And the award goes to ...

Hey I already used this title! Damn. Zero points for originality. But this time it's the most important one yet. That's right the amazing last place trophy (AKA BUTT TROPHY) goes to our main man, Don Garber. Donnie had an amazing week pushing MLS above and beyond top notch credibility not only here in North America but all over the world. First, as mentioned earlier, looks like Beckham will be returning for ... 13 games? WTF. Then, Barcelona has withdrawn their bid for a franchise. And to top it all off, shunned, spurned, unable to meet the requirements (you know, average 10,000 fans a game and play on a football/baseball field) Montreal draws over 50,000 for their Champions League game. I don't really know what to say about all this ... oh wait yes I do.

Let's not get too deep into the whole Beckham thing. I could devote an entire blog to this crap. Regardless MLS looks like complete fools in this situation. I am pretty sure the only reason why MLS wants him back is because of obligations they must have made with sponsors/investors. This whole thing is such a bust - they created a salary cap rule for this guy! That has screwed every team that has tried to use it! The one thing I'm most pissed about is he's finishing the season at AC Milan, and gets 6 weeks off, thus missing the Toronto game. Dammit. Then he will play a total of 13 games? What is the point??? I guess I can see it. So he has to pay out his contract, which, now that I think of it, will be way more then they'd ever get from AC Milan for his transfer.



Now we have the Miami/Barcelona bid dropping out - possibly because of our man Beckham! That's right, the valuation of entrance into MLS ($40 million) must factor in David Beckham. I mean, look at the attendance averages over the last two years - they are respectable but if you take out the games Beckham played they are significantly lower. So Barcelona (and Montreal) aren't morons and can see that this price is waaaay too high. Not to mention, this bizzaro little tidbit that MLS is sponsored by Adidas and Barca is 100% NIKE! BAAAARRRRFFFFF. Yes looks like Galeano is not far off when lamenting how the game is now all about brands and not about nations, teams, players, etc ...

And last but not least we have the city I love ... ok fine ... the city whose women I love. No for real I love Montréal. The team that "could not meet the requirements" draws over 50,000 for a match where if all goes well, will get another huge home game in the near future. When you break it down and look at it seriously, $40 million is so ridiculous and for the marketability and credibility of the league it's really unfortunate that concessions could not be made for a city and franchise that clearly has strong local support. Unfortunately Don Garber reminds me of Gary Bettman. If a team ponies up the cash, fuck, we could have a team in North Dakota! With dollar signs in his eyes, let's bend MLS over and take it from Beckham, or Barcelona who wanted to put a team in one of the worst sports markets in the United States.

Wow that was some rant. I was supposed to write a book review tonight! But I couldn't help myself. These three things are all too glaring to ignore. Make no mistake I love TFC and MLS but hey, I love hockey too but it's clear Bettman is a Grade A douchebag, and has fucked the NHL over so bad with idiotic cash grabbing franchises that it's backfiring in the worst way now.

Eff Beckham, and let's bring in players who aren't here to retire, eff Barcelona and bring in franchises that have devoted fans not one owner with $40 million.