The MLS Expansion Draft might be the biggest non-event in all of sports.
Teams release individual lists of players deemed A) expendable; or B) unlikely to be taken before the anointed new franchise places a phone call to the league outlining the list of 10 selected.
Then the list is released to the masses and after a few solitary 'Who?' and 'Why?' exclamations the speculation begins all over again as to what trades the 10 players selected will inevitably occupy.
Unless the post-draft trade frenzy fails to materialize.
In 2006 Mo Johnston knowingly selected 10 players that would never see the light of day in Toronto.
The No. 1 selection, Adrian Serioux, was a footnote on the event as the Canadian was off to Dallas for Ronnie O'Brien before new Reds' fans had the chance to Google either name.
Johnston would later add that six of the players were picked for their trade potential and from what I remember one of the remaining was linked to retirement.
Johnston's reputation as a wildcard made the whole process fun to watch on the eve of TFC's inaugural season.
But on Wednesday the expansion Seattle Sounders propagated the non-event status by selecting 10 players with absolute no immediate worth (more on Jarrod Smith later). which, I would think, makes the whole expansion-drafting debacle redundant.
If the idea is to make the expansion team viable through a draft then why not draft the best available? If the idea is to avoid the best available for monetary or contractual reasons, then draft the second-tier players with immediate value.
Seattle avoided potential pawns Eddie Gavin (Columbus), Kevin Hartman (Kansas City) and Chris Klein (Los Angeles) in lieu of an ambiguous hodgepodge of names that sniffs of early complacency.
With a designated player already on board in Freddie Ljungberg and a trio of serviceable players in tow, the Sounders might not be ready to 'see how it goes.'
Expectations are low, the seats are sold and the shirt-seller has arrived -- so, draft accordingly. The biggest risk SFC general manager Adrian Hanauer might be willing to take this year is simply getting a team on the field. Seattle has been fairly predictable with its moves to date and the 10 names selected will presumably be warm bodies ready to fill out a roster built around Ljungberg, Sanna Nyassi, goalkeeper Kasey Keller and local hero Sébastien Le Toux.
On to Smith. To be honest, I thought the initial press release contained a typo and Johann Smith was the player heading to Seattle. But a second press release from TFC confirmed I was wrong and I started to think about TFC life without Smith (Insert cricket sounds).
The New Zealand international had a role -- albeit minor -- with TFC and it is hard to foresee it varying to any degree in Seattle. But Smith scored in Toronto, which gives his Bucket List one more check than Kevin Harmse, Tyrone Marshall, Carlos Ruiz, Andrea Lombardo and the other J. Smith.
The 24-year-old has a lot of work to do before establishing himself as a full-time player in this league and perhaps opportunity will enable that in Seattle.
But let's hope the quiet Kiwi does not become the 2009 version of Edson Buddle.