When the Spirit signed Franklin McIntosh early this month, Paul Wright took it as an insult.
Why sign McIntosh, he seemed to be saying, when you could have signed me?
Wright led the Spirit in scoring last season and was No. 9 in the National Professional Soccer League with 146 points, a notch behind McIntosh (151), then with the Harrisburg Heat.
But in August, Wright said he had no intention of returning to the NPSL this season, opting for a fall and winter of exhibitions with the Los Angeles Salsa of the outdoor American Professional Soccer League. McIntosh, meantime, was a Harrisburg holdout.
Now both are back in the NPSL, McIntosh with the Spirit and Wright with the Wichita Wings. In his second game with the Wings, tonight in Wichita, Wright will face his old Spirit friends.
"I'm looking forward to it, because I've got a bit to show them," said Wright, who had three goals and an assist in his Wichita debut in Tuesday's 12-11 win over Harrisburg. "The Spirit chose Franklin over myself."
That's not entirely accurate. The Spirit might have welcomed Wright back in August if he had been willing to make at least a one-year commitment. McIntosh signed a two-year contract.
"If Paul had agreed to a multi-year, we would have considered it," Spirit vice president Drew Forrester said. "We had the same situation with defender Doug Neely, who wanted to play in California in the fall and join us after Christmas."
The Spirit didn't want part-time players, no matter how talented. Wright called Forrester this month after the Salsa's exhibition scheduled shriveled from 18 games to two and announced he was available.
"It was too late," Forrester said. "No hard feelings, but the makeup of the team was set and we had allocated our payroll money. Anyway, we're 11-6."
Wright intends to bring to the Wings what he brought to the Spirit, a flair for offense.
"But Baltimore fell short in the playoffs last season, so I'd like to take it further here," Wright said. "Baltimore wouldn't give me the chance to re-do it. The Wings did."
Kim Roentved, Wichita's player-coach and scoring leader, also is pleased by the recent addition of John Garvey, who scored the game-winner against the Chicago Power in his Dec. 16 debut and five goals the following night in a victory over the Detroit Rockers.
"They're capable of scoring lots of goals," Roentved said. "Paul is one of the few players in the game who can get away with being so cocky. He's one of the fastest players in the league and one of the best finishers in the country. That's what we needed, a finisher."
Spirit player-assistant coach Cris Vaccaro, who has played with and against Wright, says it is his speed that makes him so dangerous. Knowing Wright's tendencies -- he likes to go to his right -- doesn't help much.
"He's a big part of a team's offensive scheme, and opponents know that," Vaccaro said. "Still, it's hard to stop him."
SPIRIT TONIGHT
Opponent: Wichita Wings
Site: Kansas Coliseum, Wichita, Kan.
Time: 8:35
Radio: WWLG (1360 AM), WAMD (970 AM)
Outlook: The Wings, third in the National Professional Soccer League's National Division, have won three straight to raise their record to 7-7. The 12-11 win over the Harrisburg Heat this week marked the Wichita debut of ex-Spirit Paul Wright, who had three goals and an assist. Player-coach Kim Roentved (30 points), Noah Epstein (26) and Shawn Blakeman (25) lead the team in scoring. The Spirit is coming off Wednesday night's 10-9 win over the Milwaukee Wave in which Kevin Sloan scored the winning goal with 49 seconds remaining. Sloan is No. 5 in the league in scoring (63 points). Because of regular goalie Cris Vaccaro's sore back, coach Dave MacWilliams is "leaning toward" using Joe Mallia tonight.