2017 Whitecaps

[machel]

Such a shitty league and standard.

Here's what is going to happen:

1. Portland
2. Seattle
3. Vancouver
4. KC

The only reason Vancouver doesn't drop further is due to KC being more smoke and mirrors than they are.

So Vancouver misses the first round bye and will face San Jose.

Guess who moves on to the next round?

Shite, shite, shite.

Hit the nail right on the head there @Regs !!

 

[Dude]

This is a hard argument as I kind of agree with both of you. The CPL for me is a lot more exciting. Some local players, hopefully a good fun community atmosphere. A little more like the WHL teams are in towns like Medicine Hat and Lethbridge where the community connects with the team. I recognize the level won't be as high as the MLS but maybe it will be easier to want to get behind. Especially if they have a surrey team.

I've tried to be a Caps fan over and over again. My grandparents had whitecaps season tickets and they were passed down to me when they were at Swangard. I still remember my grandpa taking me to games and then my wife and I used to go and she's not even a big soccer fan.
We really enjoyed those evenings at Swangard. The standard maybe wasn't as high but there were local players playing and it was enjoyable.

This version of the Whitecaps is very difficult to support, it's more of a business. More about results and less about bringing in Canadians and developing our own players. I get that but sorry the standard is shite. What am I getting behind here? Players from around the world who are playing mediocre soccer in Vancouver. Yes I get that it's the best we have but I'm sure as shite not excited to head into Vancouver from cloverdale to watch it. I've done it many times and it's never worth it. I still watch the games but almost out of obligation because it seems like I should.

I see where you are coming from Dude but deep down I lean towards how Regs feels. Maybe for different reasons, I'm not sure. I do feel like Regs needs a hug and has seemed a litter disgruntled lately. For me Regs has done a lot for local soccer despite what some might say. This website has been an extension of my men's soccer experience. I'm appreciative of that, even though I'm a cheap cnut and probably should buy a lifetime membership. I wish this generation coming thru would get into it as I believe it's a big addition to the culture of the local game. Sorry twitter doesn't match that.

OK, let me first start by saying I agree with ALMOST everything you say.

I dispute the whole argument of "the standard is shite". Again, compared to what? EPL? Yeah, it is. Liga Mexico? Yep. Serie A, La Liga, Ligue 1? Sure. Most other Premier Leagues out there? It's all about the same, really.

If we agree that the 86ers of old, 1990 era when they were winning everything and setting the streak, was a great standard, then awesome. We agree. But again, compared to what? I think in 1991 they were #2 in North America after a championship of some sort combining different leagues, a quasi Consolidated Cup. Was the best in North America then better than Toronto FC of today? I would argue that Toronto is stacked of better players.

Back to the Caps, Hurtado is the single biggest reason any argument I make goes to shite, because I still don't understand how he's deemed good enough for MLS, and how he keeps getting on the pitch. Don't get it. Beyond that, we have players like Waston, Reyna, and Bolanos who are getting called up to their National teams...one that has qualified, one that almost surely will. Are they shite?

When Demerit was playing, he was coming off being the Captain of an average EPL squad, and a fixture on the US MNT, who were an easy qualifying WC squad then. Was he shite?

I mean, the standard is the standard, I don't think it's dropped. If anything it has marginally increased over time; todays caps would thump the first edition MLS Caps.

It's not EPL, but really, it's not bad.

What I have a huge issue with is essentially the abandonment of the commitment they purported to have to developing and playing Canadians. Every time I hear Robo go on about playing Canadians I want to kick him in the junk, and blacken those baby blue eyes. Fcuk him. He still has a job because he's a great Yes Man, and the media eats up the shite he spoon feeds (all but @GoF that is). Full stop.

That being said, yes, I'm hugely interested in a CPL franchise that will carbon copy the commitment to developing Canadian and local players in the same way the 86ers of old did. I'd be all over that.

As for yesterday, Regs' prediction wasn't that bold, he predicted a choke for a team that has already chocked the month away, and was playing away to a team that has made the Caps it's bitch in big games. Sorry, Regs just isn't that smart, he just knows his history. Shame on you all for being fooled.

Finally, @akslop, Eirc Hurtado's hair is about as special as Regs bold predictions. It's just hair, I could do that too, I have the power, as witnessed by my abnormally large hair maintenance costs for a man closer to 45 than 40. So Eric Hurtado can co fcuk himself, for his incredibly average (by my standards, maybe not yours) hair, and for stealing my anvil shaped soccer boots, and trying to play MLS in them. Fcuking fraud.

Yes, TTP is better than any Twitter feed, ever. There is a part of me that wishes Regs would actually pull the pin on the site, and the mens leagues can go back to operating in the dark ages. Fcuk 'em. As much as some former regular posters like to claim that TTP has become irrelevant, there has been nothing to replace it...but with fewer and fewer players owning the balls required to post, the site is slowly dying, and it's a shame.

 

[akslop]

Well @Dude while you 2 nancies continue to bicker back and forth over this mute not rocket science crap I won't beat around the bush about this league and tell you both how it really is and what its really about especially having a local interest involved. It's just another excuse to drink FFS. I was happy the caps lost and @Regs prediction was correct ( to bad he can't show it in the pick em pools). This means No bye week and 2 more drinking days earlier then if had they been quality and taken first place. If they do advance to the next round now it will all be worth it. Quantity not quality when it comes to the MLS.

Mic drop. Out. Peace.

 

[machel]

As for yesterday, Regs' prediction wasn't that bold, he predicted a choke for a team that has already chocked the month away, and was playing away to a team that has made the Caps it's bitch in big games. Sorry, Regs just isn't that smart, he just knows his history. Shame on you all for being fooled.

@Dude, well Seattle needed to win to pass the Caps and did. Also San Jose needed to win(and they scored in extra time!) and have other results go their way for them to squeak into the final play-off position. So @Regs predictions were fairly spot on imo.

 

[Dude]

First of all, relax, I don't actually think Regs is dumb. fcuk me, the reliance people have on emojis is unsettling. Do I now actually have to say the words "Roleyes" when I speak to some of you in person? Is that where we are at with society? Calling out our emojis so people will understand? Is there no art of sarcasm anymore?

Second, anyone who thought Seattle were incapable of not winning that match easily were off their rocker. Basically, Regs was making two easy bets: a Seattle win at home against a bad team, and a Portland win at home vs. a Whitecaps team that has proven to have a consistent ability to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory.

Chris, even Regs will admit that was the easiest prediction since guessing if the sun would come up this morning.

 

[STD]

Actually the sun itself did not move. It has been proven that the earth is the one that orbits around the sun.

Also I predicted that we would finish 3rd right after San Jose scored.

 

[Dude]

Actually the sun itself did not move. It has been proven that the earth is the one that orbits around the sun.

Also I predicted that we would finish 3rd right after San Jose scored.

Really? Next thing you know you are going to tell me it has the same shape as a soccer ball, actually turns on a spit, and this is what actually causes what we call "sun sets", and sun rises".

That orbit thing is way out there, though.

 

[STD]

That orbit thing is way out there, though.

"The Sun is at an average distance of about 93,000,000 miles (150 million kilometers) away from Earth. It is so far away that light from the Sun, traveling at a speed of 186,000 miles (300,000 kilometers) per second, takes about 8 minutes to reach us. Like all of the other planets in our Solar System, Earth does not travel around the Sun in a perfect circle. Instead its orbit is elliptical, like a stretched circle, with the Sun just off the center of the orbit. This means that the distance between Earth and the Sun changes during a year. At its closest, the Sun is 91.4 million miles (147.1 million km) away from us. At its farthest, the Sun is 94.5 million miles (152.1 million km) away. The Earth is closest to the Sun during winter in the northern hemisphere."

Yup it looks pretty far.

 

[Dude]

More amazing: this is the most interesting conversation on TTP these days.

 

[STD]

I'll admit it's no Baskin Robins but between you and grumpy pants there is not many posters left.

 

[Dude]

Give him a break. He's trying not to love this team, but can't not love them. Like a college kid after a bad break-up, and that bird keeps making booty texts inviting Regs over. Regs visits, kinda gets what he wants but not exactly what he wants, then the bird shits in his satchel bag while Regs is in the actual john trying to scrub off the smell of her (because, it just reminds him of her, and that's not cool), and he discovers said defecation on the skytrain on the way home....guilt and shame set in.

You'd be grumpy, too.

 

[DeltaDodger]

self BOD'ing again

 

[Dude]

Some people collect "Likes", I collect BODs.

 

[akslop]

Some people collect "Likes", I collect BODs.

To each their own I always say

 

[machel]

@Dude,

Is there no art of sarcasm anymore?
There was sarcasm in your post? Go watch some Seinfeld and try again.

Chris, even Regs will admit that was the easiest prediction since guessing if the sun would come up this morning
As already said by @akslop, @Regs shite the bed in MLS pickem. So we're just all surprised that he got something right.

 

[Dude]

@machel - there's something on your nose.

Managed to get tickets tonight, thank goodness. It's a tough ticket to get in this town, on a Wednesday night.

(Pssst...machel...imagine I typed that with a rolleye emoji. It'll help.)

 

[machel]

@machel - there's something on your nose.

Managed to get tickets tonight, thank goodness. It's a tough ticket to get in this town, on a Wednesday night.

(Pssst...machel...imagine I typed that with a rolleye emoji. It'll help.)

Better. Over 12 hours to reply? You didn't really have to watch that much Seinfeld.

 

[LION]

I as well felt disconnected watching that last league match of the Whitecaps.

I am a fan of football plain and simple. And want to see the local game grow and this country climb the world rankings.
I am a caps fan. Just cause they are the local team. Plain and simple. But watching that last game I felt no connection to the players on the pitch.

8 of 11 players are first year players with the caps this season. And half of those guys just joined during this season. None are Canadian or players I have ever heard of.

Goalie - new guy. Can't even remember his name right now.
The backline I know of and think do a decent job.

Our two holding mids. Nosa and Ghazel. Huh?
Yah sure good players. Does anyone have a love for these players? Or had the time to learn them and become fans of their game?
Reyna? Does he talk? Again, half way through the season. Good little player. But no connection.
Break Shea? Average at best. His game doesn't excite me one bit. First year player.
Montero? First year guy again. Fox in the box type and works his bag off. But as a sole striker? Too small with no support.
Bolanos? He reminds me of Morales, always trotting around in 3rd gear. I don't think his game is for the MLS. Haven't seen him play well for the caps for months now. Doesn't seem in to the matches from body language itself.

Who on this starting squad would you connect to? It's a international melting pot of "hope this sticks to the wall".
Rotates 18 plus guys through. Different starting line up every week. Really hard to connect and have a player you enjoy watching.

Guys that do excite on that team is young Canadian Davies for sure. Ousted played with passion and connected to the community.
Watson a bit. Does his best for club and country. Parker as well I like. But watching that game was boring as ever.


Hurtado. I like what he brings. He works hard, can hold up a ball and get his team up the field. Yes he hasn't shown top notch finishing around the net. But what he brings to this team is something nobody else does. The pace, power and strength he plays with is great.
You have him finish a little more and he is a good striker. I see why Robo uses him to close out games. Or to tire out defence before introducing Montero. Really what other option is there on this squad?

If a Canadian premier league side came and filled with Canadian players I would follow that way before the caps.
Caps is for the average soccer fan. Not knowing the game that well. Has a belly and a beard and enjoys drinking craft beer and singing in the stands. Southsiders types.

I think most of us who are more invested in soccer want more. Or want something homegrown and local to call our own. I don't feel the caps is OUR team as a city or community. Who is Nosa? Ghazel?
It's a revolving door of half talents. How can Anyone really connect to that?

Bring in an Italian x international and now you can get people talking and connecting.

In saying that. Going to the game tonight as tickets are cheap and get to catch up with a good buddy. But more going for the social side of it. Not dieing to see the caps win. Honestly don't care if they win or lose. It's a cheap social outing.
But the CPL comes. That is where my money is going towards. And I hope there is thousands out there that think the same. As it will need our support. The true soccer folks.

fcuk the southsiders. Never met a true footballer that is a southsider.

 

[Dude]

I as well felt disconnected watching that last league match of the Whitecaps.

I am a fan of football plain and simple. And want to see the local game grow and this country climb the world rankings.
I am a caps fan. Just cause they are the local team. Plain and simple. But watching that last game I felt no connection to the players on the pitch.

8 of 11 players are first year players with the caps this season. And half of those guys just joined during this season. None are Canadian or players I have ever heard of.

Goalie - new guy. Can't even remember his name right now.
The backline I know of and think do a decent job.

Our two holding mids. Nosa and Ghazel. Huh?
Yah sure good players. Does anyone have a love for these players? Or had the time to learn them and become fans of their game?
Reyna? Does he talk? Again, half way through the season. Good little player. But no connection.
Break Shea? Average at best. His game doesn't excite me one bit. First year player.
Montero? First year guy again. Fox in the box type and works his bag off. But as a sole striker? Too small with no support.
Bolanos? He reminds me of Morales, always trotting around in 3rd gear. I don't think his game is for the MLS. Haven't seen him play well for the caps for months now. Doesn't seem in to the matches from body language itself.

Who on this starting squad would you connect to? It's a international melting pot of "hope this sticks to the wall".
Rotates 18 plus guys through. Different starting line up every week. Really hard to connect and have a player you enjoy watching.

Guys that do excite on that team is young Canadian Davies for sure. Ousted played with passion and connected to the community.
Watson a bit. Does his best for club and country. Parker as well I like. But watching that game was boring as ever.


Hurtado. I like what he brings. He works hard, can hold up a ball and get his team up the field. Yes he hasn't shown top notch finishing around the net. But what he brings to this team is something nobody else does. The pace, power and strength he plays with is great.
You have him finish a little more and he is a good striker. I see why Robo uses him to close out games. Or to tire out defence before introducing Montero. Really what other option is there on this squad?

If a Canadian premier league side came and filled with Canadian players I would follow that way before the caps.
Caps is for the average soccer fan. Not knowing the game that well. Has a belly and a beard and enjoys drinking craft beer and singing in the stands. Southsiders types.

I think most of us who are more invested in soccer want more. Or want something homegrown and local to call our own. I don't feel the caps is OUR team as a city or community. Who is Nosa? Ghazel?
It's a revolving door of half talents. How can Anyone really connect to that?

Bring in an Italian x international and now you can get people talking and connecting.

In saying that. Going to the game tonight as tickets are cheap and get to catch up with a good buddy. But more going for the social side of it. Not dieing to see the caps win. Honestly don't care if they win or lose. It's a cheap social outing.
But the CPL comes. That is where my money is going towards. And I hope there is thousands out there that think the same. As it will need our support. The true soccer folks.

fcuk the southsiders. Never met a true footballer that is a southsider.

Once again, cyber high five to you, sir. This about captures my sentiments.

I don't have an issue w/ the standard. If more Canadians were playing consistently at this standard, I believe our MNT program would be stronger. As it is, they are largely being shut-out to the likes of many an American (Hurtado) or International (many through the revolving door over the years) that aren't necessarily better or more deserving of the playing time of many a Canadian that has been left on the bench or even our of the squad.

So, I have an issue w/ the MLS- and specifically the Caps- abandoning Canadians. Captain Shamrock called it years back.

I'm going too, text me, we'll have a beer, or at least a real high five.

 

[akslop]

@Dude Not sure how security is at BC place but you proably want to Leave the BOD'S at home tonight or you might they might get confused and sit you with the rest of the southsiders.