Canuck_4_Life

Considering what the fanbase for the Sounders is like, they could probably sell out CenturyLink Field in football configuration.

The Whitecaps have limited capacity within the lower bowl to approx 21K. True capacity of the lower bowl is over 25K, as witnessed by the CONCACAF Final played at BC Place earlier this year. Do I think that they should open up all seats in the lower bowl? Yes.

It's a pre-season tournament. I'm not risking Plata and others for a pre-season tournament

I think Rennie said that he'd probably use one or two of his forwards in a midfield role, with the slight implication that we could see Harris and Le Toux as attacking midfielders. I'd stick with a 4-4-2 and go diamond in the middle, similar to what the Canadian women did. Have Le Toux at the top of the diamond. I think people are blowing Le Toux's initial reaction on twitter out of proportion. I would think it's a shock to be traded, regardless of what sport you play, especially if you weren't expecting it.....

No. My interpretation of your evidence indicates that Hamhuis' point of contact is above the knees whereas Marchand went for the knees of Salo. That couple of inches is the difference between a clean hipcheck and clipping. Not to mention, Lucic was skating forward through the neutral zone, should've expected a hit. Salo was cruising backwards, and Marchand eliminated him. To further dissect the Hamhuis hipcheck, yeah, it can be argued that his arm was around Lucic's knees, you don't flip someone the size of Lucic with just your arms especially when you're facing him to start.....

They've been around for 12 years. Timbers Army, in their current form, have been around since 2002, and ECS has only been around for 6 years. I'm not attacking them or anything, it's hard to believe that being the oldest of the Cascadia supporters clubs, they're also the smallest, by no small margin either.

I don't know if you can force people to join, especially when out of the Cascadia teams, you're the smallest by a wide margin. The cost to join the Southsiders is $30 in person/$32 online, same as to join ECS (Emerald City Supporters) and it's $25 to join the Timbers Army. By their own admission on their own website, the biggest criticism of the Soutsiders was/is a lack of leadership/organization. Not exactly gonna help your own cause there. Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I don't think the Southsiders have a capo. I've seen some youtube videos of ECS with one, and I'm sure the Timbers Army has one as well.

You actually interpreted it wrong, or I wasn't clear enough. Jarju is probably trying to become familiar with the MLS game. I highly doubt that the Leagues he was in before are as physical as MLS is. Not to mention, the difference in pace and overall skill. It took Hassli about 6 matches to figure everything out, and he was playing full time too, you know, when he wasn't being red-carded and subsequently suspended. Not to mention, Hassli also has about 5 years on Jarju. LA is playing for now. It would appear that the Whitecaps are building for the future. Is the money they're spending on Jarju a little excessive right now? Yeah, considering how little he's playing.

We're talking about someone who was playing in Belgium. Consider this, the champions of Belgium go into the 3rd qualifying round - champions route of the Champions League while the runners up go into the 3rd qualifying round - league finish. Not exactly Ligue 1 or the English Premier League.

2010 Champions League Group Stage: GROUP A: Bayern Munich Villarreal Manchester City Napoli GROUP B Inter Milan CSKA Moscow Lille Trabzonspor GROUP C Manchester United Benfica Basle Otelul Galati GROUP D Real Madrid Lyon Ajax Dinamo Zagreb GROUP E Chelsea Valencia Bayer Leverkusen Genk GROUP F Arsenal Marseille Olympiakos Borussia Dortmund GROUP G Porto Shakhtar Donetsk Zenit St Petersburg APOEL GROUP H Barcelona AC Milan BATE Viktoria Plzen Man City got screwed while United gets off pretty easy. Barca and Milan grouped together but they should go through rather easily, paired with Euro doormats.

Where exactly would you find the money to throw at Keane. The LA Galaxy are owned by AEG, whom also own the Kings and their farm team, the Lakers, Sparks, the Staples Center, O2 Arena in London and the Manchester Evening News Arena. Did I also mention they own 50% of the MLS Houston Dynamo? The price tag to get Keane to MLS: 3.5 million. No way in hell Kerfoot and crew were gonna shell out that sort of money just to get Keane. Never mind, whatever absurd contract he's making. Because of who's funding the LA Galaxy, I would've tried to work out a deal for Juan Pablo Angel.

I think that's exactly it. It's not like he's sitting around scratching himself. His current team, the Carolina Railhawks have a 12pt lead on the Puerto Rico Islanders and are well positioned heading into the post-season with about 10 games to go.

According to the information I received at today's open house, lower bowl capacity at BC Place will be around 23K. I'm not sure they'd open up the upper level, unless they were guaranteed at least 30K a night.

I heard Donovan is out, however, the LA Galaxy website has him as "Questionable" Angel is listed as Questionable as well.

I don't know how many major European teams TFC has hosted at BMO Field, but I suspect, with the Jays and Argos as the main occupants of Rogers Center, dates are hard to come by.

Do you not realize that the European giants like Real Madrid, Manchester United and Barcelona probably won't play a venue as small as Empire. In fact, Empire is the 3rd smallest facility being used during the Herbalife World Challenge going on, ahead of only BMO Field (Juventus vs Sporting Club) and the Home Depot Center (Man City vs LA Galaxy). Coincidence? I'm gonna go with no. As for seeing the European giants in Vancouver, I'd say 2012 or 2013.

Man City is far superior to any MLS team, pre-season tour or not. Shaun Wright-Phillips winning goal is a perfect example of the difference in individual skill between the two leagues. I actually thought it was a great effort, in a mean nothing game, by the Whitecaps, in both halves. Injuries are a part of the game, and Mancini knew that the playing surface was not of the greatest quality, and decided to accept it as being playable.

Who would those two be? The Whitecaps 4 main strikers to start the season: Hassli (injured), Harris (injured - out indefinitely), Camilo (moved to midfield) and Salgado Long Tan? Please tell me you aren't expecting guys like Shea Salinas and Terry Dunfield to score a lot, are you?

You know who has a bomb of a shot? Alain Rochat. An unconventional choice, but I could've done better than Dunfield.

The only MLS team they've beaten is Toronto FC. I believe that Canuck fever has essentially wiped the Whitecaps off the Vancouver sporting radar for now.

How do you define "outrages in pricing"

I don't know how many Whitecaps games you've been to, but I was at the inaugural win vs TFC and at the loss to FC Dallas. I was gonna go to see Thierry Henry, Rafa Marquez, Dwayne DeRosario and the New York RedBulls, but I've got Canucks tickets. Manchester City, newly crowned FA Cup winners, are coming to Empire on July 18th, a Monday night. Not exactly a prime sports night. The only thing working in their favour, it's during the summer when the kids are presumably off. Having been to see the Canucks, Whitecaps and Lions in action, they are three completely different animals. The only reason I put the Whitecaps #3 is because they're still in their MLS honeymoon period. Speaking specifically about this year, the Lions will trump the Whitecaps at almost every turn, mainly because the Grey Cup is being played at BC Place. We'll see in 2-3 years time whether MLS can overtake the CFL in this market. The biggest thing working against the Whitecaps: national coverage, or lack thereof. Every Lions game is nationally broadcast on TSN. The Canucks are regulars during the season on HNIC. Most Whitecaps games have been on Sportsnet Pacific. North American football, in general, is more cerebral than European football. Individually, they attract two completely different fanbases. If you're a sports enthusiast, like me, I enjoy all 3 (Canucks, Lions and Whitecaps).

If the NHL concerned themselves with other sporting events in the city, it would take more than a calendar year to play a season, including playoffs. The Whitecaps will be 2nd fiddle to the Canucks during the spring, and Lions during the summer, falling to 3rd when all 3 are playing.

I think most of the fighters are 10 or more lbs over the weighr they're listed at. I believe that the weigh-ins should be on the same day as the fight.

BC Pavco has promised the Lions and the CFL that the Dome will open on Sept 30. The Whitecaps play their first inside the new Dome 2 days later.