From the Dugout

The TFC Giants Cup may turn out as a fine competition. It could showcase the best and the brightest that CONCACAF has to offer. The "most attractive" clubs play each other for a $50,000 grand prize, not exactly chump change in the world of CONCACAF. The tournament will be held in that bastion of TFC attendance we call Los Angeles. This is all well and good, but the ideals of the tournament are not where they should be located.

The TFC wants to make money. Lots of money. Not that this is surprising, it's just that this type of competition is shameless. These squads aren't champions. They "lead" their countries in attendance. Of course, since the TFC hasn't released any criteria on what leading attendance is, they can pick whoever they feel like. In MLS, DC United and Columbus Crew have been selected. I'd love to see the numbers they used. If we went by traditional average attendance numbers, Columbus wouldn't be close. L.A. and D.C. would represent the league with Metrostars on deck if one pulled out.

The rest of the field is amazingly diverse for such a "glamorous" tournament. Surinam has a club in the field in SV Transvaal, but Trinidadian club Joe Public, arguably the most famous club in the Caribbean, is not a part of the tourney. Saprissa joins from Costa Rica. I'm not exactly how El Salvador garners two reps, but CD Aguila and Alianza FC are a part of the tourney. Arnett Gardens is in from Jamaica. Guatemala sends their two largest clubs in Municipal and Comunicaciones. America and Chivas are the rightful reps from Mexico. CD Motagua of Honduras rounds out the field. However, these clubs have one important thing in common: Few of them are champions.

Yes, the UEFA Cup is made up of some clubs that are not champions. Now, the Champions League is made up of teams that are not champions. I have no problem with this. However, this tournament picks teams based on attendance. That is not the right way to go. The MLS representatives finished 9th (the Crew) and 11th (D.C.) in MLS last year. The UEFA Cup gives a total of 3 first round berths (out of 96) to teams outside of the top half of their respective countries. In most countries, they don't drop below the 4th or 5th place team. What does this say about our UEFA Cup?

The idea makes sense to TFC people. They look at the revenues generated by the Europeans in television rights and wonder if they could get a piece of the pie. They created the TFC Champions Cup. Has anyone at TFC headquarters realized that the TFC CC hasn't exactly taken off? The games are shown in the U.S. (on tape delay no less) on Fox Sports World and for the Spanish population on Galavision and Telemundo. I can't imagine that those rights drew much for the federation. Maybe they missed the wimpy crowds, all under 10,000. Even the hometown Galaxy could not draw fans. Why does the "centerpiece" of TFC football lag so far behind all the other continents?

The TFC is notoriously unorganized. Their PR people are somewhere between pathetic and nonexistent. The president is Jack Warner, a Trinidadian who will not stop at anything to get his country to the World Cup in Korea/Japan. Why should we expect a well publicized, well attended tournament from the TFC? They haven't shown that ability in the past. Look at the Champions' Cup when it was held in Las Vegas. Pathetic attendance and publicity. Look at this year's Champions' Cup in L.A. It was poorly attended even with the hometown team involved. More importantly, why should we expect them to thoroughly plan out a new tournament?

If the TFC really wanted to get something done for a second club competition, they should have based their competition on the UEFA Cup. The top teams from each country who did not qualify for the TFC Champions' Cup would be placed in the Giants' Cup. This would include the 3rd, 4th, and possibly 5th placed teams from MLS, the runners up and possibly the 3rd placed squads for the Verano and Invierno competitions in Mexico, and the 3rd and 4th placed teams from other countries such as Costa Rica and Guatemala. This would create a quality second competition. Is there much doubt that Metrostars (3rd) and Tampa Bay (4th) would be more worthy representatives than Columbus (9th) and D.C. United (11th)? It doesn't make sense to base everything on attendance.

While I hope for change, I don't expect it. When the TFC does something, it's monetarily based. This tournament will likely wreak havoc on the MLS seasons (and U.S. Open Cup stints) of our representatives. Yes, it makes sense to send the Galaxy to Spain. We have $2.5 million reasons to do that. What is the point of traveling to a possible away tie in Surinam or Guatemala for a measly $50,000? If the tournament gave MLS a world stage, I could understand. If you could find one non-MLS/MFL fan out of a thousand in Europe that knew of the TFC Giants Cup, I'd make you a rich man. Let's face the facts: What's the point?