Sometimes a 0-0 draw can be a fantastic game filled with drama and dozens of scoring chances... other times a 0-0 draw can be a dull and boring affair. In the latter case, it's unfortunate and it's what gives the game a bad name... but quite frankly, if two teams can't put in the effort to try and win within 90min, then they shouldn't be rewarded with a 50-50 shot in a shootout.

Hey Enigma I hear you and I understand the point you are making about it not being right to give a team that is not trying to score, a 50-50 shot at 3 points in a shootout. So I'm not sure what if anything can be done - but it does make for some brutally boring soccer sometimes. Sort of like the NHL when they allowed clutch and grab and the infamous trap, whcih resulted in two to three seasons of largely uninteresting and boring hockey.

I think that way too often some teams - especially the road team - just go into a completely defensive shell for almost the entire second half - or certainly for the last 20-25 minutes - to salvage a point out of a 0-0 tie. And that is very dull to watch. At times I've wondered if they ever have considered awarding a point for draws if and only if you score a goal. In other words 1-1 or 2-2 or 3-3 game, each team gets a point, but 0-0 you get 0. I know that is probably too radical for some soccer purists and it probably is not fair for that odd thrilling 0-0 game where both teams were actually trying to score. But here is hoping that I don't have to sit through too many scoreless games down the road where it is clear that one team is not even trying to score for much of the game. I just have no respect for that.

It was clear last Saturday that for much of the last 20-25 minutes of the TFC - Columbus game - that Columbus would be quite happy leaving BMO Field after a 0-0 tie. There was an obviously astute older gentleman, with a thick British accent, sitting two seats down from me that game, and he said to his friend next to me with about 20 minutes left in the game - 'This is going to end in a scoreless draw. Just look how they have everybody dropping back now.' - referring to Columbus. And he was spot on.

In fact thinking back it very much reminded me of one of the first games that I ever took in at BMO Field - which was Canada's opening game against Chile at the Under 20's last year. It looked like the entire game that Canada was playing for a scoreless draw - it was BRUTAL! And once Chile managed to penetrate for their first goal it was if nobody on the Canadian coaching staff realized we were behind and they continued to play the same way - pushing nobody forward and keeping everybody back. It seemed Canada went on to play the entire tournament that way. Oh well that's rehashing last year's fiasco.

Tonight it is the TFC and DC again - this time in Washington. Here's hoping somebody scores! (And of course I'm hoping it is TFC of course.)

Toronto FCs 6 game unbeaten streak came to a disappointing end last night. Despite leading 1-0 and later 2-1, they ended up losting 3-2 to DC United. They are now 4-3-2 after 9 games. Not bad for a second year team, I think. Next game vs. Beckham-less LA Galaxy who are first in the West with an identical 4-3-2 record.

Hey Mark:
Actually TFC's next game is tomorrow night (Tuesday) in Montreal against the Impact - the first of their 4 CONCACAF Champions League games. The game is on CBC as is the Galaxy game on Saturday afternoon. In fact Saturday the CBC is doing their second annual Soccer Day in Canada with all kinds of soccer related stories from Noon until the 3:30PM ET kick-off of the Galaxy game.

And Toronto FC has won the first game of the Canadian team qualifier round for the CONCACAF Champions League series with a 1-0 win at Montreal against a surprisingly strong (to me at least) Impact team. Montreal actually carried the play for much of the first half and it was not until the Impact had a player sent off that Toronto started to dominate in the last 30 - 35 minutes of the game.

It is the first game I have watched televised from the new Saputo Stadium - right next door to the towering Olympic Stadium - with CBC showing the game on tape delay in HD last night. Nice looking new 13,000 seat venue that was almost full for last night's game with over 12,000 in attendance. That included a good sized group of about 500 noisy TFC fans, which is a very good sized contingent for a midweek road game. I'm sure that contingent and the overall impressive crowd size would be noticed by MLS officials who must have Montreal at the top of their expansion list. By the way the stadium was built in such a way as to be easily expandable up to 20,000 or so should Montreal be awarded an MLS team down the road. Montreal is a much more natural rival for Toronto than Columbus is, which for now at least is the closest team geographically to Toronto FC.

I spent part of my Canada Day at BMO Field as Toronto FC suffered an embarrassing 1 - 0 home loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps in a CONCACAF Cup qualifier. Just under 19,000 boisterous red clad FC fans almost filled BMO Field on Canada Day - only to watch Toronto get outplayed for much of the game by the Vancouver team from an inferior league. In the frenzied final moments Toronto did everything but tie the game hitting the cross bar once and having a goal vcalled back for offside call.

The game was about 1500 short of a sell-out which was not a huge surprise to me. The game was not part of the TFC season ticket package and it seemed to be that most of the empty seats were in the most expensive seats. That could be that some season ticket holders decided not to pick up the option on those seats at $70.00 a ticket to watch the Whitecaps - a team from a league that is considered to be a tier below the MLS.

In a crazy sports week here in Toronto - the first of two big soccer games were played tonight as a rocking capacity BMO Field crowd left in shock as the lower league Montreal Impact held TFC to a 1-1 draw. That result means it will be Montreal moving on in CONCACAF Cup action as the Canadian representative. Toronto had to win tonight because even though they beat the Impact in Montreal - Montreal had swept Vancouver and Toronto had a tie and a loss versus the Whitecaps. Going into the game everybody was saying this was not only the most important game in the relatively short TFC history but also the most important game in Canadian club soccer history.

The fact that it is the lower league USL's Impact moving on is a bit of a black eye to the MLS during their All-Star week celebrations here and a big one for TFC. Although I would suspect it may expedite Montreal's move up to the MLS.

Next up - Thursday's MLS All Star game against West Ham United - whose fans had a run-in with Some Columbus Crew fans at their 'friendly' in Columbus.

Unfortunately TFC and the MLS are really up against it in terms of attracting a lot of the sports headlines here in Toronto this week. This week's stop on the PGA Tour is at Glen Abbey just 20 minutes down the QEW in Oakville and attracting even more coverage is the Rogers Cup tennis event here with 9 of the top 10 men in the world here - including both Federer and Nadal. Scalpers are already making a fortune on the sold-out finals in anticipation of a Wimbledon Final rematch.

2008 MLS Standings at Mid-Season All-Star Break: Single Table Format
I was doing this last season every week but I stopped because it didn't really create any discussion or no one wanted to comment. So, this season, I thought I would do it at the All-Star break, which is today, and then maybe closer to the end of the season. Now, I must say that MLS has changed how they are going to decide the playoffs every season for the past few years. I tried my best to search the playoff rules this year but could find them. Does anyone know? Anyway, I'm using last year's rules: the top two teams from each conference then the next top 4 point getters. Here it is...



So, at first look you can see how much stronger the eastern conference is overall, but there are still 4 teams from each conference in the top 8 that would make the playoffs. I broke the tied points by the goal differential. I'm not sure how home-n-away or head-to-head records count in the tie-breakers.

By the way, am I the only non-Toronto FC fan in the soccer section? Wasn't there someone from Colorado once? Oh yeah, back on June 8th the Dynamo, for the very first time, beat Toronto 3-1...no one was paying attention because the Euros had just started. We also pulled out a great win last night (2-nil) - a game that was postponed twice before - against DC United. The game didn't end until after midnight (7:30 start) because of heavy rain and a few power outages.

~Simon

Hey Simon:
Sorry but another TFC fan post. A weird - and at times embarrassing display by many TFC fans during the MLS All-Star game last night. The Red Patch Boys and U-Sector fans decided that last night would be a good night to protest against MLSE's discussions that would potentially see BMO Field expanded but in such a way as to fit a CFL sized football field which there is not room for in the current configuration. That of course would negatively impact sightlines and in some cases would mean fans would be further away from the action compared to the cozy confines of BMO Field now for soccer. The reason for such talk is that the Argos are not feeling comfortable staying at Rogers Centre with the Bills being a part time tenant there and they are looking for an alternative venue.

So last night many of the usually red clad fans were in black - ironically the colour the MLS All Stars ended up wearing - so many people did not realize they were wearing black in protest but instead thought they were wearing black to show their support for the black clad MLS team.

It hit its low point when the anthems were being played. Out came the teams, along with a Union Jack (for Wesh Ham) and a Star Spangled Banner - but NO CANADIAN FLAG. People did not react well to that and many thought that perhaps this because this game was on American television that the Canadian anthem was going to be skipped. So after God Save the Queen - the US anthem started and was met with a crescendo of boos and catcalls. It was only after the US anthem was over that then out came the Canadian flag on to the field along with the honour guard including a cadet from the Canadian Armed forces to sing O Canada. So needless to say at that point there were thousands of very sheepish feeling people at BMO Field having embarrassed themselves by having just booed through the American national anthem thinking our anthem was not going to be played.

Then once the game started the Red Patch Boys and U Sector fans SAT DOWN! They NEVER sit during a TFC game and in fact about 1/4 of the crowd at TFC games stand the entire match. Not last night they sat in relatively stoney silence with none of the usual songs that normally almost never stop during a TFC game for most of the first half. Again this was apparently all part of the planned protest. Finally once Brennan the lone TFC all star was brought on in the second half the crowd ROARED and the entire stadium came to its feet - much of it to never sit again as from then on the place was rocking with chants and cheers and songs as it usually does for TFC games. Strange night indeed.

Of note the MLS did announce they will be adding 2 teams in 2011 to bring the league up to 18 teams. The hope here of course is that those 2 teams will be Montreal and Vancouver. Montreal is almost a shoe-in with their new Saputo Stadium and with the natural rival they would be for Toronto. Vancouver have recently gotten approval to update BC Place Stadium to make it more soccer friendly until a new waterfront stadium can be approved and built for the Whitecaps. Steve Nash - two time NBA MVP and excellent soccer player himself - whose brother plays for the Whitecaps - is part of the consortium trying to land an MLS team for Vancouver.

I think a team there makes sense because the Whitecaps also already have a solid fan base and they would immediately have the natural Canadian rivals of Toronto and Montreal - but also of nearby Seattle who enter the MLS next season.

No problem Travelpat, I don't want less TFC talk, just more from other team fans.

Well, in regard to the playoff selection this year, it will be the top 3 teams from each conference and then the next 2 top point getters. Anyone else find this annoying? The changing of rules each year. I myself am for the single table format. I understand that part of the reason is the scheduling of teams in regard to number of matches played; that's why I think there is a possibility of going to a single table format when the league reaches 16 teams in 2010. Playing 15 teams home and away will make a 30 game season, which is what we have now. Anybody else thinks it's a possibility?

As for the 2 new teams in 2011, I think I agree with Bobby McMahon and St. Louis should be one of them and the other should be Canadian. I vote for Vancouver, especially if they get that cool looking stadium on the bayfront. Although a Montreal side would create an perfect derby match for TFC, I think with the help of Steve Nash, Vancouver will come out with it. MLS is still looking for those high-profile owners / supporters.

Hey Simontexas - I think that if only one of the two 2011 expansion franchises is Canadian - it will go to Montreal - not Vancouver. In brief the reasons.
- the immediate rivalry of Toronto and Montreal - Canada's two largest cities and BY FAR the two largest media markets, Montreal in fact being the second largest French language media market on the planet - behind only Paris. The MLS would be crazy not to tap into that market.
- the MLS was witness to the potential of that rivalry when the MLS commish and many of the league's other league owners were at the Montreal Impact (of the USL) - TFC game 2 nights before the all-star affair. CBC did the game across Canada in English. RDS - our French language ESPN - did the game in French. For two days in both cities the game was on the front page of the sports sections. And BMO Field has never witnessed such a passionate packed crowd with scalpers doing a booming business. There were over 1000 unsold seats when Vancouver played here in July - as season ticket holders were not obligated to buy either Concacaf game and many did not for Vancouver but few passed on the Montreal game. Even the MLS Commish in his State of the League address the next day remarked about the intensity of the crowd at the Montreal - Toronto game and recounted seeing one young TFC fan in tears when the game ended in a draw, which allowed Montreal to move on in the CONCACAF.
- Montreal has their new stadium already, the 13,000 seat Saputo Stadium that just opened in April, an opening that was attended by the MLS commish and was designed in such a way so that it could be easily expanded to 20,000 if awarded an MLS team

But even having said all that - I think what I just wrote is all a moot point because I think the MLS already has both Vancouver and Montreal penciled in for the 2011 expansion based on what the MLS commissioner said during the CBC telecast of the All-Star game. He stopped by the booth during the second half and went on and on about the success of Toronto and talked about the incredible atmosphere at the Montreal game two nights earlier. The CBC play-by-play guy Nigel Reed asked him if he thought there would be any reluctance to add another Canadian team. The immediate reply from the MLS commish was that it wasn't just a case of adding one Canadian team - but two. And then he went on about establishing national sponsors in Canada and being able to negotiate better TV deals with interest across the county rather than just in one or two markets.

One thing the MLS should be concerned about is their officiating. What a debacle here on Sunday as the referee was brutal, missing fouls left, right and centre on Dallas and one of two yellow cards received by one TFC player being a ridiculous call. The TFC head coach Carver - said it was the first time ever in his lengthy coaching career that he would refuse to shake the hands of the officials and he in fact had to restrain some of his own players from going after them at games end. With beer cups littering the sidelines at games end four Toronto police officers had to create a protective shield around the officials as they escorted them at game's end to the locker room.

So I finally make my return to this board....

I would love to see a Montreal team, because it's about an hour closer to me then Toronto, Ottawa would be even better haha, but thats a long shot.

I would like to see a St. Louis team at some point, just because of the impact that city has on the history of soccer in America. Maybe someday. I didn't think that there would be a team in Vancouver this early, especially with Seatle getting one, but I guess now would be a good time to expand up North.

I wouldn't be surprised if another team or more is added in 2012 or 2013...Soccer is becoming more popular in the US, it's just hard to notice it. I don't remember soccer highlights every being on SportsCenter except during the World Cup a few years ago, but now it seems like every day theres at least one soccer highlight (the other day it was the beach soccer world cup)

It'll be interesting to see what the MLS does. And yes, I agree the officating was bad sunday.

Toronto FC midfielder Maurice Edu sold to Glasgow Rangers for US$5 million, a sizeable chunk of which will go to the team (a third goes to the league).

Hey Guys, so there is less than 4 weeks in regular season league play and Columbus Crew has clinched the first spot in the playoffs. Below is a picture in the single table format (a boy can dream!!!) as of today and Columbus is a solid 8 points ahead of the next team. They are surely are on their way to winning the Supporter's Shield and repping the US in the international tournaments next year. Except for a tiny, miniscule slump, they have dominated nearly throughout (along with NE).

So, exactly like at the All-Star break back in July, the eastern conference looks stronger, but the top 8 teams still consist of 4 from the East and 4 from the West, if the playoffs started today. There are still 4 more matches, 5 for Houston and San Jose due to Hurricane Ike.



The Dynamo have had a mad schedule - 4 matches in 4 countries in 12 days. Last week in Panama (0-0) and Canada (1-1); last night in Mexico (4-4) and this weekend in Colorado. The tied scores are increasing exponentially; therefore, I predict the Dynamo - Rapids final score will be 16-16!!

The Dynamo have 8 matches in October before the playoffs start, luckily 5 are at home. The away games are at Colorado, Chivas USA, and in El Salvador (the last one right before playoffs.) The two away league games are against the western conference number 2 and 3 placed teams (as of today.) And the three home league games are against teams that have given the Dynamo some trouble at home - DC & LA, and there's San Jose (actually, it will be the 1st time San Jose has come to Houston,) but the other 2 SJ away matches resulted in a tie and a loss. So, it is a very tough month ahead.

And if by happenstance the Dynamo make it through the playoffs and the final, we have a CCL match 3 days afterward; a makeup match due to Hurricane Ike.
Ay, Ay, Ay...

When Houston visited Toronto there was all kinds of chatter that the next time De Rosario plays at BMO Field - it will be as a member of TFC. Be interesting to see if anything pans out there.

And a check of the standings - Toronto FC - Best fans - worst team. I guess there is no doubt that they really are owned by MLSE - parent company of those hopeless Maple Leafs - who in spite of being one of hoickey's worst teams have hockey's most loyal fans.
Sigh.
Pat

The Dynamo will do EVERYTHING in their power to keep DeRo in the orange and white.

Miami has applied for another MLS team, this time with the backing of FC Barcelona!!
This team has a much better chance to succeed, in part, due to the backing of one of the most popular European teams, and also due to the fact that they would play at FIU's new on campus stadium, which has been designed to also house a soccer team in addition to the football team. The size is perfect (20,000--expanding to 30,000), and it is located in West Miami, instead of north Ft Lauderdale, which was where the Fusion played....

NEW YORK -- Seven prospective ownership groups from markets throughout the United States and Canada have submitted an application for a future Major League Soccer expansion team, MLS President Mark Abbott announced on the League's official web site. MLS intends to add two more clubs in the next few years, bringing the League to 18 teams. Seattle Sounders FC begin play next year as the 15th team in MLS, and Philadelphia will join in 2010 as the League's 16th team. The following ownership groups, listed in alphabetical order by market, submitted applications to the MLS office in New York City prior to the League's 5:00 pm ET deadline on Wednesday:

Market (Ownership Group)
Atlanta (Arthur Blank)
Miami (FC Barcelona and Marcelo Claure)
Montreal (The Saputo and Gillett Families)
Ottawa (Eugene Melnyk)
Portland (The Paulson Family)
St. Louis (Investment group led by Jeff Cooper)
Vancouver (Greg Kerfoot, Steve Nash and Jeff Mallett)

Go Houston Dynamo!

I second that!