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

Comments

[TFC Fan]

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

[Chris]

I've loved reading the blog Morgan, I hope this isn't the last we hear of you on this forum!

[BrennanFan]

You were never really one of us Morgan. You never really got it.

You'll fit in much better with the baseball crowd.

[Matt]

thanks for your insights

[Ryan]

Hey could have been worse, at least they didn't have you start a figure skating blog. Thanks for all your hard work here and willingness to learn the game. I wish you all the best trying to stay awake at the the Skydome ( I refuse to call it you know what) where there are less fans and more open seats. 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. Someone like Ben Knight that has just left the Globe to start his own blog would be a great fit.

[Nate]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought blogs were meant to be more personal and much more frequent than this one has been. Most of the entries could have just been a short column in the paper it seems.

Best to pass it on to someone who wants to be more involved and most of all post more often than almost never.

[keaner4life]

Morgan, I disagree with BrennanFan - I checked up on your blog every day and will miss reading your inside information and thoughts on all TFC issues.

Thanks for all your hard work.

Sincerely,

A fan of your work.

[Ron Cola]

The Jays don't even get 20000 people at the skydome, why does media even care?... Baseball is terrible,

good luck Morgan.

[doug]

thanks for the updates morgan! good luck in the baseball world.

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!

[Ossington Mental Youth]

great blog morgan, unfortunate to see you move on.
Good luck on future endeavors!

[Ken]

I thought u were a great reporter, considering how new you were. Nobody appreciated the fact that you were able to learn and even picked up some of the linguistics and admitted when you were wrong.

[John D]

I for one enjoyed your blog and your insights, and sure I would have loved to seen more. But what I appreaciated is you never pretended to know-it-all because how could anyone - oh yeah, I forgot, Toronto sports fans (and some of its media) know it all, about everything!?! Good luck to you on the baseball beat. Speaking to Cito I'm sure will be a breath of fresh air after having to deal with the mercurial-Mo and bombastic-Carver.

[vilerichard]

Thanks for all of your hard work, Morgan. I always looked forward to your blog posts. I also appreciate the fact that you didn't feel the need to embrace all of the sport-specific lingo. Terms that everyone can understand do more to get the point across. It was a very accessible read.

Best of luck in future!

[chris]

At least the Star didn't cut you loose, Morg. Continued success in your endevors with the paper.

[Captain Speaking]

You will be missed around BMO Freddy Adu....I mean, Morgan. (are the folks outside the media window still chanting for "Freddy" to break someone's leg?) Good luck with MLB, and don't forget the Tampa Bay Rays are no longer demonic.

[T-Bot]

Thanks Morgan. You provided a lot of insight and answered a lot of questions. Good luck with baseball.

[Herald D]

I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for your hard work! I really enjoyed your blog! However, I will NOT be reading your articles on baseball - THE most boring sport in the world! Good luck!

Herald D
Miami, FL

[jay]

great job morgan... looking forward to reading some baseball pieces from the old locker-partner...

[LeoSC]

Morgan, good luck with baseball. You have done a great job with the TFC beat, and I appreciate it. Take care.

[Johnny Canuck]

Baseball?! What did you do wrong?

[TFC Gooner]

I enjoyed your work Morgan. Happy trails. Footie supporters here would always like to see more coverage in print and on the web, but I remember when the Toronto Lynx were the only team in town and in the 10 seasons they played before TFC opened, you could count the total number of articles on local football in the Star on two hands...