|  Wys³any: 2019-01-02 04:34:03 Temat postu: ed remarkably loyal consid
TORONTO -- Toronto FC now has brainiac GM Tim Bezbatchenko to go along with up-and-coming manager Ryan Nelsen. The underachieving MLS team has a $20-million training centre that is the envy of the league, a fan base that has stayed remarkably loyal considering the dreck put in front of it, and an owner willing to spend more than US$25 million on two marquee designated players when the transfer window re-opens in January. There is salary cap space and allocation money to spend, not to mention some talent available to move. So is the dark age over for the 4-14-11 club, whose career league record is a woeful 49-102-66 going into Saturdays home game against Sporting Kansas City? "I do not think the dark days are over yet but I think there is a light at the end of the tunnel and we control our own destiny," said Tim Leiweke, president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. "And now we have to do the heavy lifting to get there by January so we could look everyone in the eye and tell them this is a different era here in this organization. Its not about flash, its not about spin. Its about hard work, tough decisions, spending some money and making the right decisions. I think well know that in January." No stranger to navigating multibillion-dollar sports empires, Leiweke is used to being the smartest person in the room. The 31-year-old Bezbatchenko may give him a run for his money, although the new GM is undoubtedly too smart to make it too obvious. A lawyer with degrees from the University of Cincinnati and the University of Richmond, Bezbatchenko comes from the leagues inner circle. As senior director of player relations and competition at Major League Soccer, he was a young league insider with intimate knowledge of MLSs complicated legal landscape. His brief at the league -- a single entity structure in which players are signed to the league rather than the team -- was to oversee and manage six clubs budgets and rosters, among other things. And his group included Toronto FC. Bezbatchenko (pronounced bez-buh-CHENK-oh) clearly knows where the bodies are buried in MLS. Although Leiweke said exactly that about former president and GM Kevin Payne before firing him. Bezbatchenko, a native of Westerville, Ohio, played midfield for the second-tier Pittsburgh Riverhounds in 2004-05, joining MLS in 2010 after two years with the law firm Shearman & Sterling. Bezbatchenko was working in mergers and acquisitions at the law firm. Or as he explained, he was getting deal experience in buying and selling companies. "This is the same, but youre doing it with players," he said of the move into soccer. Its not exactly a warm, fuzzy management approach. But top sports executives tend to be more ruthless than Ruth Buzzi. Bezbatchenkos job will be to help Nelsen get what he needs to continue the reconstruction of a moribund franchise. Leiweke has given an unqualified vote of confidence to Nelsen, saying the new GM would have to work with him in 2014. But it is clear that come January, if Nelsen gets the players he wants, the clock will be ticking on the manager. Should Nelsen ever depart the team suddenly, he no doubt has a book in him. He has quietly cleaned one mess after another at TFC while staying mostly mum. Leiweke made a point of noting that this is not rocket science. Hard work and good judgment are whats needed. "To be honest with you, this is not that difficult. Theres 11 slots and you need a couple of players per slot. And this is about filling in the boxes ... And one thing that Ryan pointed out, and I think hes right, is its not like were 22 boxes away. Were four or five boxes away. A couple of those are DPs." Those designated players are key, with Toronto eyeing international stars who can score goals while bringing some much-needed sizzle to the franchise. The team has pushed back the deadline for season ticket-holders to put their money down to January so they can see what progress has been made. Asked how long it takes to turn around an MLS team, Bezbatchenko smartly stepped around the crux of the matter. When pressed, he said it would be difficult to do it in one year "but our goal would be to have a nice upward trend over the next few years." Spoken like a true suit. Much of the talk Friday was about business plans, the right course and analysis. Although Bezbatchenko worked himself into a verbal pickle when he talked about Toronto "not having a successful playoff run in, ah, well ever." The club has never made the post-season in its seven seasons in the league. Some observers commented that Nelsen looked uncomfortable at the podium Friday, alongside Leiweke and Bezbatchenko. If so, it was likely because the former New Zealand international is more at home on the training field than in a suit -- although he cleans up nicely. Nelsen, 35, is smart enough to know he needs someone who knows the league and can do the spadework to unearth the talent he wants. Bezbatchenko fits that bill. "This is kind of a Theo Epstein hire," Leiweke said, referring to the baseball executive. Epstein, currently president of baseball operations for the Chicago Cubs, was 28 in 2002 when the Boston Red Sox made him the youngest GM in Major League Baseball history. Bezbatchenko, who is married with a one-year-old son, acknowledged his goal has been to become a GM. "Absolutely. Its the reason I went to law school," he said. There is no shortage of grey matter in the Bezbatchenko household. His wife is in higher education with a PhD to her credit. Leiweke said while commissioner Don Garber was loathe to let Bezbatchenko go, he saw the bigger picture. The league needs to fix Toronto as a franchise once and for all. "He was in Toronto a couple of weeks ago and he went to the game and he saw whats going on here," Leiweke said of a Sept. 11 tie with the Chicago Fire that drew a season-low crowd of 15,217. "I think he understands our pain ... And he knew that we need a big, bold statement. And amazingly he sees this the same way we do. It wont be the biggest name in the business but it will be the best move we could have possibly made." Bezbatchenko has also been a key figure in an MLS partnership with the French Football Federation that sees MLS youth academy coaches learn from the French model. Leiweke is a big believer in the role MLS academies can play, knowing if done right they can be a pipeline for cheap talent. Toronto canned Payne on Sept. 5 with Leiweke saying the two were no longer on the same page. Earl Cochrane, Paynes right-hand man and Torontos director of team and player operations, was also fired. Chief scout Pat Onstad subsequently left. Just minutes before Fridays announcement at BMO Field, pictures of Cochrane and Onstad remained on the wall outside the news conference room. But they were gone by the time it started. The team also wasted little time trading Argentine striker Maximiliano Urruti, Paynes prize acquisition, to Portland after just 37 minutes action in a Toronto uniform. For those wondering, Bezbatchenko grew up a Manchester United fan. He has since helped sign a Rooney, although unfortunately it was John -- Waynes little brother. Stitched Texas A&M Jerseys . Rico dove horizontally to meet Andoni Iraolas precise long cross from the right to score his second league goal of the season in the 33rd minute. Two minutes later, Aritz Aduriz netted Bilbaos second when he raced forward and pounced on a poor clearance by Villarreal defender Mateo Musacchio, sending a low shot rolling past goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo. Cheap Texas A&M Jerseys Authentic .com) - Eric Fehr and Marcus Johansson each registered a pair of goals, as Washington spoiled the head coaching debut of Peter Horachek by picking up a 6-2 victory in Toronto on Wednesday. http://www.cheaptexasamjerseys.com/. Alfredo Simon lowered his ERA to 0.86, and the Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 4-1 Friday for their 16th win in their last 17 games at the Friendly Confines. Von Miller College Jersey . The 34-year-old averaged 10.1 points and 2.7 rebounds in 82 games played in 2013-14 with the Utah Jazz. Jefferson has averaged 14.5 points, 4. Cheap Texas A&M Gear .Y. - The New York Islanders are brimming with confidence these days, thanks to a standout goalie and a newfound winning attitude.The surging Montreal Canadiens will take aim at their seventh win in eight tries when they begin a four-game road trip with tonights clash against the Detroit Red Wings. You watch the game live on TSN at 7pm et/4pm pt or listen live on TSN Radio 690 Montreal. The Canadiens have won three straight and six of their past seven games, pushing them two points ahead of Tampa Bay for second place in the Atlantic Division. However, the Lightning, who host the New York Islanders on Thursday, do hold two games in hand over the Habs. Detroit, meanwhile, enters Thursday as one of four teams tied for the last two playoff berths in the Eastern Conference. With 80 points, the Red Wings are seven in back of Tampa Bay for last of the Atlantic Divisions three automatic playoff berths, meaning theyll likely need to claim one of the Easts two wild cards to qualify for a 23rd straight postseason. Columbus, Detroit, Toronto and Washington each have 80 points, but the Red Wings are the only team of that group in action on Thursday. The Blue Jackets and Red Wings have 10 games remaining in their regular-season schedules, while the Capitals and Maple Leafs have nine and eight games left, respectively. Montreal picked up its third straight win in Tuesdays home meeting against the lowly Buffalo Sabres. Max Pacioretty broke a scoreless deadlock with 9:07 to play and Carey Price posted a 24-save shutout to lift the Canadiens to the 2-0 win over the basement-dwelling Sabres. Danny Briere added an insurance marker with Montreal on the power play at 16:54 of the third, while Price stood tall down the stretch to help kill off a late Canadiens penalty and secure his fifth shutout of the season and 24th of his career. "The goal is to make the playoffs," Briere remarked. "Were in control of our destiny and trying to rack up as many points as we can." The Canadiens won despite playing without forwards Travis Moen and Dale Weise, who were injured on the same shift in Monddays 2-1 shootout win in Boston.dddddddddddd Detroit, which will try to halt a two-game slide on Thursday, hasnt missed the playoffs since 1990. The Red Wings had a three-game winning streak snapped with Sundays overtime loss against visiting Minnesota and then fell 4-2 in an important road clash with Columbus on Tuesday. Cam Atkinson scored the winning goal for the Blue Jackets in the third period of Tuesdays game, but the decisive tally did not come without controversy. Columbus grabbed a 3-2 lead at 6:58 of the third period. The team skated the other way on a 2-on-1 and Matt Calvert let fly with a shot from the right wing that Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard stopped before Atkinson knocked in the rebound. However, the net was dislodged by Atkinson before the puck crossed the line, but Brendan Smith had pushed Atkinson into the net and the refs ruled it a good goal. "They knocked the net off and they still score," a frustrated Howard said. "I guess its something to remember in the back of our minds, you knock the net off it, just throw (the puck) in there. It should count." Ryan Johansen sealed the win for Columbus with an empty-net goal in the closing seconds. Gustav Nyquist had both goals for the Red Wings, while Howard made 24 stops on 27 shots. Beginning with Thursdays test, Detroit is playing four of its next five games on home ice. The Red Wings are only 15-11-10 as the host this season, but the club had won four straight in the Motor City before losing Sundays game against the Wild. Detroit is 2-0 against the Habs so far in 2013-14 and the clubs will meet once more in the regular season when Montreal hosts the Red Wings on April 5. The Red Wings have won four of five and six of eight overall in the series and have come out on top in the last two encounters at Joe Louis Arena. Montreal is opening a four-game road trip on Thursday and boasts a solid 20-14-2 record as the visiting club this season. 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ed remarkably loyal consid
