Because Designated Players take up such a large chunk of a team’s salary-capped budget, conventional thinking is that an MLS club can either spread the wealth and have depth, or invest in star players but accept the consequences of having a thin roster. But, Toronto FC General Manager Tim Bezbatchenko is trying to prove that a team can have the best of both worlds

Critics will point to Toronto FC’s 2014 campaign as the most high-profile failure in the franchise’s history — and that’s saying something. Apologists will point to the strides the team made despite missing the playoffs — again. So, is the glass half-empty or half-full for MLS’s poster boys for futility?

The Defoe/Gilberto/Michael Bradley Designated-Player push was Toronto FC’s final chance to convince the season-ticket base that things had changed. So, no matter what TFC does this off-season, the theme song for fans will be the Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”

Oh, hell with pussyfooting around it. It was more like trying to watch a long-term alcoholic try to stay sober, despite being surrounded by temptation.

And the question will be, if Leiweke is chewed up by the Toronto sports cauldron, who could take the job without being a well-paid yes-man? Thanos, maybe?

If you were to review the finale of the 2014 Amway Canadian Championship, you might liken it to the final season of Dexter. The bizarre final episode of Seinfeld.

In 2007, BMO Field opened its doors as Canada’s national soccer stadium. The feds, the province and the city all kicked in money to make the dream of a soccer stadium a reality. Later, the artificial turf was ripped out and replaced by green, green grass. But, as deal with the CFL Argonauts inches closer and closer to completion, we wonder: Is a truly soccer-specific stadium a myth in a multipurpose world?