Three years ago this week, the Real Salt Lake coaching staff gathered in a Baltimore hotel lobby eager to make a splash in its first MLS SuperDraft. Assistant coach Peter Mellor, looking uncharacteristically glum, approached just as we prepared to walk across the street to draft headquarters.
"I just got off the phone with Kasey Keller, and he's not coming," Mellor announced.
RSL came "that close" to signing America's premier goalkeeper. But sports careers are littered with what-might-have-beens, and RSL has had three No. 1 keepers in three years.
The lesson that current general manager Garth Lagerwey might take away as he prepares for his first MLS draft today in Baltimore is to have a backup plan, probably multiple plans. A lot will happen between now and RSL's first pick, the third overall, just after noon.
Lagerwey thinks he is ready. He is a thorough, detail-oriented planner. Along with coach Jason Kreis and his staff, RSL has assembled databases, scouted dozens of games and cross-checked information with college coaches.
Lagerwey headed to the player combine in Florida last week with a short list of players to watch, looking less for breakout performances and more for "intangibles" like players' effort and how they adapt to the combine environment with different coaches and new positions on the field.
RSL, with three of the first 17 picks overall, has a golden opportunity to add quality emerging players to a roster that already is one of MLS' youngest.
For inspiration, Lagerwey doesn't need to look further than expansion brethren Chivas USA, which found two MLS All-Stars in Sacha Kljestan and Jonathan Bornstein on draft day in 2006. A year ago, expansion Toronto F.C. found two national team caliber players in Maurice Edu and Andrew Boyens.
Can Lagerwey hit the jackpot twice in one day in the crapshoot that is the SuperDraft?
It's not easy. No MLS team has enough resources to adequately scout all of North America. Some drafted players skip MLS entirely, such as Chris Lancos, who spent one season in Germany before joining RSL last spring.
Plus, the draft is muddied by the presence of teenagers (three 17-year-olds this year) who have great skills but aren't mature enough to play yet in MLS. RSL's first-ever pick, Nik Besagno, had just turned 16 when his name was called. Many are hoping his breakthrough comes this year, as he's in the mix to replace Eddie Pope in the middle of the RSL defense.
Complicating matters, according to Lagerwey, this year's class is not as talented at the top, nor as deep.
A flurry of trades this week makes it even more difficult to determine what RSL's rivals are planning. So if RSL gets even one player to garner as many minutes as a rookie as 2006 No. 1 pick Mehdi Ballouchy, Friday has to be considered a success.
Many people consider three-time All-American defender Julius James (University of Connecticut) and Virginia Tech forward Patrick Nyarko to be top two players available. Don't be surprised if Lagerwey is elated if one falls to the third pick - or wheeling and dealing if neither is available.
Only Lagerwey knows. In his determined bid to make RSL more competitive, today's draft will reveal the course he plans to follow.
As I learned in 2005, he just needs to be sure to have a Plan B.
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* Former RSL GM STEVE PASTORINO welcomes your comments at pastorinosoccer@comcast.net.
