Weighted Lottery: Yeah, Right!

Yesterday we reported how Luis Gil (pictured above), the 16 year old phenom who was finally signed by MLS to a Genaration Adidas contract, was going to be allocated to some lucky team, via a weighted lottery, this coming monday. The Red Bulls, it was reported, had the best chance of landing Gil through said lottery, thanks to a bottom of the table performance last season. Well, you can throw all that out the window as Gil has dictated where he wants to play (Seattle or Real Salt Lake) and MLS will accomodate him. So the League bends over backwards to accomodate Gil and, essentially, screws the Red Bulls and any team that had a better chance of landing him instead of Seattle and RSL. It's too bad that Dilly Duka didn't have as much clout as Gil, eh. I'm just wondering if they'll actually go through the farce of picking balls out of a hat.

Another important bit of news today is that MLS owners have no intentions of locking players out if the CBA negotiations are not successful. They are prepared to start the season under the rules of the old (expired) contract. The question now is whether the Players Union is prepared to do the same or will they go on strike? The onus is now on the players.

Red Bulls Pre-Season News:

• This afternoon in Bradenton, the Red Bulls played DC United to a 0-0 tie in a pre-season scrimmage.
• At least two new trialists are now with the team. Enar Jaager, an Estonian defender, played the scrimmage at right back.  Former Chicago Fire forward Damani Ralph is also camp, but did not play today.
• Some post game reaction from Coach Backe and Andrew Boyens here, courtesy of Red Bulls Reader.

Weighted Lottery: Yeah, Right!