Could it be Toronto FC are too successful at the box office?

Fans of Chicago are mad at Toronto FC because the club so far has released only 140 seats to a request for 500 tickets when the Fire play here in October. Apparently 200 or so fans from Chicago travelled to Toronto last year and based on all the buzz about how great it is to go to a game because of the atmosphere at BMO Field the Chicago group - called Section 8 - were sure they could attract 500 this year.

This from an article last week in The Toronto Star
*****
While Section 8 feels they're being picked on, Bierne said that when demand for tickets is this high, every one gets squeezed. "It's the price of success," (Toronto FC spokesperson) Bierne said.

"It's certainly not our intention to be happy that we've got 2,000 supporters going to Columbus, but then on the other hand screw visiting supporters." Last year, TFC set a league record by selling out its entire allotment of 14,000 season tickets, then raised that threshold to 16,000 for 2008.

With fewer tickets available for single games, Bierne said TFC had to cut group sales by 40 per cent. Everyone feels the pinch, from supporters groups to visiting fan clubs. "We knew we wouldn't be able to accommodate everyone this year the same way we did last year," Bierne said. He said TFC still holds 100 seats in section 104 for visiting team supporters, but with 5,000 buyers on the waiting list he can't guarantee Chicago fans extra seats until the team polls other local groups still interested in attending that game.
"It's not an absolute `no,' but I'd think most of those group customers are going to come back," he said. "It's very much a moving target, but we're just extremely tight on inventory, and that's all there is to it."
******
The support for Toronto FC here is unreal. As noted in the article the club has sold 2,000 tickets to their supporters for the season opener IN Columbus. That's unreal.

The bad news for TFC supporters though is that they have not done much - if anything to improve their roster from last year - which often went game after game without being able to score a single goal. I wonder how long this level of support will continue without some improvement from the team.

On another note - it is being reported that the opponent for the MLS All Star team will be West Ham United for the game played here July 24.

The support for Toronto is crazy- the guy I talked to at the Columbus Crew's ticket office told me a similar stat about the number of Toronto away fans coming to Columbus for the home opener. Heck, knowing the tepid support the Crew get, it wouldn't be surprising to see the TFC fans outnumber Crew fans...



Other big news/storylines in MLS heading into the 2008 season:

1. DC United's South American players. United was the most entertaining team in the league last year, and they've added a bunch of new players. Gone is Christian Gomez, but he's been replaced by Argentine playmaker Marcelo Gallardo. They also added a couple of Argentine defenders. It'll be interesting to see how Gallardo in particular gels with DC's stars from last season, Fred and Luciano Emilio.

2. David Beckham will be around for a full season this time. However, even with Beckham, Landon Donovan, and Carlos Ruiz on the field and Ruud Gullit on the sidelines, LA doesn't look much improved from last season. It's hard to believe that LA hasn't qualified for the playoffs since winning the MLS Cup in 2005, but unless those three players stay healthy and involved all year long, LA will be on the outside once again.

3. Another new Designated Player: Kansas City's Claudio Lopez. He should have a big impact and will help the Wizards forget about Eddie Johnson's transfer to Fulham. At Chivas USA, Swiss World Cup player Raphael Wicky should add a new dimension to the Goats' attack.

4. The San Jose Earthquakes return to MLS, with Frank Yallop in control once again. The Earthquakes will likely struggle in their first year, but their passionate fans will make a welcome return.

5. The continued development of Jozy Altidore with the New York Red Bulls will be closely watched by all U.S. fans. Altidore scored in his first start for the U.S., against Mexico in February, and will probably be an important player during World Cup qualifying. A big start to the season with New York and a good performance at the Olympics in August could lead to a contract in Europe for Altidore.

I'm going to try to follow the season more closely this year. I was a fan when it first started, but drifted away. I'm curious to see if LA does improve this year with Beckham in play for a potentially an entire season. Not that I'll be rooting for them, but his possible effect on his team and the league is a motivator.

George Gillette (owner of the Montreal Canadiens) is in talks with Joey Saputo (owner of the USL's Montreal Impact) about forming a partnership and getting an MLS Expansion Team in Montreal for 2010

Montreal FC is the rumored name that they'd want to go with... but personally, there's so much history attached to Montreal Impact, that I think it'd be better to keep the status quo than go with Toronto FC's formula.

PS - Great to see ya again MetroMathis!

Amazing sight in Columbus with the sea of red of over 2500 TFC fans filling one end and part of one side of the stadium in Columbus. Amazing support! Unfortunately - same old TFC! No goals - even missing a penalty kick - losing 2-0 to Columbus.

Toronto just can't finish... they remind me very much of the Canadian National Team... I sure hope that Mo Johnson can make some big signings soon!

As for the fans... great show of support in Columbus but unfortunately a few of them ruined the experience. Apparantly they left a large amount of garbage in a field behind the stadium, a few of them urinated along a fence facing a church and even surrounded some cop cars... one man was arrested!

Keep showing support but keep it reasonable everyone.

Hey from any reporting I have read - including the Columbus Dispatch coverage - the reaction to the Toronto fans was very positive. Columbus players certainly appreciated the fact that eventually their fans started to reply with noise of their own - creating an atmosphere that has never been seen at a Crew home game in the past.

And only 1 person charged with public drunkeness - after partying on a bus overnight for 7 hours and then tailgate partying for a few hours more outside the stadium in Columbus - that's nothing. If I had a dollar for anytime I've seen a guy peeing on a wall, or a tree - either at my own gay league softball games or at tailgate parties - well - I'd have literally hundreds of dollars. Heck I think something like 50 or more people are are charged at most Bills home games. And thinking back a few years when there used to be a REAL rivalry that people in these parts actually cared about betweeen Argos and TiCat fans, I would not even want to hazard a guess as to how many would get charged for the Labour Day football game in Hamilton some years against the Argos.

As for surrounding a police car - the story I heard was Toronto FC fans helped push a police car that was stuck in the mud, just as pictures in the Toronto Star showed that they had to push out a bunch of their own tour busses which were stuck in the same muddy field.

The 2500 is a record for a regular season road support for the MLS - and there is talk in some circles that TFC supporters hope to number in the 5000 range for one of the road games later this season - or it will be a goal for one of their road games next year.

By the way - by beating TFC yesterday Columbus won the inaugural Trillium Cup that will be awarded each year to the winner of the Toronto - Columbus game. A new MLS tradition is born.

I think this link will provide a video link showing TFC fans' Columbus invasion.
http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/407273

I think the cup goes to the team that has the best record after the teams play all four games this year. So the Reds still have some chance.

As for the game I was kind of let down:

1)Why didn't Dichio start? I don't understand that at all.

2)I don't get why Samuel took the PK and why he played it the way he did (KEEP YOUR HEAD UP AND FOLLOW YOUR SHOT!!! Every soccer player should know that. Theres no way a player who is at least 6 yards behind you should beat you to a rebound to clear it out!)

3)Why did Edwards get the start in goal over Sutton?

It just seems like some of the decisions aren't the smartest....but then again if injuries hit hard again this year it will be nice to know that some of these players aren't being thrown in for the first time.

And with that I am glad the MLS is back, and I am glad to be back posting on this board

Who knows why some of these decisions are made?

I thought Sutton was injured...maybe not.

Who is the new TFC manager? I can't think of his name right now.

Did you hear that Hugo Sanchez got the ax?

I hope the Dynamo beat Saprissa tomorrow night. They can't play like they did in New England. The defense was nearly non-existent. It reminded me of the worst loss for the Dynamo... in February against Gamba Osaka. Ouch! The defense was getting beaten time after time.

I'm really gonna try and go to the TFC-Dynamo match - mean it! I think it's in late September. My friend Ste & I will be saving our worthless pennies to scramble up a couple of Air Canada tickets. I might have some miles to use but I they may have expired. Which one of y'all has the TFC season tickets? Maybe we can hook up when I'm up there.

Don't fly Air Canada... you'll lose your luggage!

I too was wondering why Dichio didn't start - I'm hoping there's some method to the new coaches madness. Though the one big improvement was in fitness.. boy were they fast out there and looked sharp... now they just gotta get the basics down lol and oh I dont know... learn how to finish!

I sincerely hope that TFC signs an impact player sooner rather than later, cuz once the Canada Cup tournament starts up, plus World Cup Qualifying... TFC is gonna run into fatigue issues.

Toronto's new Head Coach is John Carver...Mo Johnson is still the manager and director of soccer (they're trying to set it up like a european team)

I don't believe sutton is inured, he was last year but last time I knew he was back. I'm not saying Edwards was bad or anything... just was wondering.

And yes I agree they were very fast and I think they're in better shape because of the cup and qualifying

I was thinking about going to that game too... if for no other reason then to see Stuart Holden Play
The exact date is the 29th...but they haven't released individual tickets yet so who knows I got a couple other games i'm probably going to make the 3 hour drive up to toronto to see.

Don't have season tickets and probably a little too young for you

I was very happy to see that TFC signed Laurent Robert today...very good player who i remember watching a few years ago play for Newcastle, hopefully will be an impact player...

From the looks of things he'll do:

http://www.voyeursonly.net/attachs/5277/ma...nt%20robert.jpg

I am v. embarrassed...
I was wondering why you mentioned you were too young. I thought, wow - how conceited! He doesn't even know me.
Then I reread what I wrote about hooking up and I realized my mistake. Sorry, I didn't mean I was going to Toronto for a soccer match and a quick f**k. I meant that I would like to meet up with the Toronto Outsporters and hang out, have drinks, see the match and that's it. Now I might be too embarrassed to show my face in Toronto at all. Sorry again.

Anyway, the Galaxy - San Jose match was pretty good. The Landon-David assist goal / goal assist was what everyone has been waiting for since last July. Both goals were outstanding. What do y'all think? It looked like everyone else on the Galaxy team, except maybe Chris Klein, was outclassed. Alan Gordon couldn't make a goal to save his life even when they were going out of the way to feed it to him.

I was joking... and your right I dont know you, but I know most people on this board are older than me (after all I'm only 20) but I could be very wrong...but I was joking, I didnt really think you would be there for soccer and a quick f**k since you were talking about bringing your friend. Sorry if I came across as conceited.

I dont even know if I'll be able to get tickets to any Toronto games this year

But I did watch both of the Galaxy games this week and they played a lot better last night then last weekend. Gordan couldn't finish, but other than that he played a really solid game.

I do think that the quakes will be decent from the start if they can work together as a team. They have a lot of talent and with Cannon in goal they should do alright.

We're talking ages now? I'm 24 haha

Couple of things...

1. Nice to David Beckham score his first MLS goal this week

2. I hope to God that Toronto FC find the back of the onion bag tomorrow

No worries... Anyway, it was good to see Beckham score. I think his success is good for the league but it will be successful with or without him. On the other hand, any bad impressions or press will allow others to be unjustly dismissve.

I agree that Beckham's goal will be good for the league. One of my friends who doesn't really follow soccer that much came up to me yesterday and said "Well it's about time that Beckham scored" and all I could say was that it's only his 7th game in the league and really his 2nd healthy one so give him some credit.

Beckham has never been a goal scorer really. He will set up goals like crazy though. Although I believe he will be more of a goal scorer in the MLS because...well lets face it, the competition is lower than anything beckham has played against since he was in the youth league.

I think it's just great what he's doing for soccer period...as a youth coach I've had kids show up and have never played before, but want to start playing because they saw something about Beckham on tv. Too many times today we have negative rolemodels for kids in sports. Money, drugs, alcohol... (Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Michael Vick, the list goes on...) Beckham is a family man and a positive rolemodel who gives a lot of his time to promote youth soccer. I think it's nice for a change...

I just hope he can stay healthy and continue to draw attention to the sport...

The sad part is that many people think David Beckham is "past his prime" based solely on the fact that he's not putting the ball in the back of the net. As thecourage22 correctly pointed out - Becks has always been more of a playmaker than a goal scorer.

Sure we can all remember his beautiful free kick against Greece... but how about all his crosses into the box to set up goals? That's what David Beckham is all about... and that's why England failed to qualify for Euro 2008. Without Beckham, they didn't have anyone to create opportunities and suddenly their offence couldn't get the job done.

Now still with the MLS...

A shameful loss by Toronto FC today against DC United. They were down 2-0 after just four minutes and wound up dropping a 4-1 decision to fall to 0-2 on the season.

Good News: Toronto FC finally scored (Maurice Edu)

Bad News: Their defence is terrible... they should hang their heads in shame after that dreadful performance.

More news from the MLS - specifically Toronto FC.

According to reports, the 2004 MLS MVP Amado Guevara is close to signing a contract with TFC.

I don't know much about the guy, but if he's MVP material it certainly can't be a bad thing.

Very talented player, saw him play in 2005 for the MetroStars (they were my favorite team before TFC came into the league) and he was a goal scorer.

The only problem I have with him is his attitude. As soon as the Metros brought in another goal scorer in Youri Djorkaeff from France in 2005 he started to have a falling out with the Metros' front office which lasted through the whole 2006 season. They later traded him to Chivas USA who cut him after like 3 or 4 games because he "didn't fit into where the team was going" that and he got sent off for pushing an assistant ref.

I hadn't heard anything about him signing with TFC and this is a surprise because I remember hearing that Chivas tried to trade him to a bunch of clubs (including TFC) but he was the one who turned them all down, so he returned home to Honduras to play.

He played really well in NY until the fallout, and even after. I remember the last game I saw him play in NY he had three goals. He really didn't fit into the system in Chivas, and has been playing well since he returned home so it may be a good pickup.

But I'd rather have some solid defense...

Yea I agree it's bizarre when you consider he blocked a loan to Toronto last season... but who knows, maybe $$$ changed his mind

It's Official... Toronto FC has signed Amado Guevara

Still waiting for them to build up the defense...

I'm going to the Dynamo - TFC game on Saturday September 27th. (My friend has season tickets). Single game tickets are expected to go on sale any day now on the TFC website - but there will only be about 1000 tickets per game available as all the rest sold with the 16000 season tickets and the multi game flex packs.

And Simon you may want to consider flying to Buffalo and renting a car for the 2 hour drive to Toronto. I just did a quick check and airfares from Houston to Toronto are in the $510.00 range including all taxes whereas you can fly for about $330.00 to Buffalo.

And if you do decide to come up let me know and I would definitely being in to meeting up for some drinks before and/or after the game.

Pat

Toronto FC made a couple of moves today...

They've signed MF Rohan Ricketts (he just finished up with Barnsley)

They've also waived F Collin Samuel (personal reasons)

TFC tickets go on sale monday morning at 10am...I'm not sure why I'm telling everyone because I may be competing with some of you for the few tickets they have haha

Tickets Can Be Bought Here

or at least you can try


Funny the guy that they let take the free kick in the first game is the same guy they release for personal reasons.... I know it probably has nothing to do with it, but hmmmm

Once again, happy to see them bring in some forwards and midfielders, but how about some D? I know its a thankless job because everyone loves the goal scorers, but as a former college goalie I appreciated it the years I had good D

Kinda bummed I don't get The Score or TeleFutura so I won't be able to watch the game this weekend

It's ok dude... I can tell you all about it hahahha

What is this? I can't watch the game so they end up with the W?


Still happy they won though

Becks who? Toronto FC over LA Galaxy 3-2.

Toronto FC stunned the LA Galaxy with a 3-2 victory at the Home Depot Center - and while TFC should be pleased with their first "W", they should be anything but with their pitiful performance.

TFC's defence was once again an embarassment. They were outclassed, outworked and outplayed all game long. In fact, if it wasn't for an unbelievable mishap by the Landon Donovan, this game would have been tied 3-3.

Early in the game, Donovan had a wide open net and fired it just wide of the goal. Dude was inside the box too... it's a goal 99 times out of a 100... I was shocked that Donovan missed.

Aside from that, the dynamic duo of Beckham and Donovan continued to rip apart TFC's defence and reek havoc all afternoon. Toronto FC can be thankful that aside from those two, the Galaxy seem to have a very limited offence.

All those negatives aside, it was good to see Toronto FC take advantage of their offensive chances. They found a way to finish, which is obviously the first step towards getting some wins under their belts.

The key now, as has been said ad-naseum, is to go out and get some defencemen that can help solidify the backfield. Without it, it's going to be a very long season.

Wow - TFC - 3 goals in ONE game! It would take them 5-6 games last year to score that many!

And the team apparently got quite the scare flying home from Los Angeles with the plane having to make an emergency landing in Omaha. The full story from The Toronto Star here.
http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Soccer/article/414905

A few hours into the flight, the plane banked and began descending. Seated next to an emergency exit, a confused John Carver checked his watch. They weren't scheduled to land for two more hours. He knew something was wrong and soon the pilot confirmed it.

Calmly he told passengers the plane had hydraulic problems and told the crew to prepare to land in Omaha, Neb.

The woman seated next to Carver started crying when she heard the pilot's announcement. The passenger next to team media relations director Michelle Lissel was a mechanic. He was horrified when he heard the word "hydraulic" and thought the problem was much more serious than the pilot let on. But he kept his mouth shut.

As the plane moved closer to its forced landing, midfielder Carl Robinson peeked out the window and saw a stark reminder of why he hates flying. Police had blocked off the interstate near the airport. Next to the runway, ambulances and fire trucks were on standby, prepared for the worst. "I didn't say a word to anyone, I was panicking," Robinson said. "My thoughts were, 'Am I ever going to see my family again.' "

But the landing gear worked fine and the plane touched down smoothly as passengers applauded. Turns out the hydraulic problems were a relatively small glitch within the plane's engines and, after 90 minutes of repairs, they took off again for Toronto.

So I finally bought my two tickets to the dynamo/tfc game...

e-bay

My first game will be next Saturday with TFC hosting KC. Great today watching on CBC as a packed BMO Field was a rollicking sea of red as the team squeaked out a 1-0 win over Real Salt Lake.

What a great scene again with almost all 20,000 fans dressed in red - rocking BMO Field all afternoon. So after sitting through a bit of a yawner of a baseball game last night at half empty Rogers Centre - it should be a super exciting sports week coming up for me. First I'll be part of the Sea of Red at the ACC for Game 3 of the Raptors NBA playoffs Thursday night and then two days later I'll be decked out in red again, going with two friends to the TFC game next Saturday afternoon. I'm psyched already!

The first half of that TFC/Real Salt Lake game was awesome. Toronto played so well and you could clearly tell that the additions of Guevera and Laurent Robert are going to pay off in the end.

Once again, however, the TFC defence left much to be desired.

A fantastic performance by Toronto FC this afternoon, as they won their third straight game (franchise record) with a 2-0 victory over the Kansas City Wizards.

Amado Guevara scored both goals... the second was a thing of beauty! A well placed free kick done to perfection - curled over the wall, off the left post and into the back of the net.

Defensivly TFC played a lot better - one bad mistake which led to a terrific opportunity but thankfully Greg Sutton made the save.

They're really playing well... the key is to keep up the pressure.

While Guevara takes the spotlight with his two goals, I think Marvel Wynne deserves a ton of credit. He's a fantastic playmaker... lots of speed and accurate crosses... set up Danny Dichio for a great chance (though it was offside), and set up the first Guevara goal.

Hey Enigma - I agree - an AMAZING performance by TFC. Guevara's brilliant 'Bend it like Beckham' free kick goal was absolutely world class - truly brilliant. And a HUGE thumbs up again to the TFC fans. That is just a fantastic atmosphere to be a part of - and the fact that there was hardly an empty seat in the place is a tribute to the dedication of the fans considering there was a transit strike in Toronto and many of us had to walk miles to get to the game.

I'll cheat a bit and paste a description of my trek to the game from another post.

Well - the rain held off - and the 'adventure' of Toronto fans trying to get to the ACC for the Raps game and BMO field for the TFC soccer game with no public transit due to the strike actually ended up being a lot of fun. It became a bit of a pub crawl for thousands. We started with a pint at the Firkin - in the gay village and then started our long 4-5 km walk to BMO Field. As we progressed south and west - we could not help but notice hundreds of others all decked out in red either heading to BMO Field like us or the ACC. We stopped for another pint at the Elephant and Castle as we approached the area of the ACC and it had fans working their way to both venues. We had been walking for about 30 minutes by now but others we chatted with told us they had been walking for over an hour by then.

We continued westward towards BMO Field passing hundreds of Raptor fans walking the other way as we were now west of the ACC. Greetings of Let's Go Raptors and TFC echoing back and forth. 20 minutes or so further along we made one last pub stop at the Wheat Sheaf which was full by now mostly just TFC fans - but the odd Raptor fan was present squeezing in one last reasonably priced pint before getting to the ACC and having to pay the inflated MLSE price for beer. As we left the Wheat Sheaf we noticed a nice touch by TFC, as they had a couple of those double decker touring busses tooling about stopping at every pub in the area picking up fans who needed a lift that last km or so down to BMO Field. It looked like they were having fun as the bus crawled through the traffic jam of those who drove to the game, with chants of 'This is our bus!' echoing from the bus mimicking the 'This is our House' chant that TFC fans at BMO Field are known for.

And those of us at the soccer game had a blast - with the energy of the crowd matching the playoff atmosphere at the ACC that I had been a part of two night's earlier. and about 2 hours later we spilled out of BMO Field a noisy, happy and yes - somewhat tipsy lot with a 2-0 win. Unfortunately as we all began our scarf waving loud long walk back into the downtown area we were greeted with the very long faces of those coming out of the ACC the other way because the Raps had lost. That's unfortunate - but way to go TFC and TFC fans! A brilliant afternoon!

I was surfing around and stumbled across this TFC video from the home opener last week. The only reason I'm actually posting it is because as I was watching it I realized it was made by the guy who has seats right next to where my friend Jim has his 3 seats that we sat in yesterday. Towards the end of the 4 minute video when showing the lone goal of the opener - he does a pan of the entire stadium and you can see just how perfect the seats really are. First row of the second level - right next to the TV cameras almost right on the centre line with Toronto's great skyline as the great backdrop above the west side stands. Perfect place to watch a game from.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz0t6dr0RYg&NR=1

And this was basically my view from yesterday as this is the same guy's video from yesterday's game and he was sitting just 2 seats to the left of me. Not the greatest quality but you get the idea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeOYDovuM8E&feature=user

Colorado here!
No that we are playing all that great right now. But I am pretty confident that we will suck all season long!
If anyone is coming out to Colorado to see a game let me know!
I make a great host!
BTW Pride Game is JUNE 1, 2008!
Later
Coloradosports

Welcome to the soccer board Colorado!

BMO Field madness will make one of its rare national appearances south of the border this Thursday May 1 at 7PM ET with the New York - TFC game the ESPN2 MLS Game of the Week. I believe we get the game on Score up here in Canada that night.

CONCACAF Champions League

The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) unveiled the qualification format for the inaugural 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League, it was announced on Wednesday.

The new CONCACAF Champions League will be comprised of 24 teams, representing each of CONCACAF's regions, including four teams each from Mexico and USA; three teams from the Caribbean; two clubs each from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama; and one representative each from Canada, Belize, and Nicaragua.

The qualification process will be completed by mid-July in preparation for the start of the Preliminary Round in August. The Preliminary Stage winners will join the eight seeded teams in the Group Stage that consists of four groups of four teams each. The teams in each group will play each other in a round-robin system during six match dates (three home games, three away games) from Sept. 16 through Oct. 30.

The top two clubs from each of the four groups will advance to the Quarterfinals. These eight teams will be drawn into four Quarterfinal pairings to play home-and-away match-ups in February of '09. The four Quarterfinal winners will then play in two Semifinal home-and-away match-ups in March and April of '09 with the two Semifinal winners squaring-off in the home-and-away Final in late April of '09.

The following is the qualification process for the inaugural tourney which replaces the CONCACAF Champions' Cup:

NORTH ZONE:

CANADA: Impact de Montreal, Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC will play a home-and-away round-robin tournament from May 27 to July 22, with the winner advancing as the Canadian representative.

USA: The United States representatives will be the Major League Soccer Cup Champions; the MLS Regular Season Winner; the MLS Cup Runner-up; and the US Open Cup Champion. Results from the '07 MLS season will be used to qualify teams for the '08-'09 CONCACAF Champions League.
Houston Dynamo, D.C. United; New England Revolution; Chivas USA

Wow...after having not slept for the past five days since ordering Setanta Sports channel and watching soccer non-stop with the occasional rugby match, I don't know if I can take the excitement. The dangers of working from home are real

I'm not a fan of the home-and-away CONCACAF Champions League final. They should model it after the UEFA formula... a neutral site to host the one game final.

Hey Enigma:
I suspect the reason for the home and home final is for reasons of box office. Many - if not most of the CONCACAF teams - do not have a fan base that will travel in big numbers to a neutral site - unlike Europe. Over there most of the club teams have a much larger fan base than teams here and the relatively compact geography of Europe makes it easier for travel to a neutral site. Also I'm sure a consideration is the fact that many of the fans of the club teams - especially those in the Caribbean and Central America - would have great difficulty coming up with the funds that would be required to travel a great distance to a neutral site for a championship game.

The games against the Impact and Whitecaps now appear on the Toronto FC scheule. At Montreal on Tuesday May 27, home to Vancouver on Canada Day July 1, at Vancouver 8 days later on July 9 and finally home to the Impact on Tuesday July 22 just two days before hosting the MLS all-star game. There is no indication on the TFC schedule as to whether or not those games will be televised up here yet.

And as for the MLS regular season - I'm lucky enough to be BMO Field bound twice in the next week. A big test against league leading Columbus this Saturday afternoon followed up by a game next Wednesday against DC United. I wasn't able to get tickets for the home game after that - which is against the Galaxy. Just as well as for the second straight year - there will be no Beckham - who is playing for England in two friendlies around that time.

I'm fairly positive that CBC or Sportsnet will broadcast all Canadian Champions League qualifiers

Just home from another TFC game - this time against the league leading Columbus Crew. TFC were the better team on the day - but just could not score in the 0-0 draw.

And I know this will sound blasphemous to real soccer fans - but there is something to be said for playing a game until somebody wins somehow - some way. It just felt empty - is the best word I can think of - departing BMO Field this evening - especially with NO GOALS scored.

I guess that may be my North American sports bias coming through - but I want a winner - or at least one 10 minute overtime or something like that to try to get one.

As an aside - another sell-out at BMO and chatting with some Crew fans at halftime - they were absolutely blown away with the atmosphere. Even though in my opinion because of the lack of scoring and scoring chances - it was a bit quieter than normal.

I wouldn't change the game one bit... there should only be extra time and penalty kicks in playoff portions of tournament play only.

The Colorado Rapids will be having a Pride Day on Sunday June 1st (vs. FC Dallas). A portion of ticket sales will be donated to the GLBT Community Center of Colorado. Info and link to purchase tickets on the Denver PrideFest website.

Long time no talk to all of you guys.... Somewhere between finals and papers for college and a few other things, I lost track of everything...but I still watched a ton of soccer.

Very excited about how TFC is playing this year, but it could still improve.

I agree that even though it may be hard to sit through 90+ minutes of soccer and not having a goal scored and walking away with a tie, extra time and shootouts should only be used in playoffs or tournaments. To me I am fine with a tie because I know (in most cases) the team have fought hard all the way to the end of the game to try and sneak in that last minute goal to win.

The MLS has experimented in the past with both shootouts and overtimes during the regular season. In the early seasons all tied games were decided with the "MLS shootout." It was a best of 5, and the players started 35 yards out from the goal. They then had 5 seconds to dribble in and shoot and try and beat the goalie.

Then somewhere around the turn of the century (I think) they moved to a 10 minute "golden goal" overtime (first goal wins) for all games that ended with a tie. A few years later they dropped it to only playoff games, and a couple years after that they switched to two 15 minute overtimes and then a regular shootout. Again this was only in the playoffs and I think it's the best.

I will say that I enjoyed the "MLS Shootout." I played keeper and to me in a traditional penalty kick situation the goal keeper is at a major disadvantage because he has to stay on the goal line (except for jumping off right before, which is cheating, but never usually called). I would rather have a breakaway where I can move out into the box before the shot. I remember many times at soccer camps and practices doing the MLS shootout as a drill or competition.

The 10 minute golden goal I didn't like because anything can happen to cause a lame goal to be scored. At least with the two 15 minute periods the other team has the chance to fight back, which makes it even more exciting.

Alright I need to go watch the UEFA Champions League Final thats about to start...

But in other news, I got a job coaching for a club in my area. They just started a travel league for young players in our area to give them something above the rec leagues (yes, we're behind here in soccer) and I was hired as the U-12 girls head coach. In my first game (a loss unfortunately) I got a card from a rubbish excuse for a ref, haha

Congrats on the coaching gig dude - keep us updated on how the season goes!

OK - I can understand your point Enigma about leaving the game as it is - but boy after what I went through last night to attend the TFC - DC game at BMO - I would have had a stronger reaction had last night's game also ended in an empty feeling scoreless draw instead of a 1 - 0 victory for TFC.

The night started out with my friend Jim and I leaving from my office at 6:00PM to subway down to Union Station to connect to the LRT to the Exhibition grounds (where BMO Field is located). It was not a nice night - cold and drizzling. The temperature only 9C or about 48F as we left my office. I had lots of layers though and Jim had two TFC rain ponchos with him which are a must on rainy nights with no umbrellas allowed into BMO Field.

It was no problem getting to Union Station but as we came up from the Subway level to connect to the LRT there was a huge line for the LRT. Time 6:10PM. It turns out that at the same time as 19,000+ soccer fans were headed to the soccer game there were almost 3,000 fans trying to get to the AHL playoff game taking place at Ricoh Coliseum which is next door to BMO and 23,000 people were trying to get to the Kanye West concert at the adjoining Molson Amphitheatre. And the dimwits who run the Toronto Transit Commission did not think it necessary to add any extra service along the Queens Quay LRT line to the Exhibition grounds.

So after a full hour of putting up with an unruly crowded mess at Union Station with thousands of people jammed together pushing and shoving to get on the rare LRT streetcar to the Exhibition we finally squeezed on to a car. So packed that at times my feet were not touching the ground. Along the entire route at every stop dozens and dozens of others tried to squeeze on to the overcrowded car with more pushing and shoving matches breaking out the entire way. Finally at 7:25PM we arrived at BMO and got to our seats just in time for the 7:35PM start. A friend who has the third seat did not make it until 35 minutes into the half - as he got to Union Station about 15 minutes after us and he had to wait almost 1.5 hours to get on to the LRT. He said hundreds of others gave up and went home to watch the game on TV.

And man was it cold. I could barely hold on to my beer my hands were so freezing as the temperature and rain kept falling.

Thank goodness there was a goal - because the thought of having put up with that torturous ordeal to attend another scoreless game is not my idea of a pleasant night.

And in other TFC news..
Toronto FC finalized the rest of its summer plans today when in confirmed the Mexican club Pachuca and Argentine power Independiente will both visit BMO Field for friendlies in July.