The MLS season kicked off this weekend with some eye-opening numbers. Let's start with  a sequence of 2-0, 3-0, 4-0.

Heavy pre-season favorites, D.C. United, were dumped 2-0 by an unfancied Kansas City squad looking to have coped quite nicely with the departure of striker Eddie Johnson.

New England Revolution made abundantly clear their sense of purpose this year with a 3-0 thrashing of Houston Dynamo. Apparently, Revs' striker Tyler Twellman twanged a knee just prior to game time and couldn't play. Or was it something to do with him still being petulant about not being allowed to transfer to Europe after last season? The Revs rolled on without him.

And what do we make of Ruud Hullit's Halaxy, who went down like a bag of kittens in a creek, or in this case, the Rapids of Colorado, by a score of 4-0. After a controversial, injury-filled debut season, an instant club crisis to start year two is not what David Beckham signed on for.

Now add in 20,272, 18,713, 17,540 and roughly 2,500.

Those all correspond to home opener attendances achieved, respectively, in Salt Lake City, Denver, Dallas and Columbus. The first three, all very respectable numbers, represent the total number of fans attending games in the first three cities listed. Home openers traditionally draw good crowds in any sport, but the teams involved will be pleased these crowds watched games that weren't against traditional rivals and produced good results for the home teams. The building of new stadiums in Denver and Salt Lake have sent strong signals to fans about the security of their teams' futures.

The fourth number listed is perhaps the most interesting as it's the approxiamate number of away fans who turned up on Columbus Saturday to cheer on their beloved Toronto FC, an eight-hour bus trip each way across a not-so-undefended border.

Although the presence of  large numbers of away fans is considered routine in many European leagues, to the point where leagues have configured percentages of seats to be made available to them, it's much more of a rarity in MLS. Geography plays a big role there, as a relatively small number of teams on a big continent can make travel arduous. The only natural derbies at present are L.A.-Chivas and Houston-Dallas

By most accounts, the Canadian invasion of Ohio was a big hit, though the idea of these two teams playing annually for a drummed up trophy seems a little contrived. Boisterous away fans brought the stadium to life and two goals from the home side ensured it stayed that way at game's end. If attendance at Crew games can't climb above 11,000 or so home fans, they may well be inviting the Toronto fans back at regular intervals.

MLS officials must be pleased at the thought of what their future expansion plans might bring in charging up rivalries within a league in need of some emotional ####ing up. Philadelphia's presence will liven up games involving Red Bull New York or D.C. United. Seattle's future presence will spark up west coast matches with San Jose and especially with Vancouver, once their stadium-building process makes their presence in the league possible. Talk of placing a future team in St. Louis will be welcome news in Kansas City.

Stirring up rivalries and passions is all well and good if everyone behaves themselves. In places like Italy and Argentina this past year, we've seen the dark side of fan fanaticism. No one's suggesting for a minute that American fans are likely to #### bad behaviour, but some Toronto fans got a little out of hand Saturday.

At home, that enthusiasm is governed by the knowledge that bad behaviour could cost you your prized season tickets forever. On the road, however, there was less at stake and some fans resorted to lighting smoke bombs or flares and throwing them, or full plastic bottles onto the field. Not the smartest behaviour in a terror-wary America.

Outside the stadium after the game, the local police weren't shy about resorting to heavy manners to keep the rowdiness in check. One man was arrested after urinating on a chain link fence near a church. Others were pepper-sprayed when they weren't co-operating with police instructions. Nothing serious to dampen an overall enjoyable day, but not something the league wants to see continue.

Growing a league and growing attendances by fueling rivalries are all well and good. It's important to make sure the fans who take these rivalries to heart are reminded to grow up a little too.

If MLS is persuaded to let Montreal join the league, the impending rivalry of a French-Canadian club with the old enemy of Toronto, the Two Solitudes as the competing cultures are known, could create one serious ongoing uproar with more problems than anyone might care to count.

But if it produces a rivalry with the intensity of Manchester United-Liverpool, Rangers-Celtic, Barcelona-Real Madrid or Boca Juniors-River Plate, the league will count that as a blessing.

"Toronto FC hasn't proven anything yet, We're still the best team in Canada and our goal is to continue to be the best team in Canada and, if we have the opportunity to play Toronto FC, our goal would be to prove it.”  

 Montreal Impact owner Joey Saputo, March 1, 2007

 Joey Saputo has every right to be proud of the accomplishments of his Montreal Impact soccer club. Now playing in the United Soccer Leagues Div. 1, they’ve been tier-two soccer’s ongoing, on-field success story and they’ve enjoyed a consistently growing level of support throughout their 15-year history, now averaging around 12,000 fans a game.

 So there was a time when a brash comment like that quoted above would have been appropriate. It’s fair to say that it was appropriate when he said it earlier this year. But not any more.

 The truth is, his beloved and well-supported Impact squad aren’t even Canada’s best team in tier-two soccer, let alone the nation’s best team period.

 A unique and enjoyable two weeks of far-flung business commitments provided your correspondent with a first-hand sampling of the best in professional Canadian club soccer, on both sides of the continental and competitive divide.

 A visit to Vancouver's delightful Swanguard Stadium to watch the Whitecaps entertain USL Div. 1 rivals from Carolina and two rollicking MLS games at Toronto FC's pulsating BMO Field were sandwiched around an intriguing night in Montreal, where a packed house topping 12,000 witnessed the Impact host the first-place Whitecaps in a battle of USL leaders.

 All four games were tense, entertaining battles but the chance to watch games from both leagues in close comparison showed the difference in skill levels to be quite obvious.

 For all the hard running and purposeful effort put in by USL players, their games are ultimately undone by a lack of polish around the net and by the number of unforced errors. Stray passes and errant clearances frequently create midfield turnovers that quickly become dangerous opportunities.

 But when three top USL clubs can only combine to turn those chances into just one goal in two games, it gives clear indication of why USL Div. 1 is just a developmental league. It's a big reason why a cultured audience like the one in the Toronto area failed to support the USL's Toronto Lynx.

 It seemed like half the Whitecaps’ squad, searching for an equalizer in a 1-0 loss, had a crack at the Carolina goal in a second-half shooting gallery, wasting some fine chances created by good runs and well-placed crosses, often the result of crisp deliveries from standout winger Martin Nash.

A week later, Montreal’s lively fans were holding heads in disbelief as striker Charles Gbeke found the woodwork or missed the net on clear-cut chances from in close as Montreal and Vancouver ground out a scoreless draw.

The contrast couldn't have been sharper watching Toronto FC play against Colorado and New York, where superior finishing skills delivered memorable goals – Jeff Cunningham’s first for Toronto, pounded into the roof of the goal after crafty Andy Welsh’s nifty pass, Andrew Boyen’s textbook header of####reat corner kick from dead ball artist Ronnie O’Brien or Danny Dichio’s clinical touch inside the six-yard box to cap off Marvell Wynne’s sensational set up. All of them, first class stuff.

 MLS delivers much more quick, skillful interplay, numerous one-touch passing sequences used to relieve pressure, establish control or create time and space to set up a smart through ball. You just don’t see that very often in USL soccer.

 To be fair to Joey Saputo, his comments were made almost three months ago and Toronto were still scuffing about in pre-season training, giving no one a clear picture of what they were capable of. Still, you’d like to think that Saputo might be willing to give MLS some praise for putting on a better show than he gives them credit for.

Given the permanent small-time status of USL soccer, MLS is a league he may well want to be a part of sooner rather than later and it’s not the first time he’s courted controversy in commenting on MLS. It’s an attitude that could cause him some short-term pain if MLS honchos choose to make him sweat out a franchise acquisition.

He’s been outspoken before, balking at paying an MLS expansion fee of $10 million and taking issue with the quality of play in MLS compared to that served in USL Div. 1. He’s always backed up his words with his wealth, paying competitive wages to bring decent players to Montreal and building a new stadium that will open next year. Judging by the size and enthusiasm of the crowd that came out to watch the Whitecaps visit, he may well need to start planning to expand it beyond its initial size in the 15,000 range. A lot of Montrealers think a place in MLS is Saputo’s for the asking. He might want to consider asking nicely.

 If Toronto FC has quickly established itself as the best professional team in Canada, Vancouver is about to become the apple of MLS’ eye as the league views a list of prospective sites for its next round of expansion, a process that MLS president Don Garber says will increase the league by three teams to a total of 16.

 And Garber has indicated his awareness of the progress being made in Vancouver’s preparations to build a spectacular waterfront soccer stadium, with an initial capacity in the 20,000 range, expandable to 30,000. The target date for completion is 2010, which gives the Impact a two-year head start in playing in their new soccer-specific stadium.

 There’s every reason to believe, though, that Vancouver’s stadium, bordering on the lively Gastown district, with a spectacular view of the North Shore mountains, will be the site MLS will choose first in adding a second team Canada. If the league expands by three teams in 2010, two western teams and one eastern franchise would balance out the two divisions evenly at eight each. A rebirth of the mothballed San Jose Earthquakes and a return to glory for the Whitecaps would give MLS two additions with great soccer traditions to build on and an ability to quickly establish hot rivalries with the two L.A. clubs. Vancouver would also broaden appeal within Canada and their matches with Toronto will bristle with intensity.

 At first glance, the impending MLS expansion in the east can’t afford to include Montreal. The league needs to add another rival, beyond the New England Revolution, for Red Bull New York, whose on-field excellence is being met by fan indifference at having to watch games in sterile Giants Stadium. Philadelphia would make the most sense, a city where soccer fans would easily get fired up over games with D.C. United.

 However, questions continue to be asked about how viable the Kansas City Wizards operation will remain. They’re drawing little more than  family and friends currently at 70,000-seat Arrowhead Stadium and are facing an uphill run getting local municipalities to agree to provide funding for a soccer project that would include a soccer-specific stadium that meets MLS standards. The alternative is an image-crushing move into a refurbished high school football stadium.

 The creation of an expansion team in nearby St. Louis might save this situation. Maybe not.  This is heartland America and baseball country first and foremost every summer.

If it was necessary to move this franchise, it might make more sense to take a proven star like Eddie Johnston and a competitive squad like the Wizards into Philadelphia and let the geographic heat of rivalry add to the competitive sparks that have flown between Red Bull and the Wizards this year.

That would open the expansion door for another eastern city and Montreal would be worthy of consideration given the track record established by the Impact and the credibility created for the Canadian marketplace by Toronto’s sensational start. It may not be Don Garber’s first, or even second, choice, but he needs to take the game to cities where he knows it will be supported from the get go.

Maybe it’s time for Joey Saputo to start cuddling up a little to MLS. He’s established that soccer has strong appeal in Montreal and he’s already building a stadium that gives him a head start on other competitors for an MLS franchise.

 Everyone connected with MLS has taken notice of what Toronto has brought to the league this year and it’s clear that Montreal has the potential for a repeat success story.  A little diplomacy will go a long way towards earning Saputo and his loyal fans the rewards they deserve. 

As we stood among an anxious, hoarse throng waiting for Toronto FC to set up a final corner kick, my neighbour turned and said, "Hey, Toronto might be the first team to have it's first-ever goal scored by a goalie."

An interesting and timely observation, in light of two recent goals scored by European keepers - Paul Robinson of Tottenham Hotspur and Andres Palop of Sevilla. Seeing Toronto's lanky Greg Sutton arrive at the top of the Kansas City box, we wondered if history was in the making.

But the corner kick was cleared away, the final whistle blew and the likelihood remains that Toronto's first MLS goal will come in more orthodox fashion, probably less of an embarassment for all concerned.

The observant neighbour is my friend, Vanooch, a title created by dropping the vowel from the final three syllables of his Italian surname. 'Noochi was too much like Gucci, not really him. His countrymen often do that with their first names - Enzo, Renzo, Cenzo, etc. - so I did it with his surname.

We've shared many soccer sojourns the past few years, our boys growing up in our downtown neighbourhood, opponents in house league, teammates on competitive squads. Mine, a tall, two-footed left or right back, his, a darting striker in the mold of an Inzaghi or a Rossi, a right-footed stiletto. They were with us on opening day.

Vanooch figured to be the perfect seatmate for the four season seats I secured before Beckham's transfer announcement triggered a ticket-buying stampede, selling out the stadium for the year and creating a waiting list already two years long.

I heard him before I ever met him, an Abruzzi accent ringing out instructions or booming in goal celebrations from the sideline of an under-7 game one night. He only quieted down when his son's coach asked if he could be allowed to coach the team his way.

He's been lke that for each of the eight years since, an unofficial manager's assistant or referee's 'helper', the only man I've seen get red-carded as a volunteer linesman, for defying orders not to coach while carrying a flag.

He made himself a welcome sight at practices on cool, wet spring mornings, hauling a hamper with a stack of paper cups and carafes of dark, sweet espresso coffee. That recipe would get an octane boost at tournaments when he'd spike it with Italian grappa liqueur and have us all fired up.

And as soccer dads got into animated soccer discussions about international events, you could count on detailed, up-to-the-minute info on Serie A matters and how it all pertained to his beloved AC Milan. He still expects the prodigal striker, Andriy Shevchenko, to escape along the Hernan Crespo trail and return from Chelsea. Any day now.

Owning season tickets for the first time, I wanted the whole rowdy fan experience - the cheering, chanting and singing - and a manic sidekick to join me in tranforming tepid Torontonians into scarf-twirling tifosi. Vanooch had the track record to make him an automatic choice.

So it was something of a shock when the Campobasso Cannon went quiet at kickoff and stayed that way through much of the match. But his eyes were firmly fixed on the details, picking out flaws in certain players' games, debating tactics, deploring unforced errors and accurately forecasting in the first ten minutes that U.S. natonal team striker Eddie Johnson would eventually beat Toronto's defence with his quickness.An hour later, he was right.

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this. If he wants to be serious, we can always record the game telecasts and study the details later. But I want the real Vanooch for company. Our section underperformed in its first game. They need us.

The way I see it, there's only two ways to bring out the soccer animal  in him.

In the good old days of NASL, we used to have one of our buddies bring a couple of wineskins to the back of the stadium. When we got in, we'd take a long string out, throw it over the railing, haul them up and enjoy a little refreshment at our leisure.

Maybe Mrs. Vanooch could bring a thermos of their high-octane espresso to the back of our section and I'll haul it up.

Or his son's just gonna have to make the team. Soon.