Why would a four-time MLS Cup winner want to play in a city of losers?
I say this in partial jest as on a day when one of the Toronto sports dailies launched an unmitigated attack on the city's four professional losers, the excluded fifth professional team showcased exactly why it avoided being painted with the blue & white (and purple) brush.
(As an aside, isn't it irritating that the off-beat timing of Mo Johnston always pans out in his favour?)
Outside of the perils of holiday travel we may never know why the winner, Dwayne de Rosario, took over a month to surface in the red, white and black of TFC. But on Thursday in the basement of the Air Canada Centre the smiling trio De Ro, MoJo and J.C. (no, not him, it was John Carver) persuaded the well above normal collection of local media to drop it.
In the spirit of good folk lore we did just that; and we all are better off for it.
"It is a dream come true for me," De Rosario opened the press conference with. "As a passionate fan and a person who loves his country as a proud Canadian it was great to see a pro soccer team arrive here. And I look forward to bringing my experience and my winning ways to Toronto."
Music to the ears of a team burdened with expectations greater than its talent. De Rosario adds instant credence to the usual preseason playoff oath without making the mistake of guaranteeing it.
"It is a huge task ahead of us, but it is one step at a time," De Rosario said when asked about moving to a team with no playoff record to boast of. "If we don't make the playoffs, yes, it will be a disappointment in my books. But it's a goal for me to make the playoffs."
In those words is why the two-time MLS Cup MVP is here: Winners love a challenge.
De Ro didn't go as far as to confirm the move to TFC would be his last contract, but it is. The mild-mannered Canadian is on the clock; and the same can be said for the man who spent two years trying to bring him home.
