This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Sandy

Watching Real Salt Lake beat the San Jose Earthquakes, 2-0, at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night in front of its 14th straight sellout crowd, I was thinking about the future of the club, past the end of this season.

Maybe the team will go on to completely gather itself after a rough stretch during which it has gone 3-4-1 in its past eight games. Maybe it will rediscover the mojo it had earlier this year when it was the best team in Major League Soccer. After all, in the two seasons RSL made the MLS Cup final, it stumbled in the run-up at one point or another. Or maybe it won't. Maybe it will sputter, edge across the finish line, falling flat.

Either way, the greater questions hang: Is this the end of an era? Is this the end of a golden age of RSL, during which over a seven-year span the team compiled a home record of 86-17-28 and made it into the two MLS Cup finals, a U.S. Open Cup final, and a CONCACAF Champions League Cup final, winning one, and was universally respected for its success?

And the biggie: Is this the end for Garth Lagerwey?

The longtime general manager's contract ends in December, and it's a mystery as to whether he'll be back. We've seen this episode before, when the franchise lost former coach Jason Kreis to the New York City Football Club. If it loses Lagerwey, too, that would be a devastating second punch.

Lagerwey, who has indicated in the past an interest in checking out his options around MLS, says nothing has been decided yet: "I'm under contract. We'll sit down at the end of the season and talk."

That "we" refers to him and RSL owner Dell Loy Hansen.

Hansen told The Tribune's Chris Kamrani in August he understands Lagerwey's wait-and-see approach: "The league is growing rapidly, teams are being added, and a lot of opportunities are there, and for the league that's not unhealthy. Great teams help other people mature. However, all that said, we will kill for Garth to stay here and I don't think money will ever be the issue. It would be opportunity."

Lagerwey wants to run his own shop, according to those close to him.

He is far more than just a soccer guy. He played the game, loves the game, but he also has a law degree from Georgetown and has practiced corporate law. He craves the chance to oversee both the business and soccer sides of an MLS club.

But there's more to Lagerwey than ambition.

One of the things that has made him so successful as RSL general manager, beyond decisions about which players to sign and keep, is his personal way of handling matters. He has a downhome quality that's made him the glue to the franchise. He's just as likely to give an ear to a ticket-taker as he is a top executive. A good idea is a good idea, wherever it comes from. He takes a grassroots approach to making RSL what it has become.

Moreover, he's sold soccer in this market as well as anyone. There's no elitism to Lagerwey. When explaining rudiments of the game to would-be fans, he sounds more like a guy you'd like to sit down next to at a bar than any sort of purist put off by questions that are beneath him.

Along with the tremendous talent he's helped put on the field, he's also helped boost the number of season-ticket holders from the 4,000 that were onboard when he arrived in September, 2007, to the current total of 12,000. That number will climb higher next season.

Who knows? The train may have already left the station. Half the league is drooling to hire the guy. But if what Hansen said is true, if he is willing to kill to keep Lagerwey in Salt Lake, there's a less violent way to pull it off. Team president Bill Manning has done a terrific job running the business side. There's no reason to move him.

This, then, is what the owner must do: Invite Lagerwey into the inner sanctum and make him feel like he's king of the world. Include him in the biggest franchise decisions, on both sides, and make those endeavors meaningful and human.

In other words: Back off on the bottom line, on the cutthroat nature of doing business, and foster the same chemistry necessary to win on the field off it. Listen to Lagerwey. Hear him. Let the familial spirit he favors spread around to every level of the club, including the top.

If that sounds maudlin, it isn't. That's precisely how RSL's success was built against clubs with much bigger budgets. Look at the players Kreis and Lagerwey brought in - guys who felt slighted by previous teams, guys who many thought were flawed or washed up. It was founded on a team-first ethos that Lagerwey embraces and espouses. He's a champion of the little guy, and here in Salt Lake he's made the little guy a champion.

Keeping Lagerwey will require Hansen to value him more than he has thus far, he must make him feel valued, he must make everybody feel valued. That's what's important to Garth Lagerwey, particularly if the paycheck is good and fat, too.

Lagerwey didn't tell me that. But having been around him over the past seven years, having had a hundred conversations with him that went on longer than he would have liked, I'm certain it's true. For such an intelligent man, he's not overly complicated. He likes Utah, living here with his wife and two kids. He likes winning even more.

If RSL goes on to storm through the playoffs, his worth to other teams will be a rocket to ride. It already is. Owner Hansen might redirect that rocket back home - it's his only shot to do so - if he's humble enough and motivated enough to shower more responsibility, and especially more warmth, on a gifted man who's earned it.

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM/1280 and 960 AM The Zone. Twitter: @GordonMonson.