When Dan Borislow bought the Washington Freedom last winter, moved the team to South Florida and renamed it for his telephone device, magicJack, one WPS coach said, “Either he’s a genius or it’ll be a complete disaster.” When Women’s Professional Soccer announced Monday it was suspending operations for the 2012 season, it pointed directly at Borislow.
After Borislow fought repeatedly with WPS from the moment he took over, WPS took the unprecedented step of terminating magicJack in October. Borislow fought back in the courts. Now the league would rather continue its legal battle to keep from having to work with him again than have a season — assuming its fragile grouping of five teams actually would have amounted to a league.
Despite his professed dedication to women’s soccer, Borislow is inextricably linked to WPS’ failure. Despite how much WPS despises Borislow, its desperation and a shaky business model allowed him to purchase the Freedom in the first place.
– Craig Stouffer
