Like the popular snack mix, I'm going to break down these news hits into the flavoured Shreddie (the best part), the Cheerio (you never see it coming), the pretzel (you've got to acknowledge it, like it or not) and that cheese-stick thing (what the hell is it?).
The Shreddie: Canadian youth side gets some home cooking
You may not recognize many of the names of the players who'll make up Canada's roster for the upcoming CONCACAF Men's U17 Championship... but you'll surely recognize where they come from.
Out of the 20 players named, 14 come from the academies of Toronto FC (5), the Vancouver Whitecaps (5) and the Montreal Impact (4).
Holy shit, when did we turn into an actual soccer nation?
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
OK, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. It's all well and good to send the products of our domestic academies out into the world of international competition, but if they're not of sufficient quality to produce results, then it's not that much of a feel-good story anymore.
But it's definitely an encouraging sign. It's not like these kids will have the pressure of recent success weighing on them (we last qualified for the biennial U17 World Cup in 1995), so a failure to get out of the CONCACAF tournament wouldn't exactly be an indictment of them or their academies.
Now, why does this matter? Well, when young kids in Canada can join an academy, linked to a professional team, to develop their skills right here at home, it can only increase the chances that they'll have a strong link to the maple leaf, and have no hesitation about representing it on the international scene.
I dunno if any of the kids on this U17 squad are Canada's next great hope, but don't be surprised if products of local academies feature prominently in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup (we won't need to worry about qualifying in 2026, since we're gonna host it... right?)
As for these boys, their first game is on Thursday against Barbados. I'm going to guess the CSA will be live-tweeting the game, should you have the time and interest to follow.
The Cheerio: When in Rome, do what Big Red does
Let's put aside, for a moment, all of the negative hoopla surrounding the women's national team vis-a-vis their coach, the CSA and the squad's potential boycott. Instead, let's focus on the fact that these are generally fun-loving young women who are forfeiting the prime years of their lives to represent our country on the international soccer stage.
With that in mind, their recent arrival in Rome to train for the upcoming Cyprus Cup (presuming they actually play in it, fingers crossed) gives me the excuse to show off this video they put together at this time last year:
No word yet on whether they're planning a follow-up this year... but if they put one together, you can be sure you'll see it here.
The Pretzel: British footie writer's overactive imagination links Hoilett to England
So, some of our fellow Voyageurs went into apoplectic rage upon discovering a British story insinuating that Canadian-born David "Junior" Hoilett has an interest in playing for England, down the road, rather than Canada.
Hoilett's international ambitions have long been a question mark, as the 20-year-old Blackburn Rovers has rebuffed numerous efforts to bring him into the Canadian fold, insisting that he wants to establish himself at the club level before dipping his toes into the national-team waters.
The biggest worry for Canadian supporters has always been that he might choose Jamaica, for whom he qualifies by virtue of his parents. But England? Well, clearly, he's just going to be a mercenary and choose the Three Lions so fuck him, we don't need him, the consensus appears to be among Canadian supporters who've weighed in.
My attempts to calm things down with the reasonable assertion that "it's the British footie press, there's a good chance that everything about this article -- including the quotes -- is complete horse shit" fell on mostly deaf ears, even after I likened the author's conversation to the classic exchange between Andy Millman and a British reporter (at 6:28):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N98ATG7J7mc
If my first appeal to reason doesn't work, lemme try another: If we accept that the reason a player goes on international duty is in the hopes of making the World Cup, how much sense would it make for Hoilett to wait three years for English eligibility and, in the process, forfeit his chances of participating in Brazil 2014? I realize that his odds of being in that tournament aren't great with us (or Jamaica), but hey, a slim chance is better than no chance.
Look, I know we've all been burned by players lying to us about their international plans in the past few years. I was directly lied to by one of them. (Yeah, dig through your ICF archives, I was a co-host when Teal Bunbury talked about playing for Canada in Dec. '09). But Junior hasn't been one of them. He hasn't committed to Canada. His story is remarkably similar to that of Jonathan de Guzman, but presuming Junior keeps singing the same tune as he has all along, I'll feel much less rage if he eventually decides to represent another country.
Even so, I really, really want him to play Canada. And I can't wrap my head around the logic of those who feel otherwise. What, our goal-starved national team all of a sudden has the luxury of discarding Premiership strikers, simply because they might harbour the dream of representing another nation? Come on guys.
(And with that, I think we can put the Junior Hoilett story to bed once and for all. Phew!)
The Cheese Stick: Can't blame this one on the speech impediment
Halifax mayor Peter Kelly had the following to say to the Chronicle-Herald's Michael Lightstone, when asked about the 2015 Women's World Cup, and why Halifax would even be considered as a host city, considering it's the only potential site that doesn't have a stadium:
So, in essence, "yeah, we don't have a stadium, but if we did have a stadium, then we'd be the same as all the other cities that already have a stadium." No explanation is given as to what would happen if, y'know, that hypothetical stadium isn't built in time (I know it's alarming to even fathom a sporting venue running behind its construction schedule, but it could happen!)The commitment has to be that we would have the stadium built in time for the event, but that’s really not an issue. If we commit and meet that (deadline), then we will be on equal footing as any other city across this country.
Look, Halifax, I love y'all, I really do. But you guys gotta get your shit together. It's fun to slide down the hill at Husky Stadium, but that venue ain't hostin' any international events any time soon.
Oh, and on a related note, remember to sign the Mission Moncton petition, everyone!
(Note: For the sake of civility, let's all just accept that my ranking of the components of Bits & Bites snack mix may differ from yours. To each their own.)