TORONTO -- It was the worst and lowest-paying job offer on the table. But Ryan Nelsen said yes to Toronto FC in January 2013, reckoning he could learn more from trying to resuscitate a perennial MLS loser than sit on a bench as an assistant coach at an English Premier League club. Twenty months later, Nelsens education in Toronto is over. General manager Tim Bezbatchenko, who inherited Nelsen as coach when he was hired last September, fired the former New Zealand international Sunday. In an interview with The Canadian Press last Wednesday -- when he suspected the axe was coming -- Nelsen mused about why he chose to become Torontos eighth coach in seven years. The biggest challenge is the most rewarding, he reasoned. "For me, my biggest enjoyment I get from work -- whether its in little business stuff or anything -- is to take something thats nothing or crap (and) build it into something thats respectable and good ... because thats where you learn the most," a relaxed Nelsen said while sitting in the sunshine at the clubs $20-million-plus training centre. "And once youve turned into something thats really good, then it doesnt have the same interest for me ... Then Ill probably move on." He never reached his goal in Toronto despite rebuilding the roster, earning the franchise much-needed respect and steering the club towards the playoffs for the first time. In axing Nelsen and five assistant coaches, Bezbatchenko cited the 9-9-6s teams disappointing record of late -- Toronto is 3-5-5 in its last 13 games. Greg Vanney, Bezbatchenkos assistant GM and academy director, took over as coach. In truth, the 32-year-old rookie GM had been at odds with Nelsen for some time. Bezbatchenko, a former league official described as "wicked smart" by MLS commissioner Don Garber, won a power play to rid himself of Nelsen and his assistant coaches. The coaching staff had been responsible for many of the teams recent deals, having filling a void left by the previous regime. Toronto went from being a franchise routinely fleeced to one Nelsen believed was one of the leagues "stealthiest." Bezbatchenko, who clearly was not on the same page as the coaching staff, was not willing to sit on the sidelines. A recent point of contention was the purchase of a pricey analytics service. Nelsen is not averse to analytics but saw the outlay -- and the front offices focus on numbers -- as somewhat out of whack given the teams success in horse-trading. Bezbatchenko and Vanney made a point Sunday of talking up the worth of analytics. In recent weeks, as Bezbatchenko flexed his muscle, Nelsen resisted -- only to see support from outgoing MLSE CEO Tim Leiweke fade. Leiweke once had Nelsens back, retaining "Nellie" as coach when he axed team president Kevin Payne in September 2013. "What I am certain of is that with respect to the way that we need to go as an organization, Ryan sees the world exactly the way we do," Leiweke said at the time. "Im supportive of Ryan. He will be our coach next year." That changed. Nelson, it appears, was on a short leash. "I was loyal to Nellie and I think Nellie was loyal to the organization," Leiweke said Sunday after the firing. "But that said, we always knew that there would be a pretty short window here as to if things went south, due to how competitive everything is. "And with that said the team obviously not only did not play well but really didnt show up." Leiweke has his own masters. And Toronto FC was his baby, with a playoff guarantee and buckets of money poured into his pet project. Even while headed to the MLSE door, Leiweke could not afford to see his team fail to deliver. Especially when the franchise, traditionally a cash generator, will lose money this season due to the megabucks lavished on star striker Jermain Defoe and midfielder Michael Bradley. Reminded that Toronto FC was one win away from tying the franchise record of 10, set in 2009, Leiweke replied: "Were also one game away from being out of the playoffs." Still Leiweke made a point of saying the decision to unseat Nelsen was Bezbatchenkos -- an employee he has jokingly referred to as Harry Potter. "This was a decision Tim made and I fully supported," Leiweke said. "You cant have a team quit on you. And its unfortunate and Im not sure its all Nellies fault. I think the team has to step up and accept some of the blame here too. But that said we cant let the season slip away. But that said and were going to do anything and everything we can to try and make the playoffs." Nelsen, not surprising, saw things differently. He believed his revamped team was headed in the right direction, but hitting dips or plateaus as it learned along the way. "Well kick on again and then well have our roadblocks where everyone will call us crap again," he said with a smile. "And next thing you know -- whatever time, and it will be in the future -- well be crushing teams and youll be going Oh you only won 3-0 today." Nelsen firmly believed that Toronto FC would be the class of the league next year. The manager did not go out quietly. The night before his firing was announced, Nelsen lambasted Bezbatchenko for issuing a challenge to his club "to take it up a notch." In an astonishing rebuke to his superior, Nelsen essentially accused his GM of sabotaging his club by ratcheting up the pressure on the players. Nelsen, it should be noted, waited until he was asked about Bezbatchenkos comments before firing his broadside at the news conference following Torontos 3-0 loss to New England. On Sunday, Bezbatchenko dismissed Nelsens tirade as "excuses." Saturdays loss was a lacklustre performance, the kind that gets coaches fired. But there had been forces behind the scenes in the days leading up to the match. In hindsight, one can see Bezbatchenkos pre-game comments as piling the pressure on Nelsen and setting the stage for the firing. The GM chose his words carefully, ensuring he did not throw anyone under the bus. But it was nearby and the engine was running. Nelsens approach to the media was always more guarded and less Machiavellian. "In all honesty here, do you really think Im the same person in front of the media and in front of people I dont know as I am in the changing room with the guys I have to be with in day in and day out?" he said in 2013. "I mean its professional football, this is proper stuff, this is not a Sunday kickaround. "Theres ripple effects of whatever you say in the media." Still Nelsens raw reaction to Bezbatchenkos comments was not entirely unexpected. While captain at Blackburn Rovers, he spoke out against the ownership for failing to communicate properly with the players over the firing of manager Sam Allardyce. Nelsen, who had learned of the sacking via TV, was unceremoniously shown the door himself a little more than a year later. In hiring Nelsen, Toronto was taking a gamble on a player with no managerial experience. But Nelsen is driven. Not the most physically gifted athlete, he earned his keep at the highest levels on the field through hard work and smarts. And he had been planning for his move to the sidelines for years, observing other managers and making notes. Every training session in his first Toronto FC pre-season was planned weeks or months in advance. Nelsen also arrived with a substantial Rolodex, contacts that benefited Toronto FC greatly. His ties to QPR and manager Harry Redknapp -- not to mention MLSEs deep pockets -- resulted in the arrival of Defoe and Brazil No. 1 goalkeeper Julio Cesar, acquisitions that earned TFC worldwide coverage. Nelsens network, via an agent, also helped net Brazils Gilberto. On the minus side, Nelsen was stubborn at times. Players like veteran Canadian attacking midfielder Dwayne De Rosario, a local favourite, simply fell off his radar. Given DeRos lack of playing time under Nelsen and Bezbatchenkos support of the player in the wake of Nelsens firing, one can guess whose signing that was. Nelsen, who kept his player opinions in-house, acknowledged he could improve in the area of management. "I think if you asked anybody theyd probably always tell you they could be a bit better. Its really hard because you have 23 guys who all want to play, so theres always going to be 12 pissed-off guys." He also rued the gap in sports science systems the club instituted going into this season, meaning the clubs fitness regimen started with a hiccup. Some things were out of his control. He did not particularly want to hold training camp in Florida again but the league was anxious to have its teams take part in the pre-season tournament there. Next year, he hoped to take the club to New Zealand to take advantage of the summer conditions and local opposition. But he feared such an adventure might be unfeasible, given the leagues looming labour negotiations. Shed no tears for Nelsen, whose canny business instincts have already led to his own winery and real estate holdings around the globe. He will land on his feet. "I wish the players all the success as they make the playoffs and I enjoyed every moment working with the other coaches putting the team together," Nelsen said in a text Monday to The Canadian Press. "Wish only success for TFC." Lost in the coverage of Nelsens departure is the 5-21-8 team he inherited at the beginning of 2013. "What we had in pre-season was probably the worst put-together squad in the history of the league," he said in December 2013. "It was that bad. It was actually terminal." In its 2013 transactions section, the MLS website lists 26 players going out the door at Toronto FC and 27 coming in. The 2014 list has 10 more players coming in and 17 leaving. Nelsen will look back at Toronto FC and wonder what might have been. "When youre on the outside, you just want to flick a switch, you just want everything to be great," he lamented last week. "Fans just want it to be great ... but no matter what, every team has to go through these little ups and downs." The clock is now on Bezbatchenko, who has his hand-picked coach and a looming void in the corporate structure above him. Toronto FC, warts and all, is his team now. Air Force 1 White Fake .com) - John Wall had 15 points, 12 assists and four steals as the Washington Wizards defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 92-85 on Monday night. Cheap Sf Af1 . -- Brendan Leipsic had two goals and an assist and Nicolas Petan extended his point streak to 11 games as the Portland Winterhawks slipped past the Red Deer Rebels 5-4 on Saturday in Western Hockey League action. http://www.airforce1storesale.com/fake-air-force-1-off-white-outlet.html .com) - Jimmie Johnson won Sundays AAA Texas 500 while championship contenders Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski as well as their teams were involved in a post-race fight on pit road after the two clashed in the closing laps at Texas Motor Speedway. Air Force 1 Low Discount . "I dont know where we would be without him," McClendon said. "Hes done a tremendous job for us and (Wednesday) was no different." Logan Morrison drove in two runs in Seattles big sixth inning, Young pitched seven strong innings and the Mariners beat the Houston Astros 5-2 to complete a three-game sweep. Air Force 1 Wholesale . Henry, who missed three games with a knee injury, was charged with a handball in the penalty area in the 82nd minute as he went to block a strike from Patrick Mullins. On the ensuing penalty kick, Lee Nguyen picked up his fourth goal of the season, giving the Revolution a 2-1 win Saturday afternoon. PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Rory McIlroy is 18 holes away from his first PGA Tour victory in 18 months, a chance to show the world he is back on his game. Thats not the way McIlroy views the final round at the Honda Classic. McIlroy started strong, avoided a big number with a brilliant bogey in the middle and took on the wind and water on the 16th hole for one final birdie Saturday that gave him a 1-under 69 in the toughest conditions and a two-shot lead over Russell Henley at PGA National. The 24-year-old from Northern Ireland has come to expect this kind of performance. He finished one shot behind in Abu Dhabi. He played in the final group in Dubai, where nothing went well in the final round. And here is again, making key shots and big putt to keep his nose in front in the Honda Classic. "Ive been building and building toward getting my game to a level where I feel it should be," he said. "And Im pretty much at that point now." Saturday wasnt easy. McIlroy might have saved his day with a bogey on the par-3 seventh. He took a penalty drop from under a palmetto bush, and faced a shot off the pine straw across 20 yards of rough to an elevated green with the pin toward the back right. The shot came off perfectly, and he holed the 8-foot putt for bogey. "It was one of the best up-and-downs Ive ever had, I guess," McIlroy said. "And it was almost like a momentum builder. I just bogeyed the last, but walking off that seventh green with a bogey almost felt like I had saved par or I had almost gained a shot on the field. It kept any momentum that I had going to the next few holes." He closed out his round with a 5-iron into the wind to 10 feet of the flag on the 16th for a birdie, and then narrowly missed two birdie chances on the closing holes. McIlroy was at 12-under 198. Asked about the importance of winning on a major tour for the first time since the World Tour Championship in Dubai at the end of 2012, and the first time since the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick in 2012 on the PGA Tour, Boy Wonder grappled for the right answer. "It would be nice. It would be my seventh PGA Tour win," he said. "Thats what it is. No bigger, no smaller. And Ill go home and have a nice night and get up the next morning and go play the Seminole Pro-Member. So its all good." He also knows its not over. Henley wasnt doing anything special until he holed out from 150 yards for eagle on No. 14, and then rammed in a 50-foot birdie putt from just off the green at the 17th for birdie that gave him a 68 and put him in the last grroup for the first time since he won the Sony Open last year.dddddddddddd Thats the only time Henley has won -- in his debut as a PGA Tour member -- and he hasnt been in this situation since then. Henley has only two top 10s since that win down from Waikiki Beach at the start of 2012. Now he has to chase one of golfs biggest stars, on a course where only one players -- Ernie Els in 2008 -- has come from behind on the final day to win. "Im trying not to pay attention to what Rory is doing," Henley said. "Obviously, hes playing great and hes been in this situation a little bit more than me. But I still have a lot of confidence and Im just going to try to play my game and not worry about what hes doing too much." Russell Knox of Scotland had a 68 and was three shots behind, while Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela had a 66 and was another shot back. David Hearn (70) of Brantford, Ont., was tied for 35th at 3 under. Tiger Woods is still in the game, but just barely. Woods matched the low round of the day. He was among five players who shot 65, all before the leaders teed off and the wind kicked into gear, but it was enough to move the No. 1 player 49 spots up the leaderboard and into a tie for 17th. Even so, he was seven shots behind. Woods has never won a PGA Tour event when trailing by more than five shots entering the last round. "Today was a positive day," Woods said after his lowest score in 10 rounds this year. "Hit the ball well and made some putts and got myself back in the hunt." It doesnt figure to be easy for Woods or anyone to track down McIlroy, who has converted the 54-hole lead in his last four PGA Tour wins dating to the 2011 Masters, where he blew a four-shot lead. That streak includes the Honda Classic two years, which he won to rise to No. 1 in the world for the first time. "Definitely not a coincidence," McIlroy said. "I learned a lot that day. I learned not to protect a 54-hole lead. I should have just stuck to the game plan, stuck to my process, not look at the leaderboard, not look at what other people are doing. ... And thats the reason that every 54-hole lead that Ive had since, Ive been able to close the deal. Hopefully, I can keep that run going tomorrow." It would be a remarkable turnaround for McIlroy, who a year ago was so frustrated with his game and high expectations that he walked off the course after 26 holes, a mistake he vowed to never repeat. "Theres still 18 holes to go," he said. "But Im feeling comfortable with where I am." ' ' '