Our home opener TFC 3 Fire 1

We spent our winter south of the border and returned to Ontario for the Easter weekend. So this was our first BMO Field game attended for the year. Keen readers of the blog will know it was not our first TFC game attended as we trekked up to Sandy, Utah to see the season opener versus Real Salt Lake the first week in March.
Snap out of memory lane one must. But first a complaint and a cheerful thought. Ontario this is not spring weather. We know it is coming, we experienced it already in climes such as California, Arizona, Texas and Louisiana. Yes, our route homeward involved going eastward for days to avoid going north for as long as possible. Thanks April in Ontario for reminding this potential perpetual snowbird to plan future returns for May.

It was terrific to see the familiar faces in mighty section 220. Through email, all knew we had been away for months and months, so it was great to be welcomed back. It's a funny contrast that those around me are mostly tech free, while I remain Mr. Social Media (at least through this blog and Facebook, my twitter and instagram could use some boosting). So when I take on the role of fan spokesperson, I do so in a bit of a vacuum. However most are shaking their heads at the pain of Friday night games. My combo of retired and driving in from Guelph means little difference weekday or weekend. Most fans don't have our luxury of choosing an early afternoon travel time. Friday pm rush hour is chaos in this city. Getting from work to game is a pain. I understand that US television contracts means that Friday night games will be a reality. Bradley and Altidore getting to the MLS Cup means that TFC has ratings potential south of the border. It remains a pain.

I admit I was worried about the rising fortunes of Chicago. After the poor game in Columbus last weekend I was fearing the Schweinstieger the same way the Raptors "Fear the Deer". My concern after the Crew was that the stumbling would continue. This April/May TFC homestand needs to be the winning streak or else. Fair to say that Schweinsteiger provided more stumbles than fear striking. It will be interesting to see how dedicated Mr. Schweinsteiger is to conditioning. He looked a little rough in the first half and was less effective in the second. Will he wilt in the long hot Midwest summer or prove a steiger of schweins? I am looking into travelling to Illinois in August to see the rematch game
When that early Chicago Fire goal was called back on an offside call, it just might have been the required jolt to the collective system. From then on Toronto started playing with greater cohesion, notably with their passing throughout the midfield. The midfield was setup with Bradley at the back with Vazquez and Delgado central, Beitashour down the right and Raheem Edwards down the left. I felt that Edwards played a strong two-way game. You can be taken with his dazzle on the ball, but he does the unsung work of getting back and finding his man on the defending end too.
My faith restored in TFC, time for some random observations...
Giovinco went from the sacred (scoring that screamer of a free kick) to the profane (kicking a pylon, storming off to the dressing room at being subbed late in the game) in record time. At what point does admiration for his passion give way to concern for team dynamics? Does Seba really think that he is the one in "All for One"? 

My fandom for Benoit Cheyrou was severely tested last night. He was the late sub for Gio and his only contribution of note was to give the ball away and allow Accam of Chicago to score their consolation goal. I suppose that balances out in the admiration scale, David Accam is the Fire player that always scares me. He is also on my top players Toronto should trade for list...