In Ft. Worth, Drew Davison reports the Cowboys "couldn’t have been more pleased with how training camp went for the first time in North Texas." The Cowboys "had six practices open to the public" at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, and drew a total of 44,321 fans. The "best attended practice came on Monday with 9,240 showing up to the 12,000-seat venue." The Cowboys "drew 55,432 over 15 camp practices" in Oxnard, Calif., averaging about 3,700 a day. Frisco "had a better attendance average with roughly 7,400." This year’s camp "featured only one set of weekend practices, July 29 and 30 in Oxnard." Those were the "best attended practices in California with 7,407 showing up Saturday and 7,671 on Sunday" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 8/30).
MODEL FRANCHISE: SPORTSNET.ca's John Molinaro wrote Toronto FC is the "model franchise" of MLS and what "every other team in the league aspires to be." The "investment from MLSE in players the calibre of Sebastian Giovinco, Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley has helped." But it is "not the only factor." Former MLSE CEO Tim Leiweke "started a revolution within the club." Molinaro: "Love him or hate him ... there can be no denying that Leiweke’s short tenure at MLSE was a major turning point for Toronto FC." GM Tim Bezbatchenko, the chief architect of TFC’s renaissance, has "shown great vision and acumen in building one of the deepest teams in league history" (SPORTSNET.ca, 8/28).
ON THE RIGHT TRACK? In Columbus, Michael Arace writes as far as the Browns go, it "looks like there’s a plan." When it "comes to stability, delegation of authority and cool-headed resolve," team Owner Jimmy Haslam is "not exactly the Rooney family." But maybe Haslem has "learned." It also "appears as if the football operations department has stabilized" under Exec VP/Football Operations Sashi Brown, and Haslam is "standing solidly behind" coach Hue Jackson (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 8/30).
