Just in: Canadian Coalition to Bring Down MLS?

Former MLS executive Ivan Gazidis made some startling comments today in an undisclosed London pub. As previously reported in many news sources, the Montreal ownership group pulled their bid for an MLS team around the time of the MLS Cup (perhaps because they saw the league as besmirched with the Red Bull New York Red Bulls of Harrison, New Jersey reaching the final). Recently, the Vancouver bid seems to be headed for the same fate. Gazidis reportedly said that the teams were looking to form a coalition to build their own league. They are testing out names such as the Looney League and Major Soccer League. After the success of the Montreal in the CONCACAF Champions League Group stage and the failure of four three [ed.: whatevs, like we were paying attention, man] four [ed.: Toronto failed in Canadian qualifying, Chivas USA and NE failed in preliminary, and DC United didn't make it out of the group] MLS teams to either advance or even make the group stage, the Canadian Coalition is looking to form a stronger government league. The ownership groups believe that a Canadian run league would be stronger and more able to have international success.

"Canadians should know that these ownership groups lied to them. These guys said they would never form a coalition to bring down MLS and yet here they are launching a coup."

Grading the Expansion Candidates VII: Montreal

Poutine: don't knock it 'til you've tried it.

Alright folks, here it is, the final chapter in our Expansion Opus...Montreal! Home of Formula 1 racing, poutine, and a bunch of other cool stuff!

Dining: 5 From cheap eats (poutine) to world class (and pricey as hell) restaurants, Montreal's got it all. Seriously. The food is fantastic.
Entertainment: 5 They have a casino. Allow us to repeat that: they have a casino. It is open 24 hours a day.
Site-Seeing: 3 It's not really a great city for site-seeing...then again, there's so much in the way of eating, drinking, entertainment, and "entertainment" going on that you really wouldn't bother visiting a bunch of world-class museums, even if they did have them.
"Entertainment": 5 Home of the world famous "Canadian Ballet." Remember, the ladies who don't quite make the cut at Cirqe de Soleil still have to make a living...
Drinking: 4 Bonus point for drinking age of 18.
Climate: 4 It can get hot and humid in the summer, and when it does, there isn't much in the way of AC available...however, it's generally more pleasant than the usual suspects (I'm looking at you, Houston, DC, and Frisco, TX).

Final Score: 26 out of 30! Tied with Portland! Of course, since there are two slots available, we don't have to pick a winner...but this is America, and we like winners and hate ties, Doug Logan said so, so we've got to settle this somehow...oh yeah! This is America! So we'll give the win to the American city, Portland, because those silly Poutine-Eating Surrender Monkeys won't care whether they win or lose! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!