MLS schedulemaker puts the pressure on Toronto FC 20 Dec 2010 The team still has an interim coach and interim general manager. But the heat on Toronto FC was turned up when MLS released its First Kick schedule Monday. As was widely expected, TFC kicks off its season in Vancouver against the Whitecaps on March 19. The game is exactly what CBC, which would love to expand its reach for soccer broadcasts, would need to create a new national brand that shows that it could create a soccer broadcasting franchise built on the Hockey Night in Canada model. The next week, Toronto FC returns to BMO Field to welcome the Portland Timbers for the home opener.
A World Cup in January? Now that’s an idea worth pursuing 20 Dec 2010 While the rotten smell left behind by the voting process for the 2018 and, especially, the 2022 World Cups is still strong in FIFA’s Swiss headquarters, there is one bit of good coming out of the Qatar bid. And that’s the continuing rumblings that the tournament will have to be held in January — to give the players and fans a reprieve from the Qatari summers, where temperatures regularly soar past 40 C. Because, once and for all, it would smash the notion of the “international calendar,” a large truck of snake oil that has been pushed onto the world’s footballing community by rich, European clubs.
Sinclair proves again that she deserves to be in Marta’s company 20 Dec 2010 When FIFA names the winner of the female World Player of the Year, Christine Sinclair doesn’t even have to bother going to the ceremony. Marta, her teammate with the 2010 WPS champion FC Gold Pride, will likely walk away with her fifth win in a row. And, FIFA has already stated that the other two contenders for the award are …