PR people have a dark sense of humour. With about 50 journalists, most on tight deadlines, waiting for David Beckham yesterday (and after they had started their press event 45 minutes late) in came the anti-Beckham.
Chad Barrett was introduced to the largest scrum of reporters he will likely ever see. Bemused, he took about 10 minutes of questions, many from entertainment reporters trying to be polite.
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However, within the pedantic there was some gold -- particularly as it related to the Dwayne De Rosario situation. Barrett was a very involved fly on the wall over the last year, so his perspective is worthwihile.
Asked whether he was surprised by the move, he answered "yes and no."
He stressed that DeRo was happy in Toronto and that his family was excited to have him here. However, he said something interesting about how De Rosario's strong personality might have fit in under the new leadership.
"I heard that Winter is a hardnosed guy," he said, "and I thought that they might butt heads a bit."
Saying that DeRo's contract dispute with management was "not (other players) concern, he did have some empathy to DeRo's position.
"God knows if they were going to pay someone the money it should be the guy putting up the numbers."
Ultimately Barrett said that he wanted to move on now that he was with the Galaxy. However, he also stressed that he didn't ask to be moved and would have been excited to play another year in Toronto.
"There was never great stability when I was here," he said. "I think that's why they brought Winter in."
Barrett is well aware of the love-hate relationship that many TFC fans have with him. For him, however, it's just a love-love thing.
"It will be interesting to see what the fan reaction will be," he said. "They'll probably call me a 'T.O. reject' - but that's just how it goes.
"It's fine," he added with a smirk on his face.