"It was just the bounce of the ball just didn't quite roll into the back of the net," said striker Jeremy Brockie. "It was one of those days when we had by far the more chances and we probably should've won there."

Beating Houston in normal soccer weather would be difficult enough. But when its 30-31 C at kickoff, with humidity hovering around 80 per cent, the Dynamo’s home-field advantage is exaggerated. Sure, it gets that warm in Toronto in the summer, but BBVA Compass Stadium has a very special way of holding in the heat at field level.

Toronto FC's late-game breakdowns have reached a new level of deja vu — not only are the late concessions continuing, it's even the same opponents who are scoring.

Kevin Payne took over as Toronto FC’s general manager and president so close to the MLS SuperDraft and the start of the 2013 preseason, that he didn’t have much time to design a grand plan for the club.

Cesar, though, at 34, is just one year younger than his coach, Ryan Nelsen. The team already has Torsten Frings, who is 36. Striker Eric Hassli turns 32 this spring. Danny Koevermans is 34. Midfielder Terry Dunfield is 30. Central defender Danny Califf is 32.

Like a good neighbour, Justin Braun is there.

By standing pat on its collection of DPs, Toronto FC’s front office has, in fact, decided to play craps.

With the Reds being just a single point from being officially eliminated from the MLS playoff race, the club announced Wednesday that Frings will need hip surgery and will miss the rest of the season. He joins Danny Koevermans, who is out with a torn knee.

Nixing the deal was the right thing. Worrying about who made the call to kill the deal is like being watching kindergarten kids who each scream “he started it!” It’s beneath us, really, isn’t it?

Of the 22 goals TFC has scored this year, Koevermans has eight of them (and added one assist). So, the team has scored just 13 goals in 19 games that Koevermans did not have a part in.