Expectations exceeded

[CanadaFan123]

2 hours ago, Macksam said:

I don't know how great MLS quality was prior to TFC but I remember TFC's first season back in 2007 and how awful the soccer was, how the team couldn't even string together 3 passes on a consistent basis, how closed off the overall soccer was along with the lack of creativity that was even displayed by the other MLS sides.

Even though I was fairly confident the quality was going to be great, I was still blown away over that first CPL game at Tim Horton's Field and how none of the bad tropes from my memories of 2007 MLS were present.

I echo this completely.  Watching that first match I had zero doubt that either team would have beat 2007-2008 TFC.

Those teams had a few decent players but were loaded with fillers.  These squads just seem a lot more solid.  I had similar thoughts after my first time watching League Two.

Edited August 11, 2019 by CanadaFan123

[m-g-williams]

First off, I'd say I'm more than impressed with the CPL overall so far. The quality of play, the viewing/streaming capability (and quality), the team branding, and the attendance (with some exceptions - I'm looking at you, Y9, PFC and FC Ed) have all been spot on. No league is going to be perfect in year one, but I think the CPL has done a fantastic job of building the base for the future. 

One thing I will note that I'm disappointed with is the CPL shop.

-The only things I can purchase online through the league-wide shop are kits, and even then some are out of stock. I ordered my Wanderers FC kit the day the CPL shop opened and didn't receive it till over a month later due to stock issues. I've also wanted for months now to buy a Valour FC kit and even placed an order, but only after they took my money did the CPL shop tell me that they were actually out of stock (full refund, but still came off as very amateur). I ended up having to buy it directly from Macron last week and now I'm paying extra in customs fees. Not impressed.  

-Most of the clubs seem to have their own online shops where you can order some gear, but it seems very inconsistent one team to the next (i.e., can buy training gear and swag online with Valour FC and PFC, but no such luck for the Wanderers). Even then, some of the gear looks to be of decent quality, while other items just look like screenprinted crap I'd order from a high school. I want it to be like the A-League, Ligue 1, the NHL or any other professional sports league where I can go to one site and order quality pieces without having to get rerouted to individual club sites. 

-As well, I've noticed for about six weeks now that New Era is listed as the official headwear partner on the CPL website, but I've yet to see a single hat on the offer.  I've tried the New Era website as well but no dice. Am I missing something? 

I'm not trying to come off as some entitled millennial who wants everything to be convenient and instant. I *want* to be able to represent my team and the league so I can help spur curiosity among passersby and support the CPL financially. But they're not exactly making it easy to do so. 

Edited August 12, 2019 by m-g-williams

[Macksam]

3 hours ago, m-g-williams said:

First off, I'd say I'm more than impressed with the CPL overall so far. The quality of play, the viewing/streaming capability (and quality), the team branding, and the attendance (with some exceptions - I'm looking at you, Y9, PFC and FC Ed) have all been spot on. No league is going to be perfect in year one, but I think the CPL has done a fantastic job of building the base for the future. 

One thing I will note that I'm disappointed with is the CPL shop.

-The only things I can purchase online through the league-wide shop are kits, and even then some are out of stock. I ordered by HFX Wanderers kit the day the CPL shop opened and didn't receive it till over a month later due to stock issues. I've also wanted for months now to buy a Valour FC kit and even placed an order, but only after they took my money did the CPL shop tell me that they were actually out of stock (full refund, but still came off as very amateur). I ended up having to buy it directly from Macron last week and now I'm paying extra in customs fees. Not impressed.  

-Most of the clubs seem to have their own online shops where you can order some gear, but it seems very inconsistent one team to the next (i.e., can buy training gear and swag online with Valour FC and PFC, but no such luck for the Wanderers). Even then, some of the gear looks to be of decent quality, while other items just look like screenprinted crap I'd order from a high school. I want it to be like the A-League, Ligue 1, the NHL or any other professional sports league where I can go to one site and order quality pieces without having to get rerouted to individual club sites. 

-As well, I've noticed for about six weeks now that New Era is listed as the official headwear partner on the CPL website, but I've yet to see a single hat on the offer.  I've tried the New Era website as well but no dice. Am I missing something? 

I'm not trying to come off as some entitled millennial who wants everything to be convenient and instant. I *want* to be able to represent my team and the league so I can help spur curiosity among passersby and support the CPL financially. But they're not exactly making it easy to do so. 

Yes, I find it odd the new Era ball caps are only available at the stadium and not online.

[Bison44]

5 minutes ago, Macksam said:

Yes, I find it odd the new Era ball caps are only available at the stadium and not online.

Please, no more gear.  I am so deep in the wifes doghouse already I might never get out.  

[vancanman]

15 hours ago, Bison44 said:

Please, no more gear.  I am so deep in the wifes doghouse already I might never get out.  

I bought Rugby World Cup tickets last night.  My wife's taken me out of the doghouse and stuffed me into a hamster cage.

[grande]

3 hours ago, vancanman said:

I bought Rugby World Cup tickets last night.  My wife's taken me out of the doghouse and stuffed me into a hamster cage.

What tickets did you get? I've been having a hell of a time finding any seats. I've thus far only got Canada vs New Zealand.

[Ams1984]

3 hours ago, vancanman said:

I bought Rugby World Cup tickets last night.  My wife's taken me out of the doghouse and stuffed me into a hamster cage.

Luckily my wife is into going to TFC games, and she likes swag/gear, so at least as far as TFC goes, I’m mostly okay! Unfortunately, she’s not as into York 9 games (and I have seasons!). I end up going alone or bringing a friend half the time. 

[vancanman]

12 hours ago, grande said:

What tickets did you get? I've been having a hell of a time finding any seats. I've thus far only got Canada vs New Zealand.

I was thinking of going to that game.  A chance to see the All Blacks v Anyone plus the ground is an hour from my place, but then I thought I don't want to fork out a wad of cash to watch our boys get the stuffing knocked out of them, especially the way they've been playing for the last three years, so I'm going to Canada v Namibia.

They just released some more tickets.  There are tickets available now to any game that doesn't say "no tickets available."  In other words, if the little thing on the right side of the page is yellow, you're in luck.  If you don't have any luck, send me a message.

Edited August 14, 2019 by vancanman

[vancanman]

11 hours ago, Ams1984 said:

Luckily my wife is into going to TFC games, and she likes swag/gear, so at least as far as TFC goes, I’m mostly okay! Unfortunately, she’s not as into York 9 games (and I have seasons!). I end up going alone or bringing a friend half the time. 

At least you can get her interested in going to TFC games, and you're lucky enough to have a Premier League team within easy reach.  My wife's going to the rugby game with me, but it's the first sporting event she's been willing to go to for about twelve years.

[m-g-williams]

On 8/12/2019 at 11:21 AM, m-g-williams said:

First off, I'd say I'm more than impressed with the CPL overall so far. The quality of play, the viewing/streaming capability (and quality), the team branding, and the attendance (with some exceptions - I'm looking at you, Y9, PFC and FC Ed) have all been spot on. No league is going to be perfect in year one, but I think the CPL has done a fantastic job of building the base for the future. 

One thing I will note that I'm disappointed with is the CPL shop.

-The only things I can purchase online through the league-wide shop are kits, and even then some are out of stock. I ordered my Wanderers FC kit the day the CPL shop opened and didn't receive it till over a month later due to stock issues. I've also wanted for months now to buy a Valour FC kit and even placed an order, but only after they took my money did the CPL shop tell me that they were actually out of stock (full refund, but still came off as very amateur). I ended up having to buy it directly from Macron last week and now I'm paying extra in customs fees. Not impressed.  

-Most of the clubs seem to have their own online shops where you can order some gear, but it seems very inconsistent one team to the next (i.e., can buy training gear and swag online with Valour FC and PFC, but no such luck for the Wanderers). Even then, some of the gear looks to be of decent quality, while other items just look like screenprinted crap I'd order from a high school. I want it to be like the A-League, Ligue 1, the NHL or any other professional sports league where I can go to one site and order quality pieces without having to get rerouted to individual club sites. 

-As well, I've noticed for about six weeks now that New Era is listed as the official headwear partner on the CPL website, but I've yet to see a single hat on the offer.  I've tried the New Era website as well but no dice. Am I missing something? 

I'm not trying to come off as some entitled millennial who wants everything to be convenient and instant. I *want* to be able to represent my team and the league so I can help spur curiosity among passersby and support the CPL financially. But they're not exactly making it easy to do so. 

. . . huh. I guess complaining works. 

 

[Stanley]

1 hour ago, m-g-williams said:

. . . huh. I guess complaining works. 

 

I'd love one or two.  Not at those prices.

[dyslexic nam]

$43 for a hat. Not this cat. 

[Kent]

I don't usually make new year's resolutions, but the last few years I have made a habit of creating a little soccer wish list at the start of the new year. These are wishes, not expectations. I thought all of these things were possible, but unlikely. Here is what I wished for the league this year.

1. CPL grows to 9 or more teams, with none folding.
- this one obviously doesn't look good for the growing part, but there hasn't been any whispers of any teams folding at least. I thought this was a possible goal, but my pessimistic self thought it was still unlikely. BTW, I picked 9 teams because I thought Ottawa was likely to join CPL.

2. CPL averages over 5k fans per game.
- this one almost certainly will not happen this year, but the league isn't terribly far behind this.

3. CPL has a way to watch games live from home.
- this one is a big win for CPL. I didn't even specify that every game would be watchable. Games on CBC every couple of weeks, and every single game available on a single streaming service. Very well done on this category.

4. CPL team eliminates Ottawa in Voyageurs Cup or CPL team gets a 1 goal loss, 2 goal loss with a goal, or better against an MLS team.
- I hope that one is readable, it makes sense in my head. I didn't plan on other human beings ever reading it. The results against MLS are for a single leg. So the Ottawa elimination didn't pan out, but literally all 6 CPL vs MLS matches met my goal! A massive added bonus for Cavalry eliminating Vancouver, which trumps the Ottawa elimination I had hoped for. Just in case my bar against MLS competition seems low, Ottawa failed to meet that goal in their 2 games against TFC this year. From 2016 through 2018 they did it 1 out of their 2 games against MLS competition. In 2015 Edmonton did it in both of their games against Vancouver (but were still eliminated).

That's my list. So I think I did expect at least one more team in 2020, so at this point CPL didn't meet my expectations in that regard. For fans I hoped for 5k but didn't have a specific expectation, so I can't really say they met or didn't meet my expectations in that regard. For the other 2 it definitely exceeded my expectations.

So yeah, to this point the league has definitely exceeded my expectations.

[Initial B]

From what I have watch online and from the Wanderers-Fury Voyageurs Cup match, I'm pleasantly surprised and pleased at the level of play under the rumored salary cap. The entertainment value and accessibility has exceeded my expectations. Now I just hope that the league will have grown to 12 teams by 2022.