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    Guest

    The great LTPD misunderstanding

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Jason de Vos has a good article up today challenging the idea that the only way to measure development is by measuring competitive success – i.e. that if a soccer club is winning games it is developing good players.
    Amongst the most dialled in this idea is not new. Slowly, but surely, people are understanding how a system that promotes winning at all costs at younger ages is counterproductive to developing skills that will serve the players at an age when winning becomes more important.
    In de Vos’ column he referenced a column that appeared in the Ottawa Sun last week. In it, the columnist Ron Corbett attacked local and national authorities for putting a policy in place that prevented an Ottawa soccer club from giving out awards to its winning teams. It was a typical strawman argument, with Corbett essentially taking a look-at-those-politically-correct-pinkos-trying-to-make-everyone-a-winner-in-my-day-we stance.
    Corbett totally missed the point. He made no effort to understand the point, actually.
    It is imperative that the Long Term Player Development program be implemented and for that to happen we need the general public to understand its principles. And for that to happen, the mass media needs to understand and, if not support it, than at least not attack it based on a surface understanding of one aspect of it.
    With that in mind, I wrote Corbett an e-mail, which I am publishing here for public consumption.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Mr. Corbett,
    Having read your Oct 23 column detailing the Eastern Ontario District Soccer Association’s decision to stop awarding medals to teams in the district for teams that finished on top of their divisions, I felt compelled to write you. Bluntly, I’m not sure you have fully grasped the reasoning behind the EODSA’s position.
    On the surface I do understand your reaction. Since the very essence of sports is competition, it seems counterintuitive to take steps that seem to move away from that. However, your flippant characterization of the EODSA as being anti-winning makes it clear that you made little effort to understand the thinking behind the Long Term Player Development (LTPD) plan that is being implemented by the Canadian Soccer Association and is the basis of the policy of the EODSA.
    It seems to me that your criticism is based on a faulty perception – namely that the LTPD is a pie in the sky, politically correct plan that is part of the overall softening of society. Again, I get how it would seem that way.
    However, the irony of the no competition philosophy of the LTPD plan is that it’s designed to make players more competitive when winning is more important – when the players are older and may be in line to take their game to a college or even professional level. The people behind LTPD are far from some kind of sport management hippies. It’s quite the opposite – soccer authorities are desperate to implement these changes because they are sick of Canadian soccer being a laughingstock internationally. Since these concepts are tried and true in parts of the world where the game is most successful, Canadian authorities believe they can lead the sport to a better place here as well.
    Outside of North America it is virtually unheard of for children younger than 10 to be involved in organized leagues. There, it’s understood that the development of skills is far more important than the winning of $5 medals. When you put the emphasis on winning in the younger age groups what happens is that kids more physically developed get roster spots – and the coaching and experience that goes along with those spots – ahead of smaller kids that might actually be more skilled.
    Additionally coaches tend to devise tactics that are designed to take advantage of physicality over tactical skill. The way we play the game in Canada lacks sophistication and a large reason for that is because of the way we teach the game at the youngest age groups.
    To put it in terms that most Canadians can understand, it would be like picking a hockey team based only on how fast the players can skate. Sure skating is important – as is athleticism in soccer – but not at the expense of skill. Those swift skating hockey players aren’t going to do much in the game unless they learn how to stickhandle as well.
    Simply put, by moving away from a competitive focus at younger age groups kids will be more skilled at the game when they do start to play for keeps. And isn’t that what it should be all about?
    Thank you,
    Duane Rollins
    Managing editor,
    CanadianSoccerNews.com
    Guest

    Draw date of CCL

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Toronto FC will learn its quarterfinal opponent Nov. 8, when CONCACAF makes the draw for the knock-out stages for the CONCACAF Champions League.
    The Reds will play one of Los Angeles Galaxy, Santos Laguna or Monterrey.
    Toronto will host the first game of the tie on either March 6, 7 or 8, 2012.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Guest

    Baltimore United?

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    MLS' director of marketing sent out a survey link to fans in the American north-east toady. It had an interesting subject.
    Below the jump a screen capture* of the survey's front page.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

    With DC United seemingly no closer to getting a stadium built, it seems like the league is prepared to move the team to Baltimore. Due to the proximity of the two cities it would not be a typical relocation, but it would likely anger many DC United fans.
    This story will need to be watched closely over the next few months.
    *Credit to Chris Savino for first postingthe capture on his Twitter feed.
    Guest
    Ex-Montreal striker Ali Gerba just wanted a fair chance, and he didn't get it. Almost a month after the end of the club's first MLS trial camp, Gerba opened up to TSN 990's Tony Marinaro and gave his own version of the story. And it goes like this...
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Ali Gerba thought that he was a lock to make MLS team a year ago -according to himself- and was surprised when Marsch announced him the bad news. The Canadian international still has respect for the club, despite claiming that they used the 'easy way out' to send him packing.
    "I think it's something personal against me", Gerba said today, before explaining that he had very good relationships with club president Joey Saputo, ex-Impact coach Marc Dos Santos and coach Jesse Marsch. Gerba claims that the new head coach even offered him to come and use the training facilities to help him get back to his full fitness.
    He went on to explain that he's still under contract with the team until 2012, which means that he cannot begin talks with other clubs until it runs out. Should this be confirmed by the Impact, this would be very surprising news considering that Nick De Santis said at the start of the last season that all the players' contracts would run out in 2011.
    Gerba kept adding to the drama, by saying that a Turkish club was ready to offer the Impact more than 700 000$ for his transfer at the end of the 2010 season. The club declined the offer, and decided one year later to get rid of the striker.
    Gerba didn't seem too worried about finding a new club, and even went on to say that he had the option of returning to Toronto. "The option is always there, and I would like play against the Impact", explained Gerba. "I am a professional, and I want to play at the best level possible. I respect the Impact, and will also continue supporting them. When I went to Europe, I did it for the money. But when I came back to Montreal, I did it for the fans."
    Guest

    The cult of Ali Gerba

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    The amount of loyalty Ali Gerba inspires in some fans is one of the biggest enigmas in Canadian soccer. It is perhaps only rivalled by the mystery of why so many clubs are willing to part ways with a player that does score goals. Normally, the ability to put the ball in the net allows clubs to overlook other shortcomings.
    Yet – and not to belabour it, but it is so bizarre that you need to see it on paper to truly believe it – this is a player with this career path:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Impact-Miami Fusion-Pittsburgh Riverhounds-Toronto Lynx-Impact-Lynx-Impact-GIF Sundsvall-IFK Gothenburg-Odd Grenland-AC Horsens-FC Ingolstadt 04-Milton Keynes-Toronto FC-Impact.
    That’s 15 switches* and 11 different clubs in 10 seasons (in fairness, two were loans). Each of those experiences had one thing in common – Gerba.
    Yet, today he was on Montreal sports radio talking about how unfairly he’s been treated by the Impact, who released him yet again last month.
    Gerba said that he thought he was “a lock” to make the jump to MLS with the club last year and claims that he is the victim of a personal attack by someone in the organization. He didn’t name who.
    He claimed that he was in shape and that the Impact coaching staff would have been happy to have him on the team. As when he left Toronto FC and blamed the TFC coaching staff for his failure, Gerba is passing the buck.
    What’s surprising is how much of a free pass he is given. Gerba has a cult of personality that somehow allows him to rarely be challenged. The interviewer today – Tony Marinaro – wasn’t even pretending to be balanced. Gerba was never challenged. The Impact management was not painted in a positive light.
    As stated, the ability to score tends to make people look the other way. However, in Gerba’s case, teams might not be willing to look the other way much longer.
    Gerba might need to look in the mirror (for once) to understand why.
    *I managed to get a question to Gerba during the interview. When asked why he'd been released 15 times in his career, Gerba claimed that wasn't the case. In fact, he's been released twice, he said, and both times were after a coaching change and a knee injury. Gerba claimed that each switch was because he had played so well as to be sold to a higher bidder.
    Guest
    Today, we’re joined by Bill Ault – editor for Canadakicks.com and the director of BASE skills to talk about some concerning developments surrounding the OSA’s intent to implement the long term player development initiative. For those who don’t know Bill, he’s as plugged in a guy as there is in Ontario for development and we’ll get into what this means for Ontario and Canadian soccer.
    We’ll also chop up – or maybe flop up – the Marquez fight from the weekend, look at the Canadians in the MLS playoffs and talk up some TFC and Toronto soccer rumours.
    As well, we'll talk about what the Canadian Women's gold medal win means for the team moving forward.
    The archived show is now up
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    <embed src="http://itscalledfootball.podhoster.com/FlowPlayerLight.swf?config={embedded:true,videoFile:%27http://itscalledfootball.podhoster.com/download/2540/26977/nov12011final.mp3%27,initialScale:%27scale%27,controlBarBackgroundColor:%270x778899%27,autoBuffering:false,loop:false,autoPlay:false}" width="400" height="25" scale="fit" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>
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    Guest

    Is it DeRo, MeRo or MVP?

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    For a Canadian MLS fan it’s unlikely there has ever been a player that has caused as much ambivalence as Dwayne De Rosario. The man from the mean streets Malvern (according to Scottish tabloids) who mimes cheque signings with the best of them – and can score more than the odd world class free kick – inspires equal parts devotion and scorn – often in the same person.
    In Toronto, there are fans that gave up on TFC when TFC gave up on DeRo. To them, it doesn’t matter what the bad-apple rumours suggest. DeRo was the only reason to support the Reds and now that he’s gone so are they. On the other side, there is the MeRo crowd. He was a cancer in the room and his skill will never justify his baggage.
    Most, however, fall in the middle. They see the talent and they respect the skill, but they are disappointed by the other stuff and think that he could have been more. As stated, ambivalent.
    It’s the same across the league by those handicapping the MLS MVP race.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]You can’t deny the stats. DeRo clearly had the best statistical season of any player in 2011 and if the award was for “outstanding player” rather than most valuable De Rosario could probably make room in the trophy case already.
    Of course there is the whole three teams in one year thing. Plus the fact that DC United, the club that he put most of his numbers up with, actually had a worse record with DeRo on the pitch than without. So, it’s hard to defend him as MVP.
    Except he is. And, my MVP vote reflected that opinion.
    Here's the thing: In MLS, like most North America sports, the MVP award goes to the most outstanding player. In 2011, in MLS, that’s DeRo. It’s criminal that he has never before won the award. Hopefully, the voters agree this year and put an end to that injustice.
    If DeRo does win the MVP award then he should find himself on a shortlist of Canadian athletes for another award – the Lou Marsh award for outstanding Canadian athlete. A soccer player has never won, despite being the most popular participation sport in Canada for several years running.
    And that’s even more criminal than DeRo being MVP-less.
    Guest
    Chelsea has agreed to feature the Canadian-based charity Right To Play's logo on the back of the shirts throughout the remainder of Chelsea’s European campaign.
    The club’s new European shirts will be debuted on 1 November against Belgian side KRC Genk.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    “As a club we acknowledge the vital role that sport can play in our local and global communities and we are delighted to be leading the way by featuring a charity sponsor on our Champions League shirt,” said Chelsea Chairman Bruce Buck. “Our vision is echoed by our shirt sponsors Samsung and adidas who share our passion for using sport for positive social change.”
    “As a part of the Samsung Hope for Children program in Canada we are proud to see this great linkage between our partnerships with the Chelsea Football Club and Right To Play. We believe that the addition of the Right To Play logo to Chelsea uniforms will have a positive impact on the awareness of the work that Right To Play does with children and communities in Canada and around the world,” said Andrew Barrett, Vice President of Marketing, Samsung Electronics Canada.
    Working closely with communities, Right To Play train local staff and volunteers to implement sport and play-based learning programs designed to teach children and youth important life skills including health, teamwork, conflict resolution, respect and fair play.
    Guest
    After a pedestrian pair of wild card games, the MLS Playoffs kicked into high gear with the first leg of the opening round proper.
    In New York, a marquee playoff match saw the post-match ejection of one Designated Player, while goals came fast and furious up in the mountain ranges of Utah and Colorado.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Wednesday, October 26
    FC Dallas 0-2 New York Red Bulls
    (New York advance to Western Conference semifinal)
    Dallas continued their recent run of uninspired performances with a flat 90 minutes against the visiting Red Bulls, who took advantage of their hosts' inability to muster the sufficient energy required to compete at this time of year.
    A dull opening half gave way to a second 45 minutes that saw two NY goals scored as a direct result of lax Dallas defending. The superb Joel Lindpere struck at the hour mark after receiving a gorgeous pass from substitute Mehdi Ballouchy. Thierry Henry then sealed FCD's fate in injury time when he nodded a ball to himself, outpaced Dallas' Daniel Hernandez, and rounded 'keeper Kevin Hartman for an easy tap in.
    The win placed New York into the Western Conference semifinals for a pair of meetings with fellow "superclub" LA Galaxy. Dallas end their once-promising season out of the playoffs and out of the CONCACAF Champions League.
    Thursday, October 27
    Colorado Rapids 1-0 Columbus Crew
    (Rapids advance to Eastern Conference semifinal)
    A crowd of 7,803 at chilly Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Colardo watched as the home side edged Columbus by the slimmest of margins to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinal round.
    The match was as stiff as the frozen ground as neither side seemed aware that the game was a one-off rather than a two-match series. The only spark of life was a first half injury time goal from Colorado's Omar Cummings, and fortunately for the Rapids it was all that was needed to prevail over a listless Crew side that looked a shell of the Columbus teams from just a couple of years ago.
    Saturday, October 29
    Real Salt Lake 3-0 Seattle Sounders
    (RSL lead Western Conference semifinal 3-0 on aggregate)
    For all of Seattle's great work in balancing (and succeeding in) multiple competitions during the regular season, they've yet to figure out how to translate that form into playoff success. After getting shellacked by Salt Lake in the first leg of their Western Conference semifinal, it looks like the Sounders will have to wait at least another year for some post-season success.
    The Sounders were overrun in just about every sense of the word. RSL attacked in waves and found goals in different ways, ranging from the sublime (Alvaro Saborio's second of two goals on the night, a cheeky behind-the-back flick that found the inside of the far post) to the lucky-but-determined (Ned Grabavoy's late insurance marker).
    Seattle looked out of sorts in the crisp Utah air, and will need to try to dig themselves out of a massive three-goal deficit in the return leg.
    Sunday, October 30
    New York Red Bulls 0-1 Los Angeles Galaxy
    (LA lead Western Conference semifinal 1-0 on aggregate)
    The dream playoff match-up for many since the dawn of the Designated Player era, NY and LA finally faced off in a hugely hyped Sunday nighter at Red Bull Arena.
    The teams have recently forged a mutual dislike, stemming from pre-game trash talk prior to an early season meeting and helped on by some chippiness on the pitch. Also aiding the growing feud was New York's winning record versus LA this year, despite the Galaxy running roughshod on most of the rest of MLS all season long.
    The match started off with LA asserting themselves early through returning striker Robbie Keane, who hit the post on a great floated shot that froze NY keeper Frank Rost to his spot. Minutes later, Mike Magee got the game's only goal after receiving a perfect pass from David Beckham and slotting a left-footed effort past Rost from a tough angle.
    After going up, LA played classic Bruce Arena football -- keeping a compact shape and only attacking when absolutely necessary. To the Red Bulls' credit, they managed to open the game up in the second half, and the ensuing back-and-forth play created a pleasing spectacle of attacking soccer.
    Several good saves on either end kept the scoreline at 1-0, and the game's high point actually came after the final whistle when NY's Rafa Marquez threw the ball at LA's Landon Donovan. The scrum that followed led to a hilariously awful flop by Marquez -- who seconds earlier tried to headbutt and punch the Galaxy's Adam Cristman -- and a similar dive by Red Bull teammate Stephen Keel.
    Marquez received a post-match red card for instigating the melee, while LA's midfield dynamo Juninho was also ejected, presumably because the referee bought Keel's sell job.
    Philadelphia Union 1-2 Houston Dynamo
    (Houston lead Eastern Conference semifinal 2-1 on aggregate)
    The Union hosted their first ever playoff match at a raucous PPL Park, but it was the Dynamo who hold the advantage heading into the second leg of this series.
    Canadian international André Hainault put Houston on the board just minutes into the game, latching on to a well-placed Brad Davis free kick and heading the ball home from the top of the Philadelphia six-yard box. The Union responded immediately through Sebastien Letoux, who was the beneficiary of a fortuitous deflection off a Dynamo defender to pot the equalizer.
    From then on out, it was all Houston as the late-season form of both teams stayed true. Philadelphia, on a downward slope since mid-summer, now have to travel to south Texas and try to figure out a way to outscore the hottest MLS team of the past two months.
    Colorado Rapids 0-2 Sporting Kansas City
    (Kansas City lead Eastern Conference semifinal 2-0 on aggregate)
    Colorado hosted their second playoff match in the span of four days, although this one didn't go nearly as well as their meeting with Columbus in the midweek.
    The Rapids fell victim to a seemingly angry injury bug, as no less than three Colorado players went down to possible long-ish term ailments. Those unfortunate circumstances were exacerbated by the ejection of Tyrone Marshall, who pulled down everyone's favourite striker, Teal Bunbury, in the area. Marshall was himself an injury substitution who had only entered the match 19 minutes earlier.
    Oh, yeah, Bunbury scored on the ensuing penalty kick. He also got a goal ten minutes prior.
    ___
    MLS Wrap appears every Monday during the Major League Soccer season.
    Rudi Schuller contributes Toronto FC, MLS, and Canadian national team content to the 24th Minute. He is MLSsoccer.com's beat writer for all things concerning Canada's men's national teams, and has contributed to Goal.com and other soccer media. Follow Rudi on Twitter, @RudiSchuller.
    Guest

    Second half MLS standings

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Much of the focus on both TFC and Vancouver now is on how both clubs finished 2011 stronger than they started. It’s especially the case with Toronto, which finished the season with a profoundly different team than it started with.
    How good was the final half of the season for the Canadian team within the context of MLS? Find out below the jump.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Teams are ranked by points per game from Aug 1 to the end of the season. The results exclude non-MLS play.
    The columns from left to right are wins, loses, draws, points per game, and projected points over 34 games
    1 - Seattle – 8-2-1-2.27 – 77
    2 - Los Angeles – 7-3-1 -2.0 – 68
    3 - Chicago – 7-3-3-1.84 – 63
    3 - Kansas City – 7-3-3-1.84 – 63
    5 - Houston – 6-2-4-1.83 – 62
    6 - Salt Lake – 7-6-2-1.53 – 52
    7 - Colorado – 5-3-3-1.5 -- 51
    8 - New York – 4-3-4-1.45 – 49
    8 – Portland – 5-4-5-1.42 -- 49
    10 -Toronto – 3-2-4-1.4 – 48
    11 - Chivas – 2-6-4-1.2 – 40
    12 - San Jose – 3-4-6-1.15 – 39
    13 - Columbus – 4-7-1-1.08 – 37
    13 - Vancouver – 4-7-1-1.08 – 37
    15 - Philly – 3-3-8- 1.06 – 36
    16 - DC United – 3-7-4 – 0.92 – 32
    17 - Dallas – 3-8-1 – 0.83 – 28
    18 - New England – 1-7-4-0.58 – 20
    Based on the second half projections Toronto is a playoff team – just. The Reds would have finished in the final wildcard spot and would have traveled to Colorado for a one off game. TFC would have been solidly mid-table.
    Vancouver would have not been in the mix for the playoffs, but would have been far from the worst team.
    So, there is some reason for hope – TFC’s point per game ranking steadily went up and they appeared to be getting stronger – but there is still work to be done.
    Guest

    MLSE not interested in WPS

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    A rumour circulated yesterday -- really it was the rehashing of a rumour that first emerged in August -- that suggested that Toronto was one of several cities interested in bringing a WPS team to the city.
    In an interview with Examiner.com Philadelphia Independence owner David Halstead said that WPS "(was) talking to a number of markets that are interested in coming to WPS and some of those markets are MLS markets."
    He went on to single out Seattle, Dallas, Toronto, Portland and Vancouver as the MLS markets that were most likely to make a jump to the league.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    That led some to speculate that MLSE, the owners of TFC, were interested in a women's team to cross brand with the Reds. That model is what the Whitecaps, who have publically indicated a desire to have a women's team play in the highest level possible, plan to use.
    However, sources inside MLSE say that is unlikely. In fact, they confirm that "there are no current plans to purchase a WPS franchise."
    The source went on to say that there may be a third party in the city interested in bringing professional women’s soccer to the city, but that they had no inside information as to who that might be.
    ,
    Guest
    It’s becoming an annual tradition in Toronto. Around Halloween, TFC fans start the debate wondering what to do about those damn Reds.
    Despite still strong popularity and financial muscle that 90 per cent of MLS teams could only dream of, TFC has arguably been the worst team in league history so far (the trophy-less New York MetroBulls likely edge them out, but it’s undoubtedly bleak). Dramatic changes have been called for at the end of each year and, for the most part, they have occurred.
    As CSN reported earlier this year, TFC has reached the 100 player landmark faster than any other club in league history and it broke the single season record for player appearances in 2011. To use a cliché, the only consistent thing about TFC has been its inconsistency.
    And here we are again. In the season ending press conference both Paul Mariner and Aron Winter talked about how there was still work to be done and that there would be more changes to come. They are right – to a point. TFC does need to improve in a few key areas, but there should also be a clear message sent to the front office.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    DON’T PANIC!
    If you look at the blueprint of every successful MLS team you’ll find a similarity. The core of the championship teams has typically remained in place for several years. The nature of the league is that you will move several pieces each year, but those pieces are generally the plumbers, not the stars.
    At the start of 2011, TFC committed itself to Aron Winter’s vision. He’s been consistent in saying that he needs three years to fully fulfill that vision. TFC management, fans, coaches and players must remain true to that plan now. There can be no deviation and no moves of desperation. The changes Winter makes this off-season must not tamper with the core he started to put together this year. If TFC is to become a championship team by 2013 (as Winter has said is his goal), at least 7 or 8 players that played key roles at the end of 2011 must be playing key roles in 2013.
    Who are those players?
    How about Danny Koevermans, Torsten Frings, Joao Plata, Eric Avila, Ashtone Morgan, Doneil Henry and one of Milos Kocic or Stefan Frei. If Julian de Guzman wants to commit to Toronto for $200-300,000 then add him to the list.
    That’s your untouchables. Clearly, it’s an incomplete list – it’s still missing a centreback and a true No 10 would need
    to be added to make this team a true contender. It’s also not the best seven players right now – remember this is a 2013 projection, not a 2011 reality.
    You can nitpick the specific players, but the idea remains the same. Identify your core, commit to them and build around them.
    And it might not work. Chances are it won’t actually – if winning championships were easy everyone would do it. What’s important is that you are giving yourself the best chance to win and up until now TFC has not done that.
    So...
    DON’T PANIC!
    Guest
    Dwayne DeRosario is what most people would call a "mercurial" athlete. Occasionally brilliant, occasionally maddening, sometimes confounding but indisputably talented. His late-career renaissance -- claiming the MLS Golden Boot, and possibly the league MVP award, despite playing for three different teams in 2011 -- has cemented his status as one of the greatest Canadian players of all time.
    So what does the player sometimes derisively known as "MeRo" think of the prospect that his unlikely year could be capped off by winning the league's top individual award?
    "To win it would be quite huge, not just for me, but for the Canadian kids aspiring to play professional soccer," he said on Friday. It would be a "huge boost" for the game in Canada, showing youngsters (particularly those in disadvantaged areas like the part of Scarborough, Ont. where DeRosario grew up) that "you can do it ... regardless of what your situation is, you can overcome it."
    Whatever his past issues for club and country may have been, it certainly seems as though DeRosario is intent on absolutely maximizing whatever amount of playing time he has left... for both club(s) and country.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    "Hopefully I'll have a couple more seasons like this," the 33-year-old said. "Every year I want to improve, I want to get better ... and it'll be no different next year."
    Given his fitness regimen and durability, it's not out of the realm of possibility. And that bodes well not just for whichever MLSers he lines up beside in 2012, but for the men's national team as they push toward the dream of the 2014 World Cup.
    "Very positive," he said, when asked about the mood in the Canadian camp thus far. "We're looking forward to getting business done this next round and moving on."
    Canada needs a mere single point against St. Kitts and Nevis in two matches next month to clinch a spot in next summer's third round of World Cup qualifying. And while advancement is all but assured, DeRosario echoed the positive sentiments of many when it comes to the squad's second-round grouping with St. Kitts, St. Lucia and Puerto Rico.
    "While we're playing those teams, other teams are playing international friendlies and they're also getting together," he said. "This is an opportunity for us to get ready for the tougher rounds.
    "It gives not only us as players an opportunity to get a feel for each other ... but also gives our coaching staff an opportunity to implement the way they want us to play ... It's a good platform for us to play with each other and build for the future."
    While the competition has been easy (save for the frustrating 0-0 draw with Puerto Rico at BMO Field on Oct. 11), the travel -- as always -- has been tough for a team with players based across North America and in Europe.
    "It does take a toll on the body," DeRosario said of the travel, noting that players with teams on North America's west coast can sometimes travel as far as those based in Europe to get to Canada's games. "(But) once you get into the camp and you're with the guys and start playing, you overcome all that physical and mental stress."
    With all three home World Cup qualifiers in this round being played at BMO Field, some have worried about the team perhaps never leaving the alleged "national soccer stadium". Supporters have been wringing their hands for months over the location(s) of Canada's three home dates in the next round, wondering whether the players' supposed aversion to travel and desire to play on grass would severely limit venue options (possibly to a single spot -- Toronto).
    And having mentioned the stress of excessive travel, you may think the born-and-bred Toronto boy would be fully supportive of playing all of Canada's World Cup qualifiers at BMO Field in 2012, right? Not exactly.
    "It's important for us as a whole, in terms of developing as a country in the world of football, I think it's very important that we first and foremost narrow down a passionate home base, wherever that may be," said DeRosario, when asked what he as a player prioritized when it came to venue selection.
    "Right now, Toronto has a great support for the (national team) and everyone seems to enjoy playing there, but I don't think any of us as players mind where we play in Canada. We just want the backing of a strong home support ... (It's important to develop a) good, passionate home environment in Canada where, when we go play at home against teams, it can really be a distraction and pose a threat to the opposing team... We face that everywhere we go, so it would be nice to have that same environment in Canada."
    Go where the fans will want you. Makes sense. After his cheque-signing stunt in 2010, it seemed DeRo wore out his welcome in Toronto (though many of the TFC faithful have fully forgiven him), and never caught on with Red Bulls fans since they don't exist... but in D.C., he found a supportive environment that let him finish a truly remarkable season in the way that he has.
    "The fans took to me, they showed me a lot of support ... It made things off the field a lot more easy, but it was definitely a difficult year.
    "Once I'm on the field, that's where my heart and passion is."
    These days, he's showing it, as he marches toward breaking Dale Mitchell's all-time scoring record of 19 goals for Canada (DeRosario sits on 18). Incidentally, Mitchell was Canada's head coach during the disastrous 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign, in which DeRosario (and a number of other players) openly revolted, leading some to question whether the man of the chicken-dance goal celebration would ever suit up for Canada again.
    But under head coach Stephen Hart, he's been reborn. Clearly something has lit a spark in DeRosario, whether it's a genuine desire to serve as a role model for young, first-generation Canadians in similar upbringings to the one he had, or the hope of finally landing a big-money designated player contract in D.C. or elsewhere. Whatever his motivation, his on-field performance and leadership will be crucial for a Canadian squad still trying to incorporate up-and-comers into the mix.
    "(It's) very important to help develop the future and let them experience what it's like playing in Central America and wearing your national team jersey," he said. "The future definitely looks bright for Canadian soccer ... If we can continue to get the results and develop in a positive way."
    Ah, the big, ever-present if.
    Perhaps DeRosario claiming an MVP award would ignite that flame within youngsters across the nation. More likely, though, a berth in the World Cup would be the biggest boost possible for the sport.
    And whether or not that's possible rests largely on which Dwayne DeRosario shows up in red and white over the next two years.
    .
    Guest
    Perhaps it’s because I’m a child of the Internet, but the holder of the World Cup rights in this country has never meant that much to me. I tend to skip pre-game shows and use half time for a bathroom break/beer run, and the game commentary tends to be the pre-fab international feed with its assortment of b-list commentators anyway (I often cheated and watched ESPN’s 2010 World Cup coverage online when I had the opportunity, particularly for the US Algeria game with delerious results). Unlike European football television rights in this country which force viewers to meander through an interminable maze of endless channel packages, World Cups tend to be “on the TV” one way or another.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Bell Media has won the rights this time around, beating out traditional World Cup hosts the CBC (if you want a reason to smash your face on your desk, read Bruce Dowbiggin’s typically idiotic take). That means a lot of cross-channel, cross-platform promotion. Fine, whatever. But the decision however does bother me, but not for any political allegiance to the Mothercorp. Rather, it’s the blow to CBC’s involvement in Canadian online soccer journalism.
    The last bastion of national, mainstream Canadian online soccer coverage comes from television networks providing content as a draw for their sports properties. If I’m honest, the CBC was the best of a bad bunch, with several standout voices like Pedro Mendes and Jason de Vos. Despite persistent rumours to the contrary I respect what John Molinaro does, but it was telling that Rogers Sportsnet poached him as part of their rebranding. Molinaro tends to do “straight” sports writing—match reports, player interviews—while de Vos does the kind of Canadian state of the union commentary on the unsexy and non-sports blathery governance and player development issues you can’t find in any other nationwide platform.
    Mendes on the other hand started something interesting and unique with his Soccernation podcast, the kind of show few other broadcasters would attempt. Smart, provocative, yet still eager to reach a non-hardcore audience interested in the game in this country, his short minidocs were something special. As the CBC drops soccer coverage and moves on to other projects, and so will Pedro.
    My point is Bell and Rogers, who between them have basically conquered the TV soccer market, have so far maintained the status quo when it comes to Canadian footy news, which is to hang the load on one or two interesting voices (Butler, Wileman at TSN for example) and fill the rest of the space with AP reports. CBC wasn’t much different, but there was a concerted effort to report on Canadian soccer as a whole beyond TFC and MLS. As of writing, for example, neither TSN nor Rogers front pages feature any news at all on the Canadian women winning the gold medal match against Brazil in the Pan Am games.
    With no incentive to invest in covering the game in Canada left, there are now doubts over whether the CBC will continue to provide original, Canada-focused online news content (national newspapers here long gave up covering this beat). I know, I know; from a broadcaster’s perspective, who gives a shit? From a hardcore fan’s perspective, there are plenty of other better options, like CSN. But the principle that Canadian mainstream sports media should cover all aspects of the Canadian sport— including soccer, which, contrary to Dowbiggin is not just the sport of Yuppies and the “multi-ethnic” crowd (whatever the fuck that means)—has now pretty much flatlined, while the MSM practice of carving up anything that's not hockey in this country into niche sport news ghettos continues unabated.
    Guest
    It wasn't the prize they had dreamed of. It wasn't the way they'd thought of doing it. And it wasn't the coach they could have imagined they'd do it for.
    But after 12 bizarre, tumultuous months in which a new approach and on-field momentum turned into unprecedented hype and hope, a year when a cult-forming coach turned players into pawns ahead of a World Cup meltdown and an unceremonious return to whence she came, and a year in which clutch goals (and a broken nose) finally brought Christine Sinclair into the mainstream sporting consciousness... finally, this.
    Gold at the Pan Am Games for the women's national team, with a gut-churning victory on penalty kicks over Brazil. It's not the pinnacle of achievement. But it is a measure of redemption after the ignominy that was Germany 2011.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Now, at the risk of pissing in the team's newly-won Corn Flakes, let's just remember that the Pan Am Games are a regional tournament in which the powerhouse Americans didn't participate. Canada (#9) was the second-highest ranked team in the competition, behind the third-ranked Brazilians -- who were missing all-world star Marta. And, had it not been for a handful of critical saves from Karina LeBlanc (including two in the penalty shootout), chances are the Canadians wouldn't have been the ones hearing their anthem played in Guadalajara following the final.
    That's all out of the way, yeah? Okay, then. Ahem.
    GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD, SUCKAS.
    Right, now, back to the ostensibly unbiased reportage (provided by the fellow who was booted off of Twitter for exceeding hourly limits, after providing a surplus of such top-shelf observations as "I just swallowed my pancreas. Brazil came close" and "Seriously, if these Brazilians wanna keep going down like bags of bricks, someone oughta hit them with one"). #navelgazing
    The game itself was hardly an advertisement for the sport of soccer, though that's largely attributable to the grotesque five-games-in-10-days schedule imposed upon the players. In many cases, first touches were sloppy, passes went nowhere with greater-than-usual frequency and the pace of the game left something to be desired. But in case it needs repeating (it doesn't, but here goes anyway): Five games in 10 days.
    Still, Big Red dug deep in a traditionally Canadian way (which is to say with grit, determination and all sorts of other euphemisms for a "piss off, get out of my way, I'm going to find a way to win" mentality) and stayed strong despite a fourth-minute golazo from some Brazilian jerk whose name I won't look up. While Brazil was always a threat on the counterattack, Canada retained the majority of possession throughout, even if there was trouble (and there was) converting that possession into legitimate scoring opportunities.
    Once more: Five games in 10 days.
    Sinclair, as she does, scored a dramatic late goal as if it were nothing. Yeah, that's 119 total now. A few minutes left in the game, beat the keeper on a high ball, head it home, send game to extra time. Ho hum. She had a gilt-edged chance to win the whole thing in OT too but, once more, five ga--- yeah, you get it.
    As for other individual performances, the starting fullback pair of Robyn Gayle (buoyed, no doubt, by scoring her first-ever goal for Canada in the semifinal win over Colombia) and Lauren Sesselmann (settling in quite nicely to the Canadian setup -- too bad she's 28) held things down at both ends of the field, while Sophie "The Engine" Schmidt made her presence felt (as she tends to do) in the midfield once she came on a second-half sub.
    All in all, a heart-stopping performance witnessed by whatever number of people were dedicated enough to find some quasi-legal online stream, hilariously narrated in a language most Canadian followers couldn't understand. That's life as a Canadian soccer supporter in a nutshell, actually.
    So, what did we learn? What does this mean? What's next?
    Well, head coach John Herdman got a pretty good idea of what he's working with. Canada built up some momentum (dangerously misleading as that can be) ahead of the Olympic qualifying tournament being held in Vancouver in January. And as for what's next... what, you missed the last sentence? Olympic qualifying tournament in Vancouver in January.* If you're able to get out to B.C. Place and support the team, do it!
    Now, looking ahead to the 2012 Olympics or (gasp) even the 2015 World Cup... well, if nothing else, the last 12 months have taught us not to get too caught up in making predictions. Just get out on the field, put in the hard work and hope for the best.
    And sometimes, you'll get it.
    *Yeah, there's a closed-door friendly against Sweden somewhere in the U.S. in late November. But whatevs.
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