Colorado coach Gary Smith – a regular Ricky Gervais

TORONTO – Colorado coach Gary Smith likes to talk. A lot. Wind him up and just let him go … and hope that the battery on your digital recorder doesn’t peter out. Seriously, he’s a journalists dream.

But he and his thick London lilt brought a little something extra to the MLS Cup news conferences. Smith was a little bit of a cut-up Friday as he, Omar Cummings and Pablo Mastroeni sat before a room full of cameras, notepads and recording devices.

Here’s how he ended a query about goalkeeper Matt Pickens, as the coach laid on the effusive praise  before punctuating it with this zinger: “The only thing he doesn’t have going is that silly beard.”

About Dallas’ David Ferreira and how they could possible hope to contain the league MVP, here’s what Smith said. “He’s only one player. The minute he becomes two players, we’re in big trouble.”

When someone asked Omar Cummings about the secret to the success of the dynamic Cummings-Conor Casey duo, Smith interrupted. “Don’t tell them!”

Mastroeni, not content to let the boss man have all the fun, had a little fun when asked about Dario Sala’s comments yesterday. “I don’t know how I’m getting thrown into this thing. I didn’t throw any punches,” Mastroeni said of the 2006 incident. “That was then, this is now, two different teams, two different coaches, two different mindsets ... but hopefully the same results.”

Zowey!