Jinx+Megs

CONCACAF! ENOUGH ALREADY!!!

2009-07-18T17:17:00.007-06:00

Canada vs.Honduras

Does this look familiar?

This was the scene at the 2007 Gold Cup semi final vs the US when the referee decided Canada's legit goal did not count and saw Canada eliminated.

Now fast forward to the present and you see Canada arguing another questionable call which cost Canada a birth in the Semis for the 2009 Gold Cup.

Well boys and girls another game decided by officiating and not the run of play... when will this end?

Canada clearly was the better team and the game is decided by a suspect, at best, penalty call.

What a joke,the CSA should launch a formal protest... and the official should answer to CONCACAF for his poor display in the Mexico v Panama game and his call in the Honduras v Canada match... laughable!

Is Kaka full of… well… Kaka?

2009-01-22T13:30:00.013-07:00

AC Milan for life, thats what the Milan and Kaka camps would have us all believe now. There has been a lot of outrage surrounding the £107 million offer put forth by Manchester City of the English Premier league. John Molinaro of CBC sports wrote in his blog that the Man City bid was loathsome and irresponsible.

Others have vilified Milan for not sticking to the original offer and forcing Man City's hand until the Blues eventually had to walk away from the table.

All these events and instances that led to the dissolution of talks between Man City and AC Milan are just the consequences of doing business with an extremely high profile Player/Celebrity and the business of European Football in its present state. If the deal had gone through then the 50/50 split among the fans and pundits would still exist.

The facts are…
Man City is a basement dweller in serious danger of being relegated to the Championship next year. They have been sold and bought by an extremely rich and powerful Abu Dhabi United Group Investment and Development Limited to effectively become the richest club in the Premier League. With all this money they were put in a position to compete financialy with the Big Four in England Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Chelsea. They then snatched Robinho from the clutches of Chelsea and recently looked to lure the great Kaka from Milan for what would seem an inflated and unreal amount of money.

The Kaka situation in itself is a bit of a confusing one for me and I'm hoping that by writing this and getting some reaction from you I may better understand this.

This offer by Man City can in my opinion not be labeled as overblown and "loathsome" simply because of the amount it is, because quite frankly, if you look at the history of World Record transfer fees for the last two decades and beyond you will see that every 3,4,5 years the number doubles. The last world record transfer fee paid was for Zinadine Zidane in 2001 for £46.7 million from Real Madrid to Juventus. With Zidane ending his club football career with Real Madrid. Knowing this if you look at the bid put forth by Man City for Kaka we will realize that the Offer is just over double the last record which was set just over six years ago, seems pretty normal and on par to me.

The problem I had with this seeming debacle of a transaction was the carelessness and contempt which Kaka himself had displayed while these two teams were negotiating. He should have never talked to the Media until after the deal was rejected or accepted, it seemed to me that because it was Man City calling and not a Champions League contender, Kaka felt the need to hijack the proceedings from the beginning. Milan bowing ultimately to fan and media pressure decided to pretend Kakas faith and not wanting to leave Milan were the deciding factors.

Truth is, Milan knows its fans and its media, Milan would have never lived this transaction down and the Milan top brass would have been on the chopping block as a result.
BOTTOM LINE… MILAN CHICKENED OUT! And decided to use Kaka's hi-jinx to mask the fact.

No company or business on earth, that is responsible to itself or its shareholders would ever, ever, ever, turn down that amount of money for the loyalty of one employee/player… EVER.

De Rossario to TFC

2008-12-18T10:27:00.003-07:00

TFC has acquired the services of Houston Dynamo Attacking midfielder, Dwayne De Rossario. Although at first I was a rather harsh critic of TFC's seemingly pedestrian approach to making the team better by not getting a DP, this move has made me rethink my former view. I'm starting to realize that TFC may in fact be doing what the fans want, and slowly and surely they're making the team better. Maybe they do know something we all don't, could it be that a real franchise no matter how much it struggles in the beginning must stay the course and not make rash and spontaneous decisions? I now say yes, with the addition of De-Ro as he is known in the centre of the universe (Im a Whitecaps fan so I will always take shots at T.O. and Montreal when I get the chance) TFC is much better.

So far they have made some interesting and good decisions for the club from a fans perspective, they've picked up Guevara, this was a huge risk in light of the off pitch trouble he has had with his former clubs, but he has proven his worth and then some. Robinson in my opinion should be the skipper and he will prove that again this year. Dichio will fall into more of a leadership role and a locker room and training ground presence, but will be able to deliver better when called upon late in games. Then at the end of last season TFC acquires Chad Barrett, great move also, whether they keep him or not is another matter.

All this, then the announcement that De-Ro is coming home makes me believe that TFC will be in a better position to make the playoffs, and finally proves to me that they're not going to rush into spending cash on a quick fix, but build a real squad and foundation for the future. The only thing left is for TFC fans to stay the course with the team, expect one or two more seasons of disappointment, then reap the benefits of a patient and calculated build up of a competitive team.

Remember they still have yet to find a Franchise Player.

The future for TFC seems a bit brighter now.

The best Nike Commercial ever?

2008-11-30T20:31:00.002-07:00

This may just go down as one of the greatest soccer commercials ever made, it makes me wonder what they will come up with for the world cup to come. Now, I know some of you would say that the old Nike commercials featuring the Devil and Eric cantona are classics but this one takes them all in my opinion.

If you all have other commercials you think are better, by all means lets have them.

AN IMPACTED ECONOMY?!

2008-11-24T12:36:00.005-07:00

First off... an amendment to my last post that stated the Impact withdrew their application, we now know it was ousted by the MLS and some interesting facts have come to light over the most recent news wires...

Turns out the Impact, wanting to be fiscally responsible as an organization and to their fan-base decided to question the expansion fee of 40 million US... and they got jacked!

Turns out only big banks and struggling car manufacturers can ask for economic respite in light of the current world economic state.
I mean forget about the fact that this franchise has already proven by leaps and bounds that it can "hang with the big boys" but it has a following that rivals that of DC United and TFC, come on MLS!!

Really? No ticket no Laundry?

I have a feeling this is just the tip of the ice burg and plenty more is coming down the wire concerning this story. What I do know is that the MLS would be better served with Montreal as a part of the mix, but Montreal right now and for the near future is actually better off not being hampered by the MLS and their salary cap and spending limits.

Who knows, the USL may turn out to be stronger on the heels of the Impact's successful run in the CONCACAF Champions League.

More difinately to come... stay tuned.

AN Impacted Economy?

2008-11-24T12:36:00.000-07:00

Montreal has withdrawn!?!?

2008-11-22T14:06:00.005-07:00

Well as some of you may have heard recently, the Montreal Impact have formally withdrawn their application for expansion into the MLS.

SHOCKER!!! WHAT!!!?

" Montreal has had to evaluate what kinds of private capital they needed to refinance their stadium to fund the expansion fee, and what kind of public support would be available,'' according to MLS laegue commish Don Garber.

I think, Montreal has been placed in an awkward position where once it was one of the "front runner" expansion candidates it has now had to endure the inclusion and surprise expansion applications of cities like Miami and Atlanta and lets not forget Ottawa. Who despite being heavily backed by big corps. and other pro teams, they really are all talk.... will Atlanta really have a better fan base than Montreal, will they be more viable? I don't think so, but I've read they put on a kick ass presentation to the league. Miami is being backed by Barcelona FC. this is enough to get the MLS creaming in their pants, but will Miami really get the fans out? Maybe if there's a Jai Lai tournament before the game. This brings me to Ottawa, where the hell do they get off just deciding that they can expand into an already budding league and compete when they have nothing and I mean no Soccer history to draw from. No established fan base, and no Stadium, this is a city that can barely keep and NHL team alive and that was only because they were winning, I'm wondering how things will fare for the Senators in this Economic climate now that they're in the NHL basement and look like staying there. Ottawa can't even keep a CFL team without some sort of controversy or bail out form the league, and they want to overstep the Impact who already have a solid fan-base which is ever-growing and a winning history, they're going to the knockout stage of their first CONCACAF Champions League and are a solid contender to make the semi finals of that tourney. In my opinion the MLS should be begging Montreal to join the league if only for the fact that the rivalry between TFC and the Impact would one day soon rival that of the Leafs and the Canadiens.

Miller Lite Returns as Major Sponsor of CONCACAF Gold Cup(TM) Tournament

2008-11-14T14:39:00.000-07:00

Miller Lite Returns as Major Sponsor of CONCACAF Gold Cup(TM) Tournament

Whitecaps release future of football on the Canadian Westcoast

2008-11-07T20:30:00.008-07:00

I for one have bought my seasons passes already..... I'm excited about the prospect of the MLS coming to the Canadian West Coast. This I think is a formidable first step in the bidding process and the Whitecaps Top Brass have done well to begin this process a mere week or two after their formal franchise application was handed in to the MLS.

The Whitecaps already have a proven record amongst other club teams in North America based solely on their winning history.

So, in this humble writers' opinion the move to the MLS is only a natural progression, besides, based on the market success of Toronto FC the Whitecaps Franchise is a sure fire winner as well. Not just because the fans will fill the seats but also because the product on the pitch is already better than that of TFC.

Sorry T.O. but the truth is the truth.

WHats JiNX anD MEgS?!

2008-11-07T20:05:00.007-07:00

Jinx and Megs is a loose and open opinion and commentary based North American Soccer-blog that is meant to stimulate discussion and hold open forums on anything to do with soccer–professional or otherwise– in North American culture.

Its simple and here's how it works, we at startingeleven.ca find a news item of the day or week or month.... whatever, and post it with some commentary and/or opinion.

You read it and comment to your little hearts content, no opinion or comment will go unread or unheard.

Off we go.....