Thursday's Daily: Up North
With J Hutcherson
Nothing says All-Star excitement like a State of the League, and this one might as well be subtitled: "Man, we really like Canada."
MLS commissioner Don Garber was effusive in putting over Toronto as a model MLS operation, pointing to their stadium and their fan base.
"Our expansion in Toronto will go down as one of the key moments in Major League Soccer history and I for one believe that the launch of Toronto FC was one of the most memorable and successful new-team launches in the history of professional sports in North America."
He had us until the effusiveness got the better of him. Suffice it to say the Toronto MLS expansion needs a few more years to prove anything, and as it stands wouldn't make the top ten list of "successful new-team launches in the history of professional sports in North America."
Unfortunately, Garber also went general with the fan support, saying: That's one of the best environments in professional sports, whether it's soccer or any other sport. The fan connectivity with the sport exists in that stadium in ways that I just haven't seen in a lot of sports events that I've attended."
See 'Maple Leafs, Toronto' for another example in the same city and try to get out more.
This is reminiscent of when everybody from the League to pundits were throwing themselves into the waiting arms of Pizza Hut Park. The warm feelings got the better of some there as well, calling it the best small stadium in the country when there's a good argument it's not the best small stadium in Frisco, TX. The baseball field there has won national awards.
Look, everybody likes a feel good moment, especially when it points towards something greater for the League as a whole. Maybe not in the existing markets, but certainly for the next stages of expansion.
After all, as a League, MLS has become decidedly construction and expansion focused. Fair enough, but learn from the wave of soccer-specificity and give it a few years before declaring unprecedented success.
On TV
Major League Soccer's All-Star Game is on ESPN at 7pm: MLS - West Ham live from Toronto. All Times Eastern
The Wonderful World of Soccer Media: Europe
Premier League clubs will stop at nothing to build their brands -- from The Telegraph's Jeremy Wilson: Yet any immediate monetary incentive is dwarfed by the potential benefits of firmly establishing a club's 'brand' within strategic new markets.
Paul Scholes: When I go I will miss football, not the life of a footballer -- from The Independent's Mark Ogden: Scholes is not one of life's great smilers.
Chelsea willing to pay price of keeping their stars on board -- from The Times' Matt Hughes: Chelsea's largesse may be unsustainable in the long run and makes a mockery of their aim of breaking even by 2010.
It's GB United -- from The Daily Mail's Jeff Powell: "We must have a team in these Games and we will have a team.'
Prolonged Championship stay forces Saints into the red -- from The Guardian's Tom Bryant: "The directors are aware that this is clearly not sustainable and are concentrating on reducing costs."
New life for oldest football book -- from BBC News' Bill Wilson: "This is a book that has always had backing," said Mr Hull.
The Wonderful World of Soccer Media: Americas
A friendly? Not so much -- from The Toronto Sun's Frank Zicarelli: "We realize we're playing on a big stage and we realize the importance of the exposure."
Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Landon Donovan learn to play nice -- from The Chicago Tribune's Luis Arroyave: During a press conference Wednesday, Blanco told reporters he and Donovan get along just fine these days.
Hammers determined to make an impression -- from Soccernet's Steve Davis: "We have a season to be preparing for."
Onstad comes around as the oldest player at MLS -- from The National Post's Mark Masters: "It's the best environment in the league."
Could Nash be the catalyst in bringing MLS to Vancouver? -- from The Province's Marc Weber: "I anticipate that we'll provide more news regarding the league's expansion plans by the MLS Cup on Nov. 23," he said.
Impact enhances its chances in MLS's expansion -- from The Montreal Gazette's Pat Hickey: The two major stumbling blocks for the Impact have been MLS's go-slow approach toward expansion and the rising cost of entry into the league.
Finding pieces to make big second-half push -- from USA Today's Beau Dure.
Coveted midfielder coming to RSL -- from The Salt Lake Tribune's Michael C. Lewis: Russell was one of the recent trialists whose identity RSL kept secret, out of a fear that league rivals would torpedo its attempts to land him.
Beckham's impact on soccer in L.A., America is questionable -- from The LA Daily News' Scott Wolff: Not that Beckham noticed when asked about his first year in L.A.
Without Wambach, will team groan or grow? -- from The San Diego Union-Tribune's Mark Zeigler: that unintentionally may have suffocated the development of a post-Hamm generation of players.
Former Rhinos coach Ercoli still has his competitive fire -- from The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle's Jeff DiVeronica: The man took only a minute or two to enjoy a historic win before thoughts of the next challenge ran through his mind.
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