Hablando "Espanglish" Con Guevara

CARSON, Calif. -- Thirty minutes after TFC's 3-2 win over David Beckham . . . I mean the L.A. Galaxy, I'm leaning against a wall in the bowels of the Home Depot Center, watching the visitors' locker room clear out. I'm one of three reporters waiting for Amado Guevara to emerge from the shower.

After a courtship that dates back to last year, then a single practice with the club, he suited up Sunday and tried to bring some of this magic to TFC.

And after a debut that saw him break down L.A.'s defence with long, accurate passes, he's taking his time to come talk to us.

A dangerous habit.

At a night game a dawdling athlete sends reporters under deadline pressure into temper tantrums.

Yeah, newspapers are a dying medium, but right now they're still paying our bills. And as long as they are, deadlines will matter. The later guys decide to give interviews, the later we file our stories, and that makes things sticky for us. Missing a deadline is like missing a penalty kick.

You just don't do it.

But Sunday's noon kickoff had us all in an easy mood.

We had time.

And Guevara took it.

Finally, when nothing remained in the locker room except a mess, and a few TFC staffers trying to clean it up, Guevara appeared.

I approached this interview a little wearily. Like every other reporter covering the MLS, I'd heard Guevara's abrasive.

Now before you go bashing Cathal for bashing Guevara, understand that he's not the only writer to express concerns over Guevara's temperament. ESPN.com's soccer columnist Ives Galarcep said it, too.

But Sunday afternoon he seemed friendly and open.

I figured out pretty quickly that even if he has a habit of yelling at refs, and sometimes clashes with coaches, Guevara will talk all day to the media.

In Spanish.

Now I took some Spanish in high school, and when I lived in the U.S. I spent countless evenings watching Boxeo Telemundo. In a year on the soccer beat I've learned that what we call a field (excuse me, "pitch"), Latinos call a "cancha." I know that "header" is a "cabezoso" and that "Golazo" translates roughly into "big-ass goal."

Between that and listening to a lot of salsa I've come to understand more than a little Spanish.

So as Guevara spoke I caught every third word, but by the time I'd translate it into English in my head he'd already be on to the next topic.

Not a good way to get quotes.

Luckily, Jaime Cardenas of the L.A. Times was around to translate for me.

As friendly as Guevara seems, he made clear he's still got the stubborn streak that can irritate coaches. He could have come to Toronto last spring, but when Mo Johnston tried to trade for him he elected to head back to Honduras and play there.

The reason?

He didn't feel like being told where to play.

"I felt like people with Chivas were forcing me, and nobody forces me (to do anything)," he said.  "I do, first of all, what God said, and then what I feel.”

He's only been to Canada once, as a member of the Honduran national team, but says his teammates tell him great things about Toronto. And, like everyone else in MLS, he's eager to play at BMO Field.

"I want to play in front of a packed stadium," he said. "You know, us Latinos, we love that stuff. We love to see our fan base support us. I know that with this result they are going to get even more excited. We are going to feel more at home. And, if the fans get excited so should the team.”

By that time TFC staffers informed us that the bus was about to leave, so the interview needed to end. As he zipped up his jacket, spritzed on some cologne he and I had a short exchange.

I explained to him that my Spanglish is on point, pero mi español es todavia un poco débil. He told me his English is about as shaky as my Spanish is.

Works for me. At least we're equals.

Through Cardenas he also suggested that he'd be willing to learn more English . . . but it would help if I learned more Spanish.

Sounds fair enough. Reporter and athlete meeting in the middle, and a fine stat line for Guevara.

One game, one assist and one compromise.

And they said he was stubborn.

-- Morgan Campbell

Still Crunching Numbers

CARSON, Calf. -- It's week three of Toronto FC's sophomore season and I'm in L.A.

That's got to make you happy if you're a fan of Morgan Campbell, and I'm sure at least one or two of you are. Last time I checked I had a couple of blood relatives reading this blog and you guys still love me, right?

Well, even if you hate me, my presence here is good news if you love soccer in Toronto. It means I'm serious about following through on my promise to add depth and breadth to the Star's TFC coverage this season. And someone above values soccer enough to spend the cash good coverage sometimes requires.

So yeah, I'm glad I'm here.

But what about the people who didn't make the trip?

Like Andrew Boyens.

While his team and some of the people who cover them enjoy 29-degree temperatures and cloudless skies in Southern California, he's still in gray and rainy Toronto.

As far as I know he's not hurt. I watched him practice on Thursday.

This morning I got a text message from a reader saying he'd been released, but that hasn't happened either. Mo Johnston says Boyens is still on the team.

He just couldn't crack the 18-man roster.

Johnston didn't want to talk too much about it, but sounded very matter-of-fact in affirming his confidence in the guys who did make the trip to L.A.

It didn't seem personal. As we discussed here last week, it's a numbers game.

Julius James played 45 minutes in an exhibition game earlier this week, and now that he's fully recovered from the dislocated shoulder he suffered in the preseason it'll be tough to keep him off the field. I've only seen him in game action for about 20 minutes, but I didn't even take that long to figure out he's ready to make an impact. Factor in his injury and the time he's spent watching and waiting, and he figures to hit the field hungry, and playing hard to prove a point.

That's great news for TFC fans longing for stability on a back line that looked shaky against DC last week.

They've even got a song ready for him.

But it's bad news for Boyens, who appears to be the subtraction that made room for James' addition.

Since opening day, through free agency or injury rehab, TFC has added four game-ready bodies to its camp -- James, Laurent Robert, Amado Guevara and Rohan Ricketts. Trading Mike Zaher and waiving Collin Samuel helped alleviate the crowding, but not much. And if former Birmingham defender Olivier Tebily signs, the squeeze at central defence gets that much tighter.

When numbers swell like that, somebody's got to get crunched.

And right now it looks like it's Boyens.

One More Number

The MLS Players Union has updated its list of player salaries, revealing that TFC has a new highest-paid player.

It's Robert, who will make $319,800 in base salary, and $337,000 when you factor in bonuses. He's still far from the league's highest paid player. It's not tough to guess who that is.

But Laurent still makes more than Gabe Gala, Joey Melo, Nana Atakorah-Gyan, Andrea Lombardo, Pat Phelan, Tyler Rosenlund, Jarrod Smith, Kevin Harmse and Todd Dunivant.

Combined.

-- Morgan Campbell

Two keepers, one goal

About half an hour into today's reserve team scrimmage against San Jose, TFC rookie defender Mike Zaher launched the ball downfield hoping one of his strikers, the guy wearing jersey number 28, would sprint underneath the pass, collect the ball and make something happen.

When the ball rolled harmlessly to San Jose's goalkeeper Zaher shook his head in frustration.

"You've gotta make a run," he muttered, half to himself and half to his intended target.

Truthfully, I don't know the guy's name, and watching him play I could tell I'd never need to. The wrinkled face, flabby thighs and belly jiggling beneath a baggy jersey all told me he was a training camp body, on the field only because TFC needed him this week to fill out its reserve roster. The lack of initiative he showed told me he'll be lucky if he's still here when this tournament ends on Saturday.

But he provided some intrigue late in the second half when he suffered a Charley horse.

I'm still not sure TFCs training staff knows what was wrong with him. He limped to the sideline motioning toward his leg, but because he only speaks Spanish he couldn't elaborate. Because TFC's trainers only speak English they couldn't ask him to. And because the club hasn't yet completed a rumoured deal for former MLS MVP and Honduran international Amado Guevara, nobody around could translate.

But quickly it became clear he wouldn't be able to continue.

A classic case of addition by subtraction?

Possibly.

But both teams entered this game with only 11 players, and TFC's coaches didn't want to finish the game with just 10.

All this happened with the team's starters sitting in the bleachers, but after a practice earlier that day, and with a game the next night against New York, none of them was going to step in.

So rookie Brian Edwards did it.

Yes he's a goalkeeper, and no he didn't even bring his shin pads yesterday because he wasn't expecting to play, but he borrowed a pair, jogged along the sidelines a few minutes and, with about 10 minutes remaining, jumped into the game at striker.

And he didn't do badly.

He made safe passes and played solid defense, and though didn't play well enough to make Mo Johnston forget the team still needs an impact forward, he accomplished at least as much as the guy he replaced.

But even with two goalkeepers on the field TFC couldn't keep the ball out of the net.

San Jose won 1-0.

-- Morgan Campbell

In Charleston...a last word on turf

I choose my hotels strategically, and this year when booking my trip to the Carolina Challenge Cup I made a conscious decision to stay in a hotel far away from TFC's.

While they're staying someplace in North Charleston, near the practice field at Charleston Southern University, I'm at the Hampton Inn on Daniel Island.

Selected this place for three reasons.

1. It's right next to Blackbaud Stadium, where the tournament is taking place. Well, not right next door. It's close enough to make driving there pointless, but far enough away to make walking inconvenient. For the record, I drive.

2. Every day at 5 p.m. they have cookies in the lobby. Fresh cookies. Still-warm cookies with chocolate chips still melting. That's hospitality.

3. Random conversations with guys from other teams. Yes, the Star's MLS coverage is TFC-centric by necessity, but you can't really understand a league until you know more about everyone in it. Last year the Houston Dynamo stayed here, and I shared interviews and small talk with guys like Dwayne De Rosario, Ricardo Clark and Dominic Kinnear.

This year it's San Jose, and earlier this afternoon as I sat in the lounge trying to get some work done, I had a short conversation with former TFC midfielder Ronnie O'Brien.

He asked me why I chose this hotel when TFC was staying across town. I explained to him about the cookies.

I asked how his knee was holding up, and he said it was fine now that he was practicing on grass every day. I hate to re-ignite the turf debate, but Ronnie offered the most honest and nuanced opinion on it I've heard yet.

He says the BMO turf contributed to his chronic knee problems, but didn't fault the team or the city for installing the fake grass. He was much more pragmatic. Artificial surface allows the city to make money off the stadium year round and he wouldn't begrudge them a revenue source, especially when the alternative is not to have a stadium at all.

As for the surface itself, he wasn't as ardently anti-turf as I thought he would be. In fact, he said he's got no problem playing on it -- occasionally. But he said training on it every day wore on his knees, prompting him to seek a trade.

And leaving Toronto without a proven playmaker.

Unless Amado Guevara actually does come to town.

Mo Johnston's not talking about it. I'll see if my other sources know anything.

-- Morgan Campbell

TFC's Wild Pitch

Ever since before BMO Field opened a group of people -- crotchety soccer journalists, mostly -- have been complaining about the playing surface there, a modern form of artificial turf designed to look (almost) and play (kind of) like grass.

True football, these guys said, was meant to take place on lush patches of thick natural grass. Guys like that almost never call it "soccer."

But sometimes even the most ardent field turf hater has to concede that natural isn't always better.

This week, as TFC and three other MLS teams compete in the Texas Pro Soccer Festival, is one of those times.

In less than three hours TFC and DC United will meet at Steele High School in Cibolo, Texas, and kick off on a natural grass field, one that features lumps and loose clumps of dirt. And one that's only 62 yards wide.

TFC coach John Carver said on a field that small, every throw-in in the opposing team's zone is like a corner kick because they land in the 6-yard box.

But the field presents problems, too.

Chivas USA and DC United told us everything we need to know about the field conditions when they each gathered their starters and met at a nearby university for a scrimmage, then sent their subs and scrubs to play in the tournament game on the bumpy field.

Carver didn't complain about it, and said his players didn't either.

"They're not ideal conditions, but you've got to get on with it," he said.

Are you listening, field-turf bashers? You just get on with it.

The City of Toronto sank nearly $10 million into that stadium, and they make that money back by renting the field out to civilians year round. Which means real grass isn't coming any time soon.

Yeah, it's a drag, and maybe the field turf's not perfect, but TFC's players have seen much, much worse.

And they'll see it again tonight against D.C.'s B-team.

The Jury is Still Out

Carver also said he wants to give the team's three trialists (Kiki Musampa, Tony Vairelles and Martin Brittain) more playing time tonight. All three of them scored in Wednesday's 4-3 loss to Houston.

By the time this tournament ends Sunday night Carver says he'll have figured out which, if any, of the three will travel with the team to their final preseason tournament in Charleson, S.C.

-- Morgan Campbell

Back to the rumour Miller

Woke up this morning thinking about TFC and their options.

Seriously, I did. And I'm as suprised as you are. Most winter days I wake up thinking of going back to sleep until the weather warms up.

Anyway, it occurred to me that last week Mo Johnston said that between dumping Ronnie O'Brien's salary and the allocation cash San Jose sent over, TFC had cleared about $450,000 in salary cap room. New acquisition Kevin Harmse earned a little less than $41K last year, which means that if Mo's calculations are correct the team still has about $400,000 to play with. That kind of money can get you a couple of pretty good players in this league. And if my observations are correct the team still has a glaring need for a midfield playmaker, the kind of guy who, like O'Brien, elevates the play of the people around him.

Combine Mo's calculations with my observations and it's easy to conclude that with the season opener a little over three weeks away this team is ready sign someone.

Soon.

But is Liam Miller the guy?

Apparently Sunderland hasn't dumped Miller yet, but they've told him he's free to see other people.

We've all been there, haven't we?

Anyway, at this point the rumours connecting him to TFC are just that -- rumours. I made the perfunctory phone call to TFC, and through their media relations staff I received a perfunctory "no comment" from Johnston. I'm trying to work a couple other sources, but until they tell me otherwise this will remain the latest in a string of unsubstantiated reports about European players allegedly looking to jumpstart stagnant careers in Toronto.

There are a couple of reasons, though, why this move might make a little more sense than the other rumoured signings that never panned out.

1. Complementary Needs Theory

Toronto just lost a midfielder with impressive credentials (O'Brien was a two-time league all star before hurting his knee), and could probably use another midfielder with impressive credentials (Miller's had stints at Celtic and Man U, plus 15 caps with the Irish national team).

Miller, meanwhile, isn't getting much love at Sunderland and probably just wants to be wanted. Maybe TFC is showing him the attention he needs.

2. Miller's issues are correctable ... in theory

I don't know if you guys have noticed this, but the guys from European leagues linked to TFC in transfer rumours usually have an issue or two.

With Joao Pinto it was the calendar. At 36, he's closer in age to Maradona than to Maurice Edu. He may have been a great player once, but there ain't no cure for old.

Darren Huckerby's issue was pills -- the painkillers he was taking for his chronic hip condition. Like Pinto, his stock was headed in only one direction.

In contrast, Miller's biggest problem seems to be that he's the Ray Emery of the EPL.

Huckerby's hip will probably never get better, and Pinto won't get any younger, but Miller can certainly learn to get to practice on time.

Still doesn't mean, though, that TFC is on the verge of signing him. Seems to me that a guy who has shown he can still play on that level (Roy Keane said he had no problems with Miller's performance) can get an overseas gig that pays more than MLS money, so my approach to this one is a combination of "wait and see" and "get to the bottom of this."

Again, until I hear differently I'm treating this one as just another rumour. With Pinto and Huckerby it wasn't hard to tell they weren't coming, but my read on this one is still a little murky.

The only thing that's clear is the TFC needs to make a move.

But is this the one?

-- Morgan Campbell

Deadline Day

It's NHL trade deadline day, but unlike 99.98 percent of Canadian sportswriters, I've got MLS transactions on my mind.

Specifically, there's a rumour going around that TFC is ready to trade Ronnie O'Brien to San Jose. I'm not saying it's true, it's going to come true, or that it's ever even been discussed. I'm just saying that's the rumour out there, one that gained a little momentum this morning when O'Brien was absent from TFC's early training session.

Mo Johnston wouldn't say anything about it, except to say that he wouldn't say anything about it.

Media relations director Michelle Lissel confirmed that O'Brien is still under contract to TFC, and said she expects to see him on the pitch at BMO Field when two-a-day sessions resume on Thursday.

And head coach John Carver combined the previous two answers. No, he couldn't talk about O'Brien. Yes, he expected him to show up Thursday morning.

If you're looking for evidence that O'Brien's on his way out of Toronto you'll point to Johnston's "no comment." If nothing truly is happening, he would say nothing's happening, just like he did today when asked about Joao Pinto. Instead he offered no comment.

Hmmmmm.

Still, everyone else's complete assurance that O'Brien will practice with TFC Thursday morning suggest the team plans to keep him around.

As for the rumours....the only people who know where they come from are the people who float them in the first place.

And as for me.... I'm working the phones, hoping someone will confirm or deny something.

Stay tuned.

-- Morgan Campbell

Don't pine for Pinto, but enjoy Edu

After a couple weeks out of the country and a couple days working for the news department I'm back in the office and back on the.... well, not on the grind because I like my job and the preseason's the easy part for me. Last year the grind didn't set in for me until mid August, around the time I published my 845th consecutive "TFC can't score but those fans sure are wild" story.

So a quick web search this afternoon brings me this story about 36-year-old Portuguese striker Joao Pinto. I found it interesting, given that everything I'd read during my time off said he and the team weren't close to a deal. And most stories suggested strongly that Pinto wanted more cash than TFC was willing to pay. Nobody specified it but I'm betting he wanted DP money.

Faced with this conflicting information I did what a good reporter does. I phoned the team.

They said Pinto not only hasn't been offered a contract, but is still under contract to SC Braga in Portugal.

Useful info, but it doesn't necessarily mean he won't show up at BMO Field this week. I've learned to be very specific with semantics and verb tenses in situations like this because I've been burned before.

I covered the Argos the year they signed Ricky Williams, and though I wasn't there that Saturday in Regina night when he broke his arm, I had the task of following up with the team the next week. My mission: to confirm or deny rumours that he was scheduled to have surgery on the broken limb.

So I called the team's head media relations honcho, who was emphatic in telling me that Ricky was NOT going to have surgery on his broken arm later that day. No way, she said. Wasn't going to happen.

Cool, I thought. Rumour was just a rumour.

An hour later a press release appears in my inbox telling me Williams had surgery on his broken arm the previous night.

Can't even fault the media relations honcho. She answered the question as I asked it and since it wasn't in her interest to volunteer extra info, she chose not to do it.

When a TFC staffer tells me Pinto's not under contract I take it into consideration, but with the Argos experience in my mind I know I need to ask a specific question if I want a specific answer.

So I ask if he'll be at practice tomorrow, and this is when the staffer tells me its highly unlikely given that he still has a contract and that as far as she knows TFC hasn't made any moves to buy him out.

And that's where it stands right now. If you're a Joao Pinto fan and you're eager to see him play you better be willing to spring for the LIGA channel on Rogers digital cable (I think it's channel 425).

And if you're a TFC fan that likes seeing good young talent, you should be relieved this deal appears to have collapsed.

Speaking of young talent, anybody else see the si.com article on Maurice Edu?

It uses his experience with TFC as a starting point but focuses on his future with the US national team, which isn't surprising since the story originally ran in Soccer America magazine.

This is a big, big story. Three pages online, front and centre on SI.com's soccer page. Looks like U.S. soccer media are finally figuring out what Toronto writers learned roughly 30 seconds into Edu's first start:

The guy is very, very good.

TFC fans, enjoy him while you can. Only he knows when he'll graduate to the true Major Leagues of soccer (sorry MLS, but lets be real...this is Triple A ball), but at this point I can't see it not happening.

But we can look at this optimistically.

Edu will play a huge role for the U.S. team in Beijing this August, giving Canadian fans someone to cheer for in the Olympic tournament. No offense to team Canada, but they published their Olympic team player pool last week and I noticed many of the guys listed were the same ones who populated the squad that finished dead last in the U-20 World Cup last summer. Can't say I like their chances against CONCACAF's best U-23s, let alone the world's.

Not saying Canada has no chance. After all, qualifying doesn't even start until next month. I'm just saying that every time I look into my crystal ball (all sports writers keep one stashed under their desks, next to the whiskey) the only way I see a soccer medal coming back to Canada is around Edu's neck.

-- Morgan Campbell

I Heart Huckerby... I and II

I

Anyone care to venture a guess as to if/when this guy will show up in Toronto?

I've gone back and forth over this a couple times in the last day or so, but right now my gut feeling is that he's not coming.

** I'd like to take this moment to remind everyone reading that any predictions on the blog are PURE speculation, and not to be taken as fact, hard news or even halfway truthful. Unless, of course, any of my speculation comes true. Then I receive full credit for having predicted it. Those are the rules. I didn't make them up. I just play by them **

ANDREW WALLACE/TORONTO STAR

So far, what you see is what you get. So far.

As I was saying, despite Mo Johnston's firm assertion that TFC wouldn't buy any players before the transfer deadline, part of me thought Huckerby would show up here eventually, maybe stroll into BMO field in mid-April, like Dichio did last season.

This hunch wasn't based on anything rational. I mean, this guy's nearly 32 years old and taking painkillers for a chronic hip condition. Unless he's Bo Jackson, I can't see him overcoming those medical issues to have a major impact.

Instead, something Mo said set me off.

Last spring I heard a rumour that TFC was gong to sign Gennaro Gattuso. When I ran it by Mo he was like (and I'm paraphrasing here)  "hell, no! We can't afford that guy!"

It's happened with other players too. I'll hear TFC's trying to sign a guy and most times if they're not Mo will tell me so.

But yesterday he just kept saying he wasn't allowed to talk about players under contract to other clubs.

Hmmmm.....

A hint?

Maybe. We know Mo likes to hint.

But maybe not. Where's his incentive to sign an aging, ailing striker?

So this morning a quick Google news search brings me this story from England.

Turns out Norwich City's manager hasn't heard a thing from anyone over here, or at least that's what he's telling reporters over there.

Is this where the plot thickens? Or just where it fizzles?

I'm betting it's option number two. I can see why Norwich might want to dump an older, unhealthy player who's probably making a hefty salary, but I just can't see a reason for TFC to pick him up, especially knowing that he'll gobble up a big chunk of the salary cap.

But what do I know? I'm just a newspaper reporter.

I want to  know what the readers think.

Discuss....

II

Looks like DC United have signed their first DP.

Actually, the AP story simply says they've signed Marcelo Gallardo, who played for Argentina in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups. All the secondary reports say Gallardo is the team's DP.

The news had Cathal Kelly shaking his head. He and I disagree on DPs. He's convinced TFC needs to sign one, like yesterday. I'm still not sure. He says you do it to show the loud and loyal fans at BMO Field (the ones that pilloried him for referring to the team as "FC," and the ones who flooded my inbox with protests after I wrote that some of them booed the team after the RSL game) that you're serious about winning. I say the best way to show you're serious about winning is to build a team that wins, DP or not.

The top four teams in 2007 (DC, Chivas, Houston and New England) were all DP-free. FC Dallas spent nearly $880,000 on Denilson and the only postseason stat he collected was a yellow card.

Training camp for season two starts on Friday, and while TFC has pruned a few players from last year's last-place squad, they've added little beyond their draft picks. Johnston has been hinting about adding someone from overseas (though, as I said, probably not Huckerby, in-my-not-so-expert-opinion) but we haven't seen anyone yet.

You guys know my opinion on the subject, but I want to know what you think.

Is it time for a DP at TFC?

Discuss using the comments link below.

- Morgan Campbell

All TFC all the time....well, most of the time....more of the time?

Yes, soccer fans, I know it's been a minute but now that the Major League Soccer off-season is just about over I figured it's to jumpstart this blog.

Good news for TFC and MLS fans. Around MLS Cup time I had a conversation with Star sports editor Mike Simpson and we decided it's time to expand the Star's MLS coverage. Last year we covered TFC but never said much about what was happening in the rest of MLS. Strategies like that work when you're covering a team like the Marlies because, honestly, few sports fans around here care about them and even fewer give a damn what's happening in the rest of the AHL.

But TFC's different. Here you have a group of dedicated soccer fans who care deeply about the team, and another group of sports fans beyond them who want to start caring because they've hear the TFC buzz and want to get involved. That type of readership demands and deserves a little more.

In '07 readers sent me my share of hate mail (expected), praise mail (unexpected) and constructive criticism (much appreciated).  I think I did a pretty good job covering TFC last season. I wasn't perfect, but I held it down.

But looking back on TFC's first season I think my coverage lacked context. During the week I'd write about TFC, then every weekend some team would materialize at BMO Field to play against them, then disappear again. LA Galaxy got some special attention because Becks played with them. We gave some extra juice to Houston because they had Dwayne De Rosario.

Overall, though, we didn't cover TFC the way we covered the Raptors, Leafs, Argos and Jays. We covered TFC in isolation, and not as part of a league. That tactic works the first year, but is less effective as your audience grows and their interest deepens.

So we're going to make a few changes this year. Can't say exactly how it all will work out, but I know that to put TFC games in their proper context I need to follow the entire league, so that will happen this season.

Also, if the budgets allow it, I'll make it to a few more road games in 08. Last season I flew out to the season opener against Chivas USA, and that was it. But last year also showed us that readers at home pay close attention to what happens on the road, and a simple AP story won't always satisfy them.  Readers want road game coverage tailored to their interests, so that's what we're trying to provide this year.

Doesn't mean I'll reach every road game.

Budgets.

But I'm confident I'll get to the important ones.

I realize that means hitting the season opener, and while there are much more glamourous places to be than Columbus in late March, I'm willing to do it in the name of expanded coverage.

Plus, I could use the Aeroplan points.

-- Morgan Campbell