Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.
I would describe myself as more stunned about Toronto FC losing the Cup last night to Seattle than any other emotion. Frustrated and obsessed play their part too. This was not the way the season was supposed to end and it still hurts this morning.
I would congratulate and salute any Seattle player or fan today. I felt that way last night too. They did what needed to be done and Toronto could not score the goal required to put them away.
I will not say the better team won. The best headline I have encountered this morning was over on the MLS Soccer site
"Toronto FC left befuddled, shut out by "unspectacular" Seattle"
However, the extra time save by Frei, diving back and hand out to tip away Altidore's header from going in, has to be considered spectacular. It was the difference and kept Seattle alive.
I did say the night of the great victory over Montreal that should TFC win the Cup I would change the name of the blog to "By the Lake".
I was sorry to witness it, but mistakes were made last night. So the blog name stays.
What a season, what a playoff run.
TFC 2017 is just around the corner...
oh and thanks for reading.
May the holiday season lift your spirits and may a TFC related gift be under your tree...
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Saturday, December 10, 2016
MLS Cup morning
Wow, baby, wow.
Until 2015, TFC had never had a post season playoff game.
Until 2016, TFC had never hosted a playoff game, nor won one, nor played any game in November.
So this morning I am wrestling with concepts that are boggling my little mind.
A TFC game in December.
Figuring out my ski clothes and my ski layers for- a game in December.
Working out a plan for Xmas shopping today that weaves around- a game in December.
Hoping I can send social media and email message reminders to all of my friends, acquaintances and family to remind them to watch on tv tonight- a game in December.
What is our parking strategy and travel plans for- a game in December.
Then if I try to take a further step and grasp just what this game in December is, the Cup Final.
TFC in the Cup Final.
Mind - boggled, but smile ever-present...
Reflecting upon the ten years cheering for this team, rooting for soccer to take it's rightful place in this part of the world. Knowing that the beautiful game, despite watching plenty of ugly TFC soccer over the years, can still make your dreams come true.
The first time I ever attended a sports event, we were living in south Parkdale and my father walked me over to the old Exhibition Stadium. It was so long ago, the stadium was considered new back then.
My dad has been gone for 24 years now. If I could have him back, magically, for just one day it would be today. I would say "Dad, soccer, the sport you loved, the sport of your childhood, the sport you taught me about, has taken off in Toronto like fireworks. And if you don't believe me, c'mon down to the CNE grounds."
Sure, I will worry about victory tonight and suffer/cheer as I always do. Yet by the fact that this Cup game exists, this December game exists, I feel that the gift has already been given and so gratefully received.
Go TFC...
Saturday, December 3, 2016
TFC's Cup ticket sale scatters the faithful
I know this is a classic first world problem.
But, I also feel that my section at BMO Field is more of my neighbourhood than my home neighbourhood. This might be partially due to having moved this past summer, but it rings true to me.
I have used this account as a reply to a blog post in the Vocal Minority and in a thread at the Red Patch Boys forum.
I felt there was little need to rewrite my tale of trying to buy tickets for the MLS Cup as a season seat holder since game 1....
But, I also feel that my section at BMO Field is more of my neighbourhood than my home neighbourhood. This might be partially due to having moved this past summer, but it rings true to me.
I have used this account as a reply to a blog post in the Vocal Minority and in a thread at the Red Patch Boys forum.
I felt there was little need to rewrite my tale of trying to buy tickets for the MLS Cup as a season seat holder since game 1....
Ok, here I am, able to testify to the bizarre day.
Yes, Ticketmaster would not let me select my own seats or even my own section.
I kept on trying to make the select again button reveal beloved Section 220 on their cursed best available tickets track.
The site was suspecting I was a bot and I was selecting pictures with trees in them and getting nowhere.
Yes, Ticketmaster shut me out.
So when I logged in the fifth time and it gave me two seats in section 220 as my best available, I was in a panicked frenzy and grabbed them. Let me in, let me in, I’ll take anything I cried before I fell to the floor in front of my computer sobbing.
My dog came over to cheer me up.
So I have lost my section, row, seats. btw I think my seniority level amongst TFC season seats is awfully good, maybe in the double digits good. Put me amongst those first brave volunteers.
You would think that being a long timer would have saved me from this..
This banishment also cost me money – my 220 would have been 80 a seat, two sections over has me at 125 per seat.
The damned thing is that it was a huge Ticketmaster inability to deal with traffic (and, thinking about this Saturday morning, a total TFC/MLSE throwing thousands of loyal ticket buying fans to the relocation winds).
Once I got on the phone to TFC and had the 45 minute wait I idly went back on to Ticketmaster and lo and behold now I could choose my section. I could not use my code anymore, could not buy another two tix at any price, but there were little buttons on my screen telling me that seats in the lower rows of 222 were available. Not my seats but close enough…
The trouble is bigger than just one ejection. I have been in email contact with a few section 220 neighbours and we have been spewed all over. So it not as if I can swap my pair with the folks who will find themselves amongst new faces.
The aspect that I think TFC front office never grasps is that our section is our soccer neighbourhood. You could offer me the swankiest seats in the place and I would turn them down in an instant. Being at the game involves being with people who know my name, greet me with a smile. I send these wonderful people Xmas cards for heaven’s sake.
I should still be on a “reached the Cup Final” high. Not be feeling that I have been both evicted AND had my party shut down.
Thursday, December 1, 2016
Cup final bound or a night of stumbles and glory - TFC 5 Montreal 2 (series 7-5 on aggregate)
Last night was a roller coaster ride and I hate roller coasters.
At the end of the game, the end of the night, there was joy and glory, shock and numbness and a feeling of all those games over all those years washing back over you. For a decade we have cheered for this team, felt the lows and dreamed of the highs. Year after year the blog name "Mistake by the Lake" fit both the team performance and the feeling that a fan had for this journey of deep support. So often I thought that I was mistaken to love this team, this sport, in this city, so much.
Last night, when victory had been reached and a place in the Cup final had been obtained I turned to my wonderful wife and said 'well, that was a decade well spent".
The next morning I still feel the joy of it all, but I am also trying to grasp the full journey. I do recall once telling the TFC president at the time (Tom Anselmi) at a TFC town hall that having a Toronto football club was a dream come true. I am trying to recall the details of a ten year dream this morning, from the heights.
But back to last night's game
Montreal was a team that I truly feared. This summer, during the CNE, the Montreal Impact came to town. TFC was riding high, the supporter groups had the entire south end clad with gigantic banners, Montreal had a player sent off late in the first half, so TFC had a player advantage for more than 45 minutes.
And Montreal beat Toronto that summer night.
I think that the memories of that game were seared into my TFC memory cells.
So I spent Wednesday November 30th, prior to attending the TFC home game hosting Montreal in the second leg of the Eastern Final, worried. Tense and nervous.
This state of fear, worry and nervous tension is a little difficult to explain to acquaintances. Folks who might know that I write this blog or have been told of my passion for soccer. The attention has been going to TFC in this playoff run and those with a general interest are happy to discuss or join in on the happiness. So why so tense?
The glory of love for your team is sometimes like the glory of love for your kids. You bask in the fleeting glory when you can, but you are more often tortured by the chances that things might go wrong.
Montreal twice gave the TFC team and crowd a startling glimpse into that "things might go wrong" territory. Scoring the first goal of the night (and giving themselves a two goal lead-aggregate) and then scoring the opening goal of the second half (equalling the TFC accomplishment of scoring two goals on the road) Montreal had us over a barrel and cornered at the same time. So the glory of the Nick Hagglund goal (his glorious header made it 3-2 on the night) was that it was required to take Toronto to extra time. A chance to save ourselves, but not the safety itself.
Guess what my mood was as the teams took the field for those double fifteen minutes of extra time? Yes, things might go wrong.
But it was not all gloom. When I heard voices from friends around me, positive observations and a few folks picked Osorio as most likely to score for TFC, I had to voice my hunch. Not Osorio I said, it will be Cheyrou.
Benoit Cheyrou, a late game substitute with only his second touch of the ball, scored the winning goal. He headed the ball crossed into him by Steven Beitashour. The place went wild. The place was wild most of the night. The fans took their support to a new level, not just the south end supporters, but the whole stadium.
This blog post has taken me hours, so I am going to wrap it up. I just took a break to watch the highlights and my tears seem to be in both overflow and standby mode today. My favourite Nick Hornby quote is "The natural state of the football fan is bitter disappointment, no matter what the score."
Maybe I am struggling today with my thoughts and words because bitter disappointment beenbanished for the time being and I am out of my natural state!
At the end of the game, the end of the night, there was joy and glory, shock and numbness and a feeling of all those games over all those years washing back over you. For a decade we have cheered for this team, felt the lows and dreamed of the highs. Year after year the blog name "Mistake by the Lake" fit both the team performance and the feeling that a fan had for this journey of deep support. So often I thought that I was mistaken to love this team, this sport, in this city, so much.
Last night, when victory had been reached and a place in the Cup final had been obtained I turned to my wonderful wife and said 'well, that was a decade well spent".
The next morning I still feel the joy of it all, but I am also trying to grasp the full journey. I do recall once telling the TFC president at the time (Tom Anselmi) at a TFC town hall that having a Toronto football club was a dream come true. I am trying to recall the details of a ten year dream this morning, from the heights.
But back to last night's game
Montreal was a team that I truly feared. This summer, during the CNE, the Montreal Impact came to town. TFC was riding high, the supporter groups had the entire south end clad with gigantic banners, Montreal had a player sent off late in the first half, so TFC had a player advantage for more than 45 minutes.
And Montreal beat Toronto that summer night.
I think that the memories of that game were seared into my TFC memory cells.
So I spent Wednesday November 30th, prior to attending the TFC home game hosting Montreal in the second leg of the Eastern Final, worried. Tense and nervous.
This state of fear, worry and nervous tension is a little difficult to explain to acquaintances. Folks who might know that I write this blog or have been told of my passion for soccer. The attention has been going to TFC in this playoff run and those with a general interest are happy to discuss or join in on the happiness. So why so tense?
The glory of love for your team is sometimes like the glory of love for your kids. You bask in the fleeting glory when you can, but you are more often tortured by the chances that things might go wrong.
Montreal twice gave the TFC team and crowd a startling glimpse into that "things might go wrong" territory. Scoring the first goal of the night (and giving themselves a two goal lead-aggregate) and then scoring the opening goal of the second half (equalling the TFC accomplishment of scoring two goals on the road) Montreal had us over a barrel and cornered at the same time. So the glory of the Nick Hagglund goal (his glorious header made it 3-2 on the night) was that it was required to take Toronto to extra time. A chance to save ourselves, but not the safety itself.
Guess what my mood was as the teams took the field for those double fifteen minutes of extra time? Yes, things might go wrong.
But it was not all gloom. When I heard voices from friends around me, positive observations and a few folks picked Osorio as most likely to score for TFC, I had to voice my hunch. Not Osorio I said, it will be Cheyrou.
Benoit Cheyrou, a late game substitute with only his second touch of the ball, scored the winning goal. He headed the ball crossed into him by Steven Beitashour. The place went wild. The place was wild most of the night. The fans took their support to a new level, not just the south end supporters, but the whole stadium.
This blog post has taken me hours, so I am going to wrap it up. I just took a break to watch the highlights and my tears seem to be in both overflow and standby mode today. My favourite Nick Hornby quote is "The natural state of the football fan is bitter disappointment, no matter what the score."
Maybe I am struggling today with my thoughts and words because bitter disappointment beenbanished for the time being and I am out of my natural state!
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| Half time selfie from Section 220 |
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