The first crocuses are tentatively emerging on the broad, apartment-lined East York boulevard that is Onward!’s home. The sky is blue, and the overnight chill seems set to melt into a very pleasant spring afternoon.
Toronto is edging – somewhat grimly, perhaps – into warmer weather.
And there’s not a soccer hooligan to be seen.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
The seething cauldrons of Parkdale, Mimico and Swansea to the west, Weston, Forest Hill and Leaside to the north, Agincourt, Rouge Hill and the Beach to the east, and the dreaded perpetual inferno of anti-societal discontent that is Ward’s Island to the south – all are quiet.
In recycling centres here and there, copies of yesterday’s Toronto Sun front-page picture – the TFC fan being tasered by a half-dozen Columbus cops – are being pulped into pamphlets for holistic healing havens on the Danforth.
Toronto FC fans excitingly await Saturday’s gala home opener, police officers at 14 Division are signing up for easy, stress-free overtime game-day shifts, and no cars are burning, no children are in danger, and the government at Queen’s Park will not be overthrown by a crazed mob of red-clad commandoes singing the name of TFC hero Danny Dichio to the tune of Men Without Hats’ sugary dance-pop confection Pop Goes the World.
Nothing, in other words, has changed.
There shall be no societal apocalypse this Saturday. A soccer game, yes. The end of everything, doubtful.
Toronto’s old gray Exhibition grounds will not be blazing 100-foot-high flames to the firmament as Saturday’s sun sets. Okay, nothing down there could possibly burn anyway. Concrete just ain’t that combustible.
And neither, dear children, are Toronto FC fans.
As I write this, TFC supporters’ groups are finalizing a formal response to the city of Columbus, Ohio, and its threat-happy police force. It’s simple, practical, and will cost the Columbus Crew soccer team and their city a fair chunk of money. Details to follow soon.
Yesterday’s media storm was useful, even if it skewed perspective so badly that Toronto cops will likely have to show up in bigger numbers and hand out beer-violation tickets at the pre-game tailgate. That’s just the game being played. It should all be back to normal come the Dallas game on April 11.
This entire odd episode really went a long way to prove a significant failing of the major media:
Infrastructure.
If you have huge buildings, giant staff, heavy union deals and other such like, you’ve ultimately got to pay for all that stuff. In the case of the Toronto Sun – and newspapers in general – that need is especially urgent as they are getting chewed big-time by the global financial reset. Whiffs of danger sell papers. Subtle truth has a hard time playing to that crowd.
Meanwhile, us Internet independents have none of those problems – rent’s a whole lot easier to pay than major labour unions – and we just write the story.
The future of soccer writing in Canada – speaking as a chap who intends to create a respectable chunk of it – lies on the Internet, largely with the outsiders. (And Stephen Brunt of the Globe and Mail.) (And I still love your work, Nigel, Ryan and John. I’m just trying to make a bigger point.)
I think we got an excellent example of that yesterday.
Onward!