TFC - A hot topic no longer drowned by hyperbole As TSN's Kristian Jack writes, Toronto FC are once again a team on the lips of many as a new season draws nearer, yet this time there is a key blend of the sympathy pre-2014 and the hyperbole of last year.

Kristian Jack TSN Soccer Analyst Follow|Archive

Imagine you are a parent of three children and you go to a party to see relatives you haven't seen in a long time.

Now imagine these relatives have a very close interest in all of your children but there is one they are fascinated about. The other two may get asked about as the conversation comes to an end but that's just because they are already impressed by one and know they'll be fine and the other they just don't see enough and are confused by.

Every February for a couple of days those of us fortunate to cover Major League Soccer get together some place warm and discuss many topics ahead of the upcoming season.

It wasn't in Las Vegas but much of what takes place and is discussed inside that room stays in that room.

It is, after all, a business meeting featuring professionals from all across the world who work in broadcasting MLS games worldwide.

What needn't be a secret, however, is the harmony in the meetings with everyone rowing the good ship MLS in the same direction.

Occasionally, obvious large waves can steer that in a different direction and the biggest stumbling block for the league's momentum remains the ongoing discussions around a new CBA. With the league set to kick off next week we all still wait for further clarity.

The plan remains for everyone to be ready for the new season to kick off March 6. As it should.

When over 200 people get together for a couple of days in the sunshine the vibe is usually positive and it was no different here. Much of the chatter during the meal breaks centred around the 20th season for MLS and what many think might happen.

The Team Canada contingent at the meetings were well represented and although we didn't all wear red and white we were the ones many approached to talk about the teams 'up there'.

Except everyone's focus was on the one child. The confused, previously arrogant one, who refused to learn from their mistakes and kept making them time and time again. The one who didn't care what people thought about them but, deep down, actually really did and went too far to show it.

They may not have won anything but when it comes to the fascination factor and relevancy rate Toronto FC are already the MLS Champions this winter.

How are they looking? What's the attitude like this year? What do you think of the changes they have made? Who are the real leaders? How good is Joe Vinco? They should be better, yes? No? Maybe?

Toronto FC are once again a team on the lips of many as a new season draws nearer, yet this time there is a key blend of the sympathy pre-2014 and the hyperbole of last year.

It is not difficult to imagine how this team would have been looked at if 2014 hadn't existed. Over $17 million on three international DP's, two who are stars for Jurgen Klinsmann's USA side and the other who arrives in his prime from Juventus. Throw in other new acquisitions like Damien Perquis, Benoit Cheyrou and Robbie Findley and TFC would be kind of a (not bloody) big deal right now.

Instead, they are playing the part of the rich franchise who have never won anything, a situation sport is all too familiar with. Just look at the New York Knicks.

While no one expects this team to fall to such low levels there is a reason people will now consider a 6th place finish in the East (closer to last, than first) as a success as it would finally give them a playoff berth for the first time.

Such a forecast remains a moving target once the season starts but 2014's bloody big disappointment cannot be erased from everyone's memory and when you continue to disappoint time and time again eventually people expect less.

That's where even the most positive Toronto FC backers are right now.

A year ago a group of men who had never accomplished anything together were being tipped by many to be a powerhouse in the Eastern Conference. At these very same meetings. After a win on the first day of the season in Seattle they were being talked about as MLS Cup favourites.

The 2014 MLS season laughed in the face of such ridiculous assumptions and by season's end apathy was almost as frequent a visitor to BMO Field as the rain.

The club needed to act and react quickly so they dusted themselves down this offseason and another new regime approached their first offseason with their fists high and their pockets full.

The club did what they do really well in December, January and February. They talked a lot and had many a press conference.

But now it is almost time for the talking to stop. They remain a hot topic having rebuilt their reputation for the second successive winter but it is much easier to do that away from the pitch.

Well done is always better than well said and as MLS First Kick approaches everyone is now in wait and see mode with Toronto FC.

It no longer matters how much people are talking about them. It is a time for actions, ones that speak far louder than any words. Even the bloody big ones.