TFC, Grabo, the Leafs Collapse & More....

I had the pleasure of being at the TFC game last night, along with 47000 other people, to be witness to a great first 30 minutes of play before the officials decided to take over the game. I really don't know what it is about the officiating I have seen over this past year but it seems as if, in EVERY sport, the officials (even with all the tools at their disposal) have become either incompetent all at the same time (which is impossible) or they are starting to allow their own biases to influence them (plausible and possible) or they are being directed to steer games in a certain direction (Scary, if true, although highly unlikely).

Case in point, last nights TFC game against the World All-Stars, er, LA Galaxy. Sure, they have David Beckham and Robbie Keane (Irish National Team Captain) and Landon Donovan (US Team Captain) but for the first 25 minutes, a fairly officiated game resulted in a 2-0 score line in favour of the home team. All the whining in the world by these prima donnas should not have had an impact on the all Jamaican Officiating crew, except that it did. LA started getting away with some really questionable tackling, elbows making contact with TFC players heads, holding up players as they tried to make their way around them.

Then there was the Danny Koevermans incident which should have told everyone in the building that the officials clearly had an agenda in mind as to who should actually win the game and who shouldn't. For those of you who weren't there or missed the incident in question, all you would see if you were to look at a stats line for the game is a yellow card given to Koevermans but what you won't see (and what isn't even being explained on Sportsnet.ca, and they were the channel that aired the game on TV) was that the Galaxy goalie grabbed the ball outside the 18 yard box and brought it back in.

This missed call sent the fans into a fury and Koevermans ran into the goalie a few seconds after as a way to protest the missed call. A shoving match then started and Koevermans was CLEARLY kicked in the thigh by the keeper and yet only the TFC player ended up with a booking. Right after he was given the card, he lifted his shorts to show a bright red mark on his thigh where he had been hit only to be ignored by the Ref.

Time after time, even non-soccer aficionados (Like my buddy Cliff who went with me), and others around us, started to see the inequity of the calls by the officials. I'm usually a quiet fan at TFC games but even I started yelling at key moments where I felt the refs were dead wrong, to the point where I am hoarse today with a much deeper voice then normal.

TFC are now faced with a daunting challenge: Win in LA a week from now to advance to the CONCACAF Champions League Semi-Finals in the hopes of repeating that amazing scene last night at the SKY DOME (Yes, last night was the first time in a long time that it felt like the early 90's at the "Concrete Convertible").

So Burke actually did 2 things I thought he needed to do in the past week; He fired Ron Wilson (CALLED IT!!!) and he re-signed Mikail Grabovski to a whopping 5 year, $27.5 million contract extantion ($5.5 million per year) that kicks in next season.

The Wilson thing is about 3 years late if you ask me. I have been railing against Wilson for years. He doesn't have a clue how to develop young players, he's just WAY too sarcastic to have ever developed a cordial relationship with the media, and he is just too damned arrogant to have ever succeeded in this market. He has better success with older, more veteran teams (like the ones he led in Washington in 1998 and San Jose in the early 2000's) then he is at helping young players make a name for themselves and become solid NHL players. His time had come and now with Randy Carlyle as the coach, we will see a man who knows the market, has actually won a Stanley Cup as a coach recently, and someone who can actually teach these guys how to play defensively.

Grabovski had earned himself an extension and clearly wanted very much to stay in Toronto for personal reasons. His 2 children were born here, he met his girlfriend and mother of his 2 kids here as well and, he has found a home as the 2nd line center of the team that gave him his biggest chance to turn himself into the player he has always believed he could be. The only thing I would have liked would have been if he had given the team a "Home town Discount" because now he is making WAY more money then a 2nd line center should be making.

However, as Burke stated this week, as many as 14 other NHL teams came calling the Leafs about acquiring him before the trade deadline. This would lead you to believe that clearly he would have had many offers if he had been allowed to become a free agent and, who knows, maybe this WAS a discounted deal given the fact that he would have been the best center available on July 1st as a free agent.

He has played well most of the season. As has Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupol but that hasn't stopped the team from, as Burke himself put it, "Falling off a cliff" when it comes to their overall play. After yesterdays loss, the team is now 2-12-1 since February 1st, falling all the way from 7th place and being 5 points up on the 9th place team, all the way down to 12th and being 5 points BACK of the 8th and final playoff spot. With 15 games left, it's going to take a minor miracle to battle over all the way back, overtake 4 teams and somehow manage to get themselves back into the playoffs.

It will be even tougher now with the loss of Lupol for 4 weeks with a separated shoulder after he was drilled from behind into the boards by David Kreicji on Tuesday night against the Boston Bruins (no penalty on the play either, which was asinine). The 5th highest scorer in the league when he was injured, his loss is probably the final straw for this team as they seem to have just lost their way for one reason or another, and can't seem to get back to their winning ways. They should tank right now and try to get a high pick but that's not how Burke likes to build his teams....

Spring training is now upon us and the Jays are starting to look like a team that will make a little noise this year. It is really early (a week into the Grapefruit league schedule) but already there are signs that some of the key players that they will be counting on this season, are really ready to step up. Brett Lawrie has picked up where he left off last year, Travis Snyder looks to have finally figured out how to stick with the team for good, Edwin "Easy E" Encarnacion is hitting the cover off the ball as well. The bullpen looks like it could be among the best in the game with Sergio Santos as a hard throwing closer and Francisco Cordeiro as his set up man. Then you have Casey Janssen, Darren Oliver and Jason Fraser to work anywhere from the the 6th, 7th or 8th inning and you have some pretty solid guys right there helping bridge the gap to your closer in Santos.

Add to that Ricky Romero, Brandon Morrow and Brett Cecil (who lost 30 pounds in the offseason) all looking strong so far and you have the makings of a very solid team. The feel good story of the starting rotation is Dustin McGowan who seems to have finally recovered enough to become the 5th starter for this team. With the kind of pitches he has (and from what Yunel Escobar was saying after a BP session, his stuff is just incredible) and the velocity he has regained, if there is a God he will allow this guy the chance to finally become the player he has always had the ability to turn into (if he had been able to stay healthy of course).

With the added playoff team this year in each League, it is entirely possible that the Jays could finally make it back into the Playoffs for the first time since 1993. It will happen, write it down.....I predict that the Jays will make it back this year and Boston will be on the outside looking in for the 2nd straight year.

It's March, why not go out on a limb and make that kind of bold prediction.....

Until next time....