A signing? Hurry up and wait...

First things first:

Olivier Tebily still doesn't have a contract, though he was back at practice with the team today.

In a perfect world I'd have interviewed him today and in tomorrow's paper you'd all be reading about how he feels about playing the waiting game. But the world's not perfect, and the team couldn't make him available to me today... because he doesn't have a contract.

AARON HARRIS/TORONTO STAR

Laurent Robert joined Toronto FC for the 2008 season and gave the team an immediate, er, kick.

Shouldn't be much longer though. When I asked John Carver about Tebily he actually had to double check that Tebily hadn't in fact signed a contract before explaining that this deal's getting bogged down in minor details, but that he expects Tebily to sign.

So far, though, nobody connected with TFC can tell me when.

Even so, I think it'll happen sooner rather than later. In fact, I'm checking my email for TFC news releases as I write this post, hoping Tebily doesn't sign before I publish and render this whole thing useless.

Wouldn't surprise me to see him sign tomorrow. Wednesday's a day off for the team, which might free people up to finish the paperwork a deal like this requires.

It's also my day off, which is when everything seems to happen. Laurent Robert signing. Kluivertgate (you gotta love chasing rumours...he was NEVER going to sign here, guys)....and now maybe Tebily**.

** Once again, a disclaimer: Predictions made on the blog are NOT legally binding and should under no circumstances be used as the basis for Proline picks, MLS fantasy pools, or internet discussion board pontificating. If Tebily takes three more weeks to sign, or takes the next flight back to Birmingham, remember that this blog is PURE speculation intended to stimulate conversation. HOWEVER...if this deal happens on Wednesday I receive full credit for predicting it correctly. These are the rules of journalism. I don't make them up. I just play by them.

Before I go...

I take a little heat from readers about not being soccerish enough. You won't find terms like "match fitness," or "pace" in my copy, and when somebody scores two goals, I'll write that he scored two goals. A "brace" is something you use to stabilize a weak joint, like Ronnie O'Brien's knee.

But I still keep my eyes and ears open so I can learn a little something from the footy purists I interact with daily. Today, for expample, I'm going to use the phrase "Argentine Clausura" in my blog.

As in, what do you guys think of this goal from the Argentine Clausura?

Best I've seen in a while.

-- Morgan Campbell

Comments

[Paul tenk]

You really should reconsider your use of soccer specific reporting terms, like brace, match fitness and pace.

After all, basketball reporting would be a lot less interesting without dimes, dishes, and dunks. I'll not bother to do baseball or hockey terms. But you should kind of get the point, its not an English essay, its football.

[Skinn]

Why wouldn't you use the terminology particular to the game when discussing the game? You don't have to be a "purist" to appreciate that. Why would you report or blog about any sport and not use that terminology? Makes no sense. It's like Cathal with the whole "FC" thing; just being stubborn for the sake of being stubborn. I'm liking the blog, but if you want to be taken seriously, why wouldn't you speak to your constituency, your audience? Writing 101.

[Matt]

To the above comments: because not everyone reading this blog cares about the "proper" terminology. Relax, folks.

[voislav]

Hopefully Tebily is being signed to add depth to the defence, if I remember correctly from his Birmingham days (when he actually played) he can play fullback as well as in the centre of the defence. It would be a shame if his playing time comes at the expense of James, who should really get a chance to prove himself this year.

[Steiner]

People need to relax. The terms people are asking for him to use are slang terms. The person who suggested using "dimes" "dishes" "dunks" proves that point. I find it amatureish when scribes use a term like "dime" instead of assist when writing about basketball. Why cheapen the content by using slang terms? The lack of slang terms does not decrease his ability to tell a good story or provide useful insider information about the team.

[TR]

Ignore the first two comments above Morgan. The "terminology" will get there in time, no sense in forcing it. I am just glad that you have this blog and your paper makes an honest effort at covering TFC, unlike other media in this city as highlighted here: http://toronto.fc.mlsnet.com/t280/fans/blogs/kick_about/

[Skinn]

Tone is a hard thing to measure on a blog sometimes. In no way were my remarks meant to have any tension in them (and thus there is no need for me to "relax"; my questions were meant in all earnestness. I don't "care about proper terminology," Matt--in fact, I never used the word "proper" and neither did Paul Tenk (see "soccer specific" and "terminology particular to the game"). It was Morgan who raised the issue, and we simply asked why. Do people who raise questions need to relax?

Morgan stated that he wouldn't use a certain lexicon, but actually provided no reasons for this. Since he raised the issue, it might be good to have an actual dialogue about it. What exactly is your opposition to terms like brace, match fitness, pace, supporter, pitch, reserves? Is it because in some cases we have North American equivalents (game shape, fan, field)? When/ if you ever talk/write about hockey, will you avoid the use of "hat trick"? That's certainly slang, Steiner. And, oh yeah, it's used in soccer parlance as well. Will you use it in that context.

I'm not a purist by any means; I'm a relative newcomer as a "supporter," but for me part of embracing football/soccer (and I use both terms) over the past decade has been embracing some (and I underline some) of the culture around it.

[Morgan Campbell]

Thanks for the comments, guys. I understand some of you feel strongly about soccer terminology and I promise we'll discuss it further in my next post....as soon as I return to work on Thursday....

[Skinn]

Enjoy your day off; you've earned it!

[Andrew]

The terminology grates because its another reminder of how Canada, despite our size and demographics, is still a football back water. Even the journalism is of a lower standard.

Perhaps an article on football terminology is in order?

[Timmy]

I don't know about back water, but "infancy" seems a bit more relevant.

Professional soccer is still in its infancy here, so I don't think jumping into the deep end will help any. Using football colloquialisms will lose the casual reader, and keep football a fringe sport. Sure you can use those terms when discussing international matches, but as for the rest of us, we're not there yet.

[Ken Yam]

I have treid to use football terminology when I talk to football enthusiasts, but I do find the need to dumb things down when talking to "new" or novice fans.

Its one thing to attract the hardcore fans, but the reality is, hardcore fans have plenty of blogs and web forums designed for them. Even facebook has groups for the hardcore MLS or football fans. Hardcore fans don't need attracting. "If you build it, they will come"

Its the casual or novice fans that mainstream media needs to attract, and I find the Star, particularly Morgan is doing a heck of a job. Using "real" terminology will do more to alienate prospective fans than to attract them.

For North American standards, Toronto has sophisticated fans. But internationally, we are still very much a football backwater. When Toronto becomes a more sophisticated football city in the near future, maybe Morgan can revert to "real" football terminology, but until then, I think its the job of the mainstream media to sell the game to the average, non-football enthusiast.

[Skinn]

Fair enough Timmy and Ken. But whoever became a fan of the sport because of what they read?

You fall in love with a sport by watching it, experiencing it, and developing an appreciation for the skill/speed/power/what-have-you of the athletes and the game, and by becoming involved in a community of fans and sharing a passion and also a knowledge of that particular game.

If I watch a game and somebody uses a term I don't know, I look it up in any one of a number of sources. Wikipedia, by the way, as problematic as it is, is actually a very useful tool in this regard. I still remember trying to figure out what the differences were between a centrehalf, a fullback, a wingback, a sweeper, etc. Learning the terms particular to a sport is part of learning about a sport, and deepening your knowledge and appreciation for the game’s history, subtleties, complexities, and strategies.

Now, should Morgan Campbell, or the TV commentators jump into the deep end and pepper every phrase with this stuff? No, definitely not, because as you said it doesn't help the new and casual fan develop a knowledge of the game. But those terms shouldn't be avoided as a matter of principle either.

It's not really the media's job to "sell" anything other than itself. The media's social and cultural function is to report and criticize. It's business function is to make money. Media outlets make decisions about who their audience is and should be with these things in mind everyday. And the language they choose to use is always a part of the decision making process. The media is interested in selling the game insofar as they have identified a potential market to sell newspapers (in this case) to.

I think Morgan Campbell is doing a really outstanding job covering the team; his blog has really filled a vacuum in reporting on the team, especially in the mainstream media. But I don’t buy the argument that it is his job to sell the game to the casual fan, nor do I think he’s capable of it---you don’t fall in love with sports by reading about it, but you can deepen your appreciation and knowledge of the game by doing so. From my perspective, if the audience for the blog is indeed the casual fan and not the “hardcore” fan, than this is the perfect sort of venue to introduce readers to the very terms he wants to avoid.

I (in all honesty) can’t wait to hear more from him and the other readers in this here community on the subject.

One other thing: Come on you REDS!!!!!!!!!!