A funny thing happened on the way to BMO Field

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"Hey, going to the TFC game?"

That's the inquiry I received on the subway shortly after 11 a.m. on Saturday. The inquisitor was a guy, probably late 20s, sitting next to a girl of similar age. While I'd like to say it was the visible sense of dread and foreboding that was gripping my soul in the hours leading up to a TFC kickoff that was the giveaway, it was more likely the red jacket and scarf I was wearing.

"Yeah. Are you?"

"No, no, we don't have tickets," said the guy, clearly somewhat excited to be talking to one of those people who goes to those soccer games. "Do those games all sell out? Can you even get tickets to them?"

He was serious. And then it hit me.

[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

It's easy -- and emotionally destructive -- to become entirely ensconced in the insular little world that we Toronto FC fans have created for ourselves. The self-evident truths of this universe include such things as BMO Field never sells out, the announced attendance is always a lie, the atmosphere is nowhere near what it was, the team sucks, the team has always sucked, the team will always suck, we're idiots for continuing to care and the 80th minute and onward constitutes "Tobias Time".

But perpetually sucking in the toxic fumes of this environment tends to make one forget that outside of this biodome of misery is a wider world of sporting fandom. All of these truths that we hold to be self-evident... they really aren't, to the vast, vast majority of sports fans in the city of Toronto.

Sure, they may be vaguely aware of the fact that Toronto FC doesn't tend to win very often, and that the team tends to change its manager, players and uniforms with alarming regularity. But probably holding equal weight in whatever minuscule portion of their memory that's devoted to the team is the idea that BMO Field is a hopping place to be, that going to a soccer game is exciting, and that Toronto FC is still kind of neat novelty, "something we really should get around to doing some time this summer".

The reality, as we know, is quite different.

From the south end of BMO Field during Saturday's 1-0 loss to Real Salt Lake, the mood ranged from "simply going through the motions" to outright hatred. That's not to throw anyone under the bus. I'm well aware that the regular denizens of that area have invested far more time, energy and money into the team than I have, and are fully entitled to approach each game in yet another doomed, pointless season in whatever way they deem appropriate.

But whatever the mood amongst the diehards may have been, there were still plenty of folks lining up at the merchandise stand after the full-time whistle.

"Really?" I thought as I walked by. "You just watched that game, from this team, and after everything we've seen, and everything we've been through, your first reaction is 'hey, I wanna get a new t-shirt'? What's the matter with you?"

Then I realized -- whatever supposed tribulations I'm describing are of little consequence to those folks. They're just happy to have had an entertaining day out at the soccer field. And sure, it was a decent enough game. The strong majority of the first half was in fact controlled by the home side, and the crowd could be forgiven for believing that a goal was imminent (of course, one was; just not for the right team).

And the goal-line scramble that finished things off -- thrilling stuff. I badly bruised my hand smashing it on the seat in front of me in profane exasperation at yet another example of the soccer gods collectively spitting in our eyes.

But as successive management teams have made clear, through words and actions, I'm not the type of fan that they're worried about. They know I'm a stubborn idiot and will be watching next week no matter what. They know the long-suffering folks in the south end will continue to show up, even if attending TFC games seems like nothing more than a painful chore, entirely sapped of the joy it once held.

The ones that really matter are the folks who lined up to buy licensed crap at full time. And the young couple on the subway who still think going to a TFC game is exciting. And the old guy on the subway ride home, who quite badly misidentified the nature of my scarf and asked "how did the Argos do?"

None of them are reading this, or know this site exists. They don't follow me on Twitter, or have any clue who "Tobias" is. They might get excited by the idea of Roma coming to town for a friendly, and they couldn't name five current members of the squad but probably know Danny Dickero, "that bald guy who scored an important goal or something".

Toronto is a very big city. Whatever pall may have fallen over the south end of BMO Field and the general outlook of the team's hardcore supporters, TFC isn't dead. TFC isn't going anywhere. They'll just keep on keeping on, as a generic, non-descript team in the league, the type that makes up the numbers and occasionally does something sorta noteworthy (probably negative) but more often than not, just kinda serves as fodder for one of the marquee squads.

That's kinda the team's fate, at this point. It's a fate that can be overcome, but 6.5+ years of evidence don't suggest that shift is happening anytime soon. The team has settled into that comfortable level of mediocre existence that has characterized most Toronto pro teams over the last 20 years. Just kinda show up, play a game, sell some shit, provide tickets to companies as something to bribe employees and clients with, and then everyone goes on their merry way.

For what it's worth, I didn't blow smoke up the ass of the guy on the subway asking about the team. I told him they're bad. I told him it was probably a waste of his time to go out to a game. Why the hell should I lie to him? Why should I enlist someone into this ongoing psychological purgatory? That's not my job. That's the team's job. And clearly, they're still doing a good enough job of it.

So I'll let them do their thing, I can do my thing, the team can do its thing (i.e. not win) and everyone can just continue to go on their not-so-merry way.

And let me be clear -- I'm not trying to create artificial divisions between "supporters" and "fans" or any of that such nonsense. Every way that any person chooses to engage with a sports team that they like is totally fine and legitimate. So I'm not really sure what I'm trying to get at, or what the point of this post was. Probably nothing. But who cares at this point, really? Another TFC game happened, TFC lost and the world keeps on turning.

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