B.C. Place: It's Getting There

Even though Vancouver's season has been about as successful on the field as Knight & Day was at the box-office, it's nice to know they have something to look forward to. Obviously that "something" is not the playoffs; instead it's the late-season opening of their permanent home, B.C. Place.

Have a look inside the under-construction enormodome in the clip above. It's big but it's downtown so there's a good chance that the end result will resemble Seattle more than New England. There is also a good chance that rural types will mistake it for a grounded spacecraft.

NSR: Some Late-Night Lasciviousness with The Weeknd

It's midnight. What better time to watch footage from The Weeknd's 1st-ever live show? I know @IamFaux is going to hate on me for loving this but this record really is the finest piece of narco-pop/sex-hop this year.

Detroit, Your Boy is Back in Town

Ever the patriot & soccer evangelist, His Ginger Majesty™ has left his Manhattan Beach headquarters for a trip back to his ancestral home: Michigan.

Dude is in town talking up the U.S.-Canuckistan Border War match in June and other Alexi Lalas things like visiting the field that was made with the grass from Detroit's World Cup game in '94. Good work if you can get it.

All You Ever Wanted to Know About Gillette Stadium

Well maybe not everything. There is no mention of the important things like the selection of beer available to local drunks and the price of the stadium dog but there's a bunch of other random nuggets in there from Vancouver radio personality Peter Schaad who has apparently taken it upon himself to give us guided tours of every MLS stadium. Good looks Pete.

And is it just me or is Schaad the Canadian Glenn Davis?

Manic x Cosmos Mixtape

Ringleaders FC --a Quebec-based soccer site for tasteful ballers such as yourself-- recently stumbled upon an old NASL program for a match featuring the Montreal Manic and the New York Cosmos and decided to share some of the photos held within.

Naturally such a discovery calls for a mixtape in it's honor. Compiled by Montreal DJ Patrik_Eks, Manic vs. Cosmos features joints by Detroit's Claude VonStroke, New York deep house fixture Osunlade and indie-electronic here/villain of the moment James Blake. You should cop it. Or not. It's really up to you.

Crazy Talk About Soccer Surpassing Football is No Longer Crazy Talk

First Toronto FC now this. Who ever thought the MLS mountaintop would be in Canada?

BRYAN ADAMS: EVERYTHING HE DOES, HE DOES IT FOR YOU (AND THE WHITECAPS)

How about a quick, informal straw poll in the comments: has Bryan Adams aged well? I'm inclined to say "yes" because he looks like my friend Doug and if I say "no" I am also saying in way that Doug has not aged well and then I'll have to deal with that. But you guys don't know Doug so use your words and make your own call. Bonus points if you can work the phrase "Cuts Like a Knife" into your comment.

More Whitecaps Video Love

I know it looks like I am all up on Vancouver's jock right now with two Whitecaps-related posts in a row but I kind of have to give praise where it's due. I'm feeling their "Countdown to Kickoff" video series because A) it's pretty to look at, B) it has a lot of great old people in it and B) they feature custom club-branded sushi.

If you haven't seen the other clips head over to the Whitecaps Youtube page and get caught up. Then go find the first geriatric soccer fan you can get your hands on then invite them out for dinner at your local Japanese place; they'll appreciate it so much they might even leave their teeth in their mouth when they pick them after the meal.

Stadium P0rn: Nightfall at Empire Fields

Personal goal for the 2011 season: get to a night game in Vancouver before they move downtown as Empire Field looks absolutely radiant under floodlights. What I would give to see an epic game in the rain there.

Aside from the nocturnal look at the 'Caps temporary home there's a lot of great footage of some of the old-school 86ers/Whitecaps fans and the mobs that greeted the team after they won the 1979 SoccerBowl. Seeing the throngs of supporters filling the streets you can't help but wonder where the game would be in the U.S. & Canada today if the NASL was better run and still surviving. Perhaps places like Toronto and Seattle would be the norm, not the exception.

VIDEO: Flyover of Fly-Assed Vancouver MLS Stadia

Oh to be a modern-day MLS expansion club. You get to build on the back of the achievements of the teams who came before you and you get to keep your original name -no weird "Your name is Toby*"-period a la the San Jose Clash. You also get fresh-to-death temporary stadiums built for you to tide you over until the renovations on your downtown enormodome are completed. My how things have changed from the days of Lockhart Stadium and the Fusion expansion.

*You may need to watch Roots to get that.

DeRo's Post-MLS Cup Tryst

So now that I've caught up on post-MLS Cup sleep and eaten my weight in stuffing & poultry I think I'll take a moment to get out some of the leftovers from Toronto starting with some photos from DeRo's MLS Cup afterparty at Tryst. Don't ask me why but Chad Barrett seemed to be in damn near every pic. And if you don't believe me (and don't mind a club full of scrubs) you can check out an extended photo gallery of pictures from the night. Just beware the randoms and random cleavage.

Love Note to Canada

I'm tired. I'm dehydrated. I'm happy. I'm still in Toronto.

The Cup has come and gone but I've got one more night in the Republic of Canuckistan before returning home. If any Canadians are reading this I appreciate your hospitality and overall awesomeness. You love your footie, your streets are improbably clean and your street hot dogs are the pinnacle of drunken, late-night cuisine. If a nation could be "my dude" you would be it. Thanks for having me...let's get together again in Montreal in 2013.

I'm Not from Canada But I Can T. Dot Boogie

Hey y'all. Sorry for the lack of posts but as I am in T.Dot on official company business I'm spending most of my time on that other blog, the Twitters and the Book of Faces. But if you happen to be in Canuckistan as well let's catch up tomorrow and party & bullsh*t.

BTW our DJ tomorrow will be none other than Tom Wrecks. You may know him from the Drake remix above or his Love Lockdown remix on the Kanye West Sky High mixtape. Yeah, we got it like that.

Ooooooooh Canada...

Oh Canada I have so much love for you. My favorite city on the continent resides within your borders (Montreal), my preferred icewine is Inniskillin and your ability to own firearms while simultaneously suppressing the urge to shoot everybody up is beyond reproach. So I feel a little bad for y'all for getting shafted on Teal Bunbury's international future.

But only a little...this is international soccer after all. So welcome Teal and sorry Canada. I will buy you a round next week in Toronto and you can cry all over my shoulder. Or punch me in my ample American gut.