Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Doop for Sebastien Le Toux

Today Philadelphia Union announced that they traded Sebastien Le Toux to the Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

Excuse me for a moment while I bang angrily on my keyboard...

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Ahem.

Philadelphia Union has traded Sebastien Le Toux to the Vancouver Whitecaps FC in exchange for allocation money. To paraphrase Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, "There's plenty of money out there. They print more every day. But this [player], there's only [one] of [him] in the whole world, and that's all there's ever going to be. Only a dummy would give this up for something as common as money. Are you a dummy?"

Well the people behind this deal are. Nick Sakiewicz, Union CEO and operating partner, (who has a history of screwing over MLS teams, from what I gather from comments from a NY Red Bulls fan) says, "We ... believe the moves we have made and continue to make improve our roster and give us a better chance to advance past the semifinals" of the MLS playoffs. Yeah? WITHOUT the one and only player who played every single minute of every single game in the 2011 season? Yeah? Why'd you play him so much if you think you can do better without him, huh?

Le Toux is a hard worker. He never quits for those 90 minutes and he gives the proverbial one hundred and ten percent, chasing down balls anyone else would've given up on. Plus, he seems like a classy, genuinely nice guy (not that I've had the privilege to meet him, but I've heard he takes time for fans after games). He's never gotten carded. Let me say that again: He has never received a yellow card or a red card in his MLS career. Not one. And need I remind you he played the entire season last year? That's a lot of time on the pitch, so I'm sure he had plenty of opportunities. Also, he doesn't dive. Dives are the last resort of losers who can't win any other way. Le Toux plays the game the way it should be played, without reckless fouls or trying to trick refs. He won the MLS Individual Fair Play award both years he played for Philadelphia Union. He was voted to the MLS Best XI and was named Philadelphia’s first-ever All-Star selection in 2010. He scored 14 goals and had 11 assists for Philadelphia Union in 2010, and had 11 goals and 9 assists in 2011. He got a hat trick in Union's inaugural home game, for crying out loud! What part of these stats makes you think, "Meh. Ditch him"?!

There are some people out there saying that Le Toux is just one guy and we need to think about the team as a whole and that Philadelphia Union is more than just individual players and that we aren't being "real fans" of the team by being so upset about Le Toux. But Le Toux was the face of the team! And they just ripped it off and tossed it away. They want to "reinvest in our youth" and with the 30 pieces of silver they got for Sebastien, Union can afford to keep Roger Torres. Yes, I am a fan of Torres, and I'd like to keep him, but not at the expense of Le Toux! If Torres is so essential to the Union, why didn't you start him more? He's played 1,889 minutes, which, if I'm doing the math right, equals a whopping three full games. Are you kidding me? [CORRECTION: I'm not. It's actually 21. I misplaced my decimal. Shoulda known better than to try to do long division at 2 AM without a calculator. *Puts Bag of Shame on head*]

Manager Peter Nowak said “We have a very good foundation with youth pieces here. We want to keep the group intact and we think this [decision] will make them even stronger."

I can't say it better than a fan who commented, "Keep the team intact? Build a good foundation? Sebastien Le Toux was this team's foundation. No amount of allocation money is worth selling off the heart of the franchise."

Another commenter said "A team that makes it into the playoffs needs to be improved to get further, not ripped apart and sold for scrap as if it were in a rebuilding phase." How about instead of getting rid of your striker, you give him a little bit more help up front once in a while? So much was on Le Toux to score this season. I don't understand how they can go from depending on him to not needing him at all.

The really heart-breaking part is that Sebastien likes living in Philly and playing for the Union. He tweeted that today was the saddest day for him. He didn't want to go to stinking Vancouver. (I know what that's like--I was pissed off when Genuardi's transferred me to Audubon when I intended to work at Kimberton.) And the fans don't want Le Toux to go either.

So, with our leading scorer gone, that really messes up our offense, and as a bonus our defense took a hard hit too, since Faryd Mondragon chose to return to Columbia. I can respect that he wants to play for his home, but it's still very sad to see him go. He has a lot of experience as a keeper, and was Union's captain, so it's going to be hard to fill his cleats as well. Mondragon and Le Toux were my two favorite members, they were the leaders of the team, and they were the only two all-stars in Philadelphia Union's history, and we lost them both within 24 hours.

It is a very sad day to be a Son of Ben. We will miss you, #9.

The Whitecaps better freaking play him. The next time Philadelphia plays Vancouver, if Le Toux scores a goal against us, I will doop for him.

1 comment:

jesstexter said...

When did you turn into a sports writer? "pitch" "inaugural game" "fill his cleats"?? And I keep hearing "doop" and "sons of ben" from you and my other soccer loving friend. I think you need to take me to a game. Preferably one that involves the hott guy married to the spice girl lol. :P