Spot on Arne.

I'm working on a follow up article to my previous rant on the matter and took photos yesterday of various sections as the team came out and then ten minutes into the match.

The Southside looked sparse as hell when the players came out (as did everywhere).

As said, it did fill up quicker than it usually does.

I was actually amazed that people even bothered to turn up in the rain at all.

All of a sudden that roof idea seems pretty good ;-)

Standing at the back of 252 is actually proving to be far from a great experience. We chose our seats firstly to help spread the Southside back from it's core at the front and secondly 'cause we thought the view would be better up there. The reality has been that there's a long way to go to get a workable critical mass back there. It appears to be about 50% regular STHers but the majority of these are not Southsiders. Most stand but do not participate in many chants. The other 50% is either empty seats or one offs who are there to party more than support the Caps. Since the Seattle game (when we actually had an Sounders fan standing in front of us - luckily he was an okay guy), the shit experience (not helped by the f-ing random Drum Cafe) has driven an increasing number of us down to the Curva Collective for the second half.

piltdownman said: One thing I did notice yesterday was that the Anthems started before 4pm, and were over by 4:03pm with kickoff happening right around 4:04pm. I would think that's hurting the caps slightly as people are trained to 'Canucks timing'.

Canucks regular season games start at 8 minutes after the 'Start', and playoff games almost 20 minutes after 'Start'.

Kickoff happened exactly at 4:06 yesterday. Depending on who's doing the broadcasting it's usually 6 (Sportsnet) or 8 (TSN) minutes past the hour. You can check the programs, they list the schedule of events usually on the second page.

Yesterday, the anthems were done by 4:03, but then there was about 3 minutes of extra music when the players were doing their huddle.

Even with "Canucks timing" many Canucks "fans" arrive late to Rogers Arena. I don't think that makes a difference. Real fans show up early, and the bandwagoners come on time only when its 'important' like a playoff game.

You've been spending too much time with Wendy and Caylee!!

Yes. Yes it is.

Chardonnay is fine, but Sauv Blanc is better IMO. Viognier is nice too, but it should be a South African. Crisper than the French variety.

I don't think it is that simple, it depends on how the prawns are prepared. I like a nice Cab Sauv with a nice garlicky prawn.

nic876 said:

piltdownman said: One thing I did notice yesterday was that the Anthems started before 4pm, and were over by 4:03pm with kickoff happening right around 4:04pm. I would think that's hurting the caps slightly as people are trained to 'Canucks timing'.

Canucks regular season games start at 8 minutes after the 'Start', and playoff games almost 20 minutes after 'Start'.

Kickoff happened exactly at 4:06 yesterday. Depending on who's doing the broadcasting it's usually 6 (Sportsnet) or 8 (TSN) minutes past the hour. You can check the programs, they list the schedule of events usually on the second page.

Yesterday, the anthems were done by 4:03, but then there was about 3 minutes of extra music when the players were doing their huddle.

Even with "Canucks timing" many Canucks "fans" arrive late to Rogers Arena. I don't think that makes a difference. Real fans show up early, and the bandwagoners come on time only when its 'important' like a playoff game.

You are making "generalizations".

Ghostdog said: You are making "generalizations".

Ok, fair enough. I'm making generalizations.

My point is that I don't think people are late because they are trained to "Canucks timing". People are late to many things because they don't find the event to be important enough to be on time. Hopefully, in time, they'll find Whitecaps matches important enough to show up on time.

If the just play that orca bay suzuki add over and over in the concourse people will be running to the stands.

prawnsideFC said: Seriously? why are we even having this conversation? the white flags looked amazing.

i agree, i say we need more flags

Jay_Duke said:

mwilliam said: If the just play that orca bay suzuki add over and over in the concourse people will be running to the stands.

I've considered calling them up and telling them that solely because of that advertisement, I will never, ever, set foot in their store.

That ad sounds like it belongs in the 80's. One of the worst ads on Team 1040/1410 and there are many!!

We should have songs for late arrivals and premature..... exiters. And persistent sitters.

Honestly I think rovers_adam has a solid point with this.

Im in on this one!

I really like this....at what point or minute mark and are you going to target one particular section like ....west side....west side(sort of got to pick something ahead of time like to countdown in new york for Ovie sucks at the eight minute marks which was priceless)...your so lame....etc after the 14 minute mark for the bobby chant? just my thoughts .....more over tho I like(actually love) when Chris sings....we can see you leaving!!! classic

Afte my rants on here last week I was guilty of arriving just after the anthems on Saturday. Despite leaving home with lots of time to get to game there was some sort of traffic problem on the viaduct and it took almost 25 minutes to get through it. It looks like a) the traffic lights are out of sync b) people turning left at end of viaduct are not getting around corner because of pedestrian traffic and c) the rent a cops are pretty well pointless for keeping that traffic flowing. Tonight I plan to be my usual 30 minutes early (thank goodness for the 8pm start).

Also a great way to alienate other fans. "You're a shitty fan! But please join in our chants!"

Brenton said: Also a great way to alienate other fans. "You're a shitty fan! But please join in our chants!"

And I thought I was the only one to see it this way. So this is what it feels like when doves cry!

rovers_adam said:

I never said they were shitty fans Brenton, but they could be much better.

Feel free to quote my posts but please do not paraphrase or attribute comments that were not mine. Thanks.

Sorry, didn't mean to imply that. But I can imagine that being berated, even in a friendly manner, may put some people off.

pretty weird day today... most of the people in section 251 were actually in their seats before the anthem was sung, and was pretty packed before the game even kicked off...

if there was a message that was sent, it probably came across. we'll see in a month though...

My buddy was mentioning that people in his office were talking about it. I think there was an article in the 24 or province (too lazy to RTFA to see if this was mentioned already).

It was noticeable around the whole stadium though.

I ran into a few friends who had never been to a game and had got tickets from work. We were outside around 7:40 and they both turned to me and essentially said "we better go in i hear they are mad at the people coming late". So it looks like this message is getting out there, it will just remain to be seen if people bother to act on it

Last night was the first time since opening day that my row was full. I didn't notice until halftime when I went to get a drink though. Other than the people who came in right beside me at the 28 minute mark, the rest must have snuck in after kick off. I sit more or less in the middle of the row, so it's not like it was a couple of people late.

On the plus side they were all watching the southside trying to figure out chants and I was helping everyone who saw me singing with the words. Very few sitters on the eastside chant and I don't think I saw a cell phone. :)

I'm happy with the 8pm weekday start for this reason exactly. I hope we have more of these this season.

The schedule shows that there are no more home games this season with kickoff after 7pm.