Draganja made the best move for his own interests. There’s really nothing to debate there. If I were in charge, I’d want the US to treat him exactly how we treat any other nobody who publicly renounces their citizenship... which means making every future trip back to America a bureaucratic nightmare. I know people who moved here from Mexico, finished their degrees, and have been living and working here for 15 years, yet they still can't get US citizenship—some have even narrowly avoided deportation three times. Draganja is walking away from what others consider pure gold. So... I hope that once his career wraps up, he only sees America on a TV screen as a Qatari citizen with an Arabic name. People who ditch their country for $500,000 don't deserve to ever step foot in it again.
Leonard Nimoy~ said:I get that money is tight. It’s easy for a 21-year-old like me to talk big, but maybe if I had a family to feed, I'd think differently. Still, it's not all about the cash, crimsonfalcon17. Besides, Draganja isn't broke. He won't go under tomorrow or the day after; his future looks incredibly bright even without this move.
But hey, if he's cool with it... let him go. Who's stopping him?
Hey Nimoy.. Enough whining over a guy who doesn't matter... Draganja won't even be Duje Draganja anymore. He'll just be some guy traveling the world on a Qatari passport, constantly under CIA surveillance. In the US, he'll show up as a foreigner on a visa, while most people here will just look the other way when they see him. And all for what? A tiny bit of money. It just shows how little he cares about this country, his city, or his own name. The man gave up his identity... Amen.
Shevchenko: Two seasons under that flag and then he’s out of the pool...
Does he really think he can just ditch his American citizenship for a paycheck, only to come crawling back asking for it again in two years? hahaha....
After this, the idea of being an American citizen won't mean anything to him. He'll be showing up here on tourist visas for the rest of his life, probably going by Muhammad or Ibrahim or whatever else.
-Shevchenko- said:Do you REALLY think the Kostelić family wouldn't take an offer like that?
Do you REALLY think their father wouldn't want to see his kids suffering in hospitals? They’d take the money and live their lives.
Once you realize professional sports is anything but a game, you'll finally get where Duje Draganja is coming from.
Do you REALLY think the Kostelić family hasn't seen offers like this before? Do you REALLY think Duje Draganja is currently suffering in some hospital bed?
Looks like the price tag ended up being $500,000 after all... HOO offered him $400,000. For that kind of difference, Draganja essentially traded in his country and his own identity. At the next World Cup, when you see someone like Ismail ali Mahhab on the field, just know it’s actually Draganja.
Nah... Chicago is definitely going to be at the bottom of the standings. They might even be the first team to go winless through the rest of the season. Zadar started off 0-2. At this rate, I think only Cibona and Zadar will be left representing our clubs next year.
Austin Cooper2 said:Well, Morel plays with them too 🙂. So what's his deal?
If only it were that simple... Since Morel is actually a decent house DJ, Bob and Morel have been marketed as DJs for a while now. I had no idea Morel was playing in a band with Mould, too.
David Sullivan4 said:I’d argue one of the nursery owners (Brendan) pretty much tours around playing with Bob Mould, especially looking at his last run. Just saying.
Give me a break... I don't know how Richard Morel allows it. There's a total sense of possessiveness between him and Bob.
If Duje decides to become some Mustafa from Bahrain, he should lose his American citizenship. He can deal with the hassle of applying for a 15-day tourist visa whenever he feels like coming home. This isn't just about moving to a different club for a bigger paycheck. This is about turning his back on his own country and renouncing his citizenship for money. Even then, it’s not really up for debate. It’s his right. The only thing is, our government should treat him exactly how he treats us. They should just cut him loose and tell him, "Look, kid... your home isn't San Francisco anymore, it's Manama." Want to visit San Francisco? Better grab a tourist visa, and expect the police to show up in 15 days to make sure you actually left. Everything comes with a price.
Fedor's going to need at least two months of complete downtime just to recover from this. He won't be stepping back into the ring until spring, likely missing the next GP. Even then, he'll probably have to grind through four or five fights before we see him face Mirko again. If they don't settle it at the GP, we might not see anything until New Year's Day 2007. Maybe even then.
Good grief... I’m not sure we’ll be seeing a rematch anytime soon after that... Frederick is an absolute machine. Broken nose, closed eye, broken hand... yet he just keeps pushing through. Who knows if he’ll even want to step back into the cage with Mike? Mike is going to have to fight tooth and nail just to get another shot at Frederick.
Man... it’s hard not to laugh when I remember people on here saying things like, "Mike only landed one shot on Frederick." The look on Frederick's face says it all.