Top 10 Things NOT To Look Forward To: Vancouver MLS 2011
January 4, 2011 at 5:55 am | Posted in Vancouver Whitecaps In MLS, Whitecaps New Uniform and Logo, Whitecaps Waterfront Stadium | 7 Comments2011 is no doubt going to be a joyous one for Whitecaps fans, but will take some patience. Here are the downsides:
1. Dreadful New Uniform
Rather than preserving the iconic and classic 1979 uniform in any way the Whitecaps and Adidas came up with a horribly bland and characterless strip. Can you imagine a club like Boca Juniors doing something like getting rid of their classic blue with the yellow hoop in the middle? Could never happen, right? No! In fact the Vancouver Whitecaps did exactly that. The Blue band across the chest is gonzo (along with the corresponding white band for the away uniform). The away jersey is just as boring as the home jersey. When the Whitecaps play in the away jersey they will look like a bunch of World War II Navy sea planes. The only consolation will be that if you squint your eyes with the white home jersey you can pretend you are watching Real Madrid. Too bad they’ll be playing a much lower standard of football! Perhaps its best that we just close our eyes altogether. I have shelled out for my season ticket, but the Whitecaps have lost money from me because I refuse to buy these dreadful jerseys…
2. Awful New Logo
If the new uniform is bad, the new logo is worse still. Rather than reflecting the natural beauty of our West Coast city, the Whitecaps have done a Vancouver Canucks (see the old yellow “V” uniform) on us and chosen a cold geometric logo which has nothing to do with our city or our team’s history. The Whitecaps logo is meant to represent a wave in the ocean, but some of the newbie internal staffers seem to think it has something to do with mountains as well. The last thing we needed was a new team myth created around something Bobby Lenarduzzi’s in-laws supposedly said. The new logo looks more like something out of the German Bundesliga than something which is fit for our West Coast paradise. A naughty yet perceptive friend of mine described the new logo as a “crystalline vagina”. Well spotted, son! I would call those who designed the new logo something quite similar.
3. Plastic grass
While great strides have been taken in artificial grass since the days of Astroturf, (which the Whitecaps used to play on back in the NASL days), nothing beats natural grass. The game just looks different on the plastic stuff, and not for the better, either. Many top players and teams will not play on it for fear of wear and tear on players bodies and nasty injuries. The one correct footballing decision Toronto FC made was getting rid of the plastic grass and replacing it with the real stuff (they still play crap football on it, however).
4. Obnoxious Newbies
Can you imagine sitting next to the guy who never showed up once to Swangard Stadium, because it wasn’t good enough for him, with his brand new awful Whitecaps kit on? God help us long time loyal supporters….
5.Obnoxious Drunks
With all of those pubs nearby, the level of intoxication can only go up…
6. Higher Ticket Prices
We have been getting one hell of a sweet deal for years now, with season ticket prices giving us one of the cheapest forms of entertainment going. It was cheaper going to a Whitecaps football match than to the movies, and a hell of a lot more fun to boot! The new ticket prices have been a bit of a shock to many, and it has been a bit of a kick in the nethers to pay for those new tickets. Should I pay the mortgage or go see the footy match? Bankruptcy be damned, I’m going to the footy.
7. No More Swanny
While we complained about it all along, Swangard was our home through 1987 and 2010. Objectively speaking, it is a poor venue for football because of the running track which separates the fans from the passion on the pitch. Mind you, watching from close behind the goal in the Southside has been a joy most football fans in the world could not begin to have. We were able to get close to the action with complete freedom of movement, sing our songs, chant our chants, and socialize pretty much untouched by security. We could even chat with the players and hug them after they scored goals. The new venues will mean more rules, tighter security, less movement, and a more distant relationship with the club and its players.
8. No Soccer Specific Stadium
Vancouver Whitecaps fans must continue the push for a soccer specific stadium. While the new BC Place is going to be great, to be a truly world class football club, the Whitecaps must have their own soccer specific stadium with natural grass. The Whitecaps say their goal is to be in the top 25 football clubs in the world. If you look at the top 25 football clubs in the world, you will not find one that plays on plastic grass in a rented stadium. A top football club owns its own ground and plays on natural grass, period. Owning a soccer specific stadium with a proper grass pitch must be a long-term goal for the club. Keep the dream of Whitecaps Waterfront Stadium alive!
9. Lack of Canadian Content
The MLS rules definitely favour American players. The league has gotten rid of Canadian content rules, because, frankly, Canadian players are generally awful and have sunk TFC’s boat for 4 years in a row now. Lets hope having three Canadian MLS teams provides a boost to Canadian soccer development, because the current crop of Canadian players (and the coaches who develop them) are rubbish. Lets hope some of the Canadian Whitecaps residency players come good, and lets hope the presence of three Canadian MLS clubs raises the level of Canadian football generally.
10. Hyper Commecialization
Be prepared to be merchandised to death. Just as it is with the Vancouver Canucks, a bewildering assortment of merchandise will be available to you to help you rid yourself of your excess money (if you don’t have any excess money to buy merchandise, you will no doubt be able to put it on your Vancouver Whitecaps FC MasterCard, provided by Whitecaps sponsor BMO). If you want a Vancouver Whitecaps FC Reverse Home Mortgage to help you pay for your season’s ticket, you will probably be able to get one of those, too.
11. Poor Coverage by Journalists who don’t Know the Game
Okay, more than 10, but worth mentioning. Watch for some embarrassing clangers and prepare to cringe as local sports journalists try to grapple with reporting a game they don’t know or like.
Timbers And Adidas Hit Homer With New Uniforms
December 11, 2010 at 6:29 am | Posted in Vancouver Whitecaps In MLS, Whitecaps New Uniform and Logo | 5 CommentsThe Portland Timbers unveiled their new Adidas uniforms today, and I must say, I think they look fantastic, perhaps the best uniforms in the league. Unfortunately, the Timbers kit is the exception to the rule: Adidas has generally produced unforgivably boring and unimaginative kits previously for Major League Soccer.
Many of the Adidas uniforms in MLS are very boring indeed, including the new uniform of the Vancouver Whitecaps. Adidas has a monopoly on providing uniforms to MLS teams through their sponsorship of the MLS, and the uniforms they have created generally demonstrate the poor results consumers get when they can only buy from one source. Why create innovative and interesting designs when there is no competition and when the consumer is forced to buy directly from you and no other source?
In the design of the Whitecaps new uniform, Adidas has produced a dull and unimaginative design. It is almost as though they were actually seeking to create a bland image for the team. I must say, however, that Portland has managed to escape the generally poor Adidas MLS designs and gotten lucky: their new kit looks very smart indeed. Why they get such luck and not us is beyond me. I am very jealous…
While the sponsorship with Adidas benefits the MLS, my own view is that other soccer kit manufacturers should be brought in to force Adidas to get off their ass and produce more interesting kits like they have for the Timbers. Then we could get rid of our own bland product and hopefully get a Vancouver Whitecaps uniform which inspires us. Adidas has failed us Whitecaps fans miserably in my view, so Don Garber, please let Nike or Umbro have a go!!!
The Timber’s new uniforms can be see here: http://www.portlandmls2011.com/
Reply to Bill Currie!
July 11, 2010 at 2:21 am | Posted in Whitecaps New Uniform and Logo | 2 CommentsBill Currie is a friend of mine and a wonderful fellow who is one of BC’s best advocates for football. He formed Friends of Soccer and led the petition to support Whitecaps Waterfront Stadium. I worked alongside Bill to help the Whitecaps back when the team was interested in our views and cared about what we thought.
Poor Bill has recently been asked if he is the author of this blog. Bill is far too reasonable a fellow to be writing these rantings and ravings!
Bill has recently written an article in BC Soccerweb to say that he is not the author of this blog, (this can be read at http://www.bcsoccerweb.com/articles-letters-2010/letter-bill-currie-jul-07-whitecaps-logo.htm) and that he disagrees with my point of view with respect to the new jersey and logo and other comments.
Bill and I have had a good laugh about this and he invited me to file a reply to his arguments. So here it is.
Bill makes the point that the classic Jersey that I am so enamoured with has only been worn by the club 17 out of the club’s 36 seasons. Here Bill fails to make the distinction between the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Vancouver 86ers. It is hardly a valid point to say the Vancouver 86ers did not wear the uniform of the Vancouver Whitecaps. So why count those years? The Whitecaps wore red and white from 1974 to 1978 and then brought in the classic logo and uniform from 1979 to 1984. In the year 2001 the Whitecaps returned and used kit and logo which was a variation on the classic uniform and logo, for 10 years. For the years the Vancouver Whitecaps have been in existence as a team, they have been wearing the classic strip or a variation of it for 16 out of 20 years.
Bill describes my response to the new uniform as a “one person campaign”. This is not so. I have received numerous messages of support in my views and my informal discussions suggests there are many people who don’t like the new logo and uniform. They, like me, feel the classic 1979 uniform and logo are in fact far superior to the new uniform and logo.
With respect to Paul Barber, I have not yet seen him achieve anything great for the club. In fact, it is too early to say. While he did bring in Bell as a sponsor, a lucrative deal was on the cards in any event given the name recognition the Vancouver Whitecaps have and the rampant success of the Seattle Sounders and Toronto FC as new MLS teams. Those clubs proved to sponsors it is well worthwhile in our market to have their name on our shirt. Frankly, not landing a lucrative sponsorship deal in these circumstances would be sheer incompetence.
No doubt Mr Barber comes with impressive credentials and I have welcomed him with great enthusiasm myself on my blog. Indeed I wish him every success in achieving the club’s lofty and noble goals. However, if the tables were turned and I became CEO of Tottenham Hotspur, (a highly unlikely proposition, given I am a West Ham supporter!), proceeded to change the teams classic strip and logo, I am sure Mr Barber, Steve Nash and other Tottenham Hotspur fans would have something to say about it. In fact, I would probably be met with death threats and small arms fire. So he cannot be surprised when I am angry at him for changing the uniform and logo of the team that I love. The uniform and logo disaster happened on his watch, and he is responsible as CEO.
I agree that the clubs goals desire to win and to achieve great things for Canadian soccer are the right goals and the most important ones. But showing contempt for the teams actual winning tradition, (one earth-shattering win of the Soccer Bowl in 1979 and USL championships in 2006 and 2008), and turning our back on our team colours and logo is just plain wrong. To say the uniforms are unimportant is not correct. The team colours and logo are the team flag that we all rally around. You must have respect for the uniform as our symbol (try changing the current Canadian flag!). Our winning traditions should not be trifled with. If the team had the same goals it does and played in potato sacks, this would not be well received. I disagree with those who say the uniform and logo are unimportant considerations in achieving the club’s goals and ambitions. Our uniform means something!
While I may be howling at the moon and tilting at windmills, as a long time supporter and season ticket holder of both the 86ers and the Whitecaps, I have the right to criticize the club and express my views. The club had no process by which I was able to express my views on the issue, so it cannot be surprised I am angry with them. I have no illusions they will actually drop the new uniform and logo, and I am sure MLS would not let them in any event.
All I can hope for is the club will wake up to its traditions and not forget the uniform and logo our heroes wore in 1979, 2006 and 2008. The strip they wore was high quality! It was classic and original in the history of world football. It should be brought back, and it was wrong for the club to dump it in the dust bin.
Good Article on New Whitecaps Logo
July 6, 2010 at 11:29 pm | Posted in Whitecaps New Uniform and Logo | 1 CommentHere is an excellent article on the Whitecaps new Logo which is called, in part, ”Losing History”:
http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2010/06/20/the-vancouver-whitecaps-mls-logo-losing-history/
The author bemoans the lack of character of the new logo, the fact the club has lost its connection to its history, and correctly states the iconic 1979 logo is superior. Here! Here! Well spoken!
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