By Len Grammenopoulos

Toronto F.C. held its annual post-mortem news conference, ending a disappointing season which saw the club miss the playoffs for the 4^th straight year.  Player after player took a seat at the podium and answered questions about what they think went wrong in 2010.  The year everything was supposed to change.  The year which was supposed to see the team make the playoffs with a chance at playing for the MLS Cup at home at BMO field.

First up was MLSE C.E.O Tom Anselmi, he’s the man in the hot seat right now, he’s in charge of bringing the right people in to do the job Mo Johnston couldn’t do.  Anselmi blames the instability of the team in regards to coaches, four in four years, and the revolving door in the team’s dressing room which makes it hard for the club to have some chemistry. He needs to get it right this time.

Next up was the captain and team leader Dwayne De Rosario.  He came here to win championships.  He also did his part scoring 15 goals on a team that was built around Preki’s defense first mentality.  De Rosario says he expects to be back, but refused to talk about his contract situation.  Interim G.M. Earl Cochrane says De Rosario is priority one meanwhile De Rosario says he’ll keep a close eye on what MLSE does in the off season.

All the players said they were happy in Toronto and would like to stay on next year, those with contracts and those without.  Maicon Santos wants to be back, Chad Barrett says Toronto is a special place and expects to be back.  Adrian Cann enjoys playing in his home town and wasn’t sure if his contract was guaranteed or not but says he wants to come back.  Julian de Guzman was uncharacteristically upbeat and chatty.  He wants to win in his home town.  De Guzman says he’s scored maybe 4 goals his whole career and hopes the fans and media will understand he’s not here to score goals and the team doesn’t need a major overhaul.

Interim coach Nick Dasovic with interim G.M. Earl Cochrane and Assistant G.M. Jim Brennan were last.  The three are not guaranteed to be here next year but said they will go on scouting and signing players as they see fit.  Cochrane says the team must get younger and quicker and be able to adapt to the North American style of travel and play, can you say Mista?  If offered the position both Dasovic and Cochrane would be happy to stay on meanwhile they will carry on with the task at hand until they are told to stop.

From top to bottom players and management all echoed the same sentiments, stability and leadership.  The revolving door of coaches and players must end to give the players time to learn a system and be able to gel together on the field and off.

This morning on the FAN590′s Andrew Krystal show 680 Business anchor Mike Epple bashed rock covers.  For the most part I am on side with this theory.  If it aint original, it aint quite as good as the real thing.  But look at the history of rock and roll and truth be told, all songs are remakes from some form of blues recorded well before Elvis Presley Blew it up in the 1950′s.

Epple went on to say he’s ok with rappers stealing from rock classics to form their own style of music.  I am not a rap fan, and my knee jerk reaction is to boo rappers who use a riff from an existing rock classic to further their own wallet fattening.  However, the history of music tells the tale of this type of art on loan for many years.

One of the first remakes I thought of when Mike brought up the topic today was Power Stations Get it on (Bang a Gong).   The redo of the T-Rex classic.   The remake has power, energy and attitude.  Not all remakes of rock classics elevate a tune to a new height without making a mess of it.  Another song comes to mind.  Van Halen’s version of the Kinks You Really Got Me.  Eddie Van Halen’s riffs and cutting sound took that classic to another level.

So while it is rare that a rock classic is remade and actually arguably made better, it has happened.

Feel free to reply with your own examples of remakes you think might have been made even better than the original.

The season came to an end for Toronto Fc tonight in Washington DC.  A night that started off a ship of horrors just one minute in by giving up a goal.   Credit to Toronto, who settled down, and worked their way to a 3-2 win. 

Captain Dwayne DeRosario proved his goal scoring Worth again with two goals in the second half to lead his team to their third MLS road win of the season.  Just as he did in Houston, number 14 played determined soccer and would not be denied.  Dwayne finishes the season with 15 goals!  

There was not a weak link tonight in Toronto’s line up after the first goal was surrendered.  From that second minute on, Toronto was full marks for effort and smarts for most of the game.

The next bit of smarts will now have to come from MLSE.  The teams owners have to find the right man to lead this team into the playoffs.  Hang on my friend and reader, this will be an interesting off season.

While Toronto FC let yet another two points get away in bizarre fashion Saturday afternoon, TFC fans were making their voices heard, or not.

I have never seen, nor heard anything like this in Toronto sports history.  Never in my lifetime have Toronto sports fans protested as TFC fans did at BMO field.   The usually loud and jumping group in the stadiums south east corner were silent, and standing still for pretty much the entire game.   Did Maple Leaf Sports listen?  How could they not?  The green instead of red clothing, with flags that sported dollar signs instead of the teams logo were very evident.

It will be interesting to see what kind of effect the protest has on the franchise going forward.  I know one thing for sure.   Leaf and Raptor fans, who buy tickets from the same ownership, don’t have half the passion of soccer fans in this town.  How else do you describe this much angst after four years of being and four non playoff years compared to what Leaf and raptor fans have witnessed, or not witnessed.

I am still hopeful Tom Anselmi with MLSE will find the right people to run the soccer show in Toronto.  I am hearing rumors, and they are only rumors, that former GM Mo Johnston is helping MLSE find his replacement.   No disrespect to Mo’s soccer background, but in my opinion this organization has to completely cut the cord with Mo.  Move on completely.  If stories of Mo’s melding with players and not communicating with coaches while he was in town are true, you need that negative energy away from the players, away from management that remains.

Toronto FC’s history should never be forgotten, but it should not run the franchise into the future.  Fresh minds bring fresh idea’s and TFC need something to freshen up the product.

The title of this post is a quote from TFC interim coach Nick Dasovic post game in LA vs. Chivas.  A 3-0 loss after a scoreless first half.   This story mirrored all that has been wrong with Toronto FC this season.  Missed chances, followed by terrible giveaways leading to goals against. 

Some players are frustrated, others do not seem to care as much as they should.  I am not sure those who dont seem to care, know how to be as passionate as is necessary to win a championship.  I watched as Adrian Cann got knocked around at center back for Toronto, and not one player stuck in against the players who committed the foul against their teammate.

TFC players in camp now have two more games to show MLSE management they deserve a pay cheque from their coffers next season.   Lets see who is hungry enough to fight for their salary over the next two weeks.  Because that is what it has come down to.

Despite the rubble laying at their studs, Toronto FC has not yet been eliminated from the MLS post season. Thanks to San Jose’s tie at Columbus (which, by the way, is considered a win by any team at Crew Stadium), Toronto is down to its last point.

One more point gained by San Jose or dropped by TFC and it’s done, Toronto out.

Stranger things indeed happened in sports, but what is missing here I fear are the ingredients needed for a rally of such magnitude. Toronto must win on the road next week in LA vs Chivas, beat Columbus at BMO and then win at RFK against D.C. United. All that and San Jose can not gain one more point in four games.

- Dan Dunleavy