TFC = Trolling For 'Caps

Mood: Tired but happy
State of Mind: Wow, we needed that!
Location: Sunny supporter's couch
Voice: About 40%


Whee!! Tempted to make that my entire post; just lines of "whee!!!" but then you'd all think I'd lost my mind  (Hush peanut gallery). OK, one more time - WHEE!!!!  And may I add to the Van City team - HAHAHAHAHA! - Petty you say? In this case I am more than willing to accept that.  If only to refute all of the conspiracy theories from the 'Caps - no excuses this time guys - our Reds beat you fair and square.


It's been hours and I'm still smiling and giggling and just so happy from last night. If you weren't there then I'm oh so sorry that you missed it; I do hope that you at least watched so that you could share in the utter madness that was the last 30-40 minutes of that game!  And if not then at the very least I hope you've watched the Game in 6 (I could watch that all day) over and over again like the rest of us. 


In an attempt to live up to the name of this blog I actually went to my seats in the West Stands for the first time in weeks; mostly to visit with some of my seatmates but much to my surprise none of them were at the game! Maybe they're avoiding me? Regardless, I decided to watch the first half from my usual perch and well all I can say is please for the love of Pele, someone teach RJ9 how to finish!  That breakaway on Joe Cannon (and his tiny shorts) should have been a goal! Never mind that whole hitting the post business (again).  I appreciate his work rate and the fact that he never (ever) gets a rest but c'mon man, your job is scoring goals. 


Anyway, the first half was pretty much a snooze; perhaps due to the empty seats (players can't get amped in front of 209 people),

The stands right before kickoff

or maybe they were trying  to lull the Whitecaps to sleep? Or perhaps it was in protest over losing Soolsma (I don't want to talk about it)? I'm not sure but either way - even though they made some noise right near the end of the half - the half ended with my thinking that perhaps not much good was going to come of this. This was the TFC that makes me sigh...


I also decided to relocate back to the South Stands with the Cynics Circle et al. for some second half silliness. 


The Reds looked a lot more lively after halftime - perhaps they got in a 12 minute nap? But of course it had to be the Whitecaps that struck first when rookie Darren Mattocks was able to ping a rebound from a Kocic save into the net - cue the "here we go again" groans from everyone. Great initial save by Milos but no one to clear and Mattocks had an easy one. Even still, I refused to believe that Van City would get the best of our Reds; it's not allowed, right?  Right. And then something fantastic happened - no our Reds didn't immediately get an equalizer - no, the always hilarious @ignirtoq of The Yorkies and his buddy Phil started singing "Bohemian Rhapsody"; shortly thereafter myself, @theyorkies1812 and our merry band of cynics joined in and well watch for yourself:

                                        We never claimed to be professional singers


This may seem like an odd song choice but if you listen to the lyrics they're oddly fitting for a TFC fan and well it just fit the mood.  As the half progressed the Reds continued to press and were having greater success getting forward and then our Nasty Leftback Ashtone Morgon put another of his (soon to be) patented crosses into the box and found Luis Silva who easily put it past Cannon!  Game on!  Then our boys just kept on coming - Das Kapitan Frings almost put TFC ahead if not for a wonder save by by Joe Cannon. But the Whitecaps couldn't keep our Reds at bay much longer when just minutes later Frings stepped up and delivered a gorgeous blast of a free kick into the left hand corner of the net!  Jubilation!!  Much yelling, jumping, shouting and hugging ensued - but could it last?

The 'Caps continued to fight back and with minutes left in the game YP Lee came within a whisker of tying the game when he was also stopped by the post...this is where I started holding my breath and looking to see how much added time; 4 minutes? And then the worst happened; Darren freaking Mattocks leapt what seemed four feet in the air to beat Kocic to the ball and headed it into the net - if that wasn't bad enough Mattocks then became the biggest douche at BMO by coming over to the South Stands and taunting the supporters. And not just for a few seconds but for well over a minute - what ticks me off more than the jerky taunting was the lack of any sort of sanction from the ref - that behaviour in any other league would earn a card and should have in this case. We'll wait and see if the league does anything about it but I certainly don't expect anything to happen.


So there we were, with added time ticking away, the score tied and it looked like our boys were going to toss away three points yet again. But wait in the dying seconds a corner! We didn't hold out a lot of hope knowing TFC's less than stellar record on set pieces when the most glorious thing happened; Terry Dunfield (yes that Terry Dunfield, former Whitecap Terry Dunfield,) headed the ball into the net!!  Total freaking pandemonium!!!!  Screaming, shouting, jumping - I don't remember when I've last hugged that many people - and then the whistle!!  I can't remember the last time I was that happy to hear three blasts of a whistle!  What a great night, what a fantastic finish, what a WIN!!  


Was it the best game they've ever played? No. Are there still plenty of issues with the team. Yes. Does that matter one bloody whit? Hell no. That was one of the finest nights I've ever spent at BMO watching the team I love.  I'll leave you with a few words from the hero of the night:

                                          
TFC TIL I DIE


Laughing Links: Here are your usual suspects with the recaps - The Yorkies, Waking The Red and Red Nation Online.

Time To Whip The Whitecaps

Mood: Shrugging off Sunday
State of Mind: They're going to win, it's Wednesday after all and you know, Vancouver
Location: Currently, work. Later, BMO
Weather Forecast: No Towrads in sight

OK boys and girls today our boys get to take on that team that they love to beat and that we love to watch them beat.  Yes once again those conspiracy toting visitors from the west coast the Vancouver Whitecaps are in town. There's nothing quite like playing Vancouver to get the team fired up and get the fans pumped up. There's just something really, really fun about beating them; maybe it's that it drives them crazy and of course the endless conspiracy theories after each loss are well, just hilarious.


And let's be honest; our boys need a win based off of a strong performance - OK any win will do but wouldn't a good trouncing be nice? - to lift their and our spirits after the less than stellar outing on Sunday.  And really there's no better team (well, except maybe Montreal) out of our growing list of bitter rivals than Vancouver to make a match have some underlying drama and emotion.


Vancouver of course are coming to town with revenge on their minds after our Reds once again won the Voyageurs Cup and left the poor Whitecaps without any shiny silverware to call their own (yes I'm doing an evil laugh as I type that).  The Van City team had come to town back in May assured that they were going to finally walk away with our (yes damn it, it's ours - try and take it away) trophy but of course the Reds put in one of their best games - what is it about Cup games anyway? - and convincingly won over Van City.


Tonight will likely be a scrappy affair as there is no love lost between these two teams and the last time they met things got well, a little heated shall we say? Of course that scuffle was capped (see what I did there?) by the spectacularly awful dive by Jun Marques Davidson and the tossing of Sebastien Le Toux.  And by the Amazing Invisible Man aka Eric Hassli - oh those were the days...And Hassli will indeed be invisible again tonight as he's been suspended for yellow card accumulation (pardon me while I laugh delightedly) and I'm back. 


This match is no sure thing - even though it's a Wednesday, at home, playing Vancouver - since you know Van City has only (only!) 20 more points than TFC, has only lost once in their last 5 games (and winning two) and well they're just better than TFC.  Don't think it's a walk because Hassli is out; Sebastien Le Toux is not one to ignore and he's joined some fairly talented folk up front (otherwise known as the Van City striker collective) with Camillo, Darren Mattocks and their new Scottish DP Barry Robson who although still adjusting to MLS play should not be discounted either as a threat off of the bench.


Does any of that matter? Not one bit - this is after all the team we love to torture - who wouldn't be ticked off when they continually lose to one of the worst teams in the league? And lost a major trophy to them as well? That boys and girls is the object of this particular match - tick off the Whitecaps.  Seriously. OK yes, the boys should be playing for the badge, the fans, their pride but really at the end of the day if they can do all of that AND irritate the Whitecaps? All the better; after all tradition is important in any sport and this one should certainly be carried on.  If only to keep tweaking their noses for yet another year. Fun!


I have hopes for this game; hopes of the "not crashing and burning" sense. I hope that Mariner meant what he said about making some changes to the lineup tonight; of course I hope that we don't see an entire starting XI of kids out there but that JDG and maybe Soolsma get some legitimate time on the pitch.  I also hope to not see that high line employed again until we have more solid and experienced defenders to execute it.  And I (and you too, admit it) hope that not only Danny scores but that Terry puts one past his old team; just for that final turn of the screw.


We've got a gorgeous night, a (hopefully) fired up team, a Wednesday night tradition - really what more could we ask for? Oh yeah, 3 points - yeah, we'd like that too. See you at BMO; be there or be a parallelogram. 


COME ON YOU REDS!


Laid Back Links: Your pre-game posts from the usual suspects - The Yorkies, Waking The Red (James & Duncan) and Red Nation Online.

Go West; Let's Make Life Less Peaceful There

Mood: Trying for zen
State of Mind: Trying to avoid drama and find my happy place
Location: Secret supporter's couch

Seriously. This belongs to us. Hands off Vancouver.

So yesterday was eventful wasn't it? If you have no idea what I'm talking about then read here and then hurry back. Done? OK excellent. Time to put the drama aside and focus on the task at hand; denying Vancouver the Voyageurs Cup. Because isn't that really what it's all about? Don't you secretly thrill at the thought of the Whitecaps again leaving empty-handed next Wednesday?


Make no mistake - this is going to be a hard fought, heated series. We are the team that the Whitecaps love to hate. After all, a combination of a weak Montreal Impact side and the weather gods (or Towrads if you like) have teamed up to previously deny that team from the coast what they view as their rightful place as the lone Canadian representative to the CCL. Gets tiresome doesn't it? That's why it is imperative for our boys to win this one the old-fashioned way; no monsoons, no unlikely 6-1 wins, just win - plain and simple.


And this is no easy task. As you know our team has been performing less than spectacularly thus far this year and Vancouver has well, been better. They currently sit fourth in the west and TFC...moving on, nothing to see here...seriously, nothing to see here (remember 0-8?). And let's not forget that the Whitecaps suffered a somewhat humiliating loss on Saturday to the NE Revolution and will be looking to rebound from said trouncing. While there are several key Vancouver players who will be playing on less than complete rest, Martin Rennie craftily left captain Jay DeMerit at home and also sat his CB partner Martin Bonjour, ensuring a well rested back line.  Add to that the fact that TFC captain Torsten Frings did not travel with the team and that they will be without fiery RB Richard Eckersley due to last week's controversial red card, thereby limiting the bench that Winter can draw upon. Oh and don't forget the delightful surface that is to be played on - isn't turf great? Getting stressed yet? 


However none of that matters because this is the Voyageurs Cup, hell it's a Cup competition and no one plays better in Cup competitions than our Reds. Our boys are well rested having had the weekend off. They're riding a wave (OK, a small ripple from the wake of a boat) of confidence from their 2-0, 10 men win over the Impact last week and Danny Koevermans is likely to play if not start - having the hulking target man back in the starting XI has to be a good thing - right? So what game will our boys play? Will they again play to not lose and keep the bus firmly parked in front of Kocic or will they take a chance and try to get a crucial away goal? I'm guessing a lot from column A and a little from column B. Both teams have MLS games this weekend so I definitely expect a more conservative game than we'll likely see next Wednesday here at BMO; then all bets will be off. But that's another story...


Tomorrow night I'll be in my gear, hyper, fidgety and pacing about the living room all evening until kickoff and then likely more of the same during the match. Wherever or however you choose to watch let's put the drama aside and focus on our boys because they're the ones that matter. 


COME ON YOU REDS!


                      Your mid-week dance break. Yes I'm on a Pet Shop Boys kick, just enjoy.

Links A Go-Go: The Yorkies, Waking The Red (James, Duncan) and  Ian at Red Nation Online.