Chivas Vs. TFC, A Problem is Brewing….

By: David | March 29th, 2007

“Hey hey hey from the team that’s gonna spank you on opening day… Good to have you on board.” – Sam (The TFC Fan)

Well here we are again. I have been quite busy with midterms and all, but now I have some time to sit down and do some posting. so here I was, logging onto The Offside and to my wonderment, I find this grand comment on my last post that will become the topic of today’s discussion: game # 1. Well its more of a discussion of what is going on and the potential for something interesting.

With the new season just around the corner (April 7th), an exciting match will be taking place that will pit the newest team in the MLS against the hottest team in the MLS. A sort of battle of the new blood, with more excitement than ever seen before in this league (at least I see it as such). TFC has been growing quite steadily as the team has sold out of season tickets and proved to be a cornerstone in the MLS expansion scenario (even if it was not originally seen as being that great of an impact). Couple that with the steady play of Chivas and the numerous additions to the roster and you can see that the April 7th match will be very good.

But wait, there is a problem here. This “awesome” match-up is not as grand as it would seem, in fact the MLS has really messed up this time. For one, the match is going to be broadcast on FSC which effectively remove the possibility of reaching a large audience. And the other mistake (which is quite glaring and has been constantly noted in the blogverse) the fact that TFC’s first game in existence will be played in Los Angeles (Carson, CA to be exact) and not their home town. Now lets do some geography;

Toronto Map

As you can see here this is a map of Toronto, and if you notice Los Angeles is quite close to Toronto. Within driving distance, right?

Well now you see the problem, why have the first game in existence of an MLS team be on the complete other side of North America? Why not at least have the game in New York? Or New England? No, its all sun and palm trees for TFC. Now I know this might seem like a love fest for TFC, but its a commentary against the league for such a ludicrous move that will turn off fans more than create them. The fact that the game will be broadcast on cable, on a soccer specific channel, and in a city that is far from Toronto proves to be a move as crazy as bringing in a washed-up “superstar.”

One thing I can guarantee you is an exciting match that will provide Chivas with its first great victory of the season.

David’s Prediction: 4-3 victory in a close match that will test Chivas’ defense and ability to work under a new manager. But it will be the strength of our attack and midfield that will prove to be too much for TFC.