The Importance of New Fans in the Supporters Sections

On Wednesday (June 29), I went to the Toronto FC league match against the Vancouver Whitecaps, and I took my cousin along for the match. He already went to a couple TFC matches, but this was his first time in the supporters sections. In the first half, he wasn't feeling the singing and chanting going on (I didn't think a lot of people felt the singing going on in the half and wasn't really into it), but in the second half, the chanting and atmosphere was much louder and he, as well as the rest of us, were all singing, chanting, and bouncing around in the second half.

But one thing really bothered me. At halftime, I overheard a middle-aged lady complaining about how there were a lot of “tourists” in the supporters sections. I’ve also heard others complain about the same thing in previous matches that I went to. This hurt me a little bit, knowing that I myself have taken a first-timer into the section for this match. Well, I’m here to say that these “tourists” can potentially help the atmosphere in the stadium in the long run, and here is why I think this way.

If the first-timer didn’t like the experience in the supporters section, there is a high chance that the person wouldn’t come back there. That person would either find tickets in a safer section of the stadium, or not get tickets at all. On the other hand, if the person enjoyed the experience and contributed his or her part to the atmosphere, then that person would probably want to come back in another game, ready to support the team. I really don’t see the problem with taking new fans into the supporters sections for the experience, but other supporters see it differently.

As for the supporters who complain and whine about “tourists” and how they “kill the atmosphere”, I kindly advise that you take your grievances somewhere other than the stadium.

To shorten what I just said: Shut the fuck up and take it somewhere else.

If the “tourists” really bother you that much, then move to another part of the stadium. They are always going to be there, and it is up to us as TFC supporters to make them feel welcome and to positively encourage them to support the team for the duration of the match. If they like it, they will come back ready to support the team just like the rest of us. I don’t like people who have to complain about every single thing, especially about newcomers into a certain section. The only thing you should be doing is enjoying the match and supporting the team.

Update

I know I don't update my blog regularly, but I'll be out of the country for a while. I will write something when I get back. Peace...

The Mindset of a Hater: Why Haters Hate

Haters are everywhere. They are pretty much in every facet of life nowadays. If there is something you like, I can guarantee that somewhere in this world, someone hates on that same thing. There is constructive criticism, and there is blind hatefulness. We all do it from time to time, but there are other individuals whose sole purpose in life is to hate, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. These are the individuals that I will dissect and find out what makes them so hateful.

First off, I want to differentiate between “stating your opinion,” and “being a hater.” For example, if you begin to listen to a song or watch a sport and after that, you say that you did not like it, then that is stating your opinion because you had a basic understanding of that thing. However, if you talk ill of something you do not know about or understand, or make a backhanded negative assumption about something you did not watch or listen to, then that makes you a hater.

One of the most popular reasons why haters love to hate is because they have no lives of their own. They find no happiness in the lives they attempt to live in, so they try to feel good about themselves by trashing everything that they do not like and do not understand. They love to be judgmental, especially about something they do not know about. They are also very insecure. Haters try to put up a fake, tough exterior about them, but inside, they are very troubled people that are fighting an internal struggle of their own. Haters are very mediocre people, and when they surround themselves with other haters, it makes them feel good, because they can look to each other for approval. It is unfortunate these days that many people are concerned with the opinions of others, especially the haters.

Another reason why haters love to hate so much is jealousy. It is human nature to compare yourself to others. When haters hear of or see a person having some sort of success, they take it upon themselves to bring them down a notch and make them feel guilty of their success. There is a bit of an inferiority complex. The hater feels inferior to the successful person, and attempts to bring them down to their level. Ultimately, how I see it, the hater secretly wants to be like the successful person, but they will not admit that, because of their fake, tough exterior.

Ultimately, what you have to do is just ignore it. It is a tough thing to do, but it is important to make the haters look like the fools themselves. Most cases, if you try to engage them, they will not understand where you are coming from and they will continue their hate. It is important to get rid of the negative influences in your life, and replace them with the positive ones. Instead of having friends who hate on everything, have friends who compliment you and encourage you in your endeavors. It is a way that you can be a more positive person yourself, as well as an independent individual.

A Look Back on MXC, as Well as a Brief Take on Wipeout

In my early teenage years, there weren’t a lot of shows that I truly enjoyed. But that changed when I started watching the show known as “Most Extreme Elimination Challenge”, or more simply known as MXC, which was aired on TNN (later called Spike TV).  The show was basically contestants competing in different challenges and hoping to succeed, though most of them fail miserably. MXC was a re-edit of an old late 80s Japanese game show called Takeshi’s Castle, where the American production company redubbed all the voices and added their own comedic English commentary. It was a smash hit in North America.

The things that impressed me the most about MXC was the witty and hilarious writing, as well as the dubbed voices of all the characters. It all came together so well. The script had a lot of funny puns, sexual references, and it was mocking the prominent people and issues at the time, and the voices of the characters delivered the writing very well. I also loved the interaction between the two fictional hosts, Kenny Blankenship and Vic Romano (pictured below). Vic was the more serious commentator while Kenny was the joker of the two, and would often comment on the failed attempts of the contestants, especially the females. Vic would often disapprove of Kenny’s comments by hitting him over the head with his fan. The other main characters are also quite enjoyable, the field marshal “Captain Tenneal” as well as my favorite character, field reporter “Guy LeDouche”, who sounds like an impression of a creepy rapist and makes his share of sexual puns towards the contestants he interviews.

The main attraction of this show is the contestants trying to complete various challenges and obstacle courses, where the majority of them fail. Many of the more painful failures are looked at through the “MXC Impact Replay” where the failure is hilariously analyzed by the hosts. At the end of the show, the funniest and most painful failures are replayed by Kenny Blankenship’s “Painful Eliminations of the Day” in a top ten list. There is a lot of insanity and hilariousness packed into a roughly 20-minute show (excluding commercials).

More recently, a new show came out mirroring the same style as MXC called Wipeout. It doesn’t have the same wackiness as MXC; it’s a lot more toned-down, probably because the show is on network television. I think the failures are just as funny as those in MXC, but I think the script and writing is rather weak. The hosts are pretty stale, and they sometimes don’t deliver the funny material as well as the hosts of MXC. Don’t get me wrong, I think Wipeout is still a decent show, but I prefer MXC much more. I have also seen shows of the UK and Canadian versions of Wipeout. The UK version is an okay show to watch, if you’re completely bored and there is nothing else on television. The Canadian version, on the other hand, is mediocre. The hosts are garbage and the wipeouts are unfunny. I recommend that you avoid the Canadian version at all costs.

If you do a quick Youtube search on MXC, you’ll find many of the episodes on there, and it can easily take up a good chunk of your time. The last episode of MXC aired in 2007, so it is doubtful that more episodes will be made, but it will live on forever. MXC is often imitated, but it will never be duplicated.

Aussie Rules Football and American Football

Let me say this first, I like to watch American football and I have been watching NFL games for years. But I don’t like the conservative and ignorant nature of most American football fans. What I mean is a lot of them think that American football and other American sports are the greatest in the world and dismiss other sports and cultures as “for pussies”. Even though that is bothersome from time to time, I still think that American football is a fascinating sport. That is, until I discovered Aussie Rules football.

It was a cold Friday night/Saturday morning last year, and I got home late (probably from drinking). I go to the basement, turn on my TV, and start flipping through the sports channels, until I saw “AFL Grand Final”. Intrigued, I flip to that station to see that it was actually Aussie Rules football. I’ve never seen a match before, and I had time to kill, so after a quick read of the rules on the internet, I was ready to watch my first AFL game.

What I noticed in the AFL is that there are very limited stoppages in the sport, which I completely enjoyed. I was pretty annoyed of the constant stoppages whenever I watched NFL. I was tired of seeing 5 seconds of action then seeing 30 seconds of the players doing practically nothing, along with the constant commercials that go with an NFL game. Did you know that for a 3-hour broadcast of an American football game, the football is actually in play for a grand total of 10 minutes? It’s a real stat, look it up. Another thing I noticed is the limited equipment that AFL players wear, as opposed to the number of equipment that American football players wear. Also, the scores you see in AFL games are almost what you see in basketball games, while the scores in American Football games are significantly less. Other than that, both sports still have that rough nature.

Watching that first AFL game pretty much killed any interest I had in American football.  Aussie rules is a free-flowing sport, which is right up my alley. I don’t like sports to be interrupted constantly, because it doesn’t keep the watcher intrigued, and quickly leads to boredom. There isn’t a market for AFL in Canada, so the likelihood that I will end up catching another game is pretty slim, but it was incredible while I watched it. I will never look at American football the same way again. I probably won’t watch an American football game again.