Donnie Riddles at it again

Today MLSINSIDER blog posted an interview that Don Garber did with Forbes.


During this interview, the topic of NYC expansion came up and Garber says we are no where near close to finalizing a deal. That is a fine statement to make, but when you look back at recent history, he is contradicting himself a little bit.

In October we were 12 months off

“Our focus on the 20th expansion team is going in full swing," Garber said. "We’re having discussions with a number of different ownerships groups in New York and hope to continue to make progress in those discussions. We’d like that team to be in the NY metro area. … We hope in the next 12 months to finalize that.”

At halftime of a playoff game just 10 days later we were 6-8 months off

"We want to see a 20th team and we want to see that in New York"

"The Cosmos have relaunced that brand and have done a great job"

"Maybe its them, maybe its someone else, we hope to get something done in the next 6-8 months quite frankly"

Earlier this year, in an interview with SI

" There are others much less public than the Cosmos who continue to express interest. Sometime by the end of the year we'll have a better sense as to where we're going with the 20th team. But I'm committed to trying to finalize a deal so it can be here in New York."

If you have been following the 20th expansion spot closely, your head might be spinning. Being the timeline seems to get larger, one might conclude that talks must be going backwards, but the Cosmos have stated that talks with the league and city are progressing. What the F#%K is really going on?

Don Garber is a fantastic commissioner and should get nothing but praise for the work he has done with Major League Soccer. However, when it comes to expansion and releasing news he just confuses the hell out of you.

Which is why we call him "Donnie Riddles"