In another universe...or Chad goes north...

Ok, I am in a strange place mentally today.

Imagine that Toronto FC had instantly become the Barcelona of MLS and everything they had ever done had turned into football gold. Expansion draft day arrives for Montreal and their leadership says we must pick up all the ex-TFC players that we can, since their castoffs might still have some of the Toronto magic to them. Here goes-
Remember Montreal is allowed to pick 10 players in the draft and only one player per team.
Andy Boyens from Chivas USA
Dan Gargan (or Jon Conway) from Chicago
Carl Robinson (or Greg Sutton) from New York
Pat Phelan from New England
Maicon Santos from Dallas
Jeff Cunningham from Columbus
Tyrone Marshall from Colorado (they protected Joseph Nane)
Hunter Freeman from Houston
Chad Barrett from LA Galaxy
Kevin Goldthwaite from Portland
(there would still be Nana Attakora or Jacob Peterson - San Jose, O'Brian White - Seattle,)
There you have it, an all ex TFC expansion draft. The chances that any of these players will be selected by Montreal ? I would have to say slim.

TFC expansion protection list 2011

 Protected
Avila, Eric -TFC seems high on him, not sure myself 
Dunfield, Terry – on list, JDG off, suspect something 
Eckersley, Richard -young, energetic, potential and skill and fan fave 
Frei, Stefan (GK) - team foundation 
Frings, Torsten -team foundation DP 
Harden, Ty- salary cap bargain 
Iro, Andy- size and left foot? 
Johnson, Ryan- TFC weak in scoring, need his skill 
Kocic, Milos (GK) – too young/experienced to risk 
Koevermans, Danny - team foundation DP 
Plata, Joao - young, energetic, potential and skill and fan fave 


  Unprotected 
Borman, Danleigh - no surprise, TFC days numbered 
Bouchiba, Elbekay - injury comeback makes him tough to pick 
Cann, Adrian - injury comeback makes him tough pick or MTL=Canadian 
Davies, Kyle - mystery man, never saw him play 
de Guzman, Julian - I thought we had to protect DP? If MTL takes I suspect it is part of a deal… 
Gold, Matt – too much bench player to protect 
Griffit, Leandre mystery man, never saw him play 
Marosevic, Peri he might be a worthy pick 
 Martina, Javier – no surprise, TFC days numbered 
Omphroy, Demitrius - he might be a worthy pick, if only to trade back to TFC 
Soolsma, Nick - he might be a worthy pick, if only to trade back to TFC 
Sturgis, Nathan - he might be a worthy pick 
Viator, Eddy - mystery man, barely saw him play 
Williams, Dicoy - injury comeback makes him tough to pick 
Yourasskowsky, Mikael – no surprise, TFC days numbered 
Zavarise, Gianluca - too much bench player to protect

MLS Cup 2011 pre game musings

Here I sit watching television and waiting for coverage of the 2011 MLS Cup to start. I am hoping that Americans have a pregame show to watch. TSN2 is showing a heart wrenching documentary about a former basketball player who battles serious addiction problems. A worthy show I am sure, but hardly designed to get your mind into a "big game" mode.... Remember that a year ago we were sitting down at BMO watching Colorado defeat Dallas? I do recall thinking that 2010 would be the last time that the MLS Cup playoffs would be Toronto free. So much for that bright idea. On one hand I am critical of how low profile the MLS Cup is. Playing the game in late November does seem to be pushing the event into a season beyond soccer. On the other hand most North American sports end at an odd time. NHL and NBA collide with summer, Baseball leaves summer far behind at the World Series and then there is the Super Bowl in the dark depths of February.... Mr. Muscle Arms is the ref, I am not a big fan of his. Then again what MLS ref would please me?