This afternoon, on April Fool's Day no less, Toronto FC traded the face of their franchise in Dwayne De Rosario for young and upcoming midfielder Tony Tchani, left-back Danleigh Borman and a 2012 first round SuperDraft pick. At first many across the Twitter Universe claimed that the trade was a farce and an attempt by TFC brass to highlight their prowess with the April holiday. However, as the afternoon materialized more and more of the media began to catch wind that this trade was actually in the works and eventually Toronto FC officially announced the trade at around 6:00 p.m. And just like that boom goes the dynamite.
With the trade, Toronto FC become the latest North American sports franchise to test the Ewing Theory. The Ewing Theory was created and developed by ESPN's Bill Simmons and his good friend Dave Cirilli. The theory was a result of the belief that Patrick Ewing's teams, both Georgetown and the New York Knicks, played better when the big fella was out of the line-up. This could not have been more evident than during the '99 NBA Playoffs when during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals Patrick Ewing tore his Achilles tendon and was lost for the season. The Knicks, against all odds, managed to defeat the Indiana Pacers and advance to the NBA Finals. And thus, the Ewing Theory was born.
According to Simmons and Cirilli here are the two elements that are necessary in order to apply the Ewing Theory:
'A star athlete receives an inordinate amount of media attention and fan interest, and yet his teams never win anything substantial with him (other than maybe some early-round playoff series).'
'That same athlete leaves his team (either by injury, trade, graduation, free agency or retirement) -- and both the media and fans immediately write off the team for the following season.'
So let's see . . . . point #1 is pretty much Mr. De Rosario in a nut shell. Furthermore, it is pretty evident from the initial reaction towards the trade that the 2011 Toronto FC season, at least according to the fans, should be a complete rebuild. There goes point #2. But take a step back Toronto FC fans, embrace the role of the underdog and let the magic of the Ewing Theory come to the forefront.
This is the best time to be a fan of Toronto FC. Everyone is writing off this team from the media to the fans and many MLS pundits. So why not, jump on at the bottom, and together we can all enjoy the ride to the top.
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