First an explanation: I took my longest blogging break in four years because I had to -- partly for work reasons and partly for another reason. I’m going to leave it at that. If you want to take me to task for it, go ahead. You can’t beat me up more than I already beat myself up.
And that’s all we are going to say about that.
As for Vancouver, well, maybe we should just leave that well enough alone too...
Alas, we must soldier on. The game was, at times, ugly, terrible, have-to-look-away awful. For those of us in Vancouver the mistakes on the pitch were compounded by thousands of Vancouver fans with their tails up. The banter wasn’t really all that clever – “Toronto Sucks” and “Leafs Suck” were the most common insult. “We’ve got Mountains” the most bizarre and some good ole fashion aggro hanging over everything. When it comes to Toronto, Vancouver does love to hate.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
The evening did end well, however, with a couple Southsiders drinking beers and sharing war stories about Canadian soccer at the U-Sector house off Kits Beach. The ease of the conversations and laughter that ended the evening reminded all of us that we have more in common that what draws us apart.
It also reminded me of the most surreal moment of the day. After Vancouver’s NBA style pre-game show it was time for the players to come out. As usual two flags were carried out before the players. Only this time there was something different. Replacing the Stars and Stripes was a second Canadian flag.
Two Maple Leafs, one national anthem and a TFC road trip that didn’t require clearing customs. Forget the result. Results are of the moment, forgotten not long after they happen. On this day what mattered was the history that was being made.
It was Canada’s day and no amount of defensive disasters by TFC (and God knows there were a few) could take that away.
A decade ago Canadian club soccer was arguably at its lowest point in history. We’ve come a long way. As my friend Ben Knight says Onward!
Onward! indeed.