Yeah, so about D-Ro....

... Looks like he has finally broken his silence.

Sort of.

A week after Toronto FC announced they had traded for the top Canadian player in Major League Soccer, we've heard very little from the team, and even less from De Rosario himself, about when he might arrive for a formal re-introduction to local media and fans.

As far as the media are concerned De Rosario is incommunicado these days. He's not answering his phones (believe me, I've dialed every one) or his email (I tried that first). He did, however, post a blurb on his personal web site earlier this week, thanking Dynamo fans for supporting him during his three years in Houston.

But a message for TFC fans?

None on his site yet, and nothing relayed through the team or local media. 

Now, the team might complain later that I'm missing the point, and that De Rosario has indeed spoken out on the team's web site. But when you watch the video, note the Dynamo-orange trim on his T-shirt. This is archived footage, probably shot sometime around the All-Star game.

Monday morning the folks at TFC told me they would schedule a De Rosario news conference sometime this week -- sooner rather than later. As the week wore on, sooner bled into later and I learned the team had pushed the news conference back to sometime in January, though nobody was quite sure when.

I'm not saying the team or the player are trying to hide anything, but lack of information on the biggest deal  the team has ever completed sure seems strange.

In lieu of a formal news conference I started making calls to different folks, trying to pull together a happy-homecoming -for-the-holidays type feature looking at De Rosario, his family and the impact his return to Toronto will have on the local and national soccer scenes.

Certain folks were willing to talk, like the Toronto Lynx and TFC officials like Paul Beirne and Tom Anselmi, who eagerly answered all my questions.

But from people closer to the action I've heard little but silence.

Silence from both De Rosario and his agent, and silence from De Rosario's father, Tony, who said he'd love to interview but couldn't until his son gave the green light. But that wouldn't happen, he said, until his son, who was still in Houston, cleared some up some things. Beyond that he couldn't elaborate.

Fair enough. Tony's clearly close to his son, but it's not his job to deal with this stuff.

But the lack of clear communication from those directly involved is baffling.

And here's the thing about silence: it breeds speculation.

Right now, according to the Houston Chronicle, the speculation is that De Rosario wants a raise.

If you didn't read the whole story I'll point you to the important part.

The Dynamo tried to keep De Rosario happy in Houston, signing him to a long-term deal midway through the 2007 season that made him the team’s best-paid player at $325,000 (the league maximum at the time). Apparently, that wasn’t enough.

De Rosario, 30, asked to be traded to Toronto because that is home and because he is looking for a new long-term deal that includes a significant bump in compensation, although word from Toronto is that his new team might not be willing or able to comply.

 

Is that scenario plausible?

Sure.

De Rosario is the the best and most marketable player TFC has ever acquired, so it's reasonable to think he'd want a salary that reflects that status.

He has also been critical of BMO Field's synthetic turf in the past. Couple that with his age -- he'll be 31 in May -- and it's not hard to imagine him wanting a bonus in exchange for the daily pounding that is training on BMO's turf.

But does that mean this is what's actually happening?

Not at all.

Even a plausible scenario can be wrong, and I wanted the truth. So I called TFC general manager Mo Johnston, hoping he could clarify things for me. After all, he seemed cheerful enough when he told Sportsnet's Gerry Dobson that the delay in delivering De Rosario simply gave the team time to make a "big splash" in the new year.

But Johnston didn't tell me about any "big splashes." Instead he returned my call in a confrontational mood, asking why I'd called him.

Because I'm working on a story. That's the only reason I ever call him.

He wasn't happy that I had already called Beirne and Anselmi, and took my call to him as proof that I was trying to invent a De Rosario story where none existed.

Um... ok.

If I really were trying to concoct a story without facts I would avoid all the people directly involved (i.e. De Rosario, Beirne, Anselmi, Johnston), then field (justified) complaints from TFC that I'd written a big story without bothering to call the key players in it.

Instead, I go straight to the source and Johnston is still suspicious.

Go figure.

Anyway, Johnston assured me that the De Rosario deal was complete and that the two-time MLS Cup MVP was still in Houston but would arrive here eventually. 

Fine.

But when I asked him to address the speculation about De Rosario wanting more money, he didn't dismiss the rumours as much as he dismissed me, telling me sarcastically to "trust your instincts."

Okay.

We've got a team and their star player both incommunicado for a week after the biggest transaction in either party's history. Introductory news conference tentatively scheduled for this week is suddenly pushed back to some nebulous date in the new year. Rumours percolate that the star player wants a raise.

In a situation like this my instincts tell me to approach the people directly involved and get them to confirm or deny speculation. I'm in the truth business, so my instincts tell me to seek clarity and convey that clear message to readers.

And right now, in the absence of any clear answers from Johnston or De Rosario, my instincts tell me to keep questioning.

Johnston's comments about a "big splash" in January convinced Sportsnet's Dobson that "something is up" with Toronto FC.

After talking to Johnston and listening to a week of silence from De Rosario's camp, I've reached the same conclusion.

Something is up.

But I still don't even pretend to know what.

-- Morgan Campbell

Good Trade, Bad Cop

Now that the initial euphoria over TFC's trade for Dwayne De Rosario has died down (just a little), it's time to take a level-headed look at the deal that brings Major League Soccer's top Canadian player to its only Canadian team.

First, I think it's a great trade if for no other reason than it stops reporters like me from asking Dwayne if he'd like to play in Toronto someday. By the end of season two reporters were as sick of asking the question as he was of answering it, but we had to ask just in case his answer changed...which it never did.

But seriously, it doesn't take a soccer genius, or even a humble reporter to deduce that it'll always help your team to have someone who can do this:

Off the field I think the trade works well for two reasons.

One, it shows everyone who follows TFC that Mo Johnston might actually have been telling the truth all those times he said he was working on something big. After two seasons covering TFC I was starting to wonder who this player named "allocation money" was, and why Mo kept trading for him. But now we see why Mo hoarded that cash, and if De Rosario can stay healthy and keep doing what he's been doing then TFC might just contend for a playoff spot.

Who knows. They might even overtake the Montreal Impact as the top pro team in Canada.

And two, it generates genuine interest in the team among the media and sports fans who aren't hardcore TFC supporters but who nonetheless have money and attention that they could spend on TFC if given a reason.

Acquiring one of the top Canadian players ever is a pretty good reason.

Of course, I'm not saying anything my colleague Cathal Kelly didn't say in his column in Saturday's Star

So here's where the role reversal comes in.

In two years on the beat, Cathal's usually been the bad cop to my sometimes good but usually at least not too bad cop.

But today, amid the joy surrounding De Rosario's arrival in Toronto I get to play bad cop by pointing out an important question this trade raises.

How do you spread the money around?

To borrow a phrase from John Carver, I want you to "cast your mind back" to September, when a few injuries and a full schedule of international games gutted TFC's lineup. To fill out their starting XI for a Sept. 6 game against Chivas USA, TFC had to bring in a team scout (Tim Regan), a Vancouver Whitecap (Diaz Kambere) and a volunteer (Ricky Titus, who refused payment lest it jeopardize his men's league eligibility).

The last minute call-ups didn't have to happen. At that point in the season TFC had four unused roster spots, and if they had filled those slots they could simply have promoted from within for that game.

But they didn't have the salary cap space, since the guys already on the roster had consumed all the available cash.

So what does this have to do with De Rosario?

Well, in bringing him on you're adding $325,000 in salary, while shedding about $45,000 in losing Julius James. So if TFC had planned on distributing money and bodies a little differently to safeguard against lineup-gutting FIFA dates, it just got a little tougher. If the team still wants to sign a DP, the $400,000 salary cap will make things trickier still.

But again, these are small issues in comparison to what the team stands to gain with a healthy, happy, motivated De Rosario in the lineup.

And if anything, his arrival and the salary cap dilemmas it might present probably just pave the way for more interesting roster moves.

Stay tuned.

-- Morgan Campbell

Readers respond

I don't know if you guys have read the blogs and Boston papers yet, but it looks like Michael Parkhurst is headed to Denmark.

Parkhurst, you might remember, once beat former TFC Kenny Stamatopoulos from 60 yards out, the first goal in the memorable 2-2 tie that closed out TFC's debut season.

According to the Boston Globe's story, Parkhurst's contract, which paid him about $150,000 a year, had expired, which means the Revs receive nothing when he signs with the Norwegian club.

So I guess the question here is whether MLS is happy letting transactions like this one occur. At this point they realize they're still a minor league, and until they can match the prestige and pay scale of European leagues they know they'll have to sell some of their young American stars overseas (see Edu, Maurice).

But I can't see the sense in letting a talented 24-year-old American leave the league for free.

I'm interested to hear your thoughts, but I don't think the league is interested in moves like this one become common.

SPEAKING OF YOUR THOUGHTS

Thanks for all the comments on the last post, both the praise and the hatred. Whether you like me or not doesn't really matter, I'm just glad folks are still reading.

And since at least 15 of you are still out there clicking, let's address some of the issues you've raised in your comments.

good news on guevera. with robinson and dichio back the core of the team is intact.
now for the major work - keeping wynne, and adding a solid CB and a DP!
-- Doug

It's good for the sake of continuity that Dichio, Robinson and Guevara are returning, but they're all another year older. While Robinson and Guevara will each turn 33 in the first half of 2009, Dichio is already 34 and as last year progressed he wondered out loud whether his body could withstand yet another season on the BMO Field turf. I agree with you about the importance of finding a reliable centre back and a high scoring forward, whether or not he's a DP. But I think keeping the team's aging nucleus healthy and fresh for 30 games plus playoffs and tournaments is equally crucial.

As for Wynne, it's not that keeping him isn't important. It's just that losing him to Europe is almost inevitable, and by season's end his biggest contribution to the team might be a transfer fee.

So if TFC doesn't draw 20,000 the Star won't be there?

-- TFC Fan

I wouldn't get too hung up on that number, and no, mainstream media outlets won't all discontinue TFC coverage the moment a home game draws only 18,800. I don't run this sports department, but I imagine that as long as TFC plays in Toronto, we'll cover games at BMO Field, the same way we staff the Rock and sometimes the Marlies.

However, if for some reason (say, another sub-35-point season) TFC's popularity drops off severely -- I'm talking Kansas City Wizards-sized crowds --  I'm betting all mainstream media will scale back their coverage.

I don't know if you guys have noticed, but money's a little tight for a lot of big media outlets these days, which means editors have to make tough decisions about where to direct their resources. And if TFC has another non-playoff season and attendance dips in a big way, then the amount of time and money the mainstream media devote to covering TFC will also decline.

But last I heard, roughly 95 percent of TFC season ticket holders renewed, so I wouldn't worry just yet about TFC disappearing from the paper.

No offense to you Morgan, I really have appreciated your work, the following is more
directed to your bosses. I hope the Star gets it's act together and brings in someone
with a more solid background in football (soccer) and knowledge of the game.

-- Ryan Johnston

None offense taken, Ryan. Now, I'm not the guy making the decision, but I can tell you that whoever takes over the TFC beat will be a damn good reporter and writer, someone who can cover stories, uncover stories and cultivate sources. Would a background in soccer help? Sure it would, but I'd take a great reporter with a desire to learn about soccer over a soccer expert who lacks reporting or writing skills.

And most mainstream outlets can't simply "bring in" a soccer expert any more than most MLS teams working with a tight salary cap can simply "bring in" a proven goal scorer who's still in his prime. Again, most big media are dealing with dwindling budgets, so and aren't going to spend money on luxuries like soccer experts.

Especially if they have very good and very versatile reporters on staff who are willing to learn the fine points of the game.

-- Morgan Campbell

Amado Staying, Morgan Leaving

No apologies for the lack of recent action on this blog. We'll get into that in a minute.

First, don't believe reports you may have read that former league MVP Amado Guevara is leaving TFC to rejoin Motagua of the Honduran league.

One newspaper out of Tegucigalpa had him all but signed with Motagua and ready to begin training within days.

Another Honduran daily, La Prensa, said Guevara would head to Honduras on a loan and return to MLS in May. At least that' what I gathered from the story. Some other details may well have slipped through the gaps in my Spanish vocab.

Anyway, looks like none of it is happening. A quick call to TFC confirms that Guevara is signed through 2009. Apparently Mo Johnston, who has been out of the country on a scouting trip, had been in contact with Guevara's agent, Patrick McCabe, and no, neither man had brokered any deal between Guevara and Motogua.

So barring a trade or something else unforeseen, Guevara will ply his trade at BMO Field for at least one more season.

But this reporter will not.

Those of you who followed the blog through the spring and summer have noticed the frequency of posts has declined precipitously since the season ended.

Not by choice.

The end of MLS season means I start pitching in on a number of other sports -- CFL, Boxing, and NFL so far. It's just the way our department is set up. So between all that and multimedia training, I haven't had much time to focus on soccer.

And in the new year I'm moving to the baseball beat, which means even less time for MLS.

For me, anyway.

I can't divulge all the Star's business on this blog, but I can tell TFC fans that we WILL cover the TFC beat in 2009, so they need not worry about the Star ignoring soccer. As long as TFC draws 20,000-plus to home games, the Star will be there.

In the meantime, thanks for reading and commenting.

This isn't a final farewell, since I'll be managing this blog until I officially move to baseball and the lucky person selected to cover TFC (it really is a fun beat) moves in to replace me.

But I felt I owed you guys an explanation, a heads up and some gratitude.

-- Morgan Campbell

Good News, Bad News, Links

The good news for TFC head coach John Carver, and anyone else hoping to see a big-name player hustling for the home team at BMO Field next season: the MLSE board of directors gave TFC permission to sign a designated player for the 2009 season.

Provided they can find one and convince him to play here.

Now the bad news.

REUTERS FILE PHOTO

This would be an example of good for Chad Barrett and TFC.

Just received a press release from TFC announcing that the U.S. men's national team has invited both forward Chad Barrett and goalkeeper Brian Edwards to a five-day training camp in Denver, just ahead of the team's final World Cup qualifier Nov. 19 against Guatemala.

While it's a wonderful development for Barrett and Edwards, and proof of how their games have progressed since joining TFC, Carver can't be too happy to see two more of his young standouts wind up in a national team player pool. Even on the busiest of FIFA match days last season, when international call-ups gutted the roster and forced TFC to field a semi-pro (Ricky Titus) and a team scout (Tim Regan), Carver knew Barrett and Edwards would still be there.

In fairness, today's training camp invite is hardly a guarantee that either man will suit up for the U.S. national team regularly. With his squad already through to the next round of World Cup qualifying, head coach Bob Bradley can afford to tinker with his lineup and evaluate players previously ignored. Bradley might decide next week that he never needs to see Barrett or Edwards again and send them back to Toronto for good.

Still, Carver has to be wondering what he can do -- besides sabotage -- to keep his players off national team call-up lists.

TWO LINKS

One: A great read from the New York Times about Real Salt Lake midfielder (and Toronto native) Andy Williams, his wife, Marcia, and the way the local community has rallied to support her as she battles leukemia.

Two: Landon Donovan is heading back to Germany for a week-long training session with Bayern Munich. Our friend Ives Galarcep relays the news from a German website, and thinks Donovan's trip overseas could turn into something long-term.

This off-season just keeps getting better for the Galaxy, doesn't it?

-- Morgan Campbell

Re-igniting the DP debate

As I type this post the folks who run TFC are meeting with the Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment board of directors trying to figure out, among other things, how to spend the money in 2009.

More specifically, today's meeting is where Mo Johnston et al make the case to the MLSE board that Toronto FC needs to sign a designated player for the 2009 season.

Johnston has talked about making the move for a while, and even hinted when training camp opened on a snowy day last February that TFC might spring for a DP before the 2008 season ended. We all know that didn't happen. Instead, TFC spent yet another season with a roster in constant flux as the team slumped early, surged in the springtime, then disappeared for most of the summer before rallying late.

Granted, the team managed 10 more points (35) and nine more goals (34) than they collected in 2007, but after a preseason in which most people connected with the team saw the playoffs not just as a goal but as the squad's chief objective, TFC missed the postseason for the second straight year.

So I guess the question is, would one player -- albeit a (theoretically) wonderfully talented and motivated DP with a seven-figure salary and a point to prove -- have made the difference?

John Carver thinks so.

As autumn wore on, attention turned to what the 2009 roster might look like. Carver became increasingly prone to post-practice rants about the type of player he wanted to see here next year: young guys with plenty of "bollocks" ... or "bullocks"... whichever one translates to what Chuck Swirsky calls "onions."

He also said he'd quit his gig at TFC if the team didn't prove to fans (and itself) that it was serious about winning by signing a DP.

Was he serious? Maybe not completely, but he made it clear which side of the designated player debate he inhabits.

As for me, I'm still not sold. Last season I pointed out repeatedly that most of the league's leading teams, and the two that met in the MLS Cup final, were DP-free. To me, the evidence suggested that you'll accomplish more in this league fielding 11 high-quality, mid-price players than you will by supplementing a group of scrubs with one superstar.

This year's playoff landscape looks a little different. Of the final four MLS teams, two (New York and Chicago) have a DP on their roster.

But a third team, Columbus, has Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who gives them DP-level play at Laurent Robert prices.

And the fourth, Real Salt Lake, produced lacklustre results until an infusion of moderately priced Argentine talent energized the club late in the 2007 season.

You could argue that the right DP -- ie: one who could score consistently -- could have gained Toronto at least four extra points, which was the margin by which they missed the playoffs. You could argue that and you'd probably be right.

But if I'm running a club, I'd rather build a 40-plus point squad first, and then sign a DP. Then those extra four points might make the difference between third place and first, and a few well-timed goals might be the difference between a strong playoff run and an MLS Cup.

I'm not running the team, though, and I'm not the one eager to show the fans who fill my stadium every week that I really am serious about building a winner and not satisfied simply collecting their cash.

However, if I were trying to build a winner I'd start with plenty of mid-priced talent and finish with a DP.

TWO LINKS

First, if you haven't seen it please check out Ronaldinho's golazo from last week's UEFA Cup game between AC Milan and Sporting Braga.

Amazing.

Second, looks like David Beckham isn't just too busy for MLS this winter. He's also too busy for Salma Hayek, who hasn't been able to connect with Beck despite dropping $350,000 for a one-hour soccer lesson from the L.A. Galaxy's golden boy. The soccer lesson was part of a charity auction they both participated in, so I really can't figure out what's wrong with Beckham. I understand he's married and busy, but if I were him I'd make time for Salma Hayek... I mean for charity.

-- Morgan Campbell

Election day links

Happy election day folks.

Is it me or are Canadians paying way more attention to Obama vs. McCain than they paid to the federal election north of the border last month?

Anyway, I'm hoping you guys can navigate away from MSNBC and Fox News long enough to enjoy a few interesting MLS related links.

First, the Sports Business Journal is reporting that MLS attendance and TV ratings both dipped during year two of the Beckham Experiment.

Next, we check in on former New York Red Bulls phenom Jozy Altidore, who scored in the 90th minute of Villareal's 4-1 win over Atletico Bilbao, making him the first American to score a goal in Spain's top division. Nevertheless, it still looks like Villareal is looking to loan him in the new year.

And finally, Steven Goff of the Washington Post urges you to Rock the Vote, MLS style.

OK.

You can go back to tracking the election now.

I know I am.

-- Morgan Campbell

This isn't a Beckham Blog, but.....

First, let me apologize for the the sheer paucity of posts recently. Between personal matters and in-house multimedia training I was off the TFC scene for much of October, and since people around the office aren't exactly lining up to write about MLS the blog suffered.

If there's good news to come from all that, it's this: Now that I'm an officially Toronto Star-trained multimedia journalist, I should be able to add some original video to the TFC blog next season.

Should be fun. Stay tuned.

But enough about me. I know you guys clicked on this page because you want to talk Beckham.

Last time we spoke somebody (it still wasn't clear who) was negotiating a deal for him to spend the winter on loan AC Milan. Back then Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said what most of us were thinking -- that the deal made no sense for L.A.

Late last week, however, Arena either changed his mind or had his mind changed for him, because by the time he spoke to Sky Sports he thought the loan was a "fantastic" move.

Then today we get this from Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl, who learned that Beckham's MLS contract contains a clause that allows him to opt out after year three of his five-year contract.

That's big news.

If you're keeping count, 2009 will be Beckham's third MLS season.

Most of us figured Becks wouldn't have agreed to a deal with MLS unless it contained an exit ramp, but getting someone with knowledge of the deal to confirm it is huge.

If I wore hats I'd take mine off to Wahl.

Anyway, Grant seems to think this contract loophole portends Beckham's early exit from MLS and I can't say I disagree. I'm sure when he signed on two years ago he didn't foresee playing for a low-level team in a league that still isn't Major in the North American sports landscape. When you're slogging through yet another loss, enduring 100-degree weather in half-empty stadiums, the big stages in Europe must seem pretty tempting.

As for the league, the two most pressing questions to arise from this latest Beckham situation concern MLS.

First, what does it say about a league when even during the midst of their playoffs the biggest story is the guy who's not playing?

And second, if Beckham does indeed bounce after the 2009 season, and if MLS hasn't by then achieved an NHL level of prominence in the U.S., can Beckham's tenure be considered anything other than a failure?

How early is too early to discuss these things?

-- Morgan Campbell

Bye-bye Beckham?

Anyone here surprised that after a a season and a half in the U.S. (and a full season near the bottom of Major League Soccer), Mr. Beckham is preparing to head back across the pond, albeit temporarily?

Yeah, me neither.

Whether this is a prelude to his permanent departure still isn't clear. MLS officials swear Becks will be back in the Galaxy lineup when the 2009 regular season kicks off, and we have no reason to doubt them, do we?

I mean, there's absolutely no possible chance that he could, say, pick up an injury over the winter that might delay his return to MLS in the spring... right? Nothing like that has ever happened to Beckham, has it?

Exactly.

So MLS is in the clear, and comfortable knowing their most valuable asset is 100% safe playing in Serie A.

But what about the rest of us? Are we any closer to knowing where this loan deal came from and where it's headed?

Not yet.

Both the league and the team issued resounding "no comments" when asked about the prospective Beckham loan.

Still, a closer look at what's already been published should give you a few clues about who didn't cook up this deal.

Here's the story published Wednesday on Major League Soccer's website.

Note that while the headline claims the Galaxy is negotiating with AC Milan over Beckham's services, the story contains no quotes from Galaxy officials.

Which makes sense when you consider that a few hours before the official MLS story hit the Internet, Galaxy head coach and GM Bruce Arena -- the guy who, presumably, would be deeply involved in any transaction involving one of his players -- didn't know a thing about the proposed loan until earlier that day.

If you didn't click on the link, here's the money quote:

"The first I heard about it was today . . . but I would think [given] the position the Galaxy is in and [the fact that] we're rebuilding our team and trying to have a successful year, it would seem very odd to me if we were loaning out our top players at the start of the season. It would seem pretty odd to me to operate that way."

So clearly this move didn't come from the Galaxy.

Interesting that the story's author, L.A. Times soccer writer Grahame Jones, thinks it's time the Galaxy jettisoned Beckham.

I'm not sure I'd go that far yet, but I don't think I'm off base in saying that Arena echoes what a lot of people thought when they first heard about the deal.

The loan's benefits to Beckham are pretty clear:

A paycheque to carry him though the lean off-season months.

A chance to train daily with some of the world's top players.

An inside track on a spot on England's national team.

But what will MLS get out of this loan besides a setback in their efforts to become a true major league and a winter filled with worry that their moneymaker might get hurt?

Oh, right.

They get to keep their highest-paid player happy by giving him exactly what he wants.

And right now he wants to spend the winter playing in Europe.

If you were running Major League Soccer, would you be the one to tell Beckham no?

-- Morgan Campbell

 

New motivation ... and a Ruud awakening

New Motivation

Four days before their final home game of the season, TFC split their squad for Tuesday's practice.

While reserve team players like Gabe Gala and part-time senior teamers like Abdus Ibrahim hit the field for a full-fledged practice, other members of the main roster worked indoors with strength coach Paul Winsper.

Tuesday practices haven't always been this way, but TFC hasn't lost since they switched to this routine two weeks ago, so head coach John Carver is reluctant to change back.

"We're trying to follow the pattern that's gotten us four points out of six," Carver said as the reserves ran through drills under a grey skies Tuesday morning. "It should be six points out of six, if I'm being honest."

The last half of that quote, of course, refers to the two points TFC squandered when a Julius James' foul led to Kenny Cooper's injury time penalty kick, which he knocked past Greg Sutton to tie Saturday night's game in Dallas.

No penalty and TFC has 34 points, tying them with DC United.

Instead they're stuck at 32, the same total as the almighty L.A. Galaxy, though TFC outranks Beckham's boys in the overall standings thanks to a pair of springtime victories over L.A.

Still, with two ties bracketing their win in New York, TFC has now earned points in three straight games. It's their most successful stretch since their six-game unbeaten streak last spring, and cause for celebration when contrasted with the mediocrity that defined their summer.

TFC's recent success, modest as  it is, prompts one obvious question:

Where have these performances been all year?

Carver attributes the team's improved play to a few factors, like Danny Dichio's health and Chad Barrett's growing familiarity with his new teammates.

He also says the approaching off-season gives players a little more incentive to perform. With Seattle set to enter the league next season, MLS teams can only protect 11 players from the expansion draft, while making the rest of their squad available. Beyond that, Carver has spoken openly for months about upgrading at several positions before next season starts, and thinks the looming reality of job insecurity makes the team's incumbent players hustle a little harder.

"I've been delighted (with the team's recent play)," he said. "They're playing for their contracts and they know that."

A Ruud Awakening

Former L.A. Galaxy manager Ruud Gullit visited Los Angeles over the weekend. While there he conducted an interview with Reuters in which he accused the more established American sports of conspiring to limit soccer's popularity in the U.S. He thinks this conspiracy is powerful enough to nullify any boost in popularity David Beckham might bring to stateside soccer.

Here's the money quote.

"David is more than just a football player and I think he does extremely well to give football here a lift," Gullit told Reuters. "I think [American soccer organizers] are afraid of football because it's so popular everywhere around the world. I think they will just control it so it doesn't become more popular than their American sports.

"I have my doubts if they really want to make [soccer] popular. Some sports already have had a bit of a dive so they don't want American football to become less popular, or basketball or baseball."

   I didn't witness the interview but I assume Gullit said all that with a straight face.

The idea that American football outlets would need to engage in a conspiracy to contain soccer's popularity is laughable.

This summer CBS agreed to pay the Southeastern conference $55 million annually for the broadcast rights to SEC football and basketball games, then in August ESPN offered a further $150 million a year to show SEC games on cable.

If you live in the U.S. Midwest you can watch all the SEC action you can stomach, plus College Sports TV on digital cable and the Big Ten Network on basic cable.

Add it all up and I can only conclude that sports like football and college basketball are as popular as they've ever been in the U.S. and aren't exactly worried about Major League Soccer siphoning away fans.

The NHL, maybe, but football's doing just fine. Maybe Gullit would understand that if he had coached into autumn.

Before I continue, I'll acknowledge that Gullit is not the only guy who suspects there's a conspiracy to keep soccer out of the (North) American sports mainstream. Some Star readers have accused me of being part of that conspiracy myself, so to a certain extent I understand where Gullit's coming from.

But as a guy who has interviewed Ruud, I can't reconcile his words with his refusal to discuss Beckham when I visited an L.A. Galaxy practice in mid-April. I was there working on a story about The Beckham Effect, but Gullit deflected every question I asked about his star player, electing instead to talk about the team.

From a coaching standpoint I understand his reluctance to single out individuals. I would also understand if he felt that a true soccer fan -- and anyone trying to become one -- pays attention to the entire game, and not just one player.  But from a marketing standpoint everyone associated with the Galaxy understands by now that Beckham pays the bills, and when reporters arrive from out of town, it's usually because they want to talk about him.

Gullit knew the drill in April but he refused to do the dance, but now in October he's suddenly concerned about Beckham's ability to "give football here a lift."

Strange.

-- Morgan Campbell