Okay, it’s a few days gone from Toronto FC’s season-opening loss in Columbus. Even longer since the new MLS CBA locked us all into five more years of financial life-support. And lord, the Reds did not look good on Saturday.
I could grumble on forever if I chose to.
But sports is supposed to be fun. I modestly believe I make my best contribution when I find something to be happy about against all perceived odds and logic.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
So rather than dwell on two gruesome Nick Garcia giveaways and another very late goal against (referee-assisted, which doesn’t improve the mood any), I’m going to step back from Onward’s recent multi-week chronicle of woes, and endeavor to get … happy!!
It’s tricky, because it’s not just me feeling down right now. There was something profoundly missing from TFC support group U-Sector’s pub gathering to watch the first real game of 2010.
Beer? Check. Emotional ups-and-downs with every significant movement of the soccer ball? Check. Giddy, opening-day optimism and buzz?
No.
Absent.
Huge contrast from three years ago, when U-Sector’s leaping, screaming, full-throated enthusiasm just about leveled the pub. That, too, was a bad 0-2 defeat. But the mood could not have been more different.
Yes, three years out of the playoffs have taken their toll. No, TFC GM Mo Johnston’s off-season acquisitions have not, as yet, offered much hope of change. But there should still be a buzz on opening day. Maybe the Red Patch Boys pulled it off. I didn’t get a chance to get down there to join them.
I left the pub feeling more than a bit ground out. I didn’t see a lot to love in TFC’s effort. Better, surer control at the back (Garcia’s gruesome gaffes aside), but ongoing difficulty linking up with the midfield. It felt a bit too familiar. I suspect this may be a fairly common feeling ‘round these parts.
The real test, of course, comes on April 15. BMO Field reopens, with a new north stand and real grass on the pitch. Throw in a goonish expansion Philadelphia Union side (Toronto fans love to hate Philadelphia) and that … is … going … to … be … a … buzz!
Which will feel great.
Yes, I’ve had a bit of a bellyful of MLS. The cap’s too low, the teams are too identical, and there will never be a great soccer team from here under the prevailing rules.
So, maybe it’s just time to watch some soccer. Hone in on the on-field product, dwelling less on its artificiality and more on the actual eleven guys going each way, and what they do when they get there.
Next week, Onward! will move back to twice a week (most weeks), filled with wheeling, colourful dispatches from the roof of BMO Field on match day. MLS issues will still bubble up – along with CSA and Canada ones.
You guys have been very patient while I’ve been laying out the obstacles. I owe you – and myself – some giddy, exultant runs through the obstacle course.
Is someone going to emerge in the TFC attack who can offset the Nick Garcia effect at the back? Surely I hope so. Let’s go find him together.
(Oh! And what’s the BMO Field record for most mac-and-cheese fritters consumed in a single match? Is anyone planning to ride out after it? Comments, please, if’n y’all got the goods.)
Onward!