A day to reflect

Well two teams in red, up and down results, but not a bad weekend at all. A 3-2 win over Bolton ehhh not the greatest but it'll do as long as it's a win. TFC on the other hand, I think was a bit soft on them considering how terrible they were last weekend. At least they decided to show up for the full 90 minutes this week, even though as some people have pointed out, the finishing needs to be there. I can recall having that conversation that the most frustrating thing with them is it takes them 5-10 chances to convert and leave themselves open to their opponent scoring in their first or second chance. Chicago at home was a game where the Fire hardly had any opportunities, but they scored on them. Either way, after last week a point is a point, I'm just really hoping when they go into Colorado next week it's not another 180 back to the week before.

So yeah, I watched the game at home and took pictures of my TV. Lame!




But after the game I was lucky enough to get called back to go onto the air with Norman James' THE HOOK out of London. This time we talked TFC, an article RN posted that pissed alot of people off, and EPL! Outside of doing our own podcast which is super DIY and totally free-form, it's a little bit tougher being mentally prepared for something live that you don't know 100% what you're going to be asked. I can think of more than one time where I started rambling on about something and halfway through asking myself "Holy shit what was the question again?" Or forgetting the last name of Stoke City's manager. Tony Pulis guys - PU-LIS. So yeah, it's stuff like that that gives you a bit of anxiety because football supporters have zero tolerance for a bullshitter or people who don't have their facts straight. Thank god I make up for it with my good looks.



And last but not least today was a day to celebrate the lord and listen to a slew of football podcasts since WSD is off the air. Well apparently they are back as World FOOTBALL Daily, but it will be subscriber based (which I say go for it), so I have to mix it up. 606 Phone in was first and the host Alan Green is pretty intense. Actually I just googled him - YIKES. Now it's onto Football weekly from the Guardian and it's not half bad. I guess I'll have to try these out to see which is best.

Final note - I know nobody ever comments here but is there a Bundesliga/La Liga/Serie A equivalent of BBC/Times/Guardian football site? Inquiring minds would like to know.

One down, one to go!

So as of right now, we have one win for the Reds and we'll have to wait and see how the other Reds fare in a few hours. Something tells me it's a little easier for Liverpool to win at Bolton than Toronto FC at Seattle. But you have to stay positive. If we can strike early, and given TFC's usual first 20mins it's possible, take out the crowd, who knows!?

It might seem unlikely to come away with points in Seattle, but fear not! A wise man once said (to Toronto FC no less):

Remember Reds, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

Still lots of games left so I'm going to say regardless of this road swing, still plenty of hope to go around and chances to take advantage of. See you in a few hours!

Recovery Room

Wow. Well after last night I'm not sure who was celebrating with these on Friday night more - myself or TFC.


Who knew the starting XI of TFC all had the same BDay weekend as me! What else could explain how after 15mins everyone looked like they were nursing a massive hangover. "Oh man I just tried really hard, ok well i'll take it easy now for a bit". We've harped it over and over the schizo nature of this club, how the second things look pretty good and I have to admit even though we predicted a 1-0 victory it took everything I could think of to not just throw up my hands and say "come on it's a road game against a western division team - we lose 2-0." Well they say listen to your instincts and my instinct right now says we are going to get WHOOPED in Seattle.

I took it easy last night even though I was officially one year grayer, Friday night was when I made a mess of myself. Not to talk about age or partying, but to keep it on the topic of this blog. A few sweet things came through the mail this week that is worth sharing, most notably this:


Pretty much anything of historical reference I'm totally in to, so when Brother Lemoine (check blogroll - the Canadian in a City of Angels) sent me this the reaction was nothing more than "whoa!" Argentina '78 was something else and if you check out the reviews tab, more than one book in there covers that World Cup. Brilliant Orange talks about it from the Dutch perspective and Soccer Against the Enemy from the socio/political end in Argentina.





Now that I'm on the topic of items of historical reference, I might as well show these. A month or so back on my trip to Barca I went to the Nou Camp and the tour was ok, but what I was into was this wall of all the membership cards. It's cool seeing an evolution of design from the past 100 years all on these little 3.5X5 cards.


So as I was walking around the city a few days later ... ok I was going to not specifically mention this to keep as my own secret for when I go back, but hey, I live to give, so I'll pass this one forward. At the main cathedral (you can see in the pic) they have an antique market and there's only two rows of stalls/tents but if you walk down the middle row there is a lady that has these two glass cases and in them is pretty much every Barcelona Membership card from the past 80+ years, as well as tickets to numerous international games from the past fifty years. Well I nearly shit myself.



There you have it - the 50th anniversary membership card, one from 1954 and the 25th anniversary of the Nou Camp 1982 Membership card. A pre-birthday present for myself (fyi they cost 20-30 euros. ouch) BUT in that I also saw this ticket (photocopied in the photo) and thought to myself - oh my buddy rick who works for RedNation, his kids are part Hungarian, this would be cool so they could have a memento to know they have football in their blood from both sides of their family. Well holy shit, do you know about this game?? Look it up. 100,000 people - the first game England loses at Wembly, and in the midst of Hungary's 3-4 year unbeaten streak. Anyway, look it up and if you decide to visit beautiful Barcelona, maybe you could check for me if she has another one of those tickets :)

WSD WTF

Well that was something. Not sure if anyone else out there is into this show and I know there are definitely some strong opinions in all directions but I'm going to be bored on the subway ride to and from work! World Soccer Daily is apparently off the air after various Liverpool boycotts took great offence to host Stephen's Cohen's venomous opinion towards the Hillsborough Disaster.

1989 was the year of said disaster, and coincidently it was the year Ice T released his third album "Freedom of Speech ... Just Watch What You Say". I agree with freedom of speech in all forms but know that at a certain point/level you have to be careful, especially to think you can't be touched. Personally I think Mr. Cohen thought he was too big to be brought down, but it happened. For now anyways.

I thought he was a complete tool for his opinion and stopped listening it frequently, but have to say that show had great guests - Tim Vickery, Graham Hunter, Robbie Earle, only to name a few - and their five part series with Grant Wahl of The Beckham Experiment was awesome. Alot of mixed thoughts/feelings about the whole thing because this was a really good show but at the same time I don't think you can talk such utter rubbish and not get people geared towards you (not saying most of the behaviour towards him is acceptable). Maybe you have no idea what I am talking about but I'm sure if you google the said information you will find some info on it.

I guess now I'm going to have to listen to The Game!

Dog Days

Ugh please, believe me, this hasn't become a once-a-weeker blog. So much to say but worn down a bit and I don't think the wrath of Apollo and Thor (Yes i'm pagan TO THE MAX) has helped. Just hoping to get through the next few weeks until the fact I don't have A/C doesn't matter anymore. RedNation is a full time job and working on some things with that to take it up a notch. If only I didn't have an actual full time job ... bah a man can only dream!

But all the leagues are in full swing and it's a beautiful thing. EPL looks awesome this year as IMO nobody is a clear cut favourite, which is perfect - Tottenham? Ehhh yeah right, LIVERPOOL! :) TFC go to the left coast and my gut tells me they can pull it out even though my logic is saying they can't. Chivas has just turned into such garbage, they can't score anymore, so this looks good considering our defence can be hit an miss. Another good opponent to get the young kids some match time.

Anyway, lots of action on Saturday so let's make a date. To end it off let's keep this theme 1975. Shit it should have been '77! Oh well. HERE'S TO THE CHAMPS OF 1975!!!

Keepin' pace

Well I've had a day to digest this one, maybe a little too excited about the result, but man, a win when we needed it and two goals to boot! TFC 2-0 over DC United and alot of gloss for the victory but a win is a win. Clearly some things to iron out for much tougher opposition over the next three weeks, but we can't be losing 3 points at home any more if we're going into the playoffs. Quite a few positive things to take from the game - I'm thinking Sam Cronin ... that guy delivered nice crosses and got himself open, and busted back to cover for Attakora. I can't wait to see him develop over the next few years. So I won't give too much post game jibber-jabber and get right to the pics!

Holy sheet this was the hottest day ever. A long walk in, and a Mo Edu shirt sighting!!


Grrrr won't give it to the DC fans as I can appreciate they giver all 90 mins home and away but it's such a drag that anyone around there has to sit on their hands and take it for the full match.



Good tings in the south end


and in the north. Curious now if the rumours about permanent stands in the beer garden materialize if they will take over that end and make it a supporters' section? How awesome would it be to see a standing, singing, boisterous north and south end of the stadium!? QU'EST-CE QUE VOUS CHANTEZ?


Oooo O'Brain White and Sanyang get the start!


Not long in DE RO!!!



An alright first half but things looked promising on the OBW front.


Chad Barrett shoots for $250K


2nd Half looking good ... except Jimmy B will be takin' a seat next game thanks to this.


OH MY! O'BRIAN WHITE!



And Frei keeps the clean sheet


An interesting portrait


That's the game. TFC 2 DC United 0! OBW MOM


DERO IMO MOM


Next home game ... man I hate the once a monthers. Oh well. I haven't been neglecting the blog I have a few posts I haven't put together yet so hang tight! So much to see in my very own football world :)

Breaker Breaker

Was lucky enough to hit the airwaves today and talk shop on 'The Hook' with London's own Norman James on AM980. My alter, more positive, ego talked about the Reds and their game against Real Madrid. I've never done something live like that so I was a bit worried I'd be all "Deerrrr meeeehhh Ronaldo bllahahah" but I managed to string together quite a few sentences! You can check it out here.

The only thing I didn't get into, which I wish I had, was what happens after this game to 'raise the profile' of football in Canada. I don't think one person, one team, and especially one game can do this. It might in the short term, but ultimately it's developing successful Canadian players and Canadian teams that will grow the sport here. I can think on a personal level the likes of Paul Stalteri in 2003/04 at Werder Bremen, Julian De Guzman in 2007/08 at Deportivo and Christine Sinclair ... well for most of her career, as players who have raised the profile of the sport in this country. Teams like the 2002 U20 woman's team and the Montreal Impact's 2008 Champions League run received massive exposure. When Vancouver, and hopefully Montreal, join MLS, we will have three teams that get the nice glossy marketing and promotion that comes with being in the league. Maybe Hamilton, London, Quebec City or Victoria will get a USL1 team one day, and that would be amazing for the players and game here. But in terms of exposure and 'raising' the profile of the game, I still think the operative word is SUCCESS. Real Madrid won't come in here, wave a magic wand, and *poof* football is #1 in Toronto. This task falls on the players, team and organization - and when they are successful, by winning games and trophies, then I think we will see (well, continue to see) the game growing here in Canada.

So in celebration of the Real Madrid spectacle today I put on ...


MALAGA C.F.!! Anyone? Anyone? Come on, they have a player named POPO - nuff said.

What we be talkin' about?

I like to fancy myself a bit of a nature photographer. All things that mother earth brings us: beautiful skies, water, birds, trees and GRASS.

Oh my. So yes I am that guy. The one with the camera at the stadium dorking out taking pictures of a grass field - is this what it has come to as a TFC fan!?! All I have to get excited about is beautiful, lush, green monocotyledonous (ok I wiki'd to get that one). I realized pretty quick what a nerd I was so I only snapped off two pics. LOOK!


And of course since MLSE is so pinched, they have added a few seats up north. I mean $175 is peanuts so we gotta try to make our money back and don't forget this game is like seeing the Rolling Stones at the El Mo! WTF?! Pretty sure Bill Wyman didn't go backstage after half the set while Danny Bonaduce finished the concert.


Can't say I give a rats about this whole Real Madrid weekend. I got my "RAH RAH" email from TFC just now and those things make me puke. I remember the one for River Plate about their storied history and what a great deal this was, which should have just read, "Come see TFC players get injured against some of South America's most promising sixteen year olds!!"

Anyways unless you can't tell, I'm firmly in the camp of hating these friendlies, this one in particular for too many reasons to count (But for starters reasons 1 and 2 - I hate Ronaldo and Real Madrid). Anyone who thinks there isn't a cash grab then you can head on down to watch them PRACTICE for $15. You get to watch them PRACTICE for $15. I could say it over and over to emphasize how utterly ridiculous, shameful and petty this is, but instead I will leave you with some words a very wise man once said:

"I mean, listen, we talkin about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, we talking about practice, not a game ... Not the game we talkin about practice man."

Jet laaaaag

Ugh. Oh man feeling a bit rough. Is it 9pm or 3pm?? I have no clue. Back from two weeks across the pond working on the man tan and seeing the sights. Tried to squeeze in as much football as possible but had a tough time making that a priority when I was short on time and spent over a week with people who don't really care for the sport. But regardless saw some good stuff. It was cool seeing games and coverage on TV all the time, specifically Bundesliga and Eredivisie. The latter I think would be a sweet league to follow as there is some cool teams, specifically there was alot of VVV highlights with their captain Keisuke Honda who looked pretty damn good. Anyways, let's get to the football specific roll of film. The trip went a little something like this - Barca-Valencia-Sete-Vevey-Berlin-Amsterdam. And here are the highlights:

Started the trip off in a mad dash because I was doing too much bloggin/podcastin/websitin when I should have been packin! So I jump in the cab to rush off to the airport. I live right by BMO field so the guy floors it outta my neighborhood, is flying through traffic, onto the highway ... EAST. I'm just sitting there waiting until this moron realizes that Pearson is not located downtown Toronto. Finally he says "Ummm. Hmmm. I think we are going the wrong way. We might need to turn around." REALLY? YOU THINK? MIGHT? HOW ABOUT TURNING THAT METER OFF PAUL TRACY CUZ I'M NOT PAYING TO SIT IN TRAFFIC DOWNTOWN. So after that I finally arrived to the airport, rushed to the nearest bar and snapped this picture off that pretty much summarizes Team Canada. Tough loss guys.


Flew into Barca here and wanted to find where Espanyol is playing this season but for real I think you really won't find much in this city unless you know where to go because it's 100% Barcelona FC. After getting settled in, went up to Camp Nou but this time (I've been once before) decided to take the stadium/museum tour.


First thing you do is watch this super cheesy 3-D movie that left me thinking man this is going to be the most ghetto tour ever, but it actually wasn't that bad.


No grass on the pitch yet but pretty impressive inside. I am such a loser that I was here before when a game was going on (Getafe, so give me a break) and didn't go.



Maybe MLSE should take a good hard look at this.


The museum has cool historical memorabilia of posters, uniforms, membership cards and whatnot.


The Treble!


This was a bit of a sight - seeing tons of people just standing around the outside fence watching players board the bus to training.



So after that I headed down to Valencia. I unfortunately only had one day and could not get to the Mestalla BUT, I thought to myself, I can definitely get down with a Valencia kit or shirt, their crest is pretty badass. Until I saw THIS:


WTF! Have some dignity! UNIBET? Ok, maybe not the name but that is the ugliest logo ever and those shirts look brutal. I couldn't get out of that team store fast enough. So instead my hard earned money was spent at the bull ring. I did not go in because it had already started but it was super loud and I bought a sweet t-shirt on the street of a bull chucking a matador out of the ring! GO VEGETARIAN!!


So after a few more days around that area of Spain I drove up to Berlin, which took about three days. Stopped in Switzerland and had to practice my Italian.


Continued north and on the way saw ... HOFFENHEIM!


AND THIS. This picture does not do it justice, trust me it was a monstrosity.


My battery died in Berlin and had to wait a day to buy an adaptor. Rolled into Amsterdam but could not get to the stadium. Instead just found a few things here and there and watched football on TV late at night.




Good times, sucks to be back in a way but stoked to get to work on RedNation starting tonight with the TFC game. Missed alot of action over the last two weeks. My only regret was missing Liverpool play Espanyol in Barcelona, I seriously should have looked at the schedule and flown out of there. Another trip, another bungled football experience. Oh well, it's good to be home and being able to see TFC!