countdown....and introduction.

First, the history behind the blog name.
I was born and raised in Toronto. One of my earliest memories was walking with my dad from our place in Parkdale to Exhibition Stadium. It was the sixties, so the stadium was home of the Argos. It might not have been the world's best football stadium (CFL or otherwise), but it was our football stadium, home of our team. Having a stadium right in your neighbourhood was special and my life as a fan was begun. To me it was the heart of the city.

Later a baseball team was brought to Toronto and a baseball design was grafted onto the place. I don't know which writer coined the phrase "mistake by the lake", but it became associated with Exhibition Stadium. It was ugly alright, but it was still home turf for the fan. The mistake atmosphere extended around the stadium as we had neither the gathering atmosphere of the stadium in a neighbourhood or the tailgate party version where the party is in the parking lot.
Building a domed stadium downtown finished the Exhibition area for outdoor sports. The mistake by the lake was torn down. The CNE (Canadian National Exhibition, the annual fair on the grounds) continued but has been in serious decline.

So mistake by the lake is a salute to the history of the location. The arrival of Toronto FC and the building of BMO Field is not the mistake. This blog hopes to be part of a new chapter in these parts. Welcoming a new team in a new stadium by the lake is hopefully the long overdue correction to those old mistakes, bringing us full circle to what once was and what could have been.