Montreal Roundup!

In order to reduce the amount of daily small posts, I decided to wait a suitable amount of time, and present all Gulls related news in one handy-dandy, easy to link to(hint-hint) D&G post that covers the recent topics that have popped up in Montreal.

First off, WE SCORED!! Not just one, but Two(!) goals against Tampa Bay! Such a monumental occasion, it surely ranks up there with our three league titles and seven national titles. Hence my, perhaps over the top reaction, which consisted of lighting off four flares at work. I kid, it was only three flares.

So, two goals in one game, a feat that has only happened once before this season, in the 2-1 comeback against NSC Minnesota (sing louder, we can win this, it’s only Minnesota!). Oddly enough, this finished 2-1 as well, though it was not a comeback, for once.

Second of all, Montreal’s Baby Gulls spread their adorable little fledgling wings in front of 2,100 people against FCE tonight, resulting in a 3-0 loss against the Prairie Dogs. From the reports from those at the match, there was the promise of potential atmosphere with the Edmonton Supporters Group, as well as ownerships that seems willing to foster a loyal supporters atmosphere. A young Canadian of only 17 years managed to get two goals of his own this match. Hopefully, it was not a fluke and he continues to improve. The sole player to have played tonight  for the senior side this year was one Tyler Hemming, the Canadian midfielder who’s been on the outside looking in. Pity he plays in our strongest position as it gives him so few opportunities to crack the lineup. It seems hemming knows this, as he also spent time tonight as keeper, after Badescu received a red card. Maybe he thinks with Jordan’s injury, he has a better chance to crack the Gulls, as one of our goalies.

He probably has a better chance, to be honest. Next up for the Vermin is their match against Chilean Colo-Colo.

Next on the docket for those in Montreal is the home match sunday versus our once “proud(ish)” rivals, the Rochester (Raging) Rhinos. Don’t expect away support, as it seems the Stampede have all died, most likely myocardial infarctions brought about through years of eating garbage plates:

Heart Attacks never looked so good.

Also, expect another update sometime before the Rochester game, as I sit down with none other than the Gulls’ own Stephen Deroux.

So… Looks like it’s rant day.

Following hot on the heels of the temporarily handicapped Steven Beauregard, I’ve decided to try and follow his example and make “Friendly” Wednesday the annual holiday for Impact bloggers to bitch about the state of affairs in Montréal.

First of all, this man is spot on. I have never heard so many casual nonfans(I prefer to call them plagistes) talk about the Impact before. At work, hearing old Italian men saying “Oh, so are you guys going to see Milan? They’re playing the Impact.” “Who’s the Impact?”. I have basically overheard versions of that conversation about 50 times since the friendly was announced with variations being “oh, the Impact, they’re gonna get destroyed, brrrrroooooooooooooooo” and “we should go to the game and fight the AC Milan fans. Montréal Hooligans!!!” instead of “Who’s the Impact?”.

Basically, the attitude of the majority of people in this town is that of a typical North American, sports fan or otherwise. If it isn’t the best, it’s the worst. The entitlement of North Americans is amazing, anything other than top flight, is destined to fail, with some exceptions. The NFL is the best gridiron league in the world (not much competition, really), the NBA is (allegedly) the best Basketball league in the world, the NHL is the best as well( excluding a few bottom feeder NHL teams and top European sides). All this has cultured north Americans to grow up thinking that the only thing that warrants, nay, deserves their time, is the elite leagues and players, nothing less, excluding Canada’s religious obsession with hockey which allows the minor leagues to have relative success in some areas.

All this entitlement will be on display today versus ACM, as many fans will graciously give us a portion of their valuable time and descend upon the Big Nest to see their city “their (great great great grandfather’s) city” play a game. The ultimate insult is that they think that it would be a much better idea to spend 40+ dollars to sit and watch a meaningless friendly, rather than 10-20$ to see us win a cup, play a hated rival or just generally support their city.

The only suitable response is to bide our time, laugh it off(while a part of my soul dies in the process) and wait for MLS. When those same “forza milan brrrrrrrrroooooooooooo” people jump on the impact because they’re the latest Gull on the beach, we get our revenge.

Aime ta Ville

Supporte ton Club

Colo-Colo friendly a step away from being colo-Concrete.

Excuse the bad wordplay but it seems the sporting manager of Colo Colo is currently in Canada to finalise the two previously mentioned friendlies in Montreal and Edmonton, opponents to be announced and to be played sometime before/around the 14th of June. I’m hoping that FCE ends up facing off against them, and I fully expect the Gulls to be their Montréal opponent

This is probably good news for FCE if they end up being Colo Colo’s Edmontonian opponent, any exposure always helps establish a new product. Can anyone with knowledge of Edmonton/Alberta please fill me in on just exactly how prevalent are Chileans in the city? Will it be an event for the city?

In lieu of the Champions League…

We might have yet another friendly! Woo!

So, according to a link dredged up by every Montrealer’s favourite journalist, Matthias Van Halst, of Impact Soccer/ Quebec Soccer fame, our Gulls might face off against the storied Chilean team, Colo Colo.

According to that link and another one, Colo Colo were offered to play friendlies in Canada. Though my knowledge of spanish is infinitesimally small, the dear readers on IS have started to sift through it, and as it stands now, it looks like Colo Colo have not yet decided on whether or not to trek up to the great white north to face off against Canadian sides(potentially). So it appears as if Joey has chosen to make up for the lack of meaningful games by bringing in the likes of Antigua Barracuda FC and Colo Colo to attempt to placate the fans at Stade Saputo. Nice try.

Also within the link, it does not specifically say the names of the sides they’d be facing, only the cities they’d “disputar cuatro amistosos”, which is to say, Montreal…”y Edmonton”. Aside from that surprising Edmonton bomb, the fact that it might be four friendlies, in the two cities could perhaps mean one game in each city vs. a local side, as well as another international team..

So it appears as if the Faths are really trying to attract some big names, with Portsmouth, Colo Colo(potentially) and Montreal heading to the prairies to play FCE(potentially).

Now if only they start to run FCE professionally, we’ll have another Canadian team to beat on regularly.