Ready To Be Rewarded

By Ben Knight Onward!

Viva, viva Vancouver!
In the end, I suppose it didn’t matter which Canadian city landed a Major League Soccer expansion franchise for 2011. The most important thing – for all of us – was not to get shut out.

But with the demise of Barcelona’s Miami flirtations – too much money in too-uncertain times – the beautiful city of Vancouver, British Columbia, is an all-but-mortal lock to land a team.

And there’s deep justice in this, I think, because of the three Canadian cities that entered this hunt, billionaire owner Greg Kerfoot’s Vancouver Whitecaps are – by far – the most deserving.

What’s that? After praising the Montreal Impact up and down for months, the Knight kid is crossing over to the west side? Hey, I think it was a bold and nervy move for Impact owner Joey Saputo to try to haggle the price tag. $40 million (U.S.) is four times what Toronto FC paid to get in just three short little years ago.

Saputo gambled – but he lost.

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