For famed but disappointing Major League Soccer club of Toronto, Aron Winter may finally be the solution to what has ailed the fledgling football club since its inception in 2007.

Aron Winter, along with Dutch assistant Bob de Klerk and Englishman Paul Mariner were brought in to revamp and oversee the re-branding of Toronto football. So far, it is too early to tell if whether Toronto will live up to the expectations that the club supporters and ownership alike have set.

One thing is for sure: Aron Winter and Bob de Klerk represent a long-term vision of Toronto FC. A vision of which the Dutch brand of football (i.e. Total Football) will serve as a cornerstone in the way the culture, style of play, and youth development will be implemented under this new European management.

Supporters of Toronto are so far cautiously optimistic, but they have a good reason to be in that light since the club has underperformed in all their seasons. Two years ago the club missed out on the playoffs by just one point, thanks to the humiliating loss to the New York Red Bulls, who were the last place team in the league during that season.

Nobody wants to remember that, and so Toronto enters the 2011 season with a clean slate. The recent pickup of young players from both the Super Draft and Supplementary Draft should come a good omen for the club. The players who were drafted are said to have excellent potential, a piece of good news that Toronto fans have longed to hear for sometime.

Total Football may sound nice to the average football ear, but for Toronto to implement it is a totally different matter. Players who are currently employed by the club will have to gel and mold into the attacking style of play that coach Winter wants to implement.

Hopefully supporters would get an early preview of the newly reconstructed club when Toronto plays against Partizan Belgrade in February. Partizan are a high-level club, a good way for Toronto to test its new team.

Players such as Julian de Guzman, Nathan Attakora, Dwayne De Rosario, and Stefan Frei will have to step up to the plate and play as the spokesmen of this Toronto squad.

Out of the four, de Guzman would have to improve the most on last season, but according to the player, his healing process from the injury that he played with is going well enough for him to be able by the start of the training camp

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The most iconic club in the history of American soccer, the New York Cosmos folded alongside the North American Soccer League in 1985.

After years of an attempted revival (to no avail), Pele announced the revival of the New York Cosmos in August 2010.

With the revival, the Cosmos announced the creation of a youth academy called the Cosmos Academy and the purchase of the Copa NYC tournament.

Since then, the Cosmos have seen several players join the organization with the goal of getting the Cosmos into Major League Soccer.

On January 19, the Cosmos made what is arguably their biggest splash since announcing Pele as the honorary president of the club.

The Cosmos announced that Manchester United legend Eric Cantona had joined the club as Director of Soccer.

During his storied career, Cantona became the first foreign player in Premier League history to have a massive impact on the game. During five years with the Red Devils (1992-1997), Cantona became the captain of Man United and won four Premier League titles and two FA Cups.

Since his retirement in 1997, Cantona has continued to try to get a job with a club in management to no avail.

But that has completely changed today with Cantona joining the club.

Cantona told the New York Cosmos website after his appointment, "I will do everything that I can to help us first find our way to regain the No. 1 position in the United States, and then for us to become one of the best clubs in the world over the coming years.”

Currently, the Cosmos' main goal is to become the 20th club in MLS in 2013.

MLS will add two new clubs in the Portland Timbers and the Vancouver Whitecaps for the 2011 season and a Montreal outfit for the 2012 season.

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"We have a powerful potential in our youth, and we must have the courage to change old ideas and practices so that we may direct their power toward good ends." - Mary McLeod Bethune

Recently I had received an email from Rob Uvanović; Program Manager for America SCORES New York. He reached out to me because he had read my article, "Nuyorican Poets Cafe: Covering Soccer the Nuyorican Way" and he wanted to educate me about American SCORES New York and the services they provide in three Public Schools for the children in Harlem. Without hesitation, I agreed to go to the office of America SCORES NY for a meeting.

With the rise of obesity and asthma mixed with low reading scores the children in this city continue to produce, they are endanger of never reaching their full potential. Along with the breakdown of family dynamics and the elimination of after-school programs and non-profits, a service like America SCORES New York is doing its part in being addressing the needs of the children of Harlem.

As much as I love New York City, I'm also aware that it's a city which can steal a child's innocence and aspiration to be somebody. Growing in the Bronx during the 80s, I witnessed my share of lunacy that most Americans would never understand. From abandoned buildings to the landfills of the South Bronx, I remember neighbors knocking on my door asking for a "fiver" so they feed their craving to get high.

From the smash and grabs I witnessed in Fordham Road to the junkies nodding off in the graffiti-coverd smelly train that I occasionally rode, that was my normal life in the South Bronx before my family made the decision to move to Arizona after seeing two bullet holes in the family car. If it wasn't for the strong family support system I was blessed with, who knows where I would have ended up.

When I say where, I don't mean prison or becoming a teenage father because at a young age I was a reclusive young Clark Kent-looking J.D. Salinger of a New York Cosmos fan who wasn't cool with the young ladies so it was easy to set my sights on college. Who am I kidding? It was the expectation my family had of me... going to college was never an option for me. 

If anything, my parents were more concerned that I would have been a victim of a crime while I was commuting to/from school. So any program which utilizes soccer to address the educational and physical needs of the children living within our urban communities will always attract my attention.

America SCORES was founded in 1994 by a D.C. public schoolteacher named Julie Kennedy. Facing the challenge of keeping her students out of trouble, Ms. Kennedy decided to utilize the tools she learned as an athlete by coaching a girls soccer team. When the weather was horrific, she would have her team stay indoors where they would spend their time writing poetry. Over time, Ms. Kennedy noticed a positive change in her students' self-esteem, grades, and their decision to live a healthier life.

Now in 2011, there are 15 America SCORES sites throughout the United States in low-income cities serving over 6,000 students. The demographic breakdown of the children they're serving are 47% Latino, 29% African American, 6% white, 6% bi/multiracial, 6% Asian American/Pacific Islander, and 6% identified as "other."

While I can't speak for the other 14 America SCORES sites, I believe the one in New York is in good hands with Rob Uvanović and his colleagues. Like myself, Rob views soccer as  more than just a game. He believes in the positive impact it can make in the lives of others and has dedicated himself to pursue a career in it.

"Being a soccer fan was my learning vehicle to learn about the world and other societies," explained Uvanovic. "Not only did I want to know the team's history, I had to learn where each player was from and about his country and society. To this day, I refuse to cheer for Real Madrid because I know how the Spanish government treated Barcelona FC and the Catalan people during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco."

Throughout our free-flowing soccer conversation where we jumped around numerous soccer topics the same way Barcelona runs their "Tiki-taka" offense, Uvanovic explained to me that America SCORES NY is broken into two sessions, Fall and Spring. Even though the Fall session (8-9 weeks) is shorter, the students conclude their session with a Community Slam Poetry event. The Spring session (10-12 weeks) tends to be longer because there's a service learning component to it. 

The coaches for each site are the school's teachers. Every teacher involved has the option of being a soccer coach or a poetry coach. Regardless of the choice, they receive a winter and summer session 7-10 hour training from the staff of America Scores. In the training sessions, the teachers are given a Soccer & Poetry curriculum which they're expected to follow.

Once everything is set and ready to go, the program runs all five days of the academic week. Each school they serve in Harlem consists of 32 students between the grades of third and fifth. Within the 32 students, boys and girls teams of 16 students are formed and they participate in two days of soccer, two days of poetry, and Friday is game day.

When asked about the challenges they face, Uvanovic candidly answered, "One challenge we have in all three of our sites is the lack of parental involvement. By no means am I implying that they're not interested. This being New York City, many of our parents work and have other matters to attend too during the time our program operates. That and many of the children we serve lack a father figure in their lives. For many of our students, we're the only male role model they have in their lives."

At the conclusion of our conversation, I've agreed to attend one day after-school to observe the program first hand. In addition, I'm also going to cover their Poetry Slam event at the Apollo Theater where 30 kids from all the America SCORES sites will compete against each other.

The only thing that isn't being downsized in New York City is the need for volunteers so if you're able to help America SCORES in New York or in any of their 15 sites, please do so. To learn more about America SCORES, please go to: http://www.americascores.org 

You can also follow America SCORES NY at Facebook and Twitter at @AmericaSCORESNY. To learn how you can get involved with America Scores NY, contact Rob Uvanović at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Cesar Diaz covers Soccer for Latino Sports. You may follow him at Facebook at Covering Soccer and at Twitter at @CoveringSoccer and @LatinoSports143. Please email your questions and comments to Cesar at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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This is Part 10 in a list of players that will be joining the Los Angeles Galaxy this season.

Sometimes there can be so much depth at one position that it might be near-impossible for someone on the fringe to get that one opportunity to play as a goalkeeper. With the return of the Major League Soccer Reserve Division, there is a way for those fringe players to prove that they can be ready when they are summoned to the first team.

One of those players that could be starting out on the Reserve Division squad for the Los Angeles Galaxy is goalkeeper Zach Johnson. Fresh from West Virginia University, this 6-foot-4, 200-pound stopper will look to relish the opportunity MLS gives him.

Zach Johnson was born on May 4, 1988 in Lumberton Township, New Jersey. Lumberton is an affluent suburb of Philadelphia, and was identified at one point in time as having the most active community of eBay buyers and sellers on a per-capita basis in the United States.

But Johnson never auctioned his love for soccer, nor did he put his role as a goalkeeper up for sale. These were two priceless intangibles that he elected to build on.

At Rancocas Valley Regional High School, Johnson was a star on the Red Devil boys' soccer team and was named first team all-state as a junior and senior. He was also a first team all-South Jersey as a junior and senior, a 2006 regional All-American, a 2006 scholar-athlete and a three-time team MVP.

As a youth club player, Johnson's club was Match Fit. He became a New Jersey state ODP champion. However Johnson was also a two-sport athlete, and in his junior year, he was the baseball team's MVP. But his work in the outfield took a seat to honing his skills in front of the net.

In 2006, Johnson signed with Marlon Leblanc's West Virginia Mountaineers, but redshirted his freshman year in Morgantown. In 2007, Johnson became the starting goalkeeper and became a smash hit, recording 13 shutouts that season. He had a season-high 15 saves against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and finished the year with a 0.48 goals against average.

For his efforts, Zach Johnson was named Big East Rookie of the Week on Sept. 10 and Oct. 15, named Big East Goalkeeper of the Week on Sept. 17, the Soccer America National Team of the Week on Sept. 18, and the CollegeSoccerNews National Team of the Week on Nov. 4 while earning ECAC Player of the Week honors on Sept. 18.

Another banner year awaited Johnson in 2008, as he became the Big East Conference Goalkeeper of the Year in 2008 and was named to the All-Big East first team. Johnson registered an 86.2 percent save percentage, a 0.64 GAA, and eight shutouts, with four consecutive from Sept. 13-26.

As a junior, Johnson earned all-Big East second team honors and third team NSCAA all-Northeast Region team honors with a 0.61 GAA and 10 clean sheets. He also was a CollegeSoccerNews second team preseason All-American, Big East Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year and an all-Big East preseason team selection.

In his final season, Zach Johnson registered a 1.10 GAA to go with 56 saves and five shutouts. He finished his career at with a 0.71 GAA, a school record 7,548 goalkeeper minutes, 80 appearances minding the net, and 282 saves, good for fourth all-time.

As a result of fulfilling his commitment to the blue and gold of West Virginia, Johnson secured a new commitment to another team in blue and gold: the Los Angeles Galaxy. The club selected Johnson as the 52nd overall pick in the 2011 MLS Supplemental Draft.

Now, the team may already be stacked at goalkeeper with the likes of starter Donovan Ricketts and backups Josh Saunders and Brian Perk. But having one more goalkeeper may not be such a bad thing.

Zach Johnson already proved he could be an asset rather than a liability as a redshirt freshman goalkeeper. Why should it be any different if this promising netminder get his chance to shine under the lights of Victoria Street?

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This is Part Nine in a list of players that will be joining the Los Angeles Galaxy this season.

Big brothers can be tough acts to follow at times.

There are so many famous brother and sister pairings who play in the same league or play the same sport: from the Weaver and Alomar brothers in baseball, to the Williams sisters and Bryan brothers in tennis, to the Manning, Sharpe and Barber brothers of American football, to the Andrettis of auto racing, to the Sorenstam sisters in golf...the list goes on.

For young Dustin McCarty, older brother Dax already has a head start, playing for FC Dallas and (soon) DC United.

So how will little brother top that? Perhaps making a name for himself as a member of the Los Angeles Galaxy will be a start. Like Dax, Dustin McCarty plays as a midfielder, and bolsters some badly-needed depth in that area for the G's.

Mark Dustin McCarty was born on Oct. 12, 1988 in Winter Park, Florida. Winter Park is a suburb of Orlando and is the home of Rollins College, Full Sail University and the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, home to the largest collection of Tiffany glass on Earth.

McCarty began his footballing career as a member of the Winter Park High School High School Wildcats. A team captain, McCarty was an all-state selection and a two-time MVP, garnering all-metro, all-Orange County and all-Central Florida honors as a midfielder.

As a youth club player, McCarty played with Central Florida United, earning USYSA/adidas All-America honors in 2006. He also played on the Florida and Region III ODP squads that year and even trained with Dax's former club, FC Dallas.

McCarty spent his freshman season with the Knights as a central midfielder. He was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team honors, playing in 17 games while starting 15 of them.

However, with just one goal and assist to his credit, McCarty felt that he could not make a strong impact staying local, and so he transferred to Chapel Hill to play for Elmar Bolowich's North Carolina Tar Heels.

As a sophomore, he played in 16 matches, making two starts while seeing the Tar Heels finish runner-up to Maryland in the NCAA College Cup. A fractured hand limited his production to a goal and two assists.

In his junior year, McCarty saw his playing time increase, as he started 16 of the 20 games he played in. He was a presence during the NCAA Tournament run, but was only able to record two goals that season.

Determined to end his playing career with a bang, McCarty started 23 of his 24 games he appeared in. While he was limited to one assist, his speed and ability to dispossess opponents helped propel the Tar Heels to a semifinals finish in last year's NCAA Tournament.

The Los Angeles Galaxy saw Dustin McCarty as an opportunity to add depth on the wing, and so he was selected 34th overall in the 2011 Major League Soccer Supplemental Draft.

While Dustin McCarty may not successfully replicate the success his older brother made, he now has a golden opportunity to step out of the shadows and into the limelight of Victoria Street.

Perhaps this McCarty, when given the chance, could go farther and win an MLS Cup for his team. Ah, MLS. It can be a family thing at times.

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This is Part Eight in a list of players that will be joining the Los Angeles Galaxy this season.


Last season, the Los Angeles Galaxy's defensive back line was under scrutiny for giving up goals left and right. The lack of depth defensively was one reason why the Galaxy were eliminated by FC Dallas last season in the Western Conference Finals.

Ryan Thomas, a defender who also can play in the midfielder, is someone who will look to fill that void by utilizing his speed and dispossessing ability. Thomas is a set-piece specialist, and is a skillful winger.

An athletic individual, Thomas has a chance to prove he can get the job done playing in the back for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Ryan Thomas was born in Claremont, California. He was a teammate of SuperDraft selection Hector Jimenez as a member of youth powerhouse Arsenal FC, winning national titles at the Under-15 level in 2004, the Under-16 level in 2005 and the Under-17 level in 2006.

As a member of the Claremont High School boys soccer teams, Thomas captained the Wolfpack as a senior in 2007 and was also Baseline League MVP that season.

As a result of his ability to mark his players and mix things up as a defensive midfielder, he earned the nod to play for Bret Simon's Stanford Cardinal.

In his freshman year, Thomas started the final five matched of the season after debuting against UC Santa Barbara on Aug. 31, 2007. He would play a bigger role in his sophomore year, tallying a team-best three assists in 17 appearances, all starts.

As a junior, Thomas was an All-Pac 10 Honorable Mention, starting all 20 games in the Cardinal back line. He would record a 92nd-minute golden goal against San Diego State on Oct. 15, 2009, while adding three assists to his credit.

In his final season, Thomas started all 18 matches in defense, recording one goal and three assists. As a senior, Thomas was named to the All Pac-10 Second Team.

Thomas's reliability as a winger will add some badly-needed depth behind the likes of A.J. De La Garza, Sean Franklin, Frankie Hejduk, Omar Gonzalez and Todd Dunivant.

There have been many solid players who have come from the ranks at Palo Alto to become stars in MLS.

Will the Los Angeles Galaxy's Ryan Thomas be one of them?

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One of the most hotly discussed topics involving Major League Soccer is something that MLS has no business of doing: promotion and relegation. 

People's ideas are very polarized when it comes to the concept.

Some, such as the Westerveltists at Soccer Reform, believe it will be the savior to American soccer, as it will create instant gratification among the American soccer fans—both hardcore and casual.

Others, take an extremely pessimistic approach, claiming that it would kill the league in a heartbeat.

Now, if in some bizarre parallel universe, if Don Garber decided to claim that MLS would adopt the system, that either one would happen, it's always fun to imagine what it would be like, and how it would be structured.

Yet, it seems that there's never much thought about how to change to that system—if we were to scrape out the squeaky-clean, somewhat communistic, franchise model and navigate towards an open-league model.

First thing's first, and everyone will come to an agreement here: my plan will have flaws, and no one will perfectly agree with this plan. No one ever does, people have their own ideologies and biases. Fair enough.

I should probably add this in as well: as much as I would love to see this appear in MLS, I have nothing against the current set-up. However, I believe the league will need to seriously look into this option—and eventually implement the system one day.

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This is Part 7 in a list of players that will be joining the Los Angeles Galaxy this season.


New Zealand is not exactly a country that embraces association football as it does its rugby counterparts. Nonetheless, the All Whites—who played in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, their first appearance since Spain 1982—put on an admirable performance last year by holding the likes of Slovakia, Paraguay and Italy to 1-1, scoreless and 1-1 draws respectively.

It's a country that can hold its own in the world game, and some of its players have plied their trade in Major League Soccer, like former D.C. United standout Ryan Nelsen and current New York Red Bulls center back Andrew Boyens.

Now midfielder Daniel Keat looks to join the ranks of those En Zedders who first made a splash playing in MLS. And he gets to do it donning the blue and gold of the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Daniel Keat was born on Sep. 28, 1987 in Wellington, New Zealand. Wellington, the nation's capital is one of the most storied cities for football in this country. It is the home of current A-League side Wellington Phoenix FC, as well as Team Wellington of the New Zealand Football Championship.

The Westpac Stadium, known to the locals as The Cake Tin for its exterior, was where Rory Fallon etched his name in All Whites history as the man who scored the winning goal, and where goalkeeper Mark Paston showed his tenacity in the net. Their heroics on Nov. 14, 2009 helped lead the All Whites to the FIFA World Cup amid a sellout crowd of 35,194 raucous spectators.

Keat began his footballing career playing for Stokes Valley from 1994-2002, playing alongside New Zealand international Cole Peverley and future Dartmouth teammate Craig Henderson. After an eight-year stint of moving up the ranks, Keat spent two seasons with the Western Suburbs Soccer Club, based out of Porirua, a suburb of Wellington.

In 2004, Keat was offered a chance to trial with Blackburn Rovers of the Premier League. But a fractured ankle while playing for Hutt International Boys' School of Upper Hutt prevented that from taking place.

In the end, Keat stayed local, playing for Team Wellington. During his initial stint with Team Welly (he would have one more during the 2009-10 season on loan), Keat scored five goals in 28 appearances. As a result of his achievements, he was named College Sport Wellington 2005 Sportsperson of the Year while also named NZFC Youth Player of the Year.

The news from the Southern Hemisphere caught the attention of the Northern Hemisphere—or to be more precise, Dartmouth, New Hampshire—when head coach Jeff Cook of the Dartmouth Big Green men's soccer team offered Keat a chance to further his talent and potential in the midfield.

In his freshman year, Keat was named to the All-Ivy League First Team, the NSCAA All-Northeast Third Team and the College Soccer News Freshman All-America Team. He led the Big Green in scoring with 13 points, with six goals and an assist in 16 appearances. Keat was also the Ivy League Player of the Week for Oct. 9, 2006.

As a sophomore, Keat was named to the All-Ivy League Second Team. In spite of injuries, he played in 11 games, making seven starts and scoring two goals and assists apiece.

2008 would be Keat's most difficult season, as an injury forced him to redshirt. In addition, he would not be able to play in the 2008 Olympic Games in spirit of playing in the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup a year earlier.

But when Keat resumed his playing career in 2009, he came back with a vengeance.

His best season yet, Keat was named to the NSCAA All-America Third Team the NSCAA All-Northeast First Team, the All-Ivy First Team and the San Diego Nike Classic All-Tournament Team. In addition, he was named Tournament Offensive MVP at the San Diego Nike Classic, while being named Ivy League Player of the Week on Sep. 21, 2009.

Keat started all 18 matches, playing 1,623 minutes in the midfield, while leading the team in scoring with 22 points, eight goals and six assists.

2009 paved the way for a curtain call in 2010. Keat started all 19 matches he played in and finished tied for second in scoring with four goals and five assists for 13 points.

Once again, Keat was named to the NSCAA All-Northeast First Team and the All-Ivy First Team as he helped the Big Green to an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to UCLA in the third round.

All that hard work would finally pay for Keat, as he was selected third overall by the Los Angeles Galaxy in the 2010 MLS Supplemental Draft.

Could Dan Keat be the next great Kiwi to compete in this league? Time will tell. But with the need for depth in the midfield a priority for the Galaxy coming into the 2011 MLS campaign, the possibility beckons.

From Big Green...to Big Blue and Gold...Dan Keat dreams big.

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Galaxy Does the Business at the Supplemental Draft

Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy went to work in making their picks in the 2010 Major League Soccer Supplemental Draft. The fruits of their labor—two midfielders, a defender and a goalkeeper.

Dartmouth's Daniel Keat, a member of the 2008 New Zealand Olympic team, is a 5'10" 165 pound midfielder who tallied 20 goals and 13 assists in 64 matches for the Big Green. In his senior year, he helped lead Dartmouth to the NCAA Tournament, progressing as far as the third round. Keat was picked third overall in the Supplemental Draft.

Stanford's Ryan Thomas is a 5'9", 160-pound defender and a former teammate of SuperDraft selection Hector Jimenez from his days with youth side Arsenal FC. As a junior, Thomas led Stanford to the Third Round of the NCAA Tournament and finished his career with two goals and 12 assists.

Thomas was picked 16th overall in the Supplemental Draft and was one happy camper when his name was called.

"I was watching the draft online and it was a shock to me to be picked by the Galaxy," Thomas said on his selection. "I grew up in L.A. and would go to watch the Galaxy games at the Rose Bowl and now I am going to get to play on that field."

North Carolina's Dustin McCarty is a 5'8", 165-pound midfielder who helped the Tar Heels reach the 2008 College Cup Final as a sophomore and also to the semifinals as a junior and senior.

After beginning his college career with the Central Florida Knights, he appeared in 60 games with the Tar Heels, tallying three goals and assists apiece. Dustin, the younger brother of current D.C. United midfielder Dax McCarty, was selected 34th overall by the Galaxy.

West Virginia's Zach Johnson is a 6'4", 200-pound goalkeeper who helped lead the Mountaineers to the 2007 and 2010 NCAA Tournaments. Johnson finished his career in Morgantown with a 37-28-15 record along with 36 shutouts and a goals against average under 1.00. As a freshman in '07, Johnson set a single-season school record for clean sheets with 13. He was selected 52nd overall by Los Angeles.

Specials on these four players as part of the "This Is The Los Angeles Galaxy" series will be posted later this week on Bleacher Report and the View from Victoria Street.

Bruce Arena, the Coach of the Year

As the 2011 Major League Soccer season continues to inch ever closer, the awards continue to pile up for the Los Angeles Galaxy in spite of their recent form to close the year.

Bruce Arena was named 2010 Coach of the Year by the Los Angeles Sports Council. Arena guided the Galaxy to the best regular-season record in Major League Soccer (18-7-5) in 2010.

He will receive this award during the sixth annual LA Sports Awards on Thursday, Feb. 24 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The awards show will be televised on FOX Sports West and will be aired on Mar. 4.

Tim Leiweke, Sports Executive of the Year

Also bringing home the bacon for the Galaxy is Tim Leiweke of the Anschutz Entertainment Group, who was named 2010 Sports Executive of the Year by the Los Angeles Sports Council.

In 2010, the two local AEG owned teams both qualified for the postseason. The National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings ended an eight year playoff drought, while Major League Soccer’s Galaxy finished with the league’s best record and advanced to the Western Conference Final. Leiweke, who represents the Kings on the NHL Board of Governors, also can be credited for bringing the 2010 NHL Entry Draft to STAPLES Center for the first time.

In addition, Leiweke’s extraordinary leadership and vision led to the development of L.A. LIVE and the magnificent JW Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton Hotels at L.A. LIVE, across the street from STAPLES Center. Both hotel properties opened in 2010 and have had a huge impact on the local sports scene.

Leiweke also spent time laying the groundwork for a potential new downtown NFL stadium.

Hey Sports Council—you might as well give it to him again without the need for a vote if the National football League does come back to the City of Angels—we're waiting for you to relent, oh NFL Board of Governors.

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Last week I watched the Major League Soccer SuperDraft on ESPN2. Like with any draft in its respective sport, it copied the same format—a table full of front-office executives. (although theirs was significantly smaller with no "war rooms").

There was the draft "ticker" at the bottom of the screen telling viewers the draft order and the team needs. 

Of course thee was the, (token it seemed at times), commentary from a couple of analysts who really could have benefited from more playing-off of one another instead of just talking to the camera.

I did like a few things.

The venue, the Baltimore Convention Center, was small and intimate enough to make the hundreds of fans that were there really a part of the action and excitement. Apparently, its customary to have this draft annually at this venue.

Perhaps a future just-get-it-over-already expansion to the city?

Next, whereas in the NFL draft the prospect receives a replica jersey to hold up, here instead receives his respective scarf, which is draped over him before he reaches the stage. (Note, in the soccer world, the scarf is king, so it was appropriate).

Finally, with just 18 teams, the two hour format did go fast and had little time for worthless filler.

Now with that said, there are two major reasons why this sport continues to climb an uphill battle.

1. Too much parity,(lack of dynasties)

We all love our sport to have parity because we all want to believe that our team, or any team for that matter, has a chance to win every year.

But what happens when a turnaround of the talent level in your entire league is open to interpretation?

People love the National Football League model because, in theory, we could see a Detroit Lions—Cleveland Brown Super Bowl every season.

What's more, a team can go from 3-13 one year to 10-6 and into the playoffs the very next season.

But unlike MLS, what also makes it special is it has a mix of the dynastic power resemblance of the 1980's, when many of us either became fans or remember it for some of the best football dynasties of any time.

MLS has no such dynasties.

The league attempted to hype up DC United and the "LA Lakers"-lite Galaxy as the league's glamour teams, but after some intial success it has blown over.

On top of that, by these markets winning, we question whether it was aided by some WNBA like territorial draft help in order to kick start the league with successful bigger markets on which to build.

Kind of takes away from the accomplishment.

The league desperately wants the Los Angeles Galaxy to be relevant again, and while they are a playoff team, they are being overtaken by upstarts such as the Columbus Crew, who won the entire MLS Cup in 2008 after finishing 6th in their division and not even qualifying for the postseason the year before.

That's the equivalent of the New Jersey Nets winning the 2010 NBA title after winning 12 games and finishing the 2009-10 season in 5th place in the Atlantic.

At least to the Crews credit,  they have been able to maintain a good roster and stay competitive, finishing no lower than 2nd since that time.

But it doesn't stop with the Crew.

The very next year, in 2009, after failing to qualify for the playoffs in their first three seasons and only breaking through in 2008, Real Salt Lake went from 3rd place in the West and missing the playoffs entirely to winning the MLS Cup the next year.

Finally, in the most recent example, this past year the Colorado Rapids, after not even making the playoffs the previous three seasons, (notice a trend?), were able to win the entire MLS tournament and their first championship. Forget the fact that their franchise's average attendance is just 14,195 or that it had actually been going down prior to 2007.

To the outside observer, and potential fan, it appears any team can win it all.

Parity is awesome if its done right with a proper mix of dynastic power. Fans like to see the New York Yankees or the Boston Red Sox lose every October, but they also appreciate teams like the Minnesota Twins or Oakland A's making things interesting.

What they would not like is if the Kansas City Royals made the playoffs one year and  won the whole thing after doing nothing for the previous three. If they were unable to back up this fluke by making the playoffs the next season and defending their crown, the outcry would be even worse.

They would not like it if the Washington Nationals suddenly came out of nowhere and won the 2011 World Series when we didn't even have a chance to prepare for, or appreciate, the buildup storyline.

When teams come out of nowhere like the Crew, Salt Lake, or Rapids did, in consecutive years no less, it makes your league look weak.

Maybe it's just that people can't emotionally handle or accept these volatile momentum  swings, but more likely they look at the fact that seven different franchises have won it all in the past nine years and they question the talent level.

How would it look if the Portland Timbers won it all their very first year as an expansion club?

The Timbers, as evident by their bold and refreshing billboard ad campaign featuring local "lumberjacks" with logging saws, is clearly run by a passionate group who knows what they are doing and appreciate the sport.

Mix that in with a solid draft, which they had, and there is no reason to think they won't qualify for the playoffs in their first season. 

Anything more would severely damage the credibility of the brand and the league.

My personal choice is the Seattle Sounders, who have a similar passionate fan base with some of the best attended matches. They've paid their dues working their way up in a very short time,(first year was 2009), and given the rocky swings this league has with no apparent power, why not them?

The league is doing some good things with its smart expansion into the Northwest, which will no doubt revive historical rivalries to the league.

But it must hope one of these recent winners, (Houston Dynamo, Colordo Rapids, Real Salt Lake or Columbus Crew), have some real staying power for the good of their league and so the league is able to promote itself.

2. Lack of big names to push the league

MLS has an identity problem. They have no real stars on which to build. The David Beckham to LA experiment failed miserably a few years ago.

Freddy Adu also failed. The only problem is, had either succeeded it would have again looked bad for the league in a damned-if-you-do scenario.

If a 15 year old sensation like Adu was able to dominate and beat grown men on the pitch like he was expected to do, how can we take that seriously?

If an elder Beckham, whose dominant days were clearly long behind him, came in and took MLS by storm, critics would say he was doing it against inferior talent to that of international competition.

How many know who Thierry Henry is or who he plays for in MLS? How many people know this man has literally done it all on the international stage with France and Arsenal of the English Premier League, but can't make a headline in the New York Post for the New York Red Bulls?

People see moves like Beckham and Henry as little more than aging stars in it for one last paycheck.

I'm a fan of the German Bundieslia, Polish Ekstraklassa and Barclay's Premier League. 

We all know MLS can't hold a candle to that talent level.

If we know it, Henry and Beckham do, too, which is why you don't see more transfers or loans.

In a league that can't market its stars because it lacks them, at least they were smart placing franchises in the right markets on which to grow. MLS will have to continue to survive and thrive this way, despite what they may have preferred.

Information from ESPN.com, Wikipedia, and Portland Timbers.com directly contributed to the content of this article.

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