You've got to feel sorry for Brian Ching and Davy Arnaud.
Not because they've been reassigned (in Ching's case, temporarily, most reckon) to Montreal -- since, really, among North American cities, it's tough to beat Montreal when it comes to pretty much any metric that makes life worth living. But Ching and Arnaud, over long tenures in Houston and Kansas City, respectively, had surely built up the sort of personal connections that make life worth living: family, friends and familiarity.
Sure, it may be naive for any athlete to think -- in this day and age of perpetual franchise "rebuilding" across all leagues -- that they've got a shot at having an extended, celebrated career in only one jersey. Still, when your perception of an athlete momentarily shifts away from "interchangeable widget" and towards "human being", Ching and Arnaud suddenly become worth of some sympathy.
And that, in a way, has already cast the Montreal Impact as an MLS villain. Frankly, it's a role that suits them -- and one they should relish.
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The club's iconoclasm starts with their much-ballyhooed new crest. Despite its intrinsically apolitical status as a provincial emblem, the fleur-de-lis can't help but stir passions in this country. Some in the "Rest of Canada" have a tendency to view the symbol not as a sign of mere provincial pride (a strong feeling that exists in every part of the nation... well, maybe not Ontario), but as a statement about the issue of Quebec sovereignty.
So, of course, it's plastered all over the Impact's logo.
Of course, the Quebec Nordiques used the fleur-de-lis on their jerseys for years. But that team played "Canada's game" in a league with eight Canadian franchises, two of which were based in Quebec. The Impact, meanwhile, are playing the world's game in a league with three Canadian teams wherein they are Quebec's sole standard-bearer.
They are, indeed, a distinct franchise within Major League Soccer.
Without wading too deeply into the intractable debates surrounding the subject matter, suffice to say that language and culture issues mean that even diehard federalists (inside and outside the province) can't deny that Quebec holds a bit of a different place within North America than the rest of Canada does.
So why wouldn't their MLS franchise do things a little differently?
The explosion of "MLS 2.0", as it's been dubbed, has meant plenty of fans in northern North America are clamouring to see their city represented at the highest domestic level, without necessarily giving due consideration to the existing structure that's allowed the league to operate long enough to become a desirable destination for footie fans on these shores.
And Montreal -- well, they've already shown they're willing to do things differently. So why not pry away Ching from his comfy home in Houston? Why not bring Arnaud north after a decade in K.C.? And if it runs afoul of the suits in Houston, K.C., New York or (ugh) Toronto -- well, so what?
Whether the Impact are shooting themselves in the foot and burning bridges with other teams remains to be seen. And, of course, these early moves could be the exception rather than the rule over the long term.
But thus far, the Impact are coming across as self-assured outsiders, unafraid to make waves if they believe it benefits their squad's chances.
So, is anyone that surprised?
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