The 2013 MLS schedule finally came out this morning and once again it threw up a mixed bag for Whitecaps fans but one with four Sunday games and just three midweek fixtures.
The midweek games sadly include one in Seattle in October, which could seriously impact the amount of travelling Caps faithful. Our other trip to Seattle, in June, also sees another horrendous 1pm kickoff. More reasons to hate them and/or the TV people!
With a growing number of fans across MLS wanting to travel to follow their team, it's still disappointing that the League cannot get the schedule out earlier, with many having to book holidays in December and some potentially great post Christmas travel deals being missed whilst waiting.
The MLS also had the perfect opportunity to get some column inches with the hockey lockout depriving journalists of pages of material, but yet they also seemed to cock up that and make the announcement now that everyone is talking about hockey again. Well done.
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Highlights of the fixtures list are undoubtedly the already announced all-Canadian season opener at home to Toronto on March 2nd and the six Cascadia Cup clashes that include another pair of back to back games again.
For me, personal travels plans aside, there aren't really any other games that I would be getting too excited about home or away. It will of course be nice to abuse David Ferreira and chant "Fuck You Dallas" at BC Place on April 27th and New York on June 1st certainly makes for a tempting weekend trip.
We had four main wishes here at AFTN as we awaited the fixtures to come out:
- No ridiculously early afternoon or midweek kick offs for cross border Cascadia Cup matches, whether in Vancouver or in the US. Last year's border horrors did not put the fans first.
- No overly long road trips for the Caps. Last year's summer spell of five and then four away games in a row could have been fatal for us, along with a momentum killer in building up the casual fanbase. Teams should not be punished for living in parts of the country that are habitable all year round!
- With a fantastically growing number of fans wanting to travel away from home to see the Caps (as mentioned above, mirrored with most other teams in the League), some sensible double headers of games to allow travelling fans to get the best bang for their buck and see at least two games on the one trip. It would also help the team with costs and the players with less travel. Ideally some nice two game (or three at a push) Western Conference games in close proximity, or a Houston/Dallas double header, or DC/NYRB.
- And finally, from a very personal point of view, we wanted a perfect two or three game all Western trip that would allow us to have another epic drive down and up the Oregon and California coasts in the spring or fall like we did two seasons ago. In a perfect world this would involve bookending Seattle or Portland and San Jose, with any LA club sandwiched inbetween just fine and dandy as well!
So what did we get? Did our wishes come true? Unfortunately not.
On the plus side, the biggest road trip the Caps will have is three games. That happens twice this season and amazingly not in the summer. The first is up March 23rd to April 6th, which will cover the Easter period, and the second is in September from the 7th to 21st.
The Caps will have five games at home in July and August this year, which will be good for hopefully capturing some casual fans and holidaymakers. Just one more than last year, but it just feels better all round.
The Cascadia Cup games are mixed. As mentioned above, both trips to Seattle are problematic, but we do at least have another nice August trip down to Portland.
Double header away games aren't the kind to set your heart racing. Chivas and San Jose looks good on paper early on until you see it covers Easter and factor in prices and busyness. DC and KC is a summer possibility, albeit not that tempting a one, and a cross country New York/Seattle one at the start of June could be interesting and one way to avoid Canadian border line ups!
The first two games at home wasn't really a major surprise. If we can get six points in the bag early on then perfect. It certainly is doable and would be something to build upon once again.
We'll just have to see what impact, if any, the Gold Cup will have on the Caps squad in July. It should be minimal. I'm more worried about Darren Mattocks being away on World Cup duty with Jamaica in March and June.
That said, three season openers at home is already starting to take a little shine off things. A nice away trip one year would be an exciting way to kick off the season, but not sure we'll be getting that any time soon. Damn you roof!
The games around the Voyageurs Cup aren't the worst, but could yet prove to be.
Dallas away before the first leg in Edmonton is pretty good for travel if not temperature adjustment. If the Caps do proceed to the final that is where it may get interesting.
The first leg is scheduled for May 15th and would be sandwiched between two home games. The Caps then have a bye weekend followed by a trip to New York on June 1st. The second leg is scheduled for May 29th.
Will the Caps choose to hold the final first leg at home instead of cross country travelling between two home league games or will they want that home field advantage for the second leg? I say host the first leg at home. Get the job done there and make the east coast travel a lot more palatable (not to mention a great road trip for the fans!).
The season run in is never likely to get too much better than four of your last five at home like we saw last year. We have three of our last five at home this year, but two of our last three away - in Seattle and Colorado.
If it goes down to the wire again, we may have the advantage this time around by playing our final game on the Sunday and seeing what the rest have done by then. That, of course, may work against us too or make for a meaningless end of the season. Hopefully not a funereal atmosphere and there are playoffs to look forward to once again.
The final game I eagerly looked for was the one after the MLS All-Star game in Kansas City on July 31st.
After last year's debacle of having to play a game two days after the All-Star game and have a sloppy Jay DeMerit as a result, it's not repeated this time around and we're away to Portland three days after it.
You can view the full schedule <a href="http://www.whitecapsfc.com/schedule" target="_blank">HERE</a>.
Let us know your thoughts on it, what games you're most looking forward to and any trips you're hoping to make this season.
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