Sober Second Thoughts: Still here.

18 years and I wouldn't change a moment.

It’s been a long, strange and occasionally thrilling ride. Toronto FC started its 18th season today with a 0-0 draw against Cincinnati, a city that would have seemed like an absurd opponent for TFC to play back during those early days.

Cincinnati? That’s not a soccer town?

Guess we were wrong.

A lot has changed in MLS, most of it for the better, since then. A lot stays the same too — like the appreciation of having a team to support week in and week out and of having a shared history and experience with others who have been with you along the way.

That’s what I increasingly come back to on these days — the community that has emerged around this team and what it has meant to me over the years. Look at that photo above. It’s from a game in 2009. TFC’s opponent has just barely missed scoring on a cluster of a play in the opposite side of the stadium. The reactions in that shot never fail to make me smile. I long to be back in those exact stands on those exact game days again.

Those were the days that made a franchise a club and a club a community. It’s not unique to Toronto, of course. It happens at every club and it evolves constantly. There are TFC fans that are just entering those kind of days and who will be writing blogs like this in 18 years about them.

That’s because you can’t wind back the clock and relive the days that brought you into the community. You can only remember and honour them and evolve in the ways that you are part of the community.

I’m not the bald dude in the bottom of that photo any longer. I don’t stand in the front row of 113 anymore and I likely never will again. Others fill that spot now and I’m grateful that they have the opportunity to go on a journey of support.

And I’m happy to still be here writing about it. Privileged, really. ‘Till I die, right?

Toronto FC is part of me now. It — or another team — is part of you too. On the opening day of any season that matters more than all the rest.

As for the draw…good result. some things to like. Some stuff to worry about. But, that’s a conversation for a different day.