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 V: Vancouver (UPDATED)

What was Steve Francis thinking? We may never know...

Alright, time for the second Canadian city on our list: Vancouver.

Remember when Stevie "Franchise" Francis was drafted by the then-Vancouver Grizzlies? Remember how he pouted for the rest of the televised draft, and then forced the Grizz to trade him to Houston?

I wonder what the hell he was thinking...and I'm sure that at some point during his first road trip to Vancouver as a member of the Rockets, he asked himself the same question: "What the hell was I thinking?"

With that aside out of the way, let's get to the numbers!
Dining: 4 A very good city for food. No denying it.
Entertainment: 3 Good but not great.
Site-Seeing: 4 Bonus point for all the cool outdoorsy stuff in the vicinity.
"Entertainment": 4 Hey, they've got an "entertainment district," right? Plus, with all those Japanese businessmen in town, you figure they've gotta have some decent, uh, establishments.
Drinking: 3 - bonus point for drinking age of 19, but point deducted for early closing time, assuming this article about bars closing at midnight outside the entertainment district is correct.
Climate: 4 Summer league and all that...

Final score: 22 25 out of 30. Not quite enough to take the top spot away from Miami...and Although with Portland and Montreal still to come, well, it looks like it won't will it be enough for Vancouver to make the MLS Rumors² cut? Stay tuned!

UPDATE: Taking Big Rob's comment into account, we are awarding Vancouver a 3 point "BC Bud Bonus." Why? Because that's how we roll, that's why. Of course, this just increases the "what was Steve Francis thinking?" factor.