WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
Magical championship runs of last fall seem like ancient history for TFC, Argos
There will be no parades in November or December. Not around here.
Not for the defending Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts.
Not for defending MLS champion Toronto FC.
There will be none of those rare Larry Tanenbaum celebrations, no dancing on the cold fields of fall and winter, no arms in the air at City Hall, no hugs with Ricky Ray.
That seemed like such a magical time for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the start of something special. And maybe it will be the start of something special come May and June with the Maple Leafs or the Raptors.
But in this summer of baseball despair, with the Argos tripping all over themselves through 10 games, with the Reds tripping over their egos and oversized paycheques and all that euphoria, there is only disappointment.
This year, TFC isn’t the best team ever. They’re closer to the biggest joke ever. Their payroll trumps everybody in the league, and this season, MLSE couldn’t buy a title or a break.
This team has truly embarrassed itself this soccer season, embarrassed the brand, embarrassed the incredibly loyal fan base it has.
It’s not so troubling for the Argos, losers on Labour Day 42-28 to Hamilton after leading 28-21, but it’s not well, either. This hasn’t been a crushing season though, the way it has been for soccer fans.
The Argos lost quarterback Ricky Ray early on. They lost too many others to injuries. They lost players to retirement and the NFL.
They never seemed anything like the — can we say lucky team? — that won the Grey Cup on that snowy night in Ottawa.
Just how they got there, how they won that game, how they wound up as champions, may never be properly explained. They beat Calgary, the now 9-1 Stampeders, who annually seem to lose Grey Cups to themselves.
Now the Argos are 3-7. Labour Day was yesterday. This is when football gets real across Canada.
The first half of the season, you can plan, coast, try to figure stuff out. In the second half, you find out whether you can play or not.
The Argos lost their defensive co-ordinator, Corey Chamblin, who was a big part of winning last year, and their defence is no more effective than that of the soccer friends they share their stadium with, who basically can’t stand each other.
The law firm quarterback, McLeod Bethel-Thompson, actually looks OK for a first-year CFL pivot. He doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. He doesn’t turn the ball over a la Johnny Manziel, although he did get picked off in a key situation on Monday night here. But he had drops and passes that could have been caught and ones that maybe a more skilled receiver, maybe someone like, say, Duron Carter, might have caught.
But coach Marc Trestman had a decision to make. He had to think about today, tomorrow, next month and next year. He chose not to dress Carter. And he chose not to play him next Saturday against the Ticats. And it’s possible the Argos will be 3-8 by next week, three games behind the Tiger-Cats, with seven games to go, by the time Carter plays in Double Blue.
It’s not a lot of time left. And there’s not a lot to be hopeful or optimistic about. Maybe DeVier Posey will come back from the NFL, where he’s been cut by the Baltimore Ravens. And maybe Carter will be ready in a few weeks to be on his best behaviour. And maybe the Argos will have a dangerous receiving corps for the remainder of the season.
It’s a whole lot of maybes for the football team from here on out.
And the soccer team, man, what a disgrace it has been in this season without playoffs. MLSE decided when Tim Leiweke came in that it would fix its soccer problem by spending money. So the company spent, and spent some more, creating the best MLS team money could buy and won and lost a championship with that team.
This season, the money was as wasted as the Blue Jays’ season seems to be, and that’s with a baseball payroll of more than US$160 million.
The salary-capped Argos can’t play that game. They have to work within the rules. And when ancient Ray went down, probably for his career, they had to figure out what to do and figure it out fast.
On the road, the Argos scored enough to win on Labour Day. Trouble was, they gave up 42 points.
The score in the fourth quarter Monday: Hamilton 18, Toronto 0. That’s about as definitive an ending as you can get.
The hope of this sporting city now shifts to training camps that open soon: the Maple Leafs with John Tavares, the Raptors with Kawhi Leonard. Seasons upcoming where anything seems possible, and anything can be the stuff of dreams.
The Argos had that dream ending in the snow last November.
The championship for TFC wasn’t so much dream but an expression of the obvious.
Both those titles, now, seem so very long ago.