Bobby Convey appears to be in a pretty sweet situation with Sporting Kansas City. After wearing out his welcome with the San Jose Earthquakes, he's playing for a team with a brand-new stadium, that features an attacking style that should fit his skill set and is on a team that should be the favorites to win the Eastern Conference. As good as he may have it, he apparently couldn't help but take a swipe at his old team, coincidentally on the day their plans for their own stadium took a huge step forward.
"It was tough to focus on playing when you have to coach kids in the afternoon to make rent," Convey told the Kansas City Star.
As much fun as it would be to assume that Convey is talking about himself here, I have to admit it seems highly unlikely that he is. Convey was paid nearly $1 million over the course of his three years with the Earthquakes (at least according to MLS Players Union documentation) and as a former San Jose resident myself, I can assure you that he could afford a pretty stately home on that kind of salary. (As a point of clarification, it turns out Convey was, in fact, referring to younger players and not himself. The KC Start ran a clarification on Friday.)
But what's his point? Is he actually offering that up as an excuse for his own poor play in 2 of his 3 years there? Is he suggesting the team underperforms because so many of their players are working second jobs? That seems equally daft as the Earthquakes managed to win two MLS Cups during years where housing prices were even higher in the Bay Area and players were making even less money.
Basically, what we have are sour grapes. Convey is clearly looking for reasons that neither he nor his team performed up to the level he felt they should and maybe Bay Area housing prices make for a good straw man. If I'm Sporting Kansas City, I'm a little worried that Convey is the kind of player who's always looking for an excuse.