March 20,2009 'HURT AND ANGER' Parke on how the Red Bulls treated him
Jeff Parke: "I have some hurt and some anger towards the club on how it was handled and how I was left by myself to fend. I wish they would have backed me a little bit more." Photo by Michael Lewis
Second of two parts
By Michael Lewis
BigAppleSoccer.com Editor
Seattle -- It still hurts for former Red Bulls defender Jeff Parke.
Some five months after he was suspended a record 10 games for taking performance-enhancing drugs by MLS, Parke admitted that he still had "some hurt and some anger towards the club" on how negotiations for a new contract were handled prior to the expansion draft.
In the second part of his first interview since the ban, Parke spoke about how the Red Bulls contract offer only a day before the draft and how difficult it was to watch the team during the playoffs. Parke and Red Bulls goalkeeper Jon Conway were slapped with the suspensions. Parke, who was taken by the Seattle Sounders FC in the draft, is negotiating a contract with the club after trying to catch on with a Belgian club. He still has four games remaining on the ban.
Parke said the Red Bulls "approached me a day before they needed to know if they were going to protect me or not. If you really wanted me, you would have called me. Obviously a lot of [stuff] was going on with me and the playoffs and how they were doing well and going on -- that became a distraction.
"There wasn't time to negotiate, really. They gave me a number and at the end of the day I didn't agree with it. And that was that. Obviously, I have some hurt and some anger towards the club on how it was handled and how I was left by myself to fend. I wish they would have backed me a little bit more. I've said it. I told them."
But Parke wouldn't count out a return to the Red Bulls someday if the opportunity was right.
"As people like to say, you don't want to close all doors," he said prior to the Red Bulls' 3-0 season-opening loss at the Sounders Thursday night. "Who knows what could happen? New York was a great place. I liked playing with the guys. Once they get the stadium it will be a good place to play. So I can't say I will never ever go back. It's going to take some time to get over the whole situation on what happened. Obviously for them, too. It's both sides. They're probably upset with me and i understand that. I don't expect them to be happy and say he's that and that and praise me."
Parke, who attended Drexel University, hails from Philadelphia area. He said he wouldn't take a year off to wait for the expansion team to begin playing in 2010. He needs to play now.
"Philly would be a place I would love to play and be a part of," he said. "But you know what? That's next year and this is this year. For me I want to find a club that wants me to play for them where I feel I have the best chance to play and to win a championship, to feel comfortable to take yourself to the next level. At the end of the day it's a business and that's how they treat you. You want to start doing better for yourself and put yourself in better spots."
Parke felt the suspension a hard lesson learned. If he had to do it again, Parke said he definitely would consultant with Red Bulls trainer Rick Guter on any substance he would think of taking.
"I do blame myself for the fact if I look back on it now, I should have [asked about] everything was I was going to take and here's what it is," he said. "Here's what I take and that's that. If there's something bad in it or something wrong with it, then I don't take it. The thing is the product that I took says nothing that says that its banned. If I had gave it to somebody, how would have then known?
"The only way you would know is that you would put it through a test. Then the test, which could be $10,000 or $15,000 or $20,000 would find it because the product was tainted or there was something wrong with it. How would I suppose to know that?
"If I knew that going into it, there is no way I would consider. I would be like . . . whoa -- this isn't me. I don't need to be something that's questionable. That being said, everybody knew I was taking supplements. It wasn't like it was an unknown thing that I was sneaking it in my stall and taking something. I had powder and I put it into my drink, like everybody else. That being said, I should have gotten it checked. I should have taken it to Guter. That's my fault. I know now that's what I have to do.
Parke, who had been the Red Bulls' most reliable defender last season, admitted it was difficult to watch the team during its amazing playoff run to the MLS Cup final last November.
"It was tough," he said. "I watched every game. The one game that was in Utah I didn't have the Fox Soccer Channel. I purchased it just to watch the game. I wanted to see what happens. As much as i didn't want to watch it I wish more than anything I would be there with the team helping them win. I still was glued to the TV on every play. I was cheering for them. At the end of the day, you're on own. You're by yourself and they're still playing. That's what upset me a lot. They kept going. My past five years was thrown away because of what happened."
