Taking you into the weekend like John Gibbons heading down a tunnel, we give you: Mo Johnston. New coach of your Toronto FC. Or is it FC Toronto? This may take some getting used to.
Let's start with the essentials. He looks good in a kilt. Along with Paul Maurice, MLSE now has Two Guys Named Mo (and with Marc Iavaroni rumoured to be coming along some day, is it too much of a stretch to maybe call it three someday? Yes, I think it is. *sigh*). And as ace blogger Mike Cardillo of That's on Point predicts, this Mo is never going to horn in on the much-anticipated Gibbons-Sam Mitchell showdown for TO's heavyweight coaches Ultimate Fighting championship.
![]() |
| TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO |
| Best.Mo.Ever? Shaker slips 'em the tongue, Bell and Barfield crack up. |
It's hard to give a gauge on Johnston as a head coach, since he didn't really get a fair shake with the Metros/Red Bulls. They never really let him get his players, so it's hard to say what kind of manager he is. He was an assistant under Bob Bradley, who was once an assistant under Bruce Arena.
I hate to say it, but Johnston might seem like more of a "name"/ PR move than a straight coaching decision. That's just my thought. MLS seems to recycle the same coaches throughout its history.
Maybe with a budget and the support of the board Mo can do a good job. He certainly knows the game and played in a World Cup.
At the very least, I doubt he'll be challenging players to fights in the locker room like another boss in the Great White North.
Damn. I was so looking forward to that. Thanks, Mike.
Weekend assignment. Who's the mostest Mo in Toronto sports history? Lloyd Moseby, perhaps? Mo-Pete? Frank Mo-hovlich? A toast of a Flaming Moe and JABS immortality to the best answer.
![]() |
| Who's your Moe? |
One last read. This one comes from reader Paul Batte, who is fed up with the Blue Jays' pitching rotation:
Why on earth are the Jays sitting Halladay on 4 days rest in order to pitch Marcum tonight?
By going with the 5th guy in the rotation tonight, this could cost Halladay the Cy, since he will likely get one less start, and now will face the Yankees and Boston a couple more times.
And if the Jays state that they are setting up the staff so he does face the tough teams in order to win more games overall down the stretch, that is a really weak argument. The automatic loss when the 5th starter goes far outweighs any benefit to having Halladay go against the tough teams.
The Jays owe it to Halladay to trot him out there every 5th day, regardless of the schedule, so he can make every effort to win the Cy Young.
Especially since the season is a write-off.
Blog watch. With the Argos in Winnipeg tonight in a key eastern matchup -- yes, it's key; yes, it's eastern -- it's time to plug the arrival of a brand new CFL blog that will go up on the blogroll just as soon as I get off my fat ass and update the blogroll. So a belated welcome to Boatmen Blog, Adam Radwanski of the National Post and a couple of friends conspiring to interpret the world according to the Argos. And of course he's picking the Argos tonight:
I've resisted any Ricky/pot comments so far, mostly because they're the domain of middle-aged sports columnists eager to bust out their outdated drug lingo for the first time since the '70s. But it has to be asked: At some point, during all the tedious hours spent in there, has Ricky contemplated hot-boxing his hyperbaric chamber? I mean, it has to have crossed his mind for at least a fleeting moment, no?
As for the game itself...I don't want to get ahead of ourselves, but if the Argos got five interceptions on Anthony Calvillo, how many can we expect against the Mighty Quinn?
Pick: Toronto
Yo, Adam. One toke over the line, man!
Sports around town. Lynx vs Puerto Rico, 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Centennial Stadium. Good dude Maty Campeonisimo will be there. Just two weeks to go in the Lynx schedule, and considering the way the season's gone for them that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Watching. Browns at Bills, Saturday, 6 p.m, Ch. 7. Favourite team against least favourite team. Charlie Frye is the new Jake Plummer. J.P. Losman is the poor man's Charlie Frye. Can't wait.
Pro-Line picks. Well, if Adam's making Argocentric guesses picks, then surely so can I revive this bit from last year. Besides, there's a couple weeks to go before the NFL betting season arrives:
BLT V win (2.60) at CRL. I'll take a BLT over a cruller any day.
OAK H win (1.70) vs DET. Art Shell is back. So are the Lions. Easy call.
KC V win (2.20) at TOR (Friday). A Paul Batte pick, so blame him.
HAFN H win (2.00) over AROD (Friday). Playing against A-Rod doubles your pleasure, especially with T-Haf's HR range. A degenerates' schadenfreude special.










Recent Comments