In the end, I suppose it didn’t matter which Canadian city landed a Major League Soccer expansion franchise for 2011. The most important thing – for all of us – was not to get shut out.
But with the demise of Barcelona’s Miami flirtations – too much money in too-uncertain times – the beautiful city of Vancouver, British Columbia, is an all-but-mortal lock to land a team.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
And there’s deep justice in this, I think, because of the three Canadian cities that entered this hunt, billionaire owner Greg Kerfoot’s Vancouver Whitecaps are – by far – the most deserving.
What’s that? After praising the Montreal Impact up and down for months, the Knight kid is crossing over to the west side? Hey, I think it was a bold and nervy move for Impact owner Joey Saputo to try to haggle the price tag. $40 million (U.S.) is four times what Toronto FC paid to get in just three short little years ago.
Saputo gambled – but he lost.
Meanwhile, Kerfoot continued his dogged efforts to build – and pay for – his own soccer stadium on the Vancouver waterfront, hooked a crucial deal with the soon-to-be-renovated B.C. Place stadium as a backup, and landed much-loved NBA superstar Steve Nash as a public face and co-investor. Oh, and the Whitecaps bagged the USL-1 championship on the way by, just for kicks and giggles.
And Ottawa? Eugene Melnyk sprang up unexpectedly, with a cheque that might never get cashed, and gorgeous paintings of a stadium that will likely never be built. Hey, it’s the same route Toronto FC took, but who knows if it could work again for so much more money in a much smaller town?
And while the Impact continue to romp gloriously through the CONCACAF Champions League, having wowed 55,000 happy souls at the Big Owe last Wednesday, Saputo only increased the distance between his team and MLS when he told a battery of open microphones he might be willing to pay $20-million, with another $20-mil going to stadium improvements.
Melnyk must have smiled hugely when he heard that. Ottawa is squarely in the eastern Canadian driver’s seat for 2013. Saputo’s going to have to rethink his strategy, or hope to catch a bankrupt, falling MLS franchise that needs to relocate – and there’s no sign of those right now.
So it looks almost certain the Vancouver Whitecaps – NASL champions in 1979 – are returning to the big time. The Portland Timbers will most likely join them, creating a three-team northwestern knot with the Seattle Sounders. And that’s three great old NASL nicknames back, as well, which has got me thinking of calling Toronto FC the Blizzard on third or fourth reference.
(Okay, maybe I won’t.) (But maybe I will.)
With two teams in MLS, and Montreal tearing up USL-1 and CONCACAF, Canadian pro soccer is at its healthiest point in a generation. Now we need some other cities – I’m looking at you, Hamilton and Victoria – to bag USL-1 franchises and keep this momentum going, and growing.
Vancouver has done absolutely everything right, and stands ready to be rewarded.
What a great day this is going to be – for us all!
Onward!