Latespotting: Vancouver's Unfortunate Pastime

Yesterday's post about the awful number of empty seats before kickoff absolutely resonated with Whitecaps fans who have been suckered into faithfully reading this blog since it started up last month. The post drew triple the typical traffic of my other posts, and for that I say thank you to all three of you. :p

In all seriousness, there's been some great discussion about Vancouver's chronic latecomers over at the Southsiders forum in the JMFC thread. If the situation bothers you as much as it bothers me, I encourage you to stop by for some perspective from other fans who share in your frustrations. 

Since my previous post went live I received a great email from a fellow named Mark Dailey. He's a long time Whitecaps fan going back to the Swangard days, and he has only just very recently joined the Southsiders. I wanted to highlight Mark's impressions of the situation to illustrate the point that it's not just the ornery ol' season ticket holders and long-time Southsiders who feel there's something to grumble about here. 

As you'll read below, Mark has only had the opportunity to attend the odd match here and there since the Whitecaps moved into MLS. As such, I think it's fair to say that the impression he's taking from these games would be comparable to a relative newcomer soaking up the BC Place "Latespotting" experience for the first few times.

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Hey Johnnie,

I read your blog a little earlier about the latecomers to the Caps matches.  I've only been to two of the first three matches this year, but it [the empty seats] was something that I noticed as well on Saturday.  

Now for one thing traffic getting into downtown was total shite for starters.  We made the trek in from the suburban paradise otherwise known as Coquitlam and I was both shocked and frustrated that it took so long to get in.  Add to that the line at the will-call ticket booth (which fortunately was very efficient) had me sweating that we might miss the opening kick-off for my son's first WFC match!  We made it to our seats by the skin of our teeth and did not miss a single kick of the ball and I was very happy.  

After we took our seats I took a look around and saw how many empty seats there were in the stadium. My first reaction was the it was going to totally suck balls and look totally bad on tv when I remembered that there was a mass of humanity lolling about on the concourse and outside the stadium.  Once everyone took their seats attendance was pretty good, and although I didn't see the final figure I would estimate it to be around the 19.5k mark. 

 

Want.

I can't honestly say why this happens here in Vancouver.  I think people are lazy and spoiled and to a certain extent they think their doing the club a favour just by showing up.  This is by no means a phenomena that is purely limited to the Caps, as I have seen it at Lions games as well.  As for the Canucks I cannot honestly say since I have not been to a game in years.

It is quite bothersome to see and wish that people would get their acts together and show a little passion. We're a big club in a big league playing the most popular sport in the world.  If people here don't realize that then they really need to wake up.  

Do NOT want.

As for solutions, well mate I don't know I have any.  I show up to as many matches as I can and I try to bring someone along with me who has never been before.  This past weekend it was my four year old son, who although has been watching matches with me on TV, was a little reluctant to come and watch in person. Now that he's been he has instantly been hooked.  I bought little WFC footballs for him and my daughter and for the rest of the weekend they were running around the house saying things like "Look at me I'm Camilo!" or "Pass it to Reo C!"  That's pretty cool.  

Other than that I wear the colours as often as possible.  Soccer was never discussed at my office before I started working there and now we talk footy all the time.  We'll talk about footy from far and wide, but it's mostly about the Whitecaps, which is cool.  Perhaps I'm rambling, but I do agree that something needs to be done to pump it up like our Cascadian neighbours have.  Hopefully things start to change sooner rather than later!

Keep up the good work.  Enjoy reading the blog.

Cheers,
Mark

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Mark followed his original email up with a few more details about his background, and the experiences that have shaped his viewpoints:

I've been going to the Lions for a long time, so I have always known what to expect at a game there, but when I came to my first WFC match last year I was instantly hooked.  I'm a first generation Canadian who has had the good fortune to have been able to live both here and back 'home' (Holland) and have moved back and forth several times in my adult life.  

When I went to my first match at BC Place I was shocked at how 'authentic' the atmosphere was and how there basically was no difference between the atmosphere between a match here and over there.  So in a nutshell I guess you could say that I've become pretty hardcore over the past year.  I'm not new to supporting our pro soccer teams here though since I used to be a regular at Swangard back in the early 90's (lots of good memories!).  I'm also a new Southsider this season for what it's worth.  I took in the TFC match from the Southside and it was brilliant!  I had a great time!

I think a lot issues here in Vancouver are cultural ones.  People aren't really that familiar with professional soccer here and I think that there is perhaps a perception that MLS is a second rate league and we'll never be mentioned in the same breathe as the bigger European leagues/clubs.  There is also that frustrating attitude that you wrote about in your blog on how people always show up 15 minutes late (and also seem to leave 10 minutes early might I add).  

I'm constantly working on my wife to get more interested in soccer.  When we met it was 100% Canucks, and I successfully introduced her to the Lions and I'm hopeful she will soon become a Whitecaps supporter as well!  

I guess what we can all do is just try and influence those who we come into contact with on a regular basis be that family, friends, co-workers, etc.  I'm passionate about our club.  This may sound a little strange to some, but I'm sure you'll understand where I'm coming from.  I grew up supporting Manchester Unitedand have a whole pile of MUFC kits, but honestly nowadays when I throw on a kit or something else - it's not red and black.  Those are collecting dust.  The blue and white ones are getting worn out because they're getting used so much!

Cheers!

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"...and THIS is how you get to a fucking match on time!"

The Whitecaps are very lucky that there are fans out there like Mark who still see the massive potential for fun and excitement in spite of the thousands of so-called "fans" around him who can't be arsed to get themselves into the building on time.

This issue really makes me angry. It just seems so awfully disrespectful to the players.  These guys - a lot of them young kids - are busting their asses to become elite athletes. Some day the Koffies and Teiberts of our team may be playing elsewhere, perhaps in Italy, France or Germany. They could make the big time under the international spotlight. When the press ask these guys about their humble beginnings in Vancouver, how is it going to reflect on us as a city and as a fanbase when they look in the cameras and say:

"Well.... it was okay, I guess. The fans were all right.... but it's much better here."

In my last post I mentioned how the poor optics of empty seats have the potential to damage the club's opportunities for landing and retaining corporate sponsors. Something I didn't even consider was the impact that this situation could have on the club's ability to draw the next Kenny Miller, Nigel Reo-Coker or Y.P. Lee from a more comfortable and lucrative career abroad to play Major League Soccer in Vancouver.

Make no mistake about it - atmosphere is a selling point for potential players as much as it is for ticket purchasers. No professional footballer wants to play in front of a stadium full of crickets chirping under seatcovers. This sport is their livelihood. If they're going to make the move across the pond, they want to go somewhere they are confident that football matters as much to the supporters as it does to them.

Vancouver and her Cascadia brethren can and should be within the top five picks for any players abroad considering a career in North America. But if the Whitecaps and the supporters who really, truly love and believe in the club can't fire up the reluctant and sluggish aspect of our fanbase, we're in for some real uphill struggles on many different fronts. 

Bad stadium habits have a reputation for spreading like a cancer amongst the casuals, and once they set in, it's difficult to carve them out. Perhaps we supporters need to start a pre-match shame campaign? Something along the lines of "We can see you sneaking in?"  Essentially the opposite of this:

What do you think can be done to get asses in seats before kickoff? Send your suggestions, thoughts, threats and bribes to johnniemonster@gmail.com

Thanks again,

@johnniemonster