My UK Journalist Friends views from his very 1st TFC gamg

[King of the Beach]

Monday, June 16, 2008

The game..........
Category: Travel and Places
Monday, June 16, 2008

The game..........
Category: Travel and Places

[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']From Toronto, Canada[/FONT]

[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][/FONT]<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">The funny thing about football is the beer that goes with it. In fact, the beer that goes with it before, during and after the game itself. What goes on in the 90 minutes of the game itself is only half the story really. It all starts at least a couple of hours before that in a local pub.

[jloome]

Thanks for the myspace link. Is there a story there somewhere?

[Nerepis]

Is there a link to the story?

[rocker]

ya gotta be logged into your myspace account to read it.

[King of the Beach]

I fucked up the post. I have asked Parkdale to repost it. This was my first try at a post. Big ass Virgin....

[King of the Beach]

Try this, not sure if it will work.

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...ogID=406270972

[Parkdale]

oh that internet...


just copy the full text and paste it here.

[brando]

He makes it sound like prior to TFC none of us even had a clue what soccer/football was. Maybe thats the case for some, but most of us have followed and played the game since we were born. TFC is just the icing on the cake.

[ManUtd4ever]

He makes it sound like prior to TFC none of us even had a clue what soccer/football was. Maybe thats the case for some, but most of us have followed and played the game since we were born. TFC is just the icing on the cake.

QFT!

[Razcle]

I had a big long list of reasons why I didn't enjoy his blog, but I erased them and will let you judge when you read it yourself...

[Corpand]

WOW our stadium has seating for 30,000 people!! This guy definitely has his facts straight!!

[TFC07]

Can someone just copy and paste the guy's blog here?

[Broadview]

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...ogID=406270972

Monday, June 16, 2008


The game..........
Category: Travel and Places

From Toronto, Canada

The funny thing about football is the beer that goes with it. In fact, the beer that goes with it before, during and after the game itself. What goes on in the 90 minutes of the game itself is only half the story really. It all starts at least a couple of hours before that in a local pub.

But let's be quite clear about what we are talking about here. It is not American or indeed Canadian football that people used to talk about in the bars here in Toronto. And indeed not just the bars. Everywhere.

Now a new mania has gripped the city of Toronto - indeed all of north America – and that is a British import called soccer. It is a game that was unknown over here until few years despite the fact that the rest of the world is playing it - and usually better that us Brits who invented it!

It is everywhere. Now everyone is a supporter of Toronto Football Club who have a brand new stadium downtown. It is just their second season and they have come a long way from being consistently bottom of the north American league to third or fourth.

True, it does have a few English players in the side but so too do the American teams, the most notable being David Beckham whose team was squashed as it happens when they visited Toronto.

But let's get back to the beer.

That's how all the games start and not in posh bars or pubs either but in more down at heel establishments where fans can sing, swear, wave flags and generally behave like fans do the world over.

The beer comes in pitchers or large jugs.

Lots of it.

A sea of red (the colours of Toronto) all quaffing beer. Even I had a red Toronto scarf I had been loaned – a scarf that was more decorative than anything else the temperature being around 30 degrees.

Four pints of Carlsberg puts you in the mood for just about anything. There we were – finally – in the stadium. 29,999 Canadians and – er – me!

A sea of flag-waving red, all waiting to face the Colorado Rapids' team. A fearsome sight for visitors from anywhere.

TFC. TFC.TFC.TFC, chanted the crowd, arms raised, fingers pointed skyward. If there were supporters from Colorado they were quiet. Very quiet. And then the two teams emerged accompanied by a mighty roar from the crowd. This was finally what it was all about. This is what they had been waiting all week for.

The game.

Singing is an important part of football. So is chanting. So is insulting the opposition and sometimes the crowd even chants at each other.

"Qu'est-ce que vous chantez," screamed one section, to be replied by " Nous chantons les rouges allez!!..." which ended with everyone singing la-lala-lala-la la-lala-la. Very individual. Very Canadian.

But it is goals that matter and it was the home side that scored the first.

"YAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHH," roared the crowd. Scarves were raised aloft. Flags were waved – The Toronto FC flag, the Maple Leaf - even the odd Union Jack.

And so it went on, the home side scoring another two to the Colorado team's one which ended with the crowd chanting "You let three inside," to the visiting goalie. He turned and stared at the crowd in despair.

It just wasn't his day!

It almost wasn't mine either when an enthusiastic cop thought I was singing too loudly on the train coming home. That's the trouble with cops – no sense of humour! Anyway, I was saved by being a visitor – for the second time that day, the first time for not having a ticket on a Go train on our way to the game. I should have been fined at least because unlike the UK you cannot buy a ticket on the train.

But my British ID saved me.

I really am a very naughty boy. I can see the headline now. "UK journalist arrested for rowdy behaviour."

I am going to be good from now on.

It really wasn't my fault anyway.

It was the beer.

Honest!

[Rudi]

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...ogID=406270972

It is just their second season and they have come a long way from being consistently bottom of the north American league to third or fourth.

Um, really?

If it's our second season, and he clearly agrees that it is, how can we have come a "long" way from being consistently at the bottom of the league?

One year at the bottom is not consistent.

[Parkdale]

One year at the bottom is not consistent.

it's like saying 'a streak of one' - just makes no sense to people who know the game.

[ExiledRed]

I think he means we stayed pretty much at the bottom for most of last season.

In the time honoured words of Graham Chapman

"If you're going to split hairs, I'm going to fuck off!'

[Blizzard]

I think he means we stayed pretty much at the bottom for most of last season.

In the time honoured words of Graham Chapman

"If you're going to split hairs, I'm going to fuck off!'

[Rudi]

I think he means we stayed pretty much at the bottom for most of last season.

In the time honoured words of Graham Chapman

"If you're going to split hairs, I'm going to fuck off!'

Being an editor, splitting grammatical hairs is what I do.

Truth be told, I didn't really like much of the blog entry. From the assumption that soccer didn't even exist here until a couple of years ago, to the factual inaccuracies throughout.

I just found it to be along the lines of, "oh, how cute it is that those silly Canadians have finally embraced the world's game, which we Brits invented by the way."

[Don Julio]

Journalist, eh?

[The Historian]

"Journalist", perhaps.

The 'north' in 'North America' is part of a proper noun and should be capitalised (donning my editor's cap for a moment).

I found this little to piece to be a bit condescending.

[Bluenose13]

You guys are tough.......We didn't have a team for ages before TFC & the article really showed how we have embraced TFC......It really wasn't that bad......Lighten up a wee bit

[NF-FC]

tripe

[ExiledRed]

I just found it to be along the lines of, "oh, how cute it is that those silly Canadians have finally embraced the world's game, which we Brits invented by the way."

Well it is cute.

a bit.

Oh come on, you don't know how many north american articles there are on the 'quaintness' of those silly british, who are 'refined' 'eccentric' or whatever stereotype fits the bill. Suck it up for a change

Personally I didnt like the article because it failed to illustrate how we can drink our beer, stand up, and waltz in and out of the stadium at half time without much problems at all. He might have added how we've captured all the good things about being a supporter in Britain in the eighties, whilst leaving out the bullshit. BMO could be an example to english clubs and supporters who wish to bring back standing to the cheap seats, eliminate the bullshit and celebrate the game like they used to, but this seems to be lost on the guy.

It doesnt bother me how he phrases our performance prior to this season.