Borislow and 'infidels' make peace
- by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Jan 19, 2012
[WPS] It was something few thought possible: maverick Dan Borislow, owner of magicJack with women's soccer superstars
Abby Wambach and Hope Solo, not to mention rising national team star Megan
Rapinoe and captain Christie Rampone, made peace with Women's Professional Soccer. MagicJack, kicked out of the league following the 2011 season, won't
return to WPS in 2012, but it will continue as a barnstorming team with the five remaining WPS teams as its opponents. In return for the deal, Borislow agreed to put a stop to his lawsuit in the
Florida courts against those he termed "infidels."
"It was a win-win-win here," Borislow told ESPNW's Beau Dure via email. "I won, the league won and my
team won. The fourth win is actually the fans and soccer."
Tweeted WPS players' union executive director Jennifer Hitchon: "Successful WPS
compromise: Suit dropped, league survives, unsigned players can play a few exhibition games."
WPS owners threatened to pull the plug on the league if Borislow won the lawsuit, and the
compromise means the owners were concerned about that eventuality.
In an Olympic year when the league will be without many of its American stars, the loss of Wambach, Solo et al isn't as
great as it might otherwise be, but it raises some doubts.
If WPS is counting on attracting the kind of crowds it did for the second half of the 2011 season when fans came to see the U.S.
World Cup heroes, how does it expect draw when they won't be around for a good part of 2012?
The whole WPS league is becoming a laughing-stock, dropping down to 5 teams and not being able to hold onto it's 6th team with players like Solo, Wambach etc.
This may be great for the most senior players who are trying to get through one final Olympic season without further injuries. But for players still in their prime this is like skipping the NBA season to play for the Globetrotters.