Anyone else see the clock stop in the 25th minute at BMO Field on Wednesday night? I thought I was having a Moonlight Graham moment; except in lieu of seeing the stats of a supernatural ballplayer displayed on the scoreboard, I thought I saw the inaugural '07 Toronto FC team on the field. But shortly thereafter the clock resumed and I realized it was actually the Red Bulls.

I went a long way for that comparison, but it is not much of a stretch if you witnessed how bad the Red Bulls looked on Wednesday. The same team that appeared in the '08 MLS Cup final is now a mere ghost of that organized confident playoff team of seven months ago. In Toronto, the unorganized -- albeit inexperienced -- back four began by allowing a five-foot-ten Pablo Vitti the space, time and audacity to out-jump the six-foot-two Danny Cepero for a goal. Up next was a lazy miscommunication by the same back four which freed up one of the league's most dangerous players to pick what part of the net he wanted to score his fifth goal in to.

Cepero even alluded to the fact the team knew how Toronto was going to play -- and practiced defending it -- but come kick-off did nothing to prevent it.

But the telltale sign of the depths this team might sink to in the next few weeks came when head coach Juan Carlos Osorio was late addressing the media because of a closed-door meeting that did not involve any players. Not a good sign for any coach, especially one that could only blame statistical ambiguity on a road losing streak that goes all the way back to May 10, 2008.

Now it is difficult enough to ask 'What happened?' to a visiting coach who just lost, but most of them will try to offer a solution or at least engage you in some form of conversation. Osorio did neither; and may have eclipsed his own team in level of disinterest. The half-baked clichés mixed with angry outbursts point to a coach that needs a result against Columbus this weekend to save his job.

The Red Bulls are a team teetering on crisis. Single-digit wins and the fading star power of an aging, aching Juan Pablo Angel is not how a storied soccer city wants to open the doors of its multi-million dollar Red Bulls Arena.

Cronin call up

I scoffed at the suggestion that Toronto FC is a MLS leader in developing players when former coach John Carver brought it up during the call-up crisis of '08. Thankfully I can admit when I am wrong. Cronin now joins Marvell Wynne, Maurice Edu, Nana Attakoya-Gyan, Fuad Ibrahim and I suppose Kevin Harmse as players who arrived in Toronto under the national team radar, only to emerge a short time later as valuable internationals.

While it stings to see Cronin, it is a sign that the player patience we often gripe about is in good hands.

The pink shirts

Good intentions, great marketing. As a third jersey, I do not think you can go wrong.

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