasked with approaching his old friend about the No. 7 pick.
Orlando offer pick No. 22 and $75,000 in allocation for Chicago’s pick, with the compensation rising to $100,000 should they take a Generation adidas player. The hope is that the Fire will be more interested in the cash than rolling the dice with a young player.
The Vancouver Whitecaps are also interested in making a deal, but they hold the No. 13 pick. Orlando think that might be too late to safely grab Parker, who is shaping up to be the staff’s top target alongside North Carolina State and US U-20 center back Conor Donovan.
In the meantime, with interest in the No. 1 pick lukewarm and their minds close to made up anyway, the staff debate whether to inform Larin of his impending fate.
They decide to let him find out on his own. After all, anything could happen once they hit the SuperDraft floor.
"AFTER SETTLING IN AT THE DRAFT TABLE, assistant coach Ian Fuller brings Larin’s highlight reel up on his laptop. Rawlins and owner Flavio Augusto da Silva watch the 19-year-old bang in goal after goal for UConn, where he scored 23 goals in two seasons and was the American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year as a sophomore.
Barring some unforeseen turn of events, Larin is headed to Orlando, giving the 50 purple-clad fans already gathered on the draft room floor something to cheer about in between trolling the small contingent of New York City FC fans that have filed in behind them.
In the meantime, the focus is still on moving up the draft board from Nos. 22 and 25. Parker is the target, and potential trade partners drop by the table every few minutes to chat quietly with McDonough as it becomes clear the proposed trade with the Fire is out.
Houston head coach Owen Coyle swings by the table, but laughs off Orlando’s interest in a deal for the No. 8 pick. Impact head coach Frank Klopas follows, and then Toronto FC general manager Tim Bezbatchenko. The Whitecaps are still circling, too.
TFC are willing to part with their No. 9 pick, provided they land their top target with their No. 6 pick, for $100,000 in allocation and Orlando’s pick at No. 22. Vancouver, it seems, are still trying to determine the market value for their first-round selection.
McDonough says he would pull the trigger if Parker was available and TFC’s price dropped to $75,000, but ultimately his “feeling is that the price is just too high.”
12:45 pm ET – The First Pick
New Sounders general manager Garth Lagerwey makes a last-ditch inquiry about the top pick, but Orlando won’t budge. The decision is already made. The paperwork has been filled out for half an hour, sitting face down in front of McDonough.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber strides to the podium and announces Larin as the No. 1 pick, prompting a pre-recorded video message from the teenager ahead of Canada’s must-win match against El Salvador on Thursday night in Jamaica.
“He was always the guy going in,” McDonough says as Orlando City’s supporters celebrate. “We thought that if we were going to move around, it had to be something special.”
1:15 pm ET – Orlando Lose Polster And Parker
Chicago didn’t bite on Orlando’s earlier trade proposal, and now it’s clear why. The Fire take Polster off the board at No. 7.
There was a chance earlier in the day that Orlando could make a deal for one of Toronto's picks at No. 9 or 11 in order to secure Parker, but nothing pans out. The Reds take center backs Clément Simonin at No. 9 and and Skylar Thomas at No. 11.
Vancouver are still hovering around looking for a deal, though, floating $100,000 as a potential price for No. 13, and even take a five-minute timeout – one of a record five in the first round – to give themselves additional time to complete a deal that ultimately never materializes.
In the end, the Whitecaps take Parker, dropping by the Orlando table to give McDonough a heads up before Garber reads the pick on stage.
“It wasn’t about the money. We made the offers,” McDonough says. “Teams just liked their guys, and that’s the way it goes. We were prepared to deal. We just couldn’t get it done.” |
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| 24 Jan 2015 02:53 PM |
| Is this the movie? I saw that in the movie theater. |
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Swagudelo
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| Joined: 23 May 2013 |
| Total Posts: 24436 |
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| 24 Jan 2015 02:58 PM |
| if you read even a sentence of the post you'd find out |
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| 24 Jan 2015 03:03 PM |
| I did, in the movie it was like 4 hours till draft same as this post |
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| 24 Jan 2015 03:04 PM |
the movie is about the nfl
"We are going to build a bully, and we're gonna see if you want to play it for 60 minutes." - Rex Ryan |
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| 24 Jan 2015 03:05 PM |
| What foolish league is this bull(explicit) about? |
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| 24 Jan 2015 03:06 PM |
read the damn post
"We are going to build a bully, and we're gonna see if you want to play it for 60 minutes." - Rex Ryan |
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| 24 Jan 2015 03:43 PM |
rune - the expert plagiarizer
Iᴛ ᴀɪɴᴛ ᴇᴀsʏ, ʙᴇɪɴɢ Cʜᴇᴇsᴇʏ. |
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