Whitecap woes

> Struggling Whitecaps have a long offseason ahead of them

Erik Pinto
Contributor

 

evastated and

disappointed—these
are the words no fan or
organization wants to be
preaching at the end of a long,
hard-fought season. However,
these were the exact words that
Vancouver Whitecaps’ veteran
goalkeeper David Ousted
mentioned in a tweet following
their 2-1 defeat to Cascadia Cup
rivals the Seattle Sounders.
The loss ultimately knocked
Vancouver out of MLS playoffs
contention with two games left
to spare.

Not only did the Whitecaps
underachieve this season, they
were made a laughing stock to
play against. They tallied the
least amount of points on home
soil in the entire MLS. With
their playoff hopes over, the
struggling Caps have a lengthy
offseason ahead of them, and
in order to eliminate their woes
they must try to accomplish
three things.

The first thing they will
need to do is to acquire a
clinical finisher. The Vancouver
Whitecaps will not be a title
contending team anytime soon
if they do not acquire a striker
who is capable of tallying at
least 15 goals a season. Masato
Kudo and Giles Barnes have
not proven consistent, and lord
knows Erik Hurtado is not the
solution. There have been too
many consecutive weeks where

Whitecaps fans have seen

their strikers miss chance after
chance. It has been a major
issue that has spanned over
several seasons ever since the
departure of star striker Camilo
Sanvezzo.

The second thing that
needs to be taken care of is
discipline. Order must be
restored. Vancouver is ranked
as the team with the third-
most disciplinary points in
the league. This means they
have averaged amongst the top
three in red and yellow cards,
fouls, coach dismissals, and any
supplemental discipline. Asa
unit, the Caps must play a more
disciplined style, as they cannot
afford to be playing games a
man down, or with ineligible
players because of reckless
tackles.

The third most important
thing the Caps need to do is to
tidy up at the back. Amongst
all goalkeepers in Major League
Soccer, David Ousted has let
in the third most goals, but
it’s been his backline that
has let him down this season.
Organization has been the root
of their problems, Opponents
left unmarked on set pieces
and fullbacks being burned by
speedy wingers have been a
frequent occurrence in the Caps
half. This must change come
2017 if the Caps want to even
have a shot of competing for a
title.

Although it was a lackluster
campaign, let’s not forget

this roster was consistently
injury riddled throughout the
course of the regular season.
Young star winger Kekuta
Manneh spent most of his
season sidelined with a broken
foot. Masato Kudo sat out
multiple weeks after suffering a
concussion and broken jaw. The

Douglas DSU E-Sports Club co-hosts
League of Legends viewing party

> Douglas joins a multitude of E-Sports clubs to host the yearly event

Davie Wong
Sports Editor

 

Ls every sport aired

on television, e-sports,
particularly League of Legends,
runs on a “season” based
system. Every season spans two
splits, similar to the baseball
system. At the end of every
split, the best teams in the
region fight for “Championship
Points” in a playoff format.
At the end of the year, the
top two or three teams in the
region are invited to the World
Championships, where they
fight it out to see claim the
title of “World Champions”
and a rather handsome prize
pool of money. Think of the
World Championships like the
FIFA World Cup in terms of
tournament style.

Like any other sport, while
viewership may wax and wane
during the regular season,
nearly every fan tunes in for
the World Championship. In
particular, similarly to the
Superbowl or a game seven
of the Stanley Cup Finals,
the final series of the World
Championship, dubbed the
Worlds Finals, or Finals for
short, generates the highest
number of viewers.

While anyone can watch via
internet streaming, like most
Final sporting events, people
like to gather in one place with
their friends or colleagues to
watch the event. Last year, the
UBC e-sports club managed to
gather around 300-400 people
on the UBC campus at 3 a.m. to
watch the finals together, which
were hosted in Korea. This year,
all the e-sports clubs around

the Lower Mainland, including
the Douglas College DSU
E-Sports Club, have banded
together to host one giant
viewing party.

The makeshift coalition
of clubs has rented a 20,000
square feet venue in Richmond
the night of the World
Championship Finals in hopes
of bringing out as many fans
and club members as possible.
This was mostly possible due
to sponsors, who supplied the
money, hardware, and discounts
to make this all affordable.

The clubs plan to stream
the Finals and project it onto a
large screen, much like a movie
theatre. The seating will also
be arranged in a movie theatre
fashion, with priority being first
come first serve. However, you
will need a ticket to get into the
screening of the Finals, much

 

 

Caps have also been without
Canadian international Russell
Teibert, who has been out with
a hamstring strain. Therefore,
as much as there are fingers
to be pointed, some form of
consolation must be given.

As we near the end of the
MLS regular season, it will

like movies. Tickets will be pre-
sold online at www.eventbrite.
ca, or via the clubs themselves,
with a discounted admission

of $10 for Douglas College
students. If the event does not
sell out in pre-sales, tickets will
be sold at the door. However,
with 1,000 available spots, it’s
best to be safe and pre-buy.

Although the event starts
at 5 p.m., there will be a variety
of League of Legends-themed
Halloween events outside of the
venue starting at 3 p.m. Food
carts and entertainment stands
will also be outside the venue
for the event, almost similar to
a night-market style.

By hosting this style of
event, the clubs involved are
hoping to attract a larger
community, grow their
community, and potentially
attract new members to their

Illustration by Ed Appleby

be a campaign to forget for all
Whitecaps faithful, as their
woes ultimately trumped their
triumphs. Still, be sure to
expect major amendments this
offseason and a rejuvenated
squad coming into March eager
to make its mark.

clubs. The event is mainly non-
profit, with ticket money paying
for the venue fee and equipment
rental costs. In particular,
according to the vice-president
of the club, Jesse Hawker: “The
Douglas College DSU E-Sports
Club is hoping to gain exposure
and recognition, allowing us to
start running events of greater
scale.”

The event is projected to go
until midnight, and the venue
was purposely selected due to
its close proximity to public
transit. For more information
on the event, you can access the
event page through the club’s
Facebook page: www.facebook.
com/dsuesports/. You can also
contact club president Brent
Stant or Vice-president Jesse
Hawker through the Facebook
page as well.