Women’s Professional Soccer is about to lose a general manager, if Equalizer Soccer’s to be believed. Considering Jeff Kassouff’s site is to WPS what the BBC is to the English Premier League, accept his reporting as gospel. Gerry Marrone will step down as Sky Blue FC GM, being offered a position he described to me as “a great (opportunity) that I couldn’t pass up.” Marrone will be moving on to an executive vice presidency at Pierce Promotions, and like George Costanza, he’s leaving on a high note.
Gerry Marrone’s Departure From Sky Blue FC Is A Walk Off Home Run And George Costanza’s High Note, All In One
Marrone helped steer Sky Blue FC to WPS’s first championship two years ago, and although the club failed to replicate that performance in the league’s second season, the former SBFC executive atoned with last week’s blockbuster trade, bringing potential franchise linchpin Tobin Heath back to her home state. In the deal, Marrone also got one of the league’s best non-Marta scorers (Eniola Aluko), giving up only draft picks in what has been heralded as a steal.
News that Marrone’s leaving Sky Blue makes the Heath trade seem like a walk-off home run - the best of all possible endings. The general manager shifted his weight onto his back leg, got full extension and cast a hanging slider over the center field wall. I would have caught it, too, had I not been caught in the moment. Even in hindsight, I can’t believe I was there to see it.
His teammates already gathering around home plate, Gerry rounds second base, and it dawns on him: “It’s not going to get any better than this.” By the time he sinks his right cleat into the third sack - cinema-enhanced chalk flying off the bag, clear in the close-up - Marrone decides, “This is how it should end.
“I’m going out on a high note.”
He’s won a title. He brought Heath back home for nothing, and (in a much lesser honor, one bestowed by me) he is a cornerstone of WPS’s Tuesday night Twitter chats. Gerry Marrone may be moving on, but his sense of timing can’t be beat. The former Sky Blue General Manager is leaving on a high note.
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