Snark break ...

(Please omit flowers for the Montreal Impact. Canadian soccer teams always being the scrappy underdog is so little for the mind ... but they came so close.)

There is a method to the madness of the CFL legalizing the Wildcat formation: Based on last season, the Argos should have the quarterback handling the ball as little as possible.

It's good to see the single point we know and love will be spared. It might be universally regarded as an award for failure, but that's Canada at its essence. Thank your lucky stars for that, eh, John Tory?

Say whatever you want about Terrell Owens, but four quarterbacks have thrown 30 touchdown passes in a season with him, and only one of them ever did it without him, Hall of Famer Steve Young. Granted, it's better for ESPN when the Dallas Cowboys are stupid. (Fist bump: Pacifist Viking.)

Ontario Hockey League commissioner David Branch said this week the recession is having "no significant impact on the league." For instance, the Kingston Frontenacs will sell as many playoff tickets as they did last season.

That's not a cheap shot when you consider that the Frontenacs tried to blame their attendance on the recession, despite the fact most season tickets were paid in full before the Dow took a dump.

Thank you, Cox Bloc: We want Sean Avery. We need Sean Avery.

Lastly, one for The Tao of Stieb: It's a sad commentary on the state of Canadian literacy that so many have heard Prime Time Sports regular James Deacon on the radio, but never read one of his columns.

This post is worth nothing, but this is worth noting

• The MLB Network is getting rave reviews, which perfectly explains why it could never get carriage in Canada.
  
• Twitter is bad, very bad. Go tweet that to all of your followers.
• Ottawa native Chris Bisson, a sophomore shortstop at the University of Kentucky, is on the Canadian Baseball Network's 2010 draft list.
• The economy is bad, Ken Griffey is back in Seattle, it's pretty much like the early '90s, so perfect time for all four Seinfeld actors to reunite.
  
  (In the old days, this would have inspired a Top 5, but turns out ESPN.com did the best Seinfeld sports moments almost five years ago.

The final stand of '08

The last competitive soccer game of the year involving a pro Canadian team takes place tonight in Mexico. The Montreal Impact will look to wrap up first place in their CONCACAF Champions League group against Atlante.

Regardless of the result, Montreal is, unexpectedly, through to the quarterfinals of the competition. However, if the Impact lose they will ,most likely draw a Mexican side in the quarters. A win or a tie tonight and Montreal has a chance to draw Puerto Rico, Houston or Luis Angel Firpo. Those teams are beatable. It's unclear whether anyone, other than Costa Rica's Deportivo Saprissa, is going to touch the Mexican teams once they start to play first teamers.

The quarters will be tough on all the northern teams (and those like Puerto Rico that play in northern leagues) as they will be out of season and they may not even have the same line-ups.

But, that's for another day. Today, Montreal fans have one more game to look forward to.

Cross posted to The 24th Minute.

More evidence that I don't know what the hell I'm talking about

So much for Montreal embarrassing themselves in the CONCACAF Champions League. With tonight's 4-1 win over Trinidad's Joe Public they pretty much wrapped up a spot in the quarterfinals, which will take place in February.

Full credit to the USL side. They have been playing effective soccer throughout the tournament and the Canadian qualifying (I'll resist pointing out that the Impact didn't actually beat TFC for now. They went through on the strength of two wins against Vancouver and stealing a point against the Reds on the final match day. I guess I didn't resist, did I?).

Meanwhile it's been a tough go of it for MLS teams (although Toronto's Dwayne DeRosario scored the winner last night for Houston to keep them alive in the competition). Part of it is that the league still puts most of its focus on winning the MLS Cup and teams are putting their energy towards the league title--reserves have dressed for many of the CCL games. But, that's just part of it. What the results have shown is that although MLS teams are generally better than USL teams in those 1 to 11 spots, it gets pretty blurry after that. Middle of the road players can make more money and have a bigger role on in the USL, so they often just stay.

Before making the argument that Montreal and Vancouver might be better off staying in the USL, where they aren't restricted by MLS salary cap and roster size rules, keep in mind that this is a small sample size. Over the past 10 years MLS teams have gotten the better of their USL opponents in about 80 per cent of the games that they have played against each other.

But, none of that matters to Montreal now. Nor, should it. The Impact can fully focus on preparing for the home and home this winter (and do you not think there might be a bit of a home advantage for Montreal against an opponent that will almost certainly be from Central America). And its fans can enjoy the ride.

Edit - DeRo's goal is at 4:37 below. It's worth a watch:

MLS Expansion watch: The Vegas factor - Is relocation the way for more Canadian teams in MLS?

The Columbus Crew are the best team in MLS this season. They may also be headed out of town, relocated to Las Vegas as part of MLS' continued tinkering to get the league to the next level. As outlined in the linked article, Columbus has always been the forgotten one when it comes to the league. Crew fans feel unappreciated by a league that would seemingly rather force a second team into the New York market--even though the first team there barely draws--than help the top team stay in a small market.

It probably isn't fair. OK, it undoubtedly isn't fair, but it 's the way MLS swings. It picked up and left San Jose for Houston just a year removed from that team's second MLS Cup (and they have since won two more and are the favourite to three-peat in seven week's time).

It begs the question. If MLS is open to relocation provided that the right investors and market are in place--and it sure seems like they are--then why shouldn’t those Canucks interested in bringing teams to their respective cities save themselves the $40 million expansion fee and cut to the chase of buying up a struggling team? It appears the casino folks have their eye on the most obvious candidate, but it's unclear who in Kansas City would notice if the Wiz were to leave town. Denver has never really taken for this whole soccer thing. And who knows how long Salt Lake can sustain interest after the novelty of a new stadium (which opens this Thursday) is gone.

Harsh? You bet, but if Ottawa, Montreal and Vancouver are serious about joining Toronto then they may want to start putting feelers out to see what American investors are out there looking to get out of the soccer game.

Four Canadian MLS teams by 2011? In the post sub-prime mortgage American world it's not all that absurd of a thought.

I'm not prepared to make another Impact pun here

Arguably for the first time in the competition, the Montreal Impact entered last night’s CONCACAF Champions League game as a clear favourite. And, they lived up to the billing. The Impact were easy 2-0 winners over minnow Joe Public of Trinidad and Tobago.

Montreal’s win was the second by an USL-1 team in two days. On Tuesday, Puerto Rico defeated Panama side Tauro FC 2-1. Meanwhile MLS sides are struggling. With D.C. United’s 2-0 loss to Costa Rician power Deportivo Saprissa on Tuesday, the league’s record fell to 0-4-1 in the competition (and that’s not counting Toronto’s 1-1-2 record in Canadian qualifying against entirely USL competition).

Joe Public had the most shocking result against MLS teams in the previous round, when is won 6-1 on aggregate against New England.

The results are causing many fans of the league to worry. What does it mean? What will the league need to do to improve moving forward? Does anyone really like us?

It isn’t causing the same concerns with the teams themselves, who barely seem interested. With a packed fixture list and restrictive roster rules that don’t allow MLS sides to carry any type of true depth, teams are required to make choices. Some competitions get thrown to the side so that the full focus can be put on other ones. In the MLS, teams are almost always going to focus on the MLS Cup.

It’s possible that Houston might save the day for the league. Certainly the two-time MLS champions are best placed to do so, especially after the Mexican team in their group, UNAM Pumas, dropped points yesterday. Having won back-to-back titles, it’s possible that Houston might view this competition as a more appropriate challenge.

There is no such debate going on in Montreal, where the CCL is clearly the focus. It’s going to get much tougher moving forward, with Mexican side Atlante up next and a solid Honduran team Olimpia. If Atlante takes it seriously, the Impact are unlikely to have a chance. However, if they play a near perfect game there is a chance against the Hondurans. MLS teams have defeated Olimpia in the past, after all.

Canada’s other two pro teams are still playing, of course, albeit in less sexy competition. TFC can’t be mathematically eliminated this weekend, but if the Reds lose to Kansas City they will likely fall more than six points back of the final playoff sport. If that happens, with just five more games left, it’s pretty much over (if they win, however…)

Vancouver, with a 14-7-8 record, has clinched a playoff spot in the USL and can earn the top seed with a win (at Seattle) and if Puerto Rico loses its final two matches. They can finish no lower than second.

The Impact are also in the thick of the playoff battle in the USL. With a 12-11-5 record they have clinched a playoff spot and currently are in third place. They can secure the third place spot with a win at either Minnesota or at home against Puerto Rico. They can finish no lower than sixth.

The top seven teams make the playoffs in the USL, with the top seed receiving a bye through the first round. The other six teams play a home and home (2 v 7, 3 v 6 and 4 v 5) with the winners joing the top team in the semis.

The championship final is Oct 11.

Joe Public to feel Impact of Canadian soccer

All the excitement of the Ottawa MLS bid has distracted me from giving mention to the Montreal Impact, who kick off the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League tonight.

They play Trinidad's Joe Public, who upset the New England Revolution in the last round. It's pretty much a must win. The CBC is showing the next three Impact's games. Below the jump you can see the details.

Wed. Sep. 17 - 8:00 pm EST - Impact v Joe Public - live on CBC Bold (midnight local time on CBC)

Wed. Sep. 24 - 8:00 pm EST - Impact v Atlante - live on CBC Bold (midnight local time on CBC)

Wed. Oct. 1 - 10:00 pm EST - CD Olimpia v Impact - live on CBC Bold (midnight local time on CBC)

Canadian soccer makes Impact in CONCACAF Champions League

The Montreal Impact continue to do just enough to advance in the CONCACAF Champions League, advancing to the group stage with a 0-0 draw against Nicaraguan champion Real Esteli yesterday. Montreal won the two game total goal series 1-0.

The game was held in Honduras because Nicaragua didn't have an appropriate venue (which says all you really need to know about the quality of Esteli).

Full credit to Montreal. They are playing within their limitations and playing smart--organized and disciplined. They will need to continue that way because the next round gets much tougher.

Although...

They caught a break when MLS' New England Revolution threw in the towel against the best named football team in the world, Trinidad's Joe Public FC. (More on the MLS teams later today...)

Joe Public will be joined by Mexica side Atlante FC and Honduran powerhouse Club Deportivo Olimpia in Montreal's group.

Atlante is likely the favourite to win the whole thing and Olimpia is a former CONCACAF champion that is annually involved in international competition.

The Impact will be hard pressed to finish in the top two in that group, but then again they weren't supposed to get by TFC either.

Regardless, Montreal did Canadian soccer a favour by adcancing to the group stage. Canada is only guranted a spot in the Champions League through to the end of the 2009-10 competition. Results were needed to hold onto that spot.