Toronto - imo, no go WAS: [nas] Expansion banter

Couple of comments on Sean's piece.

--- Original Message ---
From: big_dog@fastmail.fm
>First, a caveat. Eventually I'd like to see MLS 
comprised of 20 clubs,
>using
>a single table, 38-match schedule identical to that 
of the English
>Premiership.

Why?  What is the fasination with the EPL when we have 
seen as recently as this week that such a system 
(which is exactly what WUSA had, btw) puts 
extraorginary and unnecessary strain on travel costs.

20 teams - yes.  Like the EPL?  Get over it.


Re: Toronto - generally, I don't have a huge problem 
with the idea except for this:

>And why Canada? If Toronto were to receive an MLS 
franchise, the league's
>rules governing foreign players rules currently in 
place could still
>apply.
>Except in this case, non-Canadians, including U.S. 
citizens, would be the
>foreign players. 
>

And why exactly would this be a good thing?  Let's 
basically have the Canadian national team playing in 
MLS.  Surely the Canadians don't need their egos 
stroked THAT much, do they?

Give them a team, expand the rules of MLS to allow US 
*OR* Canadian players for ALL teams - hence, a level 
playing field - and you have a viable team in Toronto, 
growth of MLS, more Canadian players get to play first 
division football (which, I admit, would be a good 
thing but hard without a similar system as Canada 
probably can't support more than four teams at best - 
even at the MLS level).

But give Toronto the advantage of playing most of 
Canada's best players, to the detriment of MLS?  Screw 
that noise.

I am all for the development of soccer outside the US, 
as long as it isn't at the detriment of the US 
development - at least now.  Let's get a bit farther 
down the road before we go out and bootstrap someone 
else.



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