MLS Commissioner DON GARBER is "set to be enshrined" in the National Soccer HOF on Saturday as part of a six-person class, but he wants fans to "know that he's still working," according to a profile by Jon Arnold of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. FC Dallas Chair & CEO CLARK HUNT said that he is "confident more is coming from Garber, who has taken the league from the brink of bankruptcy to a thriving enterprise seen as a growing player in world soccer." Garber: "My job is not remotely done. Clearly I believe the league's best days are still ahead." Arnold notes while "no one disagrees" that club owners LAMAR HUNT, ROBERT KRAFT and PHIL ANSCHUTZ in the early years were "critical for MLS' survival, Garber may be underplaying his role not only in the moment at the start of the century but also in how SUM has helped basically every successful entity in North American soccer grow in the last two decades." XFL Commissioner OLIVER LUCK, who worked under Garber as NFL Europe President and later served as Dyanmo President & GM, said when Garber took over MLS in '99, the league "hadn't really crossed the threshold yet; it was still a league that probably had existential threats." Garber said that he "doesn't consider himself in the same ballpark as figures he worked with during his NFL tenure, like [former commissioners] PETE ROZELLE or PAUL TAGLIABUE." However, Clark Hunt said that Garber's current trajectory "not only merits Saturday's induction but will leave a legacy on par with that of sports business greats" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 10/19). Garber is joined in the induction class by BRAD FRIEDEL, CINDY PARLOW CONE, TIFFANY MILBRETT, DR. BOB CONTIGUGLIA and JP DELLACAMERA (THE DAILY).
IN HIS HONOR: The AP's Anne Peterson noted Garber, who was originally selected for the National Soccer HOF in '16, "put off his addition until now for a simple reason" -- Lamar Hunt. Hunt passed away in '06, and one of his "last big projects was to open Toyota Stadium." So it was "in his memory that his family partnered with U.S. Soccer, the city and Frisco Independent School District and announced plans" in '15 for a new National Soccer HOF to be "built at the stadium." Garber "put off his induction so he could be enshrined" at the new HOF, which also "allows him to further honor Hunt." Garber "asked Clark Hunt to introduce him at the induction ceremony Saturday" (AP, 10/18).
