The Toronto FC – Sportsnet Fiasco

Yesterday night, I sat down and flipped the channel to Sportsnet One to get ready to watch Toronto FC play Real Esteli in the CONCACAF Champions League preliminary round. The only thing preventing me from doing that was that the baseball game was also on the same channel and it was going on. The baseball game had a rain delay, so it was certain that the baseball game would finish later than 10pm, which was the start time of the TFC match.  Sportsnet would air the TFC match on tape delay right after the baseball game ended.

I went on Twitter to see the reaction from TFC fans on what was happening, and the reaction was pretty vitriolic and hateful towards Sportsnet on their decision. I’ve seen “I’m never watching Sportsnet again” as well as “Fuck you Sportsnet” and I thought that was a bit excessive. The reaction of TFC fans was more emotional, rather than logical. My opinion on this whole Sportsnet thing is that I think they made the right decision in airing the baseball game in its entirety, and after the game was finished, they aired the TFC match in its entirety, even though it was on tape delay. My reasoning is this:

TFC fans, believe it or not, baseball has fans too. If I was a Detroit Tigers fan, watching the Tigers game on Sportsnet One and the game I was watching got cut off in the bottom of the 7^th inning to make way for soccer, I would be very angry, and I would be calling Sportsnet to let them know how I feel. If it was the other way around, meaning, a soccer game had to go into extra time and therefore cut into the start time of a baseball game on the same channel, then I’m 99.9% sure that channel would air the soccer game in its entirety. It doesn’t matter that the baseball game was considered “meaningless” by TFC fans and that the TFC match was considered important, or that Sportsnet was apparently being “anti-Canadian” by airing a baseball match featuring two American teams and not the Canadian soccer team. The fact is, there was a compromise, and unfortunately, some TFC fans took the decision the wrong way.

Another argument I want to address is this, “Sportsnet have 5 channels, Sportsnet Ontario, East, West, Pacific, and One. Why couldn’t they simply move the soccer game from Sportsnet One to one of the other Sportsnet channels?” By making this argument, people are making the assumption that everyone in Canada has access to all five of these channels, which simply isn’t true. Not all people in Canada have a digital box, and a majority of people only have access to one Sportsnet channel, depending on where they live in Canada. I don’t think most people from British Colombia who only have access to Sportsnet Pacific would be happy if they were forced to watch a soccer match featuring an Ontario team. An alternative for Sportsnet would be to air the TFC game live on Sportsnet Ontario, but it wouldn’t have been a good idea (or a good look) to replace the programming that was already slated to air on that channel.

For the most part, I was pretty disgusted with the reaction of TFC fans on Twitter, and I thought some people would be a little more understanding of the situation, instead of acting like spoiled children. Sportsnet is a channel for the sports consumer, not just the soccer consumer, and I think Sportsnet was just trying to satisfy both sets of fans. Most people found an online stream of the match, as did I. But if people didn’t have access to an online stream, they could have simply waited 30-45 minutes for the baseball game to end. TFC fans, it could have been much worse, the game could have been aired on Setanta, so be glad that you got to see the match, whether it was on an online stream, or on tape delay on Sportsnet One.

Random Thoughts 3: The “Pray For Norway” Edition

Really shocking what happened in Norway a couple days ago, when a right-wing, Christian fundamentalist bombed a building and then caused a shooting at a Labour-party youth camp leaving more than 75 dead. This obviously was a terrorist act and here’s hoping that this right-winger burns in hell where he belongs. I’m very disappointed that, in my opinion, the North American media decided to focus more on the death of Amy Winehouse than an actual disaster such as the one in Norway. I’m hoping that the whole of Norway recovers from this terrorist act.

Which leads me to this point, why do people think that terrorists are just Islamic extremists? It isn’t true. People who commit violent acts to instill fear in a country for some kind of goal are terrorists, no matter what religion.

This year’s Copa America tournament has been very interesting, to say the least. Uruguay has won this year’s Copa America by beating Paraguay 3-0 in the final. Sorry guys, I guess you won’t be seeing Larissa Riquelme parading down the streets of Paraguay naked. I know, I have been hoping for it too. I think it’s safe to say that Uruguay is the best team in South America now.

In Canada, we are a bit spoiled for choice, where we can watch the Copa America in either English or Spanish commentary. I have listened to both commentaries for a number of games. I like watching the Spanish commentary for the pure passion that the Spanish commentators spew out, such as their exuberant celebrations of a goal, as well as when the player misses by saying “Ce la perdio!” I also liked the English commentary, supplied by The Score, for talking about the tactics of the two teams, and what they need to do tactically to succeed. The English commentators are very intelligent people, and can identify potential problems in a team, which could result in a goal. Overall, I can’t decide between the two, as they both offer different experiences in the same game.

Want to end your drunken night quickly? Try listening to your completely wasted university friend break down and cry about all the issues surrounding him. To be honest, I don’t remember any of his “issues” from that night, and I’m beginning to think that he did this to screw me out of a good night of my own. If somehow this guy is reading this, let me say this to him…

Life isn’t fair. Shit happens and it is up to you to deal with it. You go around and act like you are better than everyone else and that whatever you do is the right thing, like a typical conservative and like a typical wealthy person. You put up this fake tough exterior, but when I saw you break down, I saw a boy that needed help. By knowing you for the past two years, I realized that you are a very pessimistic person, and only see the bad in everything. Maybe you should try to see the good in people and things. Maybe you should stop calling people names, and learn to encourage people in whatever that they plan to do. We are all not as fortunate as you…

That is all I got to say.

Random Thoughts 2: The “Mascot” Edition

Here is part 2 of my “Random Thoughts” series. It’s just more of my thoughts on the world. Hope you enjoy…

All hail the weird looking mascot in the picture. Actually that is the mascot of this year’s Copa America being held in Argentina. At first I thought it was kind of creepy, but the more I saw it, the more innocent and harmless it became to me.

I finally did it. I got rid of my Facebook account. It wasn’t easy, but in one of my previous articles, I described my annoyance with it. Well, I got so annoyed with the amount of bitching and narcissism in Facebook that I finally decided to shut it down.  Getting rid of my Facebook account has made me more of a happier person, probably because I don’t have to compare myself to anyone anymore. I don’t know if I will be coming back, maybe some time next year. Until then, good riddance Facebook!

So I was driving today, windows down, music blasting, until I see a quartet of really attractive girls walking on the sidewalk. Not surprisingly, and because I’m a guy, I look at them. One of them was wearing a sexy looking shirt with some really short jean shorts. Another one was wearing a cute tank top, with a short skirt. You all get the idea right? Well, because I was staring at these fine ladies, I fail to see the car in front of me and I stop just in time to avoid a fender-bender with the car in front of me. See, I’m fairly convinced that guys that are driving and watching attractive girls on the side of the road can cause an accident, simply because the girls are attractive. How can we solve this? Actually I have no idea, maybe not look at the girls next time.

I’ve only just now heard of this whole “planking” thing, and I think it’s really retarded. Why would you want to lay face down, arms on your side on something while someone takes a picture of you? I think this fad is really stupid and it only got stupider when there were pictures of Manchester City players doing it (See the idiot Micah Richards in the picture). Also, apparently planking has its origins in slavery.

Last thought: If the newspaper collection kid wants his collection money, DO NOT tell the kid to “fuck off”, unless you want his angry parents to come to your house…

Later…

Random Thoughts: The 1st Edition

Right now, I don’t have one big issue or event to write about, but I have a few present and past thoughts that I need to get off my chest. Some of these are completely random. You’ve been warned. Here we go.

So I finally got Google+ and I think it’s actually pretty cool. I like the whole idea of circles, where you can categorize your contacts into different circles including friends, family, acquaintances, and following. You can also direct your status updates for different circles, or you can just make it public for everyone to see. Another feature I tried out was “Sparks”, where you can follow a certain interest or thing, which I thought was pretty neat. I haven’t tried out other features on Google+, but I will be sure to soon. I don’t know if Google+ will be the “Facebook killer”, but I’m interested to see how Google will expand and improve this growing social network.

If a kid asks you to buy chocolates from him/her, just say no. I also won’t advise assaulting the kid.

I don’t ever want to hear the words “Cesc Fabregas”, “transfer”, or “Barcelona” in the same sentence, same paragraph, or same article. I’ve been sick of these stories since last year. Arsenal, you either sell him or don’t.

This is a strange thought, but I use to know this kid in elementary and high school, where anytime you pass this kid, this kid smells like dirty dog doo doo. It was unbearable at times. I feel sorry for the kids who had to sit next to him in class.

I always thought about trying to make my own twitter hash tag and trying to make it popular, mine’s would be #shesaho, so don’t try and go take my idea.

I missed the ending of the USA-Brazil Women’s World Cup quarter-final match live, but I managed to see a replay. At the time while I was missing the ending of the match, I got the impression that this was the greatest ending to a match ever, due to all the tweets I was reading. When I finally saw the replay, the ending didn’t disappoint at all.

One last thing, Hope Solo is hot…

Later

My Night of Clubbing in Trinidad, and how it compared to Canada

During my long break in late June, I went to Trinidad and Tobago for a week. I didn’t go on vacation, but rather for my cousin’s wedding, which was nice. On the one rare night that I had free, I got to experience the bar and club scene in Trinidad…and I wasn’t disappointed at all.

On that Friday night, I went with my cousin (the one about to get married in two days), and her stepsister. We all went to the bar first, and it was pretty much the same as in Canada, very relaxed, everyone in groups talking their chatter. I’m pretty sure we went to a more upscale bar, because the bar and the washrooms were all very clean and well-kept, probably because it was next to a hotel. When I was in Trinidad, I noticed a lot of the roadside bars on the main roads were all pretty run down and didn’t have the same kind of vibe as the bar we were at.

We downed some beers, and had a celebratory shot for my cousin who was about to get married (the shot was “Liquid Cocaine” if anyone wanted to know). The bar that night had karaoke going on, and it was funny listening to various liquored people sing songs from the likes of Lady Gaga, Akon, and others. I offered to sing some Barry White for the karaoke, but the waitress informed me that the wait was rather long, so I wasn’t going to sing (sorry ladies lol). After drinking some more beers, we were off to the club.

The club we went to was called “Space” and the club definitely lived up to the title. The exterior of the club looked like a giant spaceship and it was aesthetically stimulating with flashing colored lights and the smoke machine going off periodically. This was probably one of the best-looking clubs I’ve seen, and way better than the ones in Canada. The drinks were all inclusive, unlike the clubs I went to in Canada where you had to pay per drink, and I took advantage of this. The only thing we had to pay was cover, which wasn’t that much.

The club inside was crazy, with a lot of people having a good time. The club atmosphere was way better than anything I ever encountered in Canada. The music selection was also much better in this club in my opinion, with a lot more reggae dancehall, hip hop, and soca, rather than the shitty pop and house tunes you hear in most Canadian clubs. We got our free drinks and went up to the outside lounge. It was very nice, and offered a pretty good view of the surrounding area. We all pose for pictures, then we go back downstairs for more drinks.

Now I will say this, the girls in the clubs in Canada can’t dance like the girls in Trinidad do. In Canada, you’ll be lucky if you get a lazy grind from a half-willing girl. But in Trinidad, these girls go all out when dancing with a guy. If there ever was a class on simulated sex, then class was in session! It’s almost like there has to be a skill when you dance with a guy. I won’t get into details, but it was crazy stuff.

After the club, we all went out to get some grub at one of the various street meat stalls in the city. After that, we then went home for some much needed sleep. All in all, it was a really good night. I got to experience a different kind of club scene than the one I am used to back in Canada. What made it better was that I was accompanied by two ladies to show me around, instead of the usual full-of-themselves guys in Canada. This would probably be a night that I won’t forget, and I won’t look at the Canadian club scene the same again.