Herausforderungen » cramento ended up shooting 44 per cent overall.T

Toronto FCs 2014 season ended Saturday night. You may not have noticed as, for many, the season ended weeks ago. Negative headlines took the place of meaningful football as Toronto FCs playoff hopes slipped away. It was almost better the 1-0 loss to New England was overlooked. A game played on a turf field with football lines hardly does justice to the product. Nor does another dubious refereeing decision (or indecision, rather) leading to the game winner. Multiple controversial refereeing mistakes are an underrated, lesser-told storyline leading to an eighth consecutive season without playoff football for the TFC. Dubious red cards and disallowed goals should have been the extent of controversy in Toronto FCs season. Instead, more self-inflicted wounds due to poor communication, half-truths and speculation continue to hurt the image of Toronto FC. From Doneil Henrys transfer status, to mud-slinging at Jermain Defoe via high-placed club sources, it has not read well. On top of that, Michael Bradley is now having foot surgery in New York after Head Coach Greg Vanney claimed the player was fine after the loss to the New York Red Bulls two weeks ago. Mixed messages never end well. Weve experienced eight years of it and it hasnt helped. Its discouraging the lesson has not been learned from the mistakes of previous regimes: club leaks, he-said, he-said confrontations, and failure to simply tell it like it is continues to create an environment of mistrust and external perception of incompetence. This is the perception, it may not be reality. Things are not that bad at the club, but the manner by which they continue to conduct business opens the door for further criticism. The daggers are out. Calm and stability are needed. Good will is not something readily available based upon track record. Again, self-inflicted wounds are to blame. Its entirely frustrating to watch. Instead of piling on as many others continue to do, Id rather give advice; the club must keep quiet - just stop talking, or at the very least, think before they act. And if theyre going to speak, please make it the truth. Transparency is the ultimate olive branch to a skeptical fanbase. Its especially recommended if there isnt anything to hide. The depth of the negative narrative is surprising considering what the spin on the subpar season can be. The new Toronto FC administration should simply stick to the story that they began a complete rebuild of the squad less than a year ago, with the cupboards shockingly bare. They should stress the restructure will take time, something not simply remedied by a couple big money signings. Focus on the fact the team still set franchise records for wins and points through the growing pains and reshaping of the roster. Hit home that ownership is completely invested, showing for the first time in its history a willingness to spend with the power clubs in MLS. Bang home the message that the future is bright with a massive stadium renovation taking place and the continued investment in the Kia Training Ground. Off-field growth and stability has been achieved like never before. Its now about getting the right players to Toronto. Michael Bradley is the foundation, but its up to management to surround him with complimentary players, helping establish a team identity. 2014 was merely a start, 2015 the job continues. Simply admit the club over-sold expectations and came up short and that the blame is shared by all. There. Done. How difficult was that? All points made are true and paint a much better picture, the kind of explanation presented is completely reasonable. Not all will buy it - and thats fine - but thats the narrative to build off. Instead, a path has been chosen to discredit a star player (who is not without blame), while other items continue to confuse and lack clarity. Other than a small, short-term PR win, its hard to believe portraying the most talented player the club has ever had as a mammas boy does anything for Toronto FC in the big picture. It paints more of the same. Whoever leaked the story must have his reasons. It can be argued it was the last thing the team needed. An amicable split between Toronto FC and Defoe would do much more for future recruitment and league-wide goodwill. The focus has to be in the best interests of the team, emphasis on team. It especially holds true when the club defended Defoe to the hills around a tumultuous and speculative period around the closing of the transfer window. As an astute Toronto FC observer over the last eight years, I truly dont believe this team is that far off the mark. Things have been far, far worse. I have seen few better performances than an opening day win over Seattle and a massive away victory at Columbus a few weeks later. The wheels fell off as injuries mounted and adversity was faced. Personality conflicts emerged and the head coach was let go. Theres no way of telling if it was the right decision to dismiss Ryan Nelsen but the front office and coaching staff need be on the same page - thats a must. But the coaching change created instability. Its the type of instability that has reared its ugly head all-too often. Its unintentionally divisive and signals volatility. The team went back to old ways; nine head coaches in eight years. If Toronto FC could do it all over again, they would have most likely made the coaching change when the new front office took over, yet going down that road is nothing but living in the past. The present issues stem from the fact losing breeds drama at Toronto FC. And the clubs response to hardship leaves much to be desired. DC United went worst in 2013 to first in 2014, from 16 points to 59. Dramatic turnarounds can happen in MLS. A stable, consistent environment is essential for this to happen, though. No more pointing fingers, just proper communication. The establishment of positive conditions needed to succeed and continued commitment to superior player recruitment. This is what will lead to success. This leads us to this week: the year-end media interviews, an annual tradition. Toronto FC PR does a fantastic job making the players, coaches and management available for a year-end retrospect and should be applauded for doing so. The lack of team success and controversial storylines/unanswered questions makes for an awkward exercise. Many of the media use the day to fill-in the blanks, probe and pry for talking point of contention. Nuggets of discontent, bad-mouthing, and tone are dissected. The last thing Toronto FC needs is more off-field squabbling and/or controversy giving further fodder for the detractors to feast on. Basically, nothing good can come from the availability. Somber reflection makes for a depressing day, but its showing commitment to the future build is all thats needed. At this point, silence is golden. Enough talk. No more apologies, no more blame. There is nothing more to say. Everyone just needs to keep quiet. Before you speak, just stop. Enough is enough. Instead, just build a winner. Scout. Recruit. Network. Strategize. Find consistency, build an identity and culture of inclusion - and of success - and provide conditions to succeed. Until that time, all the positives of being a part of Toronto FC remain ignored, and thats not fair. The franchise can be something special. There are many who have worked so hard to make Toronto FC what it is, and there is much good to speak of. Its just overshadowed by losing and controversy, and understandably so. It all needs to be better. It starts with communication. It leads to cohesion and it ends with wins, we hope. Brady Skjei Jersey . Raonic, the mens No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., needed more than three hours to overcome Frenchman Gilles Simon 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 and become the first Canadian man into the fourth round at Roland Garros. Mika Zibanejad Rangers Jersey . -- Jay Haas and Peter Jacobsen took the second-round lead Saturday in the Champions Tours Legends of Golf, teaming for a 6-under 48 in windy conditions on the par-3 Top of the Rock course. http://www.rangershockeyonlineshop.com/p...-hockey-jersey/. Pinch-hitter Tommy Medica singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the Padres beat the Seattle Mariners 2-1 in their first home game since Gwynn died of cancer Monday. Mike Richter Jersey . "Im proud, obviously. Its been a long day, but now Im a Crystal Palace player, Im very happy," Bannan said. "The seasons been started now for a couple of weeks and Ive not featured at Villa. Brett Howden Jersey . Louis and Ryan Kesler have demanded to be traded.DALLAS - Dirk Nowitzki became the highest-scoring NBA player born outside the U.S. and the Dallas Mavericks rallied from 24 points down to beat the Sacramento Kings 106-98 on Tuesday night.Monta Ellis scored 10 of his 16 points in the third quarter, including a fadeaway 3-pointer at the buzzer after the Mavericks had taken their first lead in their 21st straight regular-season win at home against Sacramento.Nowitzki passed Hakeem Olajuwon for ninth place on the all-time scoring list. The 7-foot German finished with 23 for 26,953 career points, seven more than the Nigerian-born former star of the Houston Rockets.Rudy Gay scored 26 to lead the Kings, who were outscored 58-28 from the middle of the second quarter to the end of the third.Chandler Parsons, who was 2 of 20 from the field the previous two games, scored eight points in a little more than a minute to get the Mavericks within five in the third, and Ellis put them in front for the first time on a layup for a 69-67 lead.Parsons finished with 19 points and was 5 of 11 from 3-point range after missing all 11 from beyond the arc in the previous three games. Tyson Chandler had his third straight double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.Nowitzki passed Olajuwon with a jumper from just inside the 3-point line early in the fourth quarter.Ramon Sessions scored 18 points for the Kings, and DeMarcus Cousins had 16 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.Sacramento looked ppoised to win a regular-season game in Dallas for the first time since Feb.dddddddddddd 27, 2003. Instead, the Kings dropped their second straight after a 5-1 start.The Kings held Dallas to 14 points on 24 per cent shooting in the first quarter and led 44-20 early in the second. But they went cold in the third, shooting 26 per cent and getting outscored 30-15.Ben McLemore hit all three of his 3-pointers in the first quarter, when the Kings outscored Dallas 32-14. But he made just one of five from long range the rest of the way as Sacramento ended up shooting 44 per cent overall.The Kings also had 19 turnovers over the final three quarters, and Gay had a game-high seven.TIP-INSKings: They have a playoff win in Dallas since their last regular-season win. Sacramento won 94-92 in Game 4 of the first round in 2004 on the way to a 4-1 series victory. ... Darren Collison, who lost the job as the starting point guard his only season in Dallas when the Mavericks 12-year playoff streak ended in 2012-13, didnt get to play against his former team because of a shoulder injury.Mavericks: Dallas matched the third-biggest comeback in franchise history. Its the third time the Mavericks have come back from 24 down. ... The 21-game streak against Sacramento is the longest against one team in Dallas franchise history.UP NEXT:Kings: Finish four-game road trip at Memphis on Thursday.Mavericks: Host Philadelphia on Thursday. ' ' '