He certainly built a dynasty and plays UBC at home this weekend.

Watching the Montreal Canadiens lose goaltender Carey Price to injury this week reminded me of what I often think is the great weakness of North American sports. The reliance of individuals in team sports. Hockey is obsessed with goaltenders. A team loses and the first place people look at for blame is in between the pipes. Baseball? As they say, momentum is all about the next days starting pitcher. NFL? Find an elite quarterback if you want to win the Super Bowl and stop using Trent Dilfer as an example (unless you can find one of the greatest defences to go alongside him). Basketball? You wont find many NBA championship teams that doesnt feature a current or future hall of famer. The global game of soccer is often very different, as the achievements of Atletico Madrid this week have shown. A sport that is so reliant on teamwork rarely allows a figurehead to rise to such prominence to make a championship be about them. Sure, domestic leagues have outstanding players who take over games, weeks, even months of a campaign, but without their teammates they are just one man with a ball at their feet. Even the greatest players in the world today are surrounded by players close to their level that allows them to perform brilliantly so often. For some reason, however, every four years many forget the common sense around this belief and two words are the reason for it. World Cup. There have only been nineteen of these in history and, specifically for the last 16 of them, it has been considered as the ultimate thing in the sport to win. However, the World Cup is not without its failings. Many games produce predictable, sterile games dominated by defensive-minded teams, unable to replicate the teamwork earned by club teams over long periods of time, who, subsequently, know its far easier to stop than score. It is a tournament that lasts one month every four years. The best team plays seven games and does not even have to win them all. Yet, because it is so short in time and so infrequent on the games calendar, the World Cup cares little for reputations, instead choosing to make them. This allows the sport to be much more North American in terms of individuals stamping their authority on it. With this in mind, collectively, we owe it to future generations to be extremely careful with the evidence provided (and this is not always easy with the lack of video available to us once the tournament ends). First of all we must remember that players can have excellent tournaments without actually winning it. This rule is for all, not just for those you didnt expect to win it anyway. Take Lionel Messis 2010 World Cup. Many adjectives have been used to describe this including poor and disappointing. What nonsense. Messi was excellent in South Africa but because he didnt score a goal some thought he was disappointing. When his out-of-his-depth manager, Diego Maradona, decided to play without a central midfield, Argentina were sent home packing in the quarterfinals. They never had a chance of winning the World Cup and none of that fell on the shoulders of Messi. Since leaving South Africa, Messi, with Barcelona, has won everything there is to win in club football, and added three more Ballon DOr awards. He has consistently succeeded in the most competitive tournament, the Champions League, the sport has to offer. He is described by many as one of the greatest players to play the game but suddenly he is removed from such a camp, by some, the closer a World Cup gets to starting, when a new hurdle is put in his path to reach the pantheon of greatness; a hurdle he simply cannot jump himself. Messis countryman, Ossie Ardiles, who won the World Cup in 1978, hit the headlines last week with this gem of a quote: "To be considered alongside the top, top guys like Pele and Diego Maradona and so on, Messi not only needs to be in the World Cup but to win it." Mr Ardiles isnt the only one who feels this way, of course, and in fact there is an alarming chance he is in the majority rather than the minority when it comes to this topic. What a pity. And while we are on this quote, who is so on exactly? When Pele played, the World Cup was everything. He changed the sport and is arguably the greatest player to play the game. The World Cup made him the global star that he simply couldnt reach himself at Santos. Maradona graced four World Cups and is forever remembered as the face of Mexico 1986. It is fitting for a man so talented that he had that event to catapult him towards the legends of the game but many who celebrate Maradonas greatness, because of those 30 days in Mexico, often, conveniently, forget his 1982 and 1994 World Cups ended in disgrace. 1990? Dont let their runner-up spot fool you. His team was even worse than Messis 2010 side and his performances werent even close to the ones shown by Barcelonas current star in South Africa. There is no disputing Maradonas greatness on the field but if the guardians of football history and, subsequently, the makers of reputations are going to base so much on what happens at World Cups then they need to be fair about it. In a sport that cares so often about who wins and loses this seems like an impossible task. Only one team can lift the trophy when it all finishes on July 11. Of course, Messi will be considered as one of the true greats if that team proves to be Argentina but why should we wait to find out what some of his flawed teammates can do for him before we give him such an honour? Just because Maradona, Pele and so on won the World Cup? The game is full of true, elite greats who never did. Pele and Maradona call Alfredo Di Stefano the most complete player ever and what of Johan Cruyff, who was magnificent in the 1974 World Cup and did everything but win the tournament? Rather than holding the World Cup to a higher standard that some cannot reach, those who lean on individual quality, should enjoy its beauty at producing other stars whose solo acts can carry their teams far. Garrincha, Eusebio, Cruyff, Paolo Rossi, Toto Schillaci, Roberto Baggio, Romario, Davor Sukur, Ronaldo, Oliver Kahn, Fabio Cannavaro, Diego Forlan and David Villa are just some examples of that. Some won, some didnt. Some are true greats, some arent. Their reputations were enhanced by their World Cup play but also because their team was able to get to the final week of the event. Neither Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo needs to win a World Cup to be graced amongst the greatest ever. It appears, before the tournament already starts, that Ronaldo doesnt have the team to get him to the trophy, and if the tournament proves the same for Argentina why should Messi be judged differently to Ronaldo? This special group, created by the likes of Ardiles, that features Maradona, Pele and so on is a hindrance to football history and an ignorance to the game itself. Vans Shoes Wholesale Australia . - The New Orleans Saints have re-signed receiver Joseph Morgan for one year and have agreed to a four-year deal with free agent fullback Erik Lorig. Vans Shoes Online Australia Sale . Right-hander Todd Redmond took the loss. Jose Bautista hit his second home run of the spring. Here are a handful of tidbits from around camp: Hutchison impressive The Blue Jays are being cautious when talking about their young arms but internally, excitement is building over the way Drew Hutchison is looking and performing this spring. http://www.cheapaustraliavans.com/ . Founding members of the Genie Army, a group of Eugenie Bouchard supporters who cheered for the rising tennis star during the Australian Open in January, will be in the city for the Rogers Cup, beginning this weekend. Vans Shoes For Sale Cheap . -- Andrew Wiggins is from Canada, Wayne Selden from Massachusetts and Joel Embiid from the African nation of Cameroon. Cheap Vans Shoes Wholesale . Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Fiorentina levelled on aggregate in the 14th minute when Joaquin Sanchez Rodriguez headed back a long ball from David Pizarro and Pasqual smashed home an angled volley.The football ratings say that the Western Mustangs are the number one college football team in this country. But their coach Greg Marshall says Laval, also undefeated and rated number two, "are the champs until they are knocked out" in his mind. In fact, for the first time since the CIS college football ratings came out, three teams across this country have finished the regular season undefeated. In addition to Western and Laval the Calgary Dinos finished with a perfect 8-0 mark. Western is generally acclaimed as the top school in the nation and certainly in Ontario where there is much competition with Guelph and Queens (both finished at 7-1). Queens and Guelph are in the national top 10 and both lost their only game to Western. Pat Sheahan, the head coach at Queens, told TSN.ca that Western is "way out in front this year. Theyve scored 50 points against all teams this year, their quarterback Will Finch set an all-time CIS passing record and theyve got talent and support. They are deserving of the number one rating." The No. 2 team Laval became perhaps the only team ever to slip from the number one spot to the number two position while scoring 50 points and winning their game. This took place after week four and as CIS P.R. man Michel Belanger told me "Yes, Laval scored 52 points against Sherbrooke but gave up over 30 points in that game. We felt Western deserved the number one rating." Western coach Greg Marshall told TSN.ca "the ratings say we are No. 1 but (to) our team that honour belongs to Laval. They are also undefeated and are the defending champions so until they lose thats how we feel about it. Id love to meet them and the only way that is possible is in the Vannier Cup.dddddddddddd." Laval plays Sherbrooke at home this weekend and hasnt lost a home game since 2004! Coming in a little bit under the radar, as the expression goes, are the Calgary Dinos. Head coach Blake Nill is on the verge of winning his sixth straight division title. Nill won six straight AUS titles when he was at Saint Marys. From 1999-2003 he took the Huskies to four Vanier Cups in five years, and became the first coach ever to be in a Vanier Cup three consecutive years (2001-03) and winning the Vanier in 2001 and 2002. That has been equalled by Laval coach Glen Constantine. Nill took the Dinos from an 0-8 record in 2006 and after working his recruiting magic has won the league title since 2008. He certainly built a dynasty and plays UBC at home this weekend. "Weve had some good breaks along the way," says Nill. One of the biggest breaks came in the first half of the very first season game when the league MVP Eric Dzwilewski went down for the season and third year man Andrew Buckley, who had seen very little game action, took control and didnt miss a beat. "To have the results that he did under the circumstances that he became the starter is amazing," Nill told me. "His passing completion percentage is around 75 per cent, not too many guys can make that claim in college ball." Calgary hosts UBC in the semifinal. It should be an interesting playoff weekend. Will all three undefeated teams make it? And if the top two teams should advance and meet it will be in Quebec City as Laval hosts the Vanier Cup. Maybe Western coach Greg Marshall will get his wish. For TSN.ca, Im Alex J. Walling. Alex J. can be reached via email at: ajw@eastlink.ca ' ' '