Fergie's thoughts on American football... err... Video technology

Home Matches

They stayed till the end... Photo from Gittingsc

Playing at home is not just special for the players. It's special for every fan and every official, for the touts and the trainers, for everyone connected however remotely with the club, from the chairman to the souvenir-seller. When the team's at home, they all have their own ritual which they lovingly ease themselves into.

Hunter Davies, The Glory Game

I watched Toronto FC's last regular season home match against Real Salt Lake on TV in my apartment not far from BMO Field. I was appalled, though not shocked, at how many people were heading for the exits 15 minutes before the final whistle. The stadium looked two thirds empty as TFC rode out the final 10 minutes with a 1-0 lead. This was a week after a typical late collapse at home in which they conceded a 95th minute equalizer to San Jose. There were just as many empty seats at BMO Field when that goal went in. Most of those who left early that day probably don't even know that the game ended in a draw.

What the hell is wrong with people? This might be the last time you will see your team all year. They are winning (a rarity). They have a fragile one-goal lead and are realistically clinging to a playoff spot for the first time ever. And you want to get on the road a bit early to miss the traffic? You're pathetic. Sit down, or stand up. Stay till the end. Applaud your team. Support your team. You are supporters right?

The only time you leave a soccer game early is if you're ashamed of how bad your team is playing. Just ask Rangers supporters...

Hopefully there will be a playoff game at BMO Field this year for these people to redeem themselves a bit.

The Illusionist

I want to go out and buy a Playstation 3 just to play this game.

Another couple for the collection

Picked up this Partick Thistle 2009 Firhill Centenary Puma jersey when I was in Glasgow a couple weeks ago. Definitely one of my favourite jerseys in my collection now. Reminds me of an old Scotland top.

Also went to Celtic Park and got this subdued number.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

And here's a photo of me repping the Whitecaps at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin during a Europa League match.

My preview of the Celtic v Benfica match in Toronto

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Sport
02 Sep 2009

Should Toronto FC hire Fran?

Fran.

More Fran.

TFC needs someone more assertive. Someone who won't take as much gruff.

But that's just this man's opinion.

Pushed aside - Toronto FC and Real Madrid

In following Toronto FC since before the team even kicked a ball I can say that this week was simply the biggest in the club's history.
TFC earned an important point on the road in New England that could be the point they need to make the playoffs, then they fizzled in Puerto Rico and were eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions League and, finally, on Friday night, they hosted the biggest club in the world, Real Madrid, and lost 5-1.

And throughout it all the fans, both the hardcore faithful and the casual supporters, were getting a valuable learning experience.

They hopefully learned how horrible a feeling it is to see your team eliminated from a competition after feeling the excitement of seeing them win the Canadian Cup. It can be infuriating to see your team fail in that sort of competition, but at the same time I hope they learned that these things happen and that Puerto Rico are a good team with good players and they deserved to advance from the tie.

And I hope the two sets of fans learned both the amount of influence they wield and the limits of their perceived influence.

The vocal minority, the hardcore supporters who fill the South East corner of BMO Field, were largely dismissive of the Real Madrid friendly for a number of reasons. They complained about the price of tickets, the fact it came at a busy time for TFC, that the MLS match with New York Red Bulls had to be moved, that they paid $250,000 for grass (which has been donated to area schools to resod soccer fields) and even that Cristiano Ronaldo is a whiny baby girly diver. Even back when the match was announced they all said Real would be bringing its D Team. Hmmm. Ronaldo, Kaka, Benzema up front? I'm pretty sure that was their A Team.

Well, they complained and complained and complained (with many members of the media joining in). But the fact is, the vocal minority oversee their importance in what is really a financial operation. So the majority, the casual TFC supporters and the typical European-bred soccer fans in Toronto, helped make Real Madrid's visit an incredible occasion by buying into it. And I can assure you MLSE knows which group of fans is more important to keep happy. And if that majority can find the passion to see TFC succeed, MLSE will be under intense pressure to provide a successful product sooner.

I was in a sports store on Saturday afternoon and I overheard one of the employees talking to a co-worker about working at one of the merchandise booths at the game and she told him that within an hour every Real Madrid jersey bearing the names Ronaldo and Kaka were sold out. At a pricetag of $160 each. They probably sold more jerseys yesterday than Toronto FC has sold this season. Now, sure, probably all of that money will be going to Madrid to help pay for Ronaldo's hair gel, but nothing in the world of entertainment (which includes soccer) says success like massive bags of beautiful, beautiful money. An attendance record was set at BMO for the game with more than 22,000 people in the stands to witness Kaka make his Real Madrid debut, Xabi Alonso make his Real Madrid debut, Arbeloa make his Real Madrid debut, an incredible performance from Karim Benzema and the absolute highlight of the night was seeing 20-year-old Torontonian Gabe Gala popping in his first goal for TFC in front of the supporters down in the South stands. The first Canadian to ever score against Real Madrid. That's not a bad entry in the FIFA record book...

Gabe Gala (middle) celebrates his goal.

I went to the training session and loved it. I watched the game on TV with some friends and must say that GOLTV did a great job with it. The interview with Steve Nash was ill-timed and not well-done (forget asking him about the Whitecaps, asking him how he feels watching Real Madrid in Toronto) but the whole broadcast was solid. It will be easily GOLTV's largest audience ever. Which, is another success for MLSE because SURPRISE they own the channel after buying it last year.

The stories in the newspapers about this occasion were at times brilliant and at times indescribably bad. And don't even get me started on the (and I'm going to swear here) fucking horrible headlines. "Reds get kicked in the Real grass" ???? BARF.

Even one writer, The Star's Cathal Kelly, managed to one day write a great piece capturing the scene at the open practice perfectly to the next day letting his loathing of Ronaldo (and a hint of anti-Americanism) overtake his article on the game. Really? Why spend 800 words bashing the shit out of Ronaldo and not even mention that Kaka MADE HIS REAL MADRID DEBUT IN TORONTO?
I mean just look at the class that Kaka has. Love that dude.



But if you want to read the absolute WORST article on "soccer" I've ever read, then just go here and prepare to cry.

I don't think MLSE could be any happier with the way this all went down. In a board meeting if they were given two options: making playoffs or hosting Real Madrid I honestly think they would skip the playoffs. Sure, it might have temporarily upset the many loyal fans who helped raise the profile of soccer in Canada by being such a loud presence, but the majority, the fans who don't go on the message boards and who could maybe only name six TFC players, showed MLSE that there's a whole lot of money to be made in putting on (successful) circuses. And I'm sure we can expect a few more, but hopefully TFC will have made the playoffs by the time the next one comes to town.