We came, we saw, we sang

and now we dream.....
After Saturday's joyous final 2007 home game it is possible to be still on such a high that the cruel reality of "season over" may not have sunk in. TFC came, the faithful fans saw and Danny Dichio conquered.
Who expected this ?? Who thought that the beautiful game would have landed, flourished and launched something so strong, so filled with affection and celebration, so tribal in all the right ways, here in boring Toronto ?
We all fall in love in different ways, at different speeds and with different results. This cynical old grump, with his secret love for soccer, stood in the stands at the end and watched the fans dance in the middle of the pitch and understood that the "head over heels" love affair with TFC was deep and wide and strong.
Lets face it, most sporting experiences divide more than unite. Tickets tell you where to sit. Escalating prices make attending games a sporadic activity which lessens the passion of the fans. Luxury boxes basically create affluent, exclusive neighbourhoods in your midst. They are designed to convince you that someone else is having a better time than you. TFC throws that out the window. The players and coaches lapped the field at the end applauding the people in red and of course they start at the cheapest seats. The pitch invasion was filled with love. It was respectful of the team, it followed their lap of honour. It also sent a clear message, an anti-luxury box message if you will; the greatest fun happening here is in the heart of the truest, happiest fan. I hope that this feeling and the wonderful memories will carry all of us through the winter months ahead.
I want what every TFC fan wants ...no, expects ...a host of improvements:
Improved team,
Improved stadium,
Improved media coverage,
(and maybe improved recognition for little ol'me - the blogger who stuck to his keyboard and kept blogging all season long....)
Hell, I wanted improved seats in my section and price range - but you can't have everything when you are part of a movement.

I expect within a day or two I will be blogging about the off season speculation, those signings and draft choices and trades that will usher in the TFC of 2008.
So don't dream it's over. However, it is time for expressing thanks.
Thanks to family for supporting me through the season and encouraging me to give time and energy to blogging and trying to express my appreciation for the game.
Thanks to those who happily blogged for me on those handful of games that I could not make it.
Thanks to all who read the blog and double thanks to all who commented and triple thanks to those who added Mistake by the Lake to their blogrolls around the league.
And thanks to the team, players, coaches and suits, who despite the barren patches, showed a spirit that went beyond the results on the scoreboard and made being an obsessed, passionate fan a pure joy this season.
May this be the shortest winter of them all
cheers,
Still Kicking