Whitecaps MLS opener

[notahomer]

Anyone going to the opener @ Tempire? I scooped a Whitecaps scarf down outside Downtown Vancouver Sears on Granville Street today around 4 PM. I think they have been giving them away pretty much everyday this week but I wasn't able to snag one until today. Well, if anyones going, I hope its dry ( ) and you have a blast.

[1greatmysticbushape]

I wish'em many good lucks but I have no interest in soccer. Will they last 5 years?

[WestCoastJoe]

Body painting a girl? Hmmmm nice thought for a male chauvinist. Guilty.

Appropriate for soccer, or any North American spectator sport attended by families? Dunno. A bit of a dumb move I would say. A bit desperate too?

In Europe and South America, methinks, the fans would get more excited by the game of "football" than bodypainting a girl.

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2011/03/ ... %E2%80%99/

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Daph ... story.html

[Robbie]

This will be the answer to a trivia question for the years to come: The first MLS Whitecaps FC goal scorer: Eric Hassli

Back in 2007, there were countless threads opened by a single individual who was so concerned about the attendance on the Whitecaps vs. LA Galaxy exhibition game which was finally answered: 48,172.

Unfortunately this season's Whitecaps vs. LA Galaxy game on Saturday, July 30 which is before the Whitecaps move to BC Place. So we won't know whether attendance will be exceeded this year.

[Toppy Vann]

Body painting a girl? Hmmmm nice thought for a male chauvinist. Guilty.

Appropriate for soccer, or any North American spectator sport attended by families? Dunno. A bit of a dumb move I would say. A bit desperate too?

In Europe and South America, methinks, the fans would get more excited by the game of "football" than bodypainting a girl.

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2011/03/ ... %E2%80%99/

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Daph ... story.html

The ad is not a good sign for this organization. Sends the wrong message as to what kinds of fans they want at their games. If they want more beer guzzling drunk bozos chanting and not families this ad strikes the right chord.

The Tony Waiters years with the Whitecaps was about good, entertaining soccer, families and community. Their teams were seen in the community at local soccer parks like Burnaby Lake where you'd see the likes of GK Phil Parkes, Kevin Hector, Derek Possee and a host of players wandering around together. That was a tight knit group they had back then. The Whitecaps would run clinics for coaches and marketing stressed the game.

[1greatmysticbushape]

whats an average salary for the players?

[Robbie]

Similar like how Bob Lilley was sacked a year after winning the 2006 championship, Teitur Thordarson has been relieved of his duties less than three years after guiding the team to the 2008 championship and 2009 runner-up. One would think that there would be some tolerance over the fact that the Whitecaps are a first-year, expansion team in the MLS and are not expected to have a great record right away. But unfortunately to Thordarson it looks like management decided to compare with their fellow expansion counterparts Portland Timbers who has a much better record.

[Robbie]

Whitecaps finish dead last in the MLS for their first season.

Good luck next season! Rome wasn't built in a day.

[Robbie]

It's good to see the Vancouver Whitecaps FC acknowledge and congratulate the BC Lions for their championship on their web page:

http://www.whitecapsfc.com/news/2011/11 ... ampionship

Whitecaps FC salute the BC Lions on winning the 99th Grey Cup championship!
Whitecaps FC congratulate BC Lions!

Vancouver Whitecaps FC wish to congratulate the BC Lions on winning the 99th Grey Cup championship at BC Place in downtown Vancouver on Sunday afternoon.

The Lions claimed their sixth Canadian Football League championship title in franchise history with a 34-23 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in front of a BC Place crowd of 54,313.

"Congratulations to the BC Lions on winning a sixth Grey Cup championship," said Whitecaps FC president Bob Lenarduzzi. "With the championship success of baseball's Vancouver Canadians earlier this year, there is a real championship spirit in Vancouver at this present time. While the Lions' success is a special moment, there is always enough room for more championship success in this city, and Whitecaps FC are determined to achieve similar success in the very near future. We hope that these achievements by the Canadians and Lions will generate more interest in all of Vancouver's sports teams, including Whitecaps FC in Major League Soccer."

[274always]

Intersting that Montreal and Vancouver should square off both in hockey And soccer on the same day tomorrow. Good Luck to all 4 teams.

Looks like a split. Welcome to the MLS Impact: not an easy league. Already got over 45,000 tix sold for our home opener next saturday, that in spite of a parking roof collapse nearby. Guess we just love our soccer.

58,912 for our opener. Now That's something.

[notahomer]

Got a free ticket to todays Whitecaps/Sounders soccer game (finished in a 2-2 tie due to a late Seattle goal). I wouldn't have gone but my friend just couldn't find anybody else to go with and I didn't want him to have to go alone. Next time, I'm gonna say 'sorry just not worth my time'. Of course that is just because I'm not a soccer fan and it really doesn't reflect on the product on the field, IMO. Watching guys barely get scraped by a tackle but then acting like they have been hit by a semi-truck is not my idea of how to spend an afternoon.

Of course the Whitecaps were either tied/leading most of the game. IMO, the team playing away from the sunny spot had the better gameplay (Whitecaps first half, Sounders second). Got to give the fans some props too. The idea of sitting around through commercial breaks and timeouts ONLY THEN TO DECIDE TO GET UP AND GO TO THE BATHROOM/HOTDOG line, doesn't seem to have occurred to Whitecaps fans maybe in part due to the lack of said breaks/timeouts. Obviously theres some audience participation things that would take some getting used to. For e.g. I thought I heard an airleak early in the first half but then discovered fans hiss away while waiting for the goaltender to kick the ball to make some kind of sound effect. Okay, at least it makes more sense than doing the wave while my CFL home team is on offence......

[notahomer]

Whitecaps choked again and Toronto FC came away as 'Canadian Champs'. IMO, part of it was karma. One Whitecaps player went down like he'd been hit by a snipers bullet when a Toronto FC player went to slap him. It didn't even look like the slap connected but the player went down like a ton of bricks like he'd be knocked out by Mike Tyson. Dumb but thats just my

[Robbie]

The last time the LA Galaxy were in town, the Whitecaps were still at Empire Fields and attendance was 27,500 and David Beckham was actually serving a one game suspension. At the risk of bringing up a topic brought up several times a few years ago...let's see what the actual attendance is. Vancouver Whitecaps FC announced today that tickets to Wednesday’s highly anticipated home match against LA Galaxy at BC Place are officially sold out with a capacity of 21,000. But will they open the upper bowl given the circumstances?