Tag Archives: Vancouver Southsiders

Articles, Soccer

How unlucky is “The Unluckiest Fan”?

Long-suffering Southsider Duncan Nicol has gone a loooooong time — and even longer road trips — without seeing a Whitecaps FC away win. Photograph by: Jenelle Schneider, PNG , The Province

It’s Saturday morning, and Norwich City is being so drastically outplayed by Tottenham that I just can’t bear to watch anymore. I haven’t seen something get hammered this efficiently on Canadian television since This Old House went off the air. It’s so bad that I would rather do math problems. In Friday’s edition of The Province newspaper, Whitecaps beat writer Marc Weber did a fantastic piece chronicling the misfortunes of one Duncan Nicol. Duncan, a passionate Caps fan who can often be found pitch-side with his camera at home games, has been to an incredible TWENTY away matches for Whitecaps FC. To date, he has not seen a win. The title of the piece was “The Unluckiest Fan.” This got me thinking: how unlucky is Duncan? Anyone who watches Vancouver with regularity knows that they are shit on the road. And not just any shit, we’re talking about the kind of intense coiler that Sigi Schmid drops pre-game after his 37th pie.

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Articles, Soccer

The Sound beats the Sounders

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PITH Whitecaps writer Russell Arbuthnot sounds off on the fabulous crowd at BC Place for MLS soccer matches, and laments the fact that this same atmosphere is rarely seen in an arena that sits just metres away. This season, Vancouver Whitecaps FC and their supporters are putting together a remarkable symbiotic relationship. Attending games at BC Place really is a win-win situation these days.

by Russell Arbuthnot

Whitecaps FC keeper Brad Knighton put in his best MLS performance in a 2-0 win over Seattle Sounders FC on 6 July 2013. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Spurred on by the most spirited crowd in Vancouver, Whitecaps FC keeper Brad Knighton delivered his best MLS performance to date in a 2-0 win over Seattle Sounders FC on 6 July 2013. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

Here’s the thing about Vancouver.  The city itself is beautiful; widely  recognized as one of the premiere places to live in the world, Vancouver is the envy of many. It has it all. Cradled in the bosom of lush mountains and caressed by sparkling rivers and oceans, Vancouver is indeed a trendy metropolitan area beloved by nature lovers and urban adventurers alike.

But there’s this other thing about Vancouver. It’s the ugly bridesmaid when it comes to professional sports.

More after the jump.

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Articles, Soccer

The Elusive Road Win

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The Vancouver Whitecaps have seen an impressive run of play from young Canadian forward Russell Teibert. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
The Vancouver Whitecaps have seen an impressive run of play from young Canadian forward Russell Teibert. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

The Vancouver Whitecaps pulled a rare animal out of their hat this weekend — a road victory. After outplaying and outchancing opponents in several draws (and even a few losses) over the past few weeks, the boys in blue and white stole a 2-1 win in a contest they had no business winning.

Karma dictated the Caps had to come out on top of a decision like this sooner or later. Despite riding a four-game unbeaten streak into the match, they hadn’t received all the points they had deserved. Wednesday’s heartbreaking draw against Montreal lost the Whitecaps their first Voyageurs Cup. They had run the show for 85 minutes, hitting the woodwork twice and putting several shots just wide. By all accounts they could have scored a half-dozen against the Impact but only gave Craig MacEwan two opportunities to say “it’s in the back of the net!”

The previous game was another 2-2 draw, this time against Portland. The Caps scored two marvellous goals, but the Timbers played with twelve men — unfortunately the twelfth one carried a whistle and wore a referee’s jersey. While that may seem unfair, both goals for the visitors were contestable. The tying goal in particular was quite stinky, as Jose Valencia clearly used both arms to corral a hail-mary pass in the Vancouver box before depositing it behind Brad Knighton.

So yeah, gutting out a win when the other guys probably deserved it? Karmic payback against all those other teams that have nicked points from the Caps earlier in the year.

More, including match highlights, after the jump.

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