Let’s see. Mounds of dirty, heavily salted snow that turn Toronto sidewalks into giant oceans of slush even though it's several degrees below zero outside. Check. Maple Leaf fans clinging desperately to the fact their team is only six to 11 points out of a playoff spot with over 20 games left in the season. Check. A looming RRSP contribution deadline that causes millions of young Canadians to ponder momentarily whether the government will afford them the comfortable retirement their parents enjoy even though they intend to blow their tax refunds on a booze-soaked week in the Caribbean. Check.
Yes, it's mid-February alright, and that means the return of the Concacaf Champions League!
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MLS fans – and every other kind of soccer supporter north of the Mexico-U.S. border – recoil from this competition as if it answered a roommate-wanted ad on Craigslist and turned up covered with bedbug welts. But this year there is real incentive to pay attention. Real incentive in the form of Real Salt Lake, who meet the Columbus Crew in one quarter-final. The the winner goes on to play whichever of Honduras' Olimpia or Costa Rica's Saprissa is left standing. The four Mexican teams are lumped on the other side of the bracket, ensuring that for the first time in three years there will be at least one non-Mexican team in the final.
Whether an MLS team advancing deep in this tournament would juice its popularity of amongst U.S. soccer supporters (nevermind casual sports fans) is debatable. But for the past few years the the upper reaches of the Concacaf Champions League have essentially been a Mexican League Cup with some regional minnows thrown in for flavour. Nine of the previous 10 finalists have come from Mexico, with Saprissa losing the final in 2008. And if one of the Central American clubs were to outmuscled its MLS opponent in the semis it would at the very least enliven things for the geeks who'd watch anyway.
But the best reason for Canadians to follow this tournament suits up for Real Salt Lake tomorrow night in the form of Will Johnson. Should Real punch through to the semis as they seem favoured to do, Johnson earns a trip to either Costa Rica or Honduras. And any time a Canadian national team member flies to Central America and plays an important match the Canadian national team nicks a teeny bit more valuable experience for World Cup qualifying.
Check here for the full quarterfinal schedule.