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It says something about the conundrum that is Toronto FC that Eric Avila only wants to talk about the good memories he has of the team that cut him adrift. The slight midfielder, who now plies his trade for Chivas USA, remains a huge fan of the underachieving MLS franchise in Toronto. "I really enjoyed my time there," he said in an interview Tuesday. "Obviously playing-wise was not as much as I wanted. But the experience of being up there and playing. And obviously playing in front of all the fans there, its amazing." On Wednesday, Avila and Chivas (3-11-5) will welcome Toronto (2-9-7) to the StubHub Centre in Carson, Calif., just south of Los Angeles. Toronto may want to keep a close eye on the former Red. Avila, acquired in January by Chivas from Colorado after the MLS re-entry draft, has scored against both Montreal and Vancouver this season. The 25-year-old from San Diego was a familiar sight to reporters covering Toronto FC. They often saw Avila, his cowboy-like gait and slim build hard to miss, getting off a streetcar en route to BMO Field. "The citys amazing," he said of Toronto. "Obviously theres a lot of friendly people down there. ... I didnt have a car so I got to know the way through the streetcars and trains." After signing a Generation Adidas contract as an elite underclassman, the former U.S. under-20 international was taken by FC Dallas 19th overall in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft. In four seasons for Dallas, Avila made 63 appearances. He was traded to Toronto during the 2011 season, appearing in 33 games before being one of many players let loose after the disappointing 2012 season. He has flourished at Chivas, a team like Toronto under reconstruction, and has seen action in 16 games. His two goals are tied for the team lead, which while good for Avila speaks volumes about the ineptitude of the Chivas offence. When it comes to poor performance on the pitch, Toronto is almost unparalleled. The franchise, owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, could be a Harvard Business School study on how to and how not to run a sports franchise. Off the pitch, the team was a hit out of the box as fans flocked to the no-frills but cosy stadium on the citys lakefront. But management could not deliver the product to match the fan fervour. Now in its seventh season, Toronto has never made the playoffs and sports a woeful 47-97-62 regular-season record. TFC has only ever won 13 MLS games on the road. Yet the teams support remains amazingly vibrant. Toronto, under new management yet again this season, stands 18th in the 19-team standings, but ranks eighth in attendance at 19,608 a game. Is it any wonder that new MLSE CEO Tim Leiweke says Toronto FC has done "a lot of damage" to what he says was the best brand in MLS. Avila, however, sees the glass as half-full. His faith in Toronto is based on that support despite the constant management and roster fluctuations. "Dont get me wrong. Things are always changing there," he said. But Avila remembers the packed stands and enthusiasm that filled the Rogers Centre when Toronto hosted the defending champion Los Angeles Galaxy in a CONCACAF Champions League quarter-final in 2012. He recalls how the city rallied behind the soccer team. "For me, its a taste of the success of what it could be," he said of the franchise. Avila has also seen how Toronto looks after its players. The clubs training centre in north Toronto is European-calibre, complete with a chef and well-appointed facilities. The club is also among the best in MLS in looking after and settling in its players. These days, a car service helps ferry players to the training base north of the 401 highway. The turnover at Toronto has been such that only eight players on the current roster played with Avila last season. But the Chivas midfielder took time to seek out his old teammates in Los Angeles after TFC flew directly to the West Coast from their 3-0 loss Saturday in Kansas City. "I have nothing but love for Toronto. It will be very exciting to play against them," said Avila, sounding like he really meant it. At Chivas, Avila has re-stablished himself as a regular, albeit on a team with its own problems. Its been a difficult season for the largely Hispanic franchise, which fired coach Jose Luis Sanchez Sola in late May with the team languishing in the Western Conference basement with a 3-7-2 record. Like Toronto, it has found goals hard to come by with just 17 in 19 games. Only D.C. United, with eight, has scored fewer goals. Chivas has not won a league game since March 30, going 0-10-4 since. Prior to a 3-1 loss in Philadelphia last time out, however, the Goats had managed three straight ties against Montreal, FC Dallas and New England. Chivas has been shut out nine times this season and managed to score more than one goal just four times. Since the end of April, Chivas has been outscored 24-5 in 11 league games. Wednesday could mark the Chivas debut of newly acquired U.S. international defender Carlos Bocanegro. Another new face is Mexican forward Erick (Cubo) Torres. Chivas is playing its fourth game in two weeks, returning home after an 0-1-2 road trip that included a 1-1 tie in Montreal. Toronto continues a busy portion of the schedule when it hosts Thierry Henry and the New York Red Bull (9-7-4) on Saturday. Nike Air Max Plus Tn Wholesale . The 18th player to shoot 60 on the tour, Jamieson settled for par on the final hole when his 15-foot birdie chip grazed the edge of the hole and stayed out. After opening with rounds of 66 and 73 to make the cut by a stroke, he had 11 birdies in the bogey-free round. Nike Air Max Plus Outlet . The Brazilian goalkeeper signed a loan deal with the Major League Soccer club on Friday as he looks to get playing time ahead of this summers World Cup in his home country. http://www.cheapnikeairmaxplus.com/ . 9. Price, heading to the 2014 Olympics for Canada, was named the First Star after posting wins in three starts with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .971 save percentage. Nike Air Max Plus Wholesale . The phone hearing is scheduled for 4:30pm et/1:30pm pt. Winchester, who was not penalized for the hit, appeared to make contact with Kellys head early in the first period of Thursdays game in Boston. Nike Air Max Plus Sale . -- The Magic have their first victory of the new year. When No. 8 Wisconsin plays at No. 4 Michigan on Saturday, there will be two seemingly polar opposites coaching on the sidelines.The Wolverines Jim Harbaugh is about as close as it gets to a rock star in college football. Hardly a day has gone by since his return to Ann Arbor that Harbaugh hasnt made headlines, with his globe-hopping satellite camps, rap video cameos, famous friends and, of course, his Twitter-melting social media jabs.Then theres the Badgers Paul Chryst, whos more like a soundboard engineer than a rock star. Chryst can seem almost allergic to individual attention or a jarring quote. Just try to find a viral online moment involving him. He doesnt even have a Twitter account.Outside observers would think the two coaches have almost nothing in common.Understandably so, Chryst said before chuckling.In fact, Harbaugh and Chryst are not only good friends, but their entire families share close bonds. They might project themselves to the world in different ways, yet their core experiences and beliefs are strikingly similar. Its like a yin and yang situation, if one of those symbols were khaki-colored.Theyre actually wired exactly the same, said Geep Chryst, Pauls older brother. But if ones a neon sign, the other one wants to be the last light you turn off at night and the first light you turn on in the morning. Theres probably a point in the day where you need both types of lighting.The connections between Chryst and Harbaugh go back for decades. Jims father, Jack, played on the same Bowling Green team in the late 1950s with Dave McClain, who went on to become Pauls coach during his playing days at Wisconsin.Jack Harbaugh and Pauls dad, George, both were college coaches, too, and they crossed paths frequently. When Jim got drafted by the Chicago Bears in 1987, he spent his first training camp with the team at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, where George Chryst was the football coach.One of most highly respected, great people this game or this world has ever known, Harbaugh said of George Chryst, who died in 1992.Platteville is also where Jim got to know Geep, who was helping the Bears out as a sort of glorified gofer. Mike Ditka hired Geep a couple of years later as a quality control coach for the Bears. Geep Chryst became a confidant for Harbaugh in Chicago, and they were reunited with the San Diego Chargers in 1999.Geep was the offensive coordinator there, while Paul was the tight ends coach. The Chargers had just drafted Ryan Leaf No. 2 overall, and they wanted a mentor for the young quarterback. So they traded for Harbaugh, who started 12 games that season.?Harbaugh impressed everybody there with his competitiveness and toughness. Geep remembers him trying to get back into the last regular-season game despite a dislocated hip. San Diego had already been eliminated from the playoffs at that point.We thought we were bringing in a wily veteran backup, Geep said, but instead we brought in a wily veteran starter. Paul saw how Jim was wired, and it brought out the little kid in all of us.Many of the interactions between Paul and Jim that year centered on Junior Seau, the Chargers Hall of Fame linebacker who moonlighted on occasion at tight end. Jim and Paul would confer on what the best plays were to get Seau the ball. They had plenty of other things to talk about, as both were Big Ten quarterbacks in the 1980s and members of football families -- Chrysts other brother, Rick, was the commissioner of the MAC, and of course Jims brother, John Harbaugh, is the Super Bowl-winning coach of the Baltimore Ravens.Being coaches kids gave us a little more in common than the quarterback careers we had in the BBig Ten, certainly, joked Chryst, who was a career backup with the Badgers.ddddddddddddOur dads were friends, the sons were friends, and its been a 30-year friendship, Harbaugh said. If somebody cant get along with Paul Chryst, theres probably something wrong with them. Thats how Ive always looked at it.Harbaugh later hired Geep Chryst as his quarterbacks coach with the San Francisco 49ers. Paul remembers calling Harbaugh before a game from a Big Ten stadium when he was Wisconsins offensive coordinator and asking for Harbaughs memories of the place -- he cant remember for sure if it was from Wisconsins 2010 win at the Big House, but Paul lingered in the press box a little longer after that victory.?Harbaugh also gave Chryst some advice on what to do when he got his first head coaching job. What did those words of wisdom include?Nothing that makes for good print, Chryst said, declining to share specifics.After Chryst got his first head coaching job with Pitt in 2012, he came out to San Francisco for a Rams-49ers game during his bye week. Harbaugh secured him a sideline pass, and Geep gave him a 49ers sweatshirt to wear. Harbaugh wasnt too pleased when, after the game ended in a rare 24-24 tie, Rams running back Stephen Jackson ran up and hugged Chryst on the field. Chryst had coached Jackson at Oregon State.Jackson just killed us that day, Geep recalled. Jim looked at Paul like, Of all the games ... That was the legendary competitiveness of Harbaugh coming through, one thats not hard to spot on the sidelines or anywhere else. Chryst is outwardly low-key and soft spoken. You would be hard-pressed to tell the difference in his demeanor between a spring practice and after this seasons victories over top-10 teams LSU and Michigan State.Geep says hes sure Jim will have thought about his Wisconsin pregame speech for weeks, if not longer, hoping for the perfectly profound message to inspire his team. Paul picks his spots to even raise his voice in front of his players. Both will have the same burning desire to win Saturday.For Jim, I think thats real for him, Paul Chryst said. Its why I loved being around him -- hes passionate and he wasnt going to hide it.I definitely have a competitiveness in me. It fuels you. Yet I think it comes across differently.Chryst could never imagine getting in Twitter feuds with other coaches or wearing different sports jerseys in each city on a camp tour like his friend. But of Harbaughs antics, he says, Hes authentic. Thats a description often used for Chryst, too.Theyre consistent with who they are, and their teams respond to that, Geep said. Thats genuinely who Jim is and genuinely who Paul is. Theyre perfect where theyre at and comfortable in their own skin.Its no coincidence that both of their teams play the same way: tough, physical styles featuring fullbacks and tight ends on offense. No spread stuff here. Just old-school football. Chryst says you can probably trace that back directly to our dads.Geep plans to sit in the Big House stands next to Earl Hansen, who was the high school football coach for both Harbaugh and Geeps son, current Stanford backup quarterback Keller Chryst. Theyll enjoy watching two old friends project wildly different demeanors on the sidelines while aiming for the same goal.Its fun because everybody can see the opposite ends of the spectrum theyre at, but deep down theyre really going to play a similar style of ball, Geep Chryst said. To have them square off against each other in a big game, no one appreciates it more than those two. ' ' '