Tuesday Fandom Kicks: MLS Salaries, Marco Etcheverry, and More.
In an attempt to keep the kicks kicking, I thought I might give this a go every once in a while, though maybe future iterations are actually at a morning newspaper reading hour. As it is mid-afternoon though, I get the benefit of nabbing some stories that would otherwise be in tomorrow's Freedom Kicks. Anyway, straight to the news!
2022 MLS Players Salary Guide: The player salaries were released for this year. Shaqiri is the highest paid player in the league at a base salary of $7.35M (!) while the highest paid D.C. United players are Flores and Fountas tied at $1.6M, with Flores just edging Taxi in guaranteed compensation. If you're wondering, they're tied for the 36th highest salary in MLS.
D.C. United Academy Qualifies for MLS NEXT Playoffs: Our U16s are heading to Dallas to take part in the MLS NEXT Cup Playoffs, starting June 25.
! ️
— D.C. United Academy (@DCUyouth) May 17, 2022
Congratulations to our U16s on qualifying for the @mlsnext playoffs in Dallas, TX! ✈️
#DCUYouth | #VamosUnited pic.twitter.com/9EBDCYQagz
MLS Power Rankings - FC Cincinnati??: Some people, as ridiculous as it sounds, actually care about power rankings. I say power rankings are absolutely worthless... unless D.C. United is at the top. Spoiler alert: they are not. But FC Cincinnati is actually playing decent soccer for the first time in their MLS existence, so they actually find themselves positioned well on this list. Also, in back-to-back days, I have seen an FC Cincinnati jersey and vanity license plate here in Germantown, Maryland. This is a strange timeline.
Marco Etcheverry savors Hall of Fame call, MLS legacy: "We were the first, the pioneers": Why it took this long to put Etcheverry in the Hall of Fame is beyond me. Nevertheless, take a trip down the greatest memory lane with arguably the greatest player to ever put on a United jersey (and the fact that this could be debatable points to just how great D.C. United's dynasty really was).
Fantasy Focus: San Sebastian: Our own BlasianSays breaks down some MLS fantasy sports tactics leading up to this week's matches.
That's all I've got today. The greatest writers of our generation often have a habitual sign-off, often in the form of off-topic news. So here is where I get to inform you of something likely none of you find interesting. Motorsports! Now usually, I'd like to toot NASCAR's horn here and convert all of you to be #24 fans, but all motorsports are cool, and the cool news of the day is that Lamborghini is set to enter WEC and IMSA in 2024 with their new LMDh. Think of it like an expansion team joining MLS; new manufacturers entering a class of racing is a sign of healthy growth for the sport. What's a class of racing, you ask? Now we're digressing from these Fandom Kicks, so I'll simply leave this link here of IMSA explaining their 2022 classes.
Have a great rest of your Tuesday, folks!