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Was asked today...


Jeremy

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No it isn't enough.

Especially if the person is supposed to be 'soccer knowledgeable'

It really does require a certain level of ignorance and arrogance. The Maldive Islands have a soccer team.

It also depends on where they are from. If they are from a soccer country I always like to get in the fact that they enjoy results of a century of support and if only people like them who move here and are supposed to actually love the game supported it we could build something. It's always fun to make it their fault.

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If they live in Canada, that is just plain ignorant.

If they are from other countries, it is usually a joke if they are football knowledgeable, or it may be sincere if they do not know about international football. I usually answer in Argentina, "Do they have sex in Argentina?" Then I say, "Yes, the football may be better in Argentina, but the sex is better in Canada!"

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If they live in Canada, that is just plain ignorant.

If they are from other countries, it is usually a joke if they are football knowledgeable, or it may be sincere if they do not know about international football. I usually answer in Argentina, "Do they have sex in Argentina?" Then I say, "Yes, the football may be better in Argentina, but the sex is better in Canada!"

LOL!

We need a manual for this.

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I was asked "Didn't we qualify for something once in soccer and not score any goals?"

I was just like, "Urgh, yeah it's called the World Cup, not something."

I also pointed out only one team from North America (other than Mexico) qualified for that tournament, so we were lucky just to get there.

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No it isn't enough.

Especially if the person is supposed to be 'soccer knowledgeable'

It really does require a certain level of ignorance and arrogance. The Maldive Islands have a soccer team.

It also depends on where they are from. If they are from a soccer country I always like to get in the fact that they enjoy results of a century of support and if only people like them who move here and are supposed to actually love the game supported it we could build something. It's always fun to make it their fault.

I find people usually say it when they're losing an e-argument against you. It's there pathetic way of trying to question your knowledge. Oh, you have to love e-arguments.

If they live in Canada, that is just plain ignorant.

If they are from other countries, it is usually a joke if they are football knowledgeable, or it may be sincere if they do not know about international football. I usually answer in Argentina, "Do they have sex in Argentina?" Then I say, "Yes, the football may be better in Argentina, but the sex is better in Canada!"

Judging by the mamasita in your avatar, I'm not too sure about that. Your wife?

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lol ours is a lonely fan club sometimes...

I always hate getting asked this question or those like it. I have even been asked this question by some European guys on my old team whom came here on work visas. They where all very knowledgeable about the rest of the footballing world.

It used to frustrate me a lot more than it does now. I just try to answer that question using as much info about Canadian footy that I have. People seem to get the gist of it after I ramble for about 5 minutes.

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lol ours is a lonely fan club sometimes...

Where's Sgt. Pepper?

Anyway, lately I've been getting asked that question more in the tone of "I know we have a national team, but I think they're shit so I'm going to ask you just to spite you cuz I know you support them." I know I need to let that roll off my back, but sometimes I just wanna punch the person in the mouth. There's a few people who've said that to me, in that way, and I play soccer with them, so it's hard to do the punching thing.

I've been having mixed results lately, mostly telling people who are interested, but then they never bother to register to the forum. Maybe they creep, I don't know, but I suppose what really matters is if they wanna go to the matches.

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Where's Sgt. Pepper?

Anyway, lately I've been getting asked that question more in the tone of "I know we have a national team, but I think they're shit so I'm going to ask you just to spite you cuz I know you support them." I know I need to let that roll off my back, but sometimes I just wanna punch the person in the mouth. There's a few people who've said that to me, in that way, and I play soccer with them, so it's hard to do the punching thing.

I've been having mixed results lately, mostly telling people who are interested, but then they never bother to register to the forum. Maybe they creep, I don't know, but I suppose what really matters is if they wanna go to the matches.

No, you don't need to let it roll off your back.

Everything they enjoy in whatever team they support in country x, they do so because generations of people supported that structure before them. Loads of people support teams in Europe that will NEVER go anywhere.

It's best to lure them in by first having them establish that they are a true soccer fan, that support of the nature above is a good thing. This puts them in an awkard position when you state that the reason soccer is crap here is because people like you are not willing to put in the effort.

If you are not a total dick about it, it is quite effective. I did it tonight and borged two more guys for the southsiders next year.

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Judging by the mamasita in your avatar, I'm not too sure about that. Your wife?

No, unfortunately.

Her name is Pamela Davíd, a famous "vedette" (showgirl) in Argentina. Like in most latino or mediterranean cultures, this is a profession which seems a bit anachronistic to us. The job involves a mix of low-grade modeling, semi-porn magazine spreads, appearing on gossipy irritating talk shows, having short affairs with famous men, appearing in stupid burlesque type reviews, and occaisonally dating or marrying futbol players (these last subspecies are called "botineras", because "botins" are futbol boots). They are great eye-candy, however, and, as guys like Messi and Tevez demonstate, are often irrestible, especially the Argentine variety. They probably would not know the difference between a "delantero" (forward) or a "defensor" however, but who cares. :)

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No, unfortunately.

Her name is Pamela Davíd, a famous "vedette" (showgirl) in Argentina. Like in most latino or mediterranean cultures, this is a profession which seems a bit anachronistic to us. The job involves a mix of low-grade modeling, semi-porn magazine spreads, appearing on gossipy irritating talk shows, having short affairs with famous men, appearing in stupid burlesque type reviews, and occaisonally dating or marrying futbol players (these last subspecies are called "botineras", because "botins" are futbol boots). They are great eye-candy, however, and, as guys like Messi and Tevez demonstate, are often irrestible, especially the Argentine variety. They probably would not know the difference between a "delantero" (forward) or a "defensor" however, but who cares. :)

lol, I see.

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No, you don't need to let it roll off your back.

Everything they enjoy in whatever team they support in country x, they do so because generations of people supported that structure before them. Loads of people support teams in Europe that will NEVER go anywhere.

It's best to lure them in by first having them establish that they are a true soccer fan, that support of the nature above is a good thing. This puts them in an awkard position when you state that the reason soccer is crap here is because people like you are not willing to put in the effort.

If you are not a total dick about it, it is quite effective. I did it tonight and borged two more guys for the southsiders next year.

If you know their hockey preferences, you can ask them why they support the Leafs (insert alternate shitty team at will).

And if they bring up Stanley Cups, you can point out that Canada has won titles more recently than the Leafs. 2000 Gold Cup and 1986 WCQ.

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If you know their hockey preferences, you can ask them why they support the Leafs (insert alternate shitty team at will).

And if they bring up Stanley Cups, you can point out that Canada has won titles more recently than the Leafs. 2000 Gold Cup and 1986 WCQ.

But if they are a soccer fan, it is important to make a decent appeal for support. It does work, and the argument can be made.

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How can you blame them?

Growing up as a child, soccer was a huge part of my life – my uncles were obsessed with it (1970’s Brazil), I played several times a week, always watched it on television and I didn’t know Canada had a team. I assumed they did, but there is NO MEDIA attention. Its not “ignorance,” thats when you choose to ignore something. They are just unaware

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But if they are a soccer fan, it is important to make a decent appeal for support. It does work, and the argument can be made.

In the case described by the OP, I disagree. I don't think this type of person can be reached, nor should we try.

The analogy I like here is the boy pleading to the girl to give him a chance (and sounding needy/pathetic), when ignoring her and doing his own thing is what'll actually attract her.

As a proud group of supporters we become much more attractive to the casual footy fan. You're not with us? We don't give a ****. Don't waste your time on these idiots. Anyone who doesn't know Canada has a national team in this day 'n age is not even a casual fan. Any Canadian asking you this question as a wind up is clearly going through a Whoregravesesque identity crisis, the cure to which is getting bent.

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I've always found genuine, accidental ignorance of us having a national team to be very rare. We all found out about it, right? I doubt a tonne of us were dragooned in by other Voyageurs or ran into Julian De Guzman at a club or something. The media exposure is negligible, but it's not non-existent - when we lose a World Cup qualifier, it won't be on the front page of the sports section but it'll be in there somewhere.

Most of those who are footie fans but say "oh my god, Canada has a national soccer team?" have heard about it, really. They just didn't care because it wasn't front-page all-the-cool-kids-are-doing-it stuff. This isn't to say that we don't need those people as fans; we need all the supporters we can get. It is to say that we should be very clear on exactly what sort of would-be fans we're talking about here.

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In the case described by the OP, I disagree. I don't think this type of person can be reached, nor should we try.

The analogy I like here is the boy pleading to the girl to give him a chance (and sounding needy/pathetic), when ignoring her and doing his own thing is what'll actually attract her.

As a proud group of supporters we become much more attractive to the casual footy fan. You're not with us? We don't give a ****. Don't waste your time on these idiots. Anyone who doesn't know Canada has a national team in this day 'n age is not even a casual fan. Any Canadian asking you this question as a wind up is clearly going through a Whoregravesesque identity crisis, the cure to which is getting bent.

Appeal was the wrong word to use.

We need to be appealing, something worth joining. But first the catch 22 must be broken.

A case needs to be made. It needs to be refined, it needs to be done.

Don't sell it. Don't defend it. These are the two things that turn you into the needy teenage boy described above.

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