Thanks to Whitecaps Residency U-16 attacking midfielder Marco Bustos on that ol' newsbreaker Twitter for word that four Vancouver Whitecaps are off to a Canadian national U-17 camp in Italy this week. In addition to Bustos, the Whitecaps are sending goalkeeper Marco Carducci, left winger/fullback Jordan Haynes, and central defender Alex Comsia. All are 1996-born players with the Whitecaps U-16 team; Bustos is from Winnipeg, Haynes is from Ontario, Carducci is from Calgary and Comsia is from North Vancouver. Good luck to all four!

Mercifully, I won't be repeating last year's ghastly Whitecaps post-games on the Score's Footy Blog. However, I will be chipping in now and then with an article of more general interest. Today, I look at the pathetic and insignificant triumphs our pundits enjoy acclaiming as "good for Canadian soccer".

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/mls/news;_ylt=AlCriya5ex4ZhwSh0MhDHH6dbgM6?slug=capress-soc_mls_whitecaps_mattocks-17413559

Have you seen second-year USL PDL team WSA Winnipeg's new jerseys for 2012? No, really, have you seen them? Are you kidding me? Their jersey sponsor, Mondetta, is also their jersey designer; a clothing company based in Winnipeg. I guess it's paying off. Our national team wears off-the-rack Umbro colours and an amateur team playing on a municipal field for three months in the middle of Manitoba looks ridiculously sharp. Those are fantastic. I want one.

Making a rare appearance on the Score's Footy Blog today, as I discuss whether a supporter really is, as the meme goes, "more than a customer." The answer, those of you familiar with my oeuvre will be unsurprised to hear, is no.

For those who missed Long Tan's misfortune from the penalty spot yesterday, here it is in all its glory. Apologies for the bad angle: this is the best video I could find. The Whitecaps showed the foul but not the kick (and I can't IMAGINE why). This seems like a great time to remind everybody, again, that Long actually had a really good game.

Highly recommended: Gregor Young at Monday Morning Centreback has written his notes on Paul James's Cracked Open, reviewed on this site late last week. It's a great read for those who have the book and those thinking about getting it, providing a bit of context and analysis from somebody well-connected to the game (if you don't recognize Young's name, he's a former Vancouver 86er and long-time fixture in lower Mainland soccer who capped once for Canada). Read, as they say, the whole thing.

Interesting....

News today that the Whitecaps have solidified their coaching staff with the addition of one well-known name and one other guy. Carl Robinson, formerly of the New York Red Bulls, joins the Whitecaps for his first ever professional coaching gig. Long-time Martin Rennie comrade Jake DeClute arrives from a Christian college in Massachusetts where he was head coach.

Your humble correspondent was on West Coast Soccer Weekly with Pierce Lang and Michael McColl talking about FC Edmonton, the MLS SuperDraft, and various obscenities they decided were so horrifying they actually hid the podcast in their Podbean stream and didn't advertise it on Canadian Soccer News. I know. I swear, it's not actually that bad, although they did talk to two other people and I haven't listened to those bits yet. Anyway, click the link at the top to listen. Also, I think I forgot to plug my first appearance on West Coast Soccer Weekly, where we talked about something (I was moderately drunk). That's here.