denime
07-28-2008, 06:09 AM
Knight: What a week for Canadian soccer!
A national championship, a successful MLS All-Star Game, talk of expansion, new big-name ownership – this was a dizzying week for Canadian soccer.
And if either the Vancouver Whitecaps or Montreal Impact find themselves included in the just-announced MLS expansion for 2011, this will certainly be remembered as the week their promotion to the big-time became inevitable.
MLS commissioner Don Garber was in Toronto for several days, and quite a bit happened. He attended last Tuesday's Voyageurs Cup final between Toronto FC and the Impact, and later told Fan590 soccer grump Bob McCown it was one of the most exciting live sporting events he had ever seen. Mind you, he also complimented McCown on his soccer knowledge, so you can take all this with how ever big a bag of rock salt you prefer.
But Garber's true appreciation came with the expansion announcement. Two more teams will be added to upper North America's premier soccer loop in time for the kickoff of the 2011 season. With Montreal upsetting Toronto to claim the cup – and a place in the CONCACAF Champions League – and Vancouver announcing two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash as the new co-owner and public face of the Whitecaps – all right under Garber's nose – Canadian soccer futures closed sharply higher on the week, in extremely active trading.
Of course, we're not all home and dry yet. MLS remains an American loop, and Stateside TV deals are traditionally not well served by tossing new franchises into the great white north. Portland and St. Louis are both high on the list, with solid credentials and plenty of influential friends.
Read more (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080727.WBsoccerblog20080727115848/WBStory/WBsoccerblog)
A national championship, a successful MLS All-Star Game, talk of expansion, new big-name ownership – this was a dizzying week for Canadian soccer.
And if either the Vancouver Whitecaps or Montreal Impact find themselves included in the just-announced MLS expansion for 2011, this will certainly be remembered as the week their promotion to the big-time became inevitable.
MLS commissioner Don Garber was in Toronto for several days, and quite a bit happened. He attended last Tuesday's Voyageurs Cup final between Toronto FC and the Impact, and later told Fan590 soccer grump Bob McCown it was one of the most exciting live sporting events he had ever seen. Mind you, he also complimented McCown on his soccer knowledge, so you can take all this with how ever big a bag of rock salt you prefer.
But Garber's true appreciation came with the expansion announcement. Two more teams will be added to upper North America's premier soccer loop in time for the kickoff of the 2011 season. With Montreal upsetting Toronto to claim the cup – and a place in the CONCACAF Champions League – and Vancouver announcing two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash as the new co-owner and public face of the Whitecaps – all right under Garber's nose – Canadian soccer futures closed sharply higher on the week, in extremely active trading.
Of course, we're not all home and dry yet. MLS remains an American loop, and Stateside TV deals are traditionally not well served by tossing new franchises into the great white north. Portland and St. Louis are both high on the list, with solid credentials and plenty of influential friends.
Read more (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080727.WBsoccerblog20080727115848/WBStory/WBsoccerblog)