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

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

Another chapter in coaches' rants

1.  Rants

As we've discussed on the blog before, Toronto FC head coach John Carver blows up at reporters from time to time.

STAR PHOTO

Excited Carver.

I didn't think it was that bad, even when Carver directed his frustration at me.

And Friday we received another reminder that the relationship between coaches and the media can become much more tense than it will ever be on the TFC beat.

This latest manager-media meltdown comes from Carver's old club, Newcastle United, where new manager Joe Kinnear engaged in a lively, profane sparring session with local reporters, who he suspects are already trying to get him fired.

Before I post the link, understand that it includes a slew of swear words. They're all bleeped out, but I figured our more squeamish readers would appreciate the warning.

Anyway, here it is, via this reporter's favourite sports blog, The Big Lead.

On my all time list of anti-media rants it ranks way above the jabs Carver threw at local reporters this summer, one because nobody (including Carver) took that rant personally, while listening to Kinnear you get the sense that he's half a second away from doing something he'll regret.

And second, Kinnear's rant includes both f-bombs and threats of a lawsuit.

Make that three lawsuits.

That's not just a coach blowing off steam. The man has a grudge and he intends to see it through.

Still, it rises no higher than third on my all-time list of coach-versus-reporter tirades.

Silver medal goes to former Kansas City Royals manager Hal McRae, who tosses f-bombs and telephones with equal ease in this tantrum, touched off when a reporter had the nerve to ask if he had considered using George Brett as a pinch-hitter.

And gold goes to Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy's post-game lambasting of a local columnist last autumn.

Not only does Gundy utter one of they year's most quotable one-liners -- "I'm a man! I'm 40!" -- but he points out (correctly) that editors are as responsible as reporters are for what hits the paper. Now, I've never read the column in question, so I'm not sure if Gundy has a legitimate beef about bad journalism or if he simply doesn't like the story. But I give him credit for knowing at least a little about how newspapers work. Kinnear, in contrast, rips a reporter over an offensive headline.

*Note to readers: reporters don't write headlines. Copy editors do.

More than anything, though, Gundy outpaces McRae and Kinnear because he delivers a three-minute tirade without swearing once.

That, folks, takes skill.

2. Back to MLS

Earlier this season we discussed the MLS salary cap, and how teams like Toronto FC could win more games for less money if they emulated teams like New England and got some production out of the guys at the bottom of the pay scale.

This week SI.com's Greg Lalas offers his take on Major League Soccer's salary structure.

His argument?

That expanding the salary cap raises the league's level of play, not by allowing them to sign more superstars, but by enabling them to sign high-quality mid-level (American) players who normally bypass MLS for other leagues.

3. This Just In

Just about to spell check and post this entry when an email arrives from the Canadian Soccer Association, detailing its roster for the next two World Cup Qualifiers (Oct. 11 in Honduras and Oct. 15 against Mexico in Edmonton).

If you clicked the link you picked it up, but if you didn't I'll inform you that John Carver will have a little less to complain about this time around, because neither Jim Brennan nor Greg Sutton was named to the national team roster.

The national team is not completely TFC-free, with midfielder Kevin Harmse getting the call, but I'm sure Carver would rather lose one backup than two starters.

With Pat Onstad also left off the roster and Adrian Serioux and Dwayne De Rosario sidelined because of yellow cards, Harmse is the only MLS player with a chance to play for Canada next week.

-- Morgan Campbell

The news on Ruiz' knee...

...Isn't too bad if you're a Carlos Ruiz fan, and I assume he has a few of those in Toronto, even if he isn't scoring like he was six years ago.

After sitting out Tuesday's practice, Ruiz spent Thursday morning on the sideline pedalling a stationary bike while his teammates scrimmaged.

Two days ago he underwent an MRI scan that revealed no major damage to his chronically sore and (twice) surgically repaired right knee. Head coach John Carver said the scan found nothing more serious than a slightly misaligned kneecap, which he says Ruiz can correct within weeks, or even days, if he rehabs properly.

But Carver is sure that Ruiz, who is still sitting on 82 career goals, won't play on Saturday against the Houston Dynamo. He's confident Ruiz can return this season, but says the striker won't see the field in a game situation until he's 100 percent healthy.

Speaking of healthy, I'm enjoying the discussion that followed the previous post.

I understand how Ruiz' perceived lack of effort might turn off a lot of fans, but at this point this reporter is reserving judgment. Clearly Ruiz' knee isn't right these days. When it feels good he plays well -- witness his two goals against Cuba in World Cup qualifying -- but who knows if his knee will be pain-free this season?

For me, the issue isn't why TFC acquired him, because if you can add a big-name player to your roster while surrendering very little, you do it, even if that player appears to be a few years past the top of his game.

My issue is whether he was healthy when TFC acquired him.

Now, his knee issues are no secret. If TFC didn't know about the meniscus surgery last season, they surely knew about the MCL operation in April.

According to the folks at TFC, a medical exam is a mandatory part of any transaction. If you bring a player in, he has to pass a physical to make the transaction complete, and if you place him on waivers you give him another physical before he leaves the team.

Those are the rules, and Ruiz underwent a physical before suiting up for TFC against Chivas on Aug. 31. Clearly TFC was satisfied with the result or they would have voided the deal.

But just because the team was satisfied with the condition of Ruiz's knee doesn't mean Ruiz was fully healthy.

And again, it doesn't appear that anyone, Ruiz included, anticipated how Ruiz tender knee would react to daily training on turf, plus league games, plus national team duty.

I guess the sight of Ruiz on the sidelines, riding an exercise bike while everyone else prepares to play Houston, gives everyone their answer.

MORE MLS ISSUES

An interesting blog post arrived in my inbox this afternoon, via Soccer America Magazine.

According to the U.S. National Team Players' Association, there are 11 major issues facing Major League Soccer in the immediate future, and the Great White North is one of them:

8. Canada: Jingoism aside, Major League Soccer was developed to help improve the US National Team program.  Though it's obvious that motivation has changed to reflect a sports league for its own sake, the push north has to be considered an issue.

Let's start with an easily dismissed point: it violates the FIFA ideal of one league per country.  The exceptions are countries that can't support their own domestic league.  Though Canada has a history of joining US clubs in every major team sport, it's an issue that so many potential Canadian cities are now expansion targets.  Simply put, if that many are willing to buy in, why isn't there a Canadian first division?

First, for the Canadians reading that passage, there's no need to put the author's jingoism aside. Instead, accept it and move on. This blog comes from the players union of the U.S. national team, so expect its slant to favour Uncle Sam.

Second, the author's patriotism seems to have morphed into a mild case of xenophobia. Besides Toronto, three other Canadian cities (Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver) are interested in an MLS franchise, but how many of these bids does anyone really expect to succeed? One? Two at most? It's not like MLS will need a Canadian Conference any time soon.

And to address the author's point, even if there were four Canadian cities capable of supporting MLS franchises, that would hardly necessitate "Canadian First Division" separate from MLS. I mean who wants to watch the same teams face off week after week after week?

OK, CFL fans do, but this is soccer.

Finally, whoever writes this blog forgets that league rules force even Canadian teams to carry at least five U.S. players, meaning Major League Soccer's original mandate -- developing American players -- remains intact even when the league crosses borders.

As John Carver will point out in a few weeks when he loses a slew of players to World Cup qualifying, playing in Canada didn't stop Marvell Wynne from developing into a full U.S. international from an intriguing prospect.

The U.S. national team will prosper as long as MLS is thriving.

Even if it's north of the border.

-- Morgan Campbell

What's With Ruiz' Knee?

The folks at Toronto FC thought striker Carlos Ruiz had recovered from a season's worth of knee problems when they acquired him from the L.A. Galaxy last month, but now it looks like they thought wrong.

Ruiz, who sat out last Thursday's practice a day after having fluid drained from his right knee, spent this morning's practice on the sidelines, his knee bothering him once again. Last weekend he dealt with the discomfort and played 54 minutes in TFC's 2-0 loss to the Kansas City Wizards. This morning, though, his knee didn't feel right, and though Ruiz couldn't pinpoint the problem he hoped an MRI scheduled for Tuesday afternoon could.

"It's hard to say (what's wrong)," Ruiz said. "I can tell you more tomorrow."

Ruiz' knee issues date back to last season at FC Dallas, with a torn meniscus and subsequent surgery. After moving to the L.A. Galaxy to start the season, Ruiz suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament in the same knee in April, leading to another operation and sidelining him for more than two months.

A former league MVP, Ruiz recorded just three starts in 10 games with the Galaxy, scoring once.

But by late August he was healthy enough for the Galaxy to trade him to TFC, and his knee held up through his TFC debut at Chivas and three World Cup qualifiers. He even scored twice to lead Guatemala to a 4-1 win over Cuba.

Now, though, Ruiz wonders if his tender right knee can withstand such a heavy workload.

"Playing with the national team and playing here sometimes (the knee) is a little bit tired," he said.

If TFC wants Ruiz to survive the season they'll have to figure out how to manage his minutes in the coming weeks. In addition to league games the next two Saturdays -- on turf, no less! -- Ruiz has World Cup qualifiers scheduled for the 11th and 15th of October.

And let's remember that this is a player with chronic knee problems who is undergoing an MRI momentarily. If the examination yields bad news, TFC won't have to worry about managing his minutes.

They'll just have to figure out how to replace him.

-- Morgan Campbell

TFC Heading South?

As of this past Monday MLS rosters are frozen, meaning teams can't transfer, make trades or sign free agents, but that doesn't mean TFC director of soccer Mo Johnston's work is done for the season.

With an eye on next year, he recently made a scouting trip to South America, and Thursday he returned to TFC practice full of hope amid big talk about building strong networks in Brazil and Argentina.

Of course, he said similar things last year when he made a scouting mission to South America, but a quick scan of their current roster reveals exactly zero South American players.

This isn't to say that Johnston is wasting his time and MLSE's money with his annual pilgrimages to Brazil and Argentina. But it looks like bringing South American talent to BMO Field is a lot like installing natural grass there -- a noble goal, but much more complex than it seems.

Johnston himself acknowledged that the trips aren't so much about signing players for today as they are about finding pipelines of young talent that TFC can tap tomorrow.

"I'm not looking at guys who are 33 or 34," Johnston said, adding that his targets are between 19 and 21. "It's important that we establish ourselves within that market, even if we don't take anything this year."

Might be a smart move, since most folks who follow MLS agree that South American signings generally yield more player for less money than European free agents do.

You can't deny that Real Salt Lake's play improved when they added Argentines Javier Morales ($240,000) and Fabian Espindola ($75,000) last summer.

On a recent story about head coach John Carver's promise to sign a designated player, a commenter points out correctly that Guillermo Barros Schelotto gives Columbus DP-type play (a league-high 18 assists) but doesn't cost close to DP money ($375,000).

Not to suggest that Laurent Robert exemplifies all European signings, but the former French international and Derby County castoff made 90 percent of Schelotto's salary while delivering, say, 15 percent of his production.

While revealing that he planned to make at least one more trip to South America between now and January, Johnston stressed that he wasn't going there looking for the designated player he and Carver have been discussing with the media lately.

He said the DP he has in mind comes from someplace considerably colder than Brazil.

"Preferably I'd like him to be Canadian. That's all I'm saying," Johnston said.

Any guesses?

-- Morgan Campbell

Hope fades on Kerr deal

With less than five hours remaining until Major League Soccer's trade/transfer deadline, Toronto FC head coach John Carver walked into his post-practice media briefing with his cell phone and a sense of hope.

Midway through the session he revealed that he had brought his cell phone home, hoping director of soccer Mo Johnston would call with good news about Brian Kerr.

The former Hibernian midfielder and a one-time protege of Carver's at Newcastle had been working out with Toronto FC since last week and was on the field again with them this morning.

But as practice ended, despite a mutual desire and ongoing negotiations between Johnston and Kerr's agent, the 26-year-old still didn't have a deal.

Hence the cell phone and the hope.

Looks like Carver will be waiting for a while.

Got a text message this afternoon from TFC PR director Michelle Lissel, warning me not to expect a team announcement regarding Kerr today.

It looks like he's not signing period. At least not until next season, if the mutual interest remains.

FIT TO BE TIED

I'm sure I'm not the only person who has noticed that Carver has been dressing up lately.

For most of the season Carver strutted the sidelines in the same gear he wears to practice every day - sneakers, track pants and a short-sleeved shirt adorned with a team logo.

I had long since noticed that most soccer coaches wear suits on game day, but I figured Carver dressed down by design, and preferred to coach in clothes that suited his image as a no-nonsense straight talker.

Then two Saturdays ago he showed up in slacks, a white dress shirt and a tie as TFC hosted Chivas. And last week he sported the same look against Columbus.

Apparently a change in weather prompted a change in wardrobe.

"I've always wanted to wear a shirt and tie but because of the climate, it was unbearable," Carver said.

So as the temperature continues to drop, look for Carver's sideline sartorial standard to keep rising.

-- Morgan Campbell

Dollars and Sense

TARA WALTON/TORONTO STAR

TFC's place in the standings just doesn't line up.

THE REAL STANDINGS

Anyone who follows Toronto FC is painfully aware of where the second-year franchise ranks in the league standings.

For those who didn't bother to click the link, TFC heads into Saturday's game four spots from the bottom of the league. Like Los Angeles, Kansas City and FC Dallas, they're stuck at 26 points, but climb a little above those other teams because they've got one more win.

But forget wins and losses for a minute because there's another game being played here.

Earlier today, Forbes Magazine released its rankings of Major League Soccer's most valuable franchises, and when ranking teams in terms of dollars and cents TFC nearly tops the table.

Three years ago Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment paid Major League Soccer $10 million for the right to bring an expansion team to Toronto. Today, according to Forbes, Toronto FC is worth $44 million (U.S.), second only to the Los Angeles Galaxy, which Forbes values at $100 million.

The survey excluded the expansion San Jose Earthquakes, but according to Forbes' research, only three of the remaining 13 MLS teams posted a profit in 2007: L.A. ($4 million), TFC ($2.1  million) and FC Dallas ($500,000).

Anyone else find it ironic that the league's most profitable squads currently occupy three of the bottom four spots in the standings, while perennial contenders D.C., Houston and New England posted an average loss of $2.1 million?

And is anyone else wondering how long that trend can last?

I mean, it's great that David Beckham's presence has prompted fans in L.A. and beyond to embrace the Galaxy, whose reported $36 million in revenue surpasses the combined total of the next two highest-grossing teams.

You can argue that by boosting the Galaxy's revenues, Beckham has done his job in L.A., whether the team finishes first or whether they extend a winless streak that dates back to June and finish at the bottom of the league.

But you can also argue that even the Beckham honeymoon has to end sometime, and that if the league's biggest name doesn't start winning games, fan interest and Galaxy revenue could dip.

Likewise, few observers in Toronto expected TFC to sell out virtually every home game for the first two seasons, even as the team endured goal droughts, winless streaks and a constantly evolving roster. So maybe, like the Maple Leafs, the team doesn't need to win games to keep selling tickets.

But is anyone involved with TFC -- officials, players, fans -- willing to take that chance?

It's one thing to sell out BMO Field on a sunny, midsummer day, and something else to fill the place on a dreary afternoon in October if TFC finds itself out of playoff contention for the second straight year.

TITUS STILL PLAYING...FOR FREE (!)

After a few days spent covering that other kind of football I returned to TFC practice today to find Rick Titus still working out with the team. The 39-year-old defender and former Toronto Lynx regular lined up with TFC last week, called in as a last-minute replacement on a team hamstrung by nine international absences and a last-minute injury to Abdus Ibrahim.

After logging 90 minutes last Friday with one of his many men's league teams, Titus played 90 more for TFC against Chivas. And he did it for free, because accepting payment would compromise his amateur status and render him ineligible for the remainder of the men's league season.

Earlier this afternoon TFC head coach John Carver said he's considering keeping Titus around for the rest of the season, though the "play for no pay" rule would still apply.

The proposal raises questions on three levels:

On the field...How (un)healthy is your team when you're entering the final quarter of your regular season and one of your key stretch-run acquisitions is (literally) a 39-year-old amateur?

In the press box... How can you convince the media and fans that Major League Soccer really is a major league when you're signing guys off the street to contracts that pay nothing? If the mainstream media were interested in pro-am leagues we'd have been covering the CSL all along.

In the real world... How does the MLS players' union feel about guys playing in the league for free? I put in a call to the president but I haven't heard back yet. I can't see the union in this newsroom allowing someone to put in a full work week for a T-shirt and a pat on the back, but the MLS union may be different. I realize they see no problem with developmental players playing for next to nothing ($12,900 per season minimum), but even they have their limits.

Don't they?

ON TRIAL

Couple of new faces at TFC practice this afternoon.

One was Brian Kerr, a former midfielder at Hibernian who spent time with Carver at Newcastle early in the decade.

The other was Pablo Gallardo, a defender who once played on Spain's under-19 national team.

Schedules, Stopgaps and Sutton

SCHEDULES

Just left a media conference call with MLS deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis. Evidently I wasn't the only reporter with questions about how the league sets its schedule.

The call lasted a long time and might still be going on, but I'll get straight to the part that interests TFC fans and soccer purists:

Gazidis says the league will make a much stronger effort to avoid scheduling games on FIFA match dates in 2009.

As we discussed in the previous post, World Cup qualifying matches in the coming week will squeeze teams across Major League Soccer, but no team will feel it more than TFC, which will lose nine regulars to international duty.

Gazidis said he's aware that scheduling conflicts make things tough on the league, its teams and their fans, and says MLS will try not to let it happen next year.

"We are absolutely...looking at ways...that we could adjust the way we schedule," he said.

He also pointed out that scheduling around FIFA dates would be a lot easier if the whole league were more like Toronto.

Gazidis realizes that TFC games sell out both on weekends and during the week, and says if other fans showed that type of dedication MLS would have more freedom to schedule midweek games, thereby avoiding more FIFA dates.

STOPGAPS

Counted bodies out at TFC practice today.

Still 13, and that includes both goalkeepers.

If my math is correct that leaves the team with just one non-goalkeeping sub.

And a bad situation that grows even worse for TFC when you consider that striker Chad Barrett is still battling cramping problems and averages about 70 minutes a game, and that Danny Dichio, out of the regular rotation since suffering a concussion in early July, probably isn't in shape to play the full 90.

To complicate things even further, only one of TFC's available players -- Marco Velez -- plays defence.

Earlier this afternoon TFC head coach John Carver confirmed that a little help is on the way.

Nothing had been finalized as of this afternoon, but Carver said the team was trying to get two new bodies into uniforms this weekend.

One of them, Diaz Kambere, is a former member of Canada's under-23 national team and a current member of the Vancouver Whitecaps. True, he's never played at the MLS level before, but he has already shown he can win at BMO Field.

The other short-term sub is Tim Regan.

In real life Regan is TFC's chief scout, but in a past life he was a standout defensive midfielder at Bradley University and a second-round draft pick of the New York Metrostars. In fact, TFC selected him in the expansion draft after the 2006 season, then traded him to New York for Edson Buddle.

The point here is that even though Regan is retired, he can still play a little, and TFC is trying to get him cleared for Saturday's game.

SUTTON

Carver said TFC keeper Greg Sutton has been released from national team duty this weekend, but that doesn't mean he'll be at BMO to face Chivas USA on Saturday. Sutton's wife is due to deliver the couple's baby, and with two other keepers on the roster of the national team did the compassionate thing and allowed Sutton to join his wife and (soon to be) newborn.

-- Morgan Campbell