Are You On the Ball? The WPS Wasn't...

Imagine a player 1v1 with the goalie, no pressure from behind and plenty of space in the box, blasting the ball on-frame but well over the goal. She didn't panic, she just had a bit of a brain fart at a horribly inconvenient moment. 

When pondering the current WPS snafu, that's one of the little scenes that plays in my mind. All things considered, they were going at the right goal with the ball at their feet after having done a nice little dance to get past the entire defence. So their hearts were in the right place.

For those of you not on Twitter, for a brief moment today there was quite a snickering as people realized (and shared) this unfortunate fact: the WPS approved a trade that involved a phantom draft pick. 

There are a few ways for the WPS to come out of this with relatively clean noses, so it's not a tragic situation, just an embarrassing one.

That being said, here's the mess:

May 4th >> the first 2010 trade was announced by St. Louis Athletica (who picked up the defender Anita Asante, the attacking midfielder Nikki Washington, and a second round pick in the 2011 draft) and Sky Blue FC (who picked up India Trotter and a first round pick in the 2011 draft).

May 5th >> The WPS head office officially approves the trade. 

Sooo Athletica announced the trade on the 4th with absolute certainty while Sky Blue FC at least mentioned "pending WPS approval" in their article. But the league office approved the trade a day later. Counting your eggs before they hatched...or, wait, counting your chickens before they've hatched? Either way, it seems odd that the teams would announce a full day before the league if there wasn't something out place. 

According to Jeff Kassouf over at The Equalizer "the trade went under review by the league," shedding some light on  the delay from the league. Something was a bit fishy and they wanted to sniff it out before approving this trade that had been in the works since January, according to Sky Blue FC General Manager Gerry Marrone.

Jump back to May 2009 when St. Louis Athletica makes a trade with the still-alive-and-thriving LA Sol. Here's the official transcript:

May 8, 2009: The Los Angeles Sol traded Kendall Fletcher, Christie Welsh and its second round selection in the 2011 WPS Draft for Saint Louis Athletica’s first round selection in the 2011 WPS Draft and a conditional selection in the 2010 WPS Draft. If Saint Louis Athletica finishes the 2009 regular season in 1st through 5th place, Saint Louis will give up the rights to its first round selection in the 2010 WPS Draft. However, if Saint Louis finishes the 2009 regular season in 6th or 7th place, Saint Louis will give up the rights to its second round selection in the 2010 WPS Draft.

Notice something familliar? Both transactions involved St. Louis Athletica giving away their first round selection in the 2011 draft. 

Granted, the first time they gave it away to the LA Sol who are now defunct and don't need it...or will they? I still have faith in a team being back in LA in 2011...I'm an optimist, for sure, but hey ho let's see how the cards fall.

Still, the league should have given the pick back to Athletica before the trade was announced. 

Ever give somebody a gift and then they die and you go and take it back? Some would say you stole it back. But when the lawyer gives it back to you via the will, it's totally acceptable. 

Bit morbid, but it gets the point across. The league should have taken control and dictated the status of the draft pick (and all other traded draft picks to the Sol, if they exist) before the trade had been announced. I'm sure non-Athletica fans will argue that they already benefited from the draft pick, it should be skipped/void in the 2011 draft or should have been a part of the dispersal draft. 

The reality is they didn't include it in the dispersal draft and just voiding it would cause a whole new collection of problems to deal with when the 2011 draft actually occurs. 

I am 100% behind the league taking the initiative, flexing their authority, and dictating the status of the draft pick. You are the league, you have the final say, and everybody isn't always going to be happy so just do what you have to do knowing what you know. 

But they didn't do that, either. 

I'll be watching to see what they do, now that the embarrassing snafu is found out and spreading. How they handle this situation will speak to the character of the head office and shed some light on the possible future of this young league.