On Saturday soccer fans throughout the world witnessed it and on Monday TFC head coach was visibly upset over its repercussions. The 'it' in question is 'change'.
"I think everyone was quite surprised when they saw the protestors and the banners and the marches and the verbal protest during the game. We (referring to Newcastle United) are a strange bunch; and if people come into our little circle and it's not right … we let them know," Carver said in response to the supporter-driven protest at St. James' Park in Newcastle over the weekend.
The vociferous sea of black & white turned out in numbers to send a clear and present message to owner Mike Ashley that enough was enough, and he needed to step aside. (As an aside, the protestors may have actually been detrimental to the cause while challenging it, as the players on the field were clearly shaken by what went on in the streets and seats.)
Well, it worked. On Monday Ashley put the famous club on the block.
That is power. That is influence.
It is also why Canadians will forever dine on with whatever the Canadian Soccer Association dishes out. Sure a dedicated group wore anti-CSA shirts to BMO Field last summer, but when I see those shirts now they seem to send the same message as a vintage concert t-shirt.
It's not entirely our fault; we are cursed by vast geography and a detailed history of apathy towards the sport. I am sure if you attempted a head count on support for each entity the numbers wouldn't be that far. Newcastle has a condensed population of 189,863. Canada has a spread out population of 33,390,141. Strange to think that the support numbers would be similar considering the massive gap in populations, but it is not a stretch to say that everyone in Newcastle is a fan of the soccer team.
"It's killing me watching it. I have friends there. It is affecting the work force. People in the factories are not working so hard. Production has gone down and it is affecting the whole city, it is their lives over there,” Carver said, without any hint of exaggeration.
In North America we just don't love our teams that much. Or, like I mentioned before, we are too apathetic to love our sports teams that much. But while I am pointing fingers, I am also fine with turning the finger around.
"You have to have a good relationship with the fans, and the local press because they are very powerful over there and can make or break you."
The media is to blame as well. Soccer scribes -- with a few exceptions -- have short-term memories when it comes to writing the performance of our men's national team. Sure we spill a bit of vitriol here and there, but it is wiped up with the paper we use to write our next game previews. The non-soccer scribes agree the failure of soccer is an easy story to write.
All in all, both parties just find it impossible, impolite really, to emulate the British press, who have zero qualms in spilling poisonous ink over the underachieving national team or any of the countless local clubs who fall to meet expectation. In fact, when I tried to research why we as a nation were so friendly to one another, I found the answer in one of those poison-spilling British newspapers - and it was referring to our electoral process.
"The lack of interest abroad in Canada's national politics is striking -- probably partly a perennial stereotype of Canada as peaceful (read: boring) country," wrote Heather McRobie in Britain's leftish newspaper, the Guardian.
McRobie is right, we are boring. Sadly, so is our soccer.
