MLS Cup Conference Semi-Finals Roundup Game 1

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Eastern Conference Semi-finals

Columbus Crew (1) vs. Kansas City Wizards (4)

Leg 1 result (in Kansas City): Columbus 1 Kansas City 1

Highlights: Here

Lowlights: The red card handed out to the Wizards' Herculez Gomez for a tackle that wouldn't even be a yellow card in most leagues around the world.

Can't help but think: Kansas City who dominated for most of the game, blew their chances of a series upset when they flubbed on no less than five clearing attempts in extra time before Columbus substitute Stevan Lenhart drew the Crew even.

Next game: Sat. Nov. 8. 7:30 p.m. (in Columbus)

Chicago Fire (2) vs. New England Revolution (3)

Leg 1 result (in New England): Chicago 0 New England 0

Highlights: Here 

Lowlights: Cuauhtemoc Blanco's diving dramatics. New England's Jay Heaps gave him a little love tap and Blanco went down in typical Blanco fashion as though he had been shot. Classless all the way.

Can't help but think: An attendance of just over 5,000 is a disgusting turnout for an MLS playoff game.

Next Game: Thurs. Nov. 6. 8:30 p.m. (in Chicago) 

Western Conference Semi-Finals

Houston Dynamo (1) vs. New York Red Bulls (4)

Leg 1 results (in New York): Houston 1 New York 1

Highlights: Here

Lowlights: Watching a football match being played in an NFL stadium. Ironic, no. Sad, yes. The Red Bulls new footie specific stadium cannot be built fast enough.

Can't help but think: That when New York's Juan Pablo Angel, one of the nominees for the Most Sportsmanlike Player award, is carded in a playoff game, there might be a little bit of tension between these two teams.

Next Game: Sun. Nov. 9. 3 p.m. (in Houston)

Chivas USA (2) vs. Real Salt Lake (3)

Leg 1 results (in Salt Lake): Real Salt Lake 1 Chivas 0

Highlights: Here

Lowlights: None to speak of. All around, a very entertaining match.

Can't help but think: Chivas looked completely outclassed on this night. The final score could have easily been three or four nil if not for the play of Chivas goalkeeper Zach Thornton.

Next Game: Sat. Nov. 8. 10:30 p.m. (at Chivas)

Cheers

- Ben Rycroft

Watch It's Called Football Ya Wanker

Every Saturday morning.

11am-Noon.

ThatChannel.com

One full hour of live footie talk from around the globe.

And, if you missed last weeks show, you can catch the audio only version here.

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This week:

- Does the Montreal Impact have what it takes to make it to the Club World Cup?

- Will the Toronto FC get approval for its Designated Player slot? And if so, for who and how much?

- We'll do the legit sports media thing and assign the team meaningless grades.

- And, we'll touch on the CSA's new, super neato, master plan.

Tune into watch live at 11 am. Thatchannel.com

Cheers

- Ben Rycroft

Quick kickaround the interweb

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Let's start with the first MLS goalie ever to score on a non-penalty shot goal. And they say Red Bulls' goalie Jon Conway is on steroids. 

Carl Robinson is unsure he'll be back in Toronto next season. One has to wonder if this will be his decision, his family's or Toronto FC's. So, for those that are counting, make that Danny Dichio, Rohan Ricketts, Marvell Wynne and now Carl Robinson as potential departees heading into next season. I had pegged all of these guys as protectable players heading into the MLS expansion draft.  

I remarked something to a colleague last week and he just continues to prove me right - CBC's John Molinaro is killling it right now on the soccer front. He broke the Jim Brennan vs CSA story, did a solid follow on Dale Mitchell's response and has generally picked up where certain major newspaper writers left off when it was clear Toronto FC wasn't going to make the playoffs. Here's a pretty good little feature on Montreal Impact's Adam Braz.

From Molinaro to possibly the best footie writer in North America, Soccer by Ives is reporting the Seattle Sounders are targetting Freddie Ljungberg. Well, that's one less Designated Player rumour I can scratch of Toronto's list.

And from Ives to the man leading the soccer revolution here in Canada - Ben Knight tore the CSA a new one all of last week. In case you missed it, catch up on all of the action starting here. God bless you Mr. Knight.

I'll leave you on a note from the what the hell were they thinking category. The MLS revealed this week they are considering starting their season in March. Perhaps someone forgot to tell them that it pretty much snows right up until May in Canada. So, TFC fans, get ready for games at the Rogers Centre or your team starting the first month and a half of their season on the road. Considering their dismal road record this season, that should put them off to a good start.

Cheers

- Ben Rycroft 

Toronto's 5 Must Try Footie Pubs

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In no particular order.

Who: Football Factory
What do they show: Everything from Toronto FC to Tottenham
Where: Bathurst and Richmond
When to go: Mid-week for UEFA Champions League or Saturday's for Toronto FC games
Why: Pat and Christine are great hosts. It's a different take on pub fare and they have wall to wall flat screens showing the beautiful game
Contact: (416) 368-4625

Who: Scallywags
What do they show: Everything footie and even some rugby to boot
Where: St. Clair and Yonge
When to go: Saturday mornings for Liverpool games. This year's Everton derby was a riot.
Why: Passionate, knowledgeable fans makes for a great soccer atmosphere
Contact: 416-975-INFO

Who: Shoeless Joe's
What do they show: Mostly Toronto FC but have been known to show a Montreal Champions League game
Where: King and Dufferin
When to go: Pre and Post-Toronto FC games
Why: To get you in the mood before you're paying for $10 beer at BMO, join the Red Patch Boys in a pre-game song or two.
Contact: (416) 534-3666

Who: The Rhino
What do they show: Toronto FC
Where: 1249 Queen West
When to go: Pre-Toronto FC
Why: To make friends with the U-Sector supporters group so they'll have your back when you get jumped post-game.
Contact: (416) 535-8089

Who: Cafe Diplomatico
What do they show: Seria A, international soccer tournaments (Euro, World Cup, or anytime an Italian team is looking like they might win a competition)
Where: 594 College Street
When to go: Anytime Italy is playing
Why: Nothing can match Little Italy's atmosphere when the home country is playing.
Contact: (416) 534-4637

Cheers
-Ben Rycroft

Games to watch

Must watch in the week ahead

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What: The CSL Final

Who: Trois River Attack vs. Serbian White Eagles

When: Sunday October 26, 5:45 p.m.

Where: Esther Shiner Stadium, North York, Toronto, ON

Why: Support grassroots soccer. And the fact that there is real talent in this league so it's a guaranteed enteraining game.

What: UEFA Champions League

Who: Manchester United vs. Celtic

When: October 21, 2:30 p.m.

Where: TSN (2:30) and TSN 2 (5:30). Or you can fly to Manchester. Feel free to bring me along.

Why: Two of the most respected clubs on the planet going head to head - need I say more?

What: UEFA Champions League

Who: Liverpool vs. Atletico Madrid

When: October 22, 2:30 p.m.

Where: TSN 2 (2:30). Or Atletico providing UEFA doesn't decide their fans are racist again.

Why: Providing he plays - Fernando Torres going up against his old club.

What: CONCACAF Champions League

Who: Montreal Impact vs. CD Olimpia

When: October 22, 12:00 am

Where: CBC.ca - online stream in the sports section

Why: Supporting a Canadian team who (begrudgingly) continues to be successful.

Cheers

- Ben Rycroft

It's Called Football Ya Wanker

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Starting this Saturday, 11 am - Noon, It's Called Football is live on www.ThatChannel.com.

One full hour of soccer talk.

Tune in after your English Premiership and before your TFC begins.

We'll be talking everything from Whitecaps to Wigan, Toronto to Tottenham. The week's hottest topics mixed with debate and opinion on everything footie.

Tune in starting at 11.

Cheers

- Ben Rycroft

Frequent flyer miles adding up for Montreal

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Cinderella's glass slipper refuses to be broken.

Defying all odds, the Montreal Impact marched into Tegucigalpa last night and in front of 30,000 Honduran fans took down Olimpia 2-1 in CONCACAF Champions League action (and in the process took a little pride back for Canada following the national team loss to the Hondurans in Montreal?).

Olimpia can now count themselves among Alante, Joe Public, Real Esteli, Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps as teams who have classically underestimated this little USL team as it continues its improbable march forward in the tournament.

With the road win they remain at the top of their group and are looking like favourites to advance on to next round. 

But before Cinderella goes cashing her ticket to the next round of Dancing With The Stars, she should take a hard look at how they are going to manage the travel over the next two weeks.

Tonight, they will hop on a flight back to Montreal to prepare for Friday's first semi-final in the USL playoffs against Vancouver. The two-leg aggregate series then shifts to Vancouver on Sunday with the winner moving onto the USL finals.

From there, Montreal will likely wait around a day before traveling down to Trinidad and Tobago to face Joe Public in Champions League action on Wednesday Oct. 8.   

Based on how they do in the USL playoffs - but for the sake of discussion we'll say they win - they will  then be faced with hopping on a plane to either Puerto Rico or Rochester to compete in the USL final starting on the 10th.

Back to Montreal for the second leg of the final and then a little over a week off before they face Olimpia again - this time at home on Oct. 21.

For those that are counting you can even include that trip to Seattle and back in the quarter-finals of the USL held last week.

Grand total: 5 cities. 5 countries. 3 weeks.

Google Maps exploded when I tried to calculate the total distance of that trip.

The clock hasn't struck midnight yet for this Cinderella club from Montreal. But that might be because their fairy godmother is a little loopy from all the time zone jumping.

Cheers

- Ben Rycroft

A Quick Kickaround September 25, 2008

A quick look around the interweb
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Soccer by Ives draws attention to this fact: Wednesday's results now put MLS teams at a horrendous record of 0-5-2 in the Champions League tournament. As for the USL? The lower division now boasts an unbeaten mark of 5-0-3.You can read the whole rundown here.

Ben Knight at the Globe and Mail makes a similar point here. He also talks to Montreal Impact owner Joey Saputo who is apparently not all that interested in the MLS.

Morgan Campbell at the Toronto Star follows up on Carlos Ruiz and his knee. The question of whether Ruiz will play Saturday isn't the pressing issue (incidentally he will not) but whether he was injured when Toronto acquired him. You can read it all here.

And the MLS gives you all the stats and boring analysis you could ever want ahead of the Toronto v. Houston match up Saturday.

Cheers
-Ben Rycroft

Reason #1: Leadership

Toronto Head Coach John Carver

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As the season winds down and Toronto FC moves ever closer to elimination from the MLS playoffs it's a time to reflect on where things went wrong this season.

Some will blame the players. Some will blame the manager. Some will even blame the turf. But, at the end of the season, if Toronto continues the way it has been going (one win since mid-June) it will be coach Carver who Mo Johnston and the MLSE blame.

You see, at the end of the day, beyond the streamers and screams, the players and the goals, we all know Toronto FC is a business. And is the way in business, when a product isn't succeeding, the business must face the reasons for that lack of success and correct it. In traditional companies it means the CEO or CFO would face intense scrutiny from a board or shareholders over their leadership and be held accountable for what resulted in that loss. The same applies in sports business. But when a team is losing the solution is usually much simpler than all that scrutiny - the consensus is either the coach or the general manager must go. 

The move is quick, it appears decisive and is meant to show fans the team won't accept losing - something, I'm afraid, the MLSE spends a great deal of time doing.

To me, who will go, is simple.

Come seasons end, whether he deserves it or not, John Carver will be gone.

Consider, if you will, the alternative - MLSE (and the teachers pension fund) send Mo Johnson packing.

Johnston, from a business perspective, has done exceptionally well this year. He has kept costs low - not jumping the gun when the push was on to bring in a designated player - and he has created massive returns. The Maurice Edu transfer lined the pockets of MLSE with just over $3 million dollars (the transfer was for $5 million but the MLS takes a good part of that).

However, if you consider from a field level perspective - away from the board room game of dollars and cents - Johnston's moves, for as many as there have been, have resulted in fielding a team that is frankly not much better than it was last season.

Laurent Robert proved to be a bust. Amado Guevara has shown up when he has wanted to. Carlos Ruiz, it now seems, will be a larger liability than once thought. And his best move of the season appears to be the non-signing of Brian McBride - who has proved underwhelming since his arrival in Chicago.

But as long as Johnston keeps the team profitable (and he has done that in spades) he will be cemented in that role for at least the next few years.

Carver on the other hand is, to MLSE, expendable.

He even went as far to confirm in this interview that his head was on the chopping block.

Toronto's head coach hasn't helped himself at all this season by earning a place in MLS' bad books. Carver has built a reputation as being abusive to officials and critical of a league that doesn't much like criticism. He was fined $750 (undeservedly) this week for his actions in the Kansas City game and he will likely be watching from the Manager's box Saturday after the MLS hands down a suspension.

And then there is that little matter of one win in their last 13 league games. Throw in the tie at home that sunk TFC's Champions League hopes as well as willingness to start dressing room wars with his star players and you start building a case for his dismissal.

I'm not sure it's the right case, but it is one that seems to make more sense with each listless loss and Toronto players looking like they have given up trying in the middle of a playoff race.

I won't go as far as to say Carver has dug his own grave, but I will say he has done a pretty good job of hitting potholes along the way as this new franchise navigates up the MLS mountain.

Cheers

-Ben Rycroft

A Quick Kickaround September 23, 2008

A quick run around the interweb
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Morgan Campbell at The Toronto Star reports on Coach Carver's fury. Morgan also talks frankly on the future of Carlos Ruiz on his blog.

Ben Knight at the Globe and Mail is talking about explosions - or more specifically blowing things up.

And on the less than reputable front MLS Rumors is being reputable and following up on an article condemning Toronto FC fans as nothing more than hooligans. If you missed the article (and you probably did because no one takes the Sun's sensationalist trash seriously) you can catch up on how it started here .

That's all for now.
Cheers
- Ben Rycroft