Issue #18 - It's Been A While...
Caught up in family matters, I apologize for missing last week's newsletter; let's talk Whitecaps FC the past two weeks!
Hello!
Last week I didn’t publish a newsletter and to that I apologize. The long & short of it - I completely lost track of what day it was in the early going. Kid you not. Full Summer brain.
The new plan was to publish on Thursday & include the Wednesday night match. Seemed reasonable.
The thing is, by the end of the week my Dad had become quite ill and found himself in the hospital.
So priorities shifted big time.
As you can imagine, it’s been a stressful few days and I simply positioned my focus on my family.
While I imagine a good number of you will suggest an apology isn’t needed, I still feel it’s appropriate to provide one.
Your support for my weekly newsletter full of vibes is not something I take for granted. It’s because you subscribe that I look to get a issue out every Tuesday.
So please accept these humble words.
I’m sorry.
The View
Quite a bit has happened over the past two weeks. The Whitecaps FC got past Valour in the Canadian Championship, had a lackluster loss at Colorado and a stellar win down in Houston, and found themselves a draw in San Diego.
Yet the biggest news is likely the departure of Pedro Vite to Pumas in League MX.
I’m going to miss Pedro. He had come into his own this season and in the short-term, Vancouver doesn’t have themselves a similar replacement to fill the void. Sure, they announced this morning they acquired Kenji Cabrera, but his arrival - due to visas and whatnot - is probably a month away.
Transfers such as these are the reality of MLS, so my hope is Axel can turn that transfer fee into something more than the modern meme of “SpeND tHe DaVIes MonEY!”
The Good
The combination of Emmanuel Sabbi & Jayden Nelson up front. When on, this pairing on the wings has given the opposing backline fits. Between their pace of play, the aggressive attack, and ability to get the ball into the area, I really hope this plays out.
The Not So Good
Forgetting to defend. In nearly every recent loss, defensive miscues have been aplenty. It also hasn’t helped that Tristan Blackmon & Ranko Veselinović have both picked up knocks. Not entirely confident in Bjørn Inge Utvik being a regular starter.
Around the Pitch
In the last newsletter, I asked for you to shoot me an email about anything you’d like to me to talk about. So I was pleased to see the following message in my inbox:
Hi Chris!
When I visited Portland on vacation to see the 'Caps play, I really felt like the whole city really loves the Timbers, to a degree that's just not true in Vancouver. Is there something the front office could do to build up that love? Something like the ad campaign they did centered around the fans (as one Portlandian I spoke with suggested)? Do we need our own "Timber Joey" thing, like a snowboard jump through the BC Place roof or something?
Thanks, IkeaHatGuy
First of all, thank you IkeaHatGuy for not only subscribing but taking me up on the offer.
Secondly, I have to agree that Portland really understand how to support their home side. While it’s the only place I’ve had the fortune of watching the Whitecaps FC play away, the vibe & atmosphere of Providence Park is something else!
Now to your questions, and specifically this one - does Vancouver need their own “Timber Joey” thing?
No.
I don’t think a “gimmick” is the path as that’s all it would be, and I firmly believe our market will see through it. A Vancouver-style “Timber Joey” needs to develop organically.
For instance, whether you thought Vanni Sartini was a good coach or not, there’s no questioning his passion for this team and the market. Yet more importantly, there’s no doubting how much respect he had for the supporters.
Love him, hate him, Vanni was one of us. And through him, the market connected emotionally.
He was our “Timber Joey” for a time.
As to building up the atmosphere here in Vancouver, I think it comes down to quite a “simple” solution - a smaller soccer focused stadium.
I know this solution is neither simple, nor likely at this point.
But it’s the one I believe best gets Vancouver to where Portland happens to be.
I hope there’s legs to the possibility of something like this being constructed out by the Pacific National Exhibition. I appreciate the current infrastructure isn’t conducive to a professional sports team playing there on the regular, but having a more intimate stadium packed with Whitecaps supporters would be awesome.
It’s been… a couple of weeks.
And while my focus remains firmly on my family right now, I hope to be back into a regular cadence this week and next moving forward.
I’m also open to any help y’all might be interested in providing as a “plan B.” If you’re up to penning a weekly review, an “I Watched This Match,” or simply want to talk about a topic related to the Whitecaps… reach out to me and I’ll look to make it happen.
Here’s to a good week of Whitecaps FC action (both with the four in Austin for the All-star Match & away to Sporting Kansas City).
From my seat to your browser!
If you enjoyed this, please consider sharing on social media or forwarding it to someone that you think would love it just as much! ❤️
-Chris (@lyteforce.ca)