'Till I die
Welcome to year 19.
At the risk of sounding like an old man yelling at the kids that they just don’t understand…if you weren’t there, you just can’t understand what that 2007 TFC season was like.
It was magical. For years, domestic soccer fans in Canada felt that we were alone. We would search the internet — the pre social media internet — for likeminded people to share our passion with, but that just made it seem like we were even more of an outlier than we thought.
There were so few of us. And, we were spread out so thinly. Sure, it was nice talking to BringBackTheBlizzards on the Voyageurs discussion board, but it wasn’t the same thing as standing beside them in a stadium week after week. Yeah, ToppDogg was savage on BigSoccer, but that wit is better appreciated live. And what’s up with SweetOwnGoal? You just couldn’t know if they were as condescending in person as on the boards. (editor: he was)
So, that first time in the stadium was also affirming. Seeing all those people — and much more — show up showed that there was a demand for domestic soccer. To go back to the opening line of this article, you just can’t understand how important that was and how emotional it was to those of us who had dreamt of seeing that day.
It was intoxicating. Literally, yes, the party in the stands in 2007 was off the charts, but I’m talking about a figurative intoxication here. That season monopolized the emotions and attention of all of us who were a part of it. It felt like you were inside the biggest and hippest party in Toronto and the memories of that season will be with me forever.
The football on the pitch? Well, that really wasn’t that important, although Danny Dichio gave us two goals (the actual 24th minute and the stoppage time equalizer in the season finale against New England) that remain among the favouries of all time of many long-time TFC loyalists.
Still, though, what stands out about that year is the community that was built and the friendships and memories that were made. It’s the same with any club, really. I’m sure that Whitecaps, Impact, Forge, Pacific, etc. fans can all write similar origin story blogs.
So, too, can those of you reading this who can’t understand what that first season was like. That’s because I can’t understand what your first season was like, except in that it somehow got under your skin and bonded you to the club in ways that are both irrational and profoundly rewarding.
Football clubs are only partly about the people in short pants that chase a ball around for 90 minutes. Rather, they are about the people that stand in the cold, humidity, rain and snow and sing re-worked showtunes at them, or make reference to the referee’s predilution towards self gratification (or sit quietly in the upper deck intently studying the build-up).
It’s the fans. We enter into a social contract with the team to make it matter. without us, it simply doesn’t.
This is something that I like to remind myself of each opening day.
For 19 seasons I have chosen to care. There have been highs — the very highest highs, in fact -- and there have been confounding lows, along with, bluntly, hilarious ones. I’ve loved every second.
If you weren’t there, you just can’t understand.
Enjoy the season. I’ll see you at BMO.
Exactly!