Gene Orza, the number two man at the Players’ Association is stepping down. He’s been there since the mid-80s and, as bad cop to Don Fehr’s, um, slightly less bad cop, he has been on the scene for every major development related to labor relations since then.
Orza stepping down comes just after the league’s number two guy, Bob DuPuy called it quits. Orza probably said it best today when he said “It’s simply time for the old to make way for the new. And what better time than now?” No one has told Selig that, though, but I’m pretty sure he’s going to live forever, so those rules don’t apply to him.
Anyway, it’s the right time for the league and the union’s old Consiglieres to step down. We’re a bit over a year until the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires, and it’s probably best for each side to have people in place now who will be in place when the new one is negotiated.
As for Orza and DuPuy? Watch for them second-guessing their successors on ESPN as the negotiations rage, or at the very least murmur, on.
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- The Dangerous Mabry - Sep 28, 2010 at 3:45 PM
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I’ve heard Gene Orza called a lot of bad things, but calling him Number Two is just mean.
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- Michael - Sep 28, 2010 at 4:39 PM
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The lawyers are all leaving! Huzzah!
…um, hi Craig.
So what are the chances Orza will team with Fehr to put Major League Soccer out of business as the heads of their union?
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- Tony A - Sep 28, 2010 at 10:04 PM
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Soccer doesn’t need any help to fail…
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- doctorfunke - Sep 29, 2010 at 12:52 PM
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Actually, the MLS has been around for 15 years now, and next season they are adding two expansion teams as well. Attendance is up, and thanks to the World Cup, interest in the sport in the U.S. is up as well. And why do you guys care if soccer fails anyway? I don’t like the NFL, but I don’t want it to fail.
