On one side of the country, we had one team's owner hurling invective back and forth with the other team's head coach, on the pitch, after a contentious stoppage-time penalty denied victory to the popular second-division underdogs.
On the other, we had the highest-paid team in Major League Soccer bunkering for the majority of the game against a starting XI comprised mostly of U-23 players and barely -- barely -- hanging on in a penalty shootout against a goalkeeper who isn't old enough to legally buy booze.
In both cases, the semifinals of the Canadian Championship tournament were decided on last-minute penalty kicks scored by Canadian midfielders against Canadian goalkeepers.
Just another night of wildness in the ongoing myth-making exercise that is the Voyageurs Cup.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
First, to Montreal, where "everyone's second-favourite team", the Eddies, had their away-goals aggregate lead wrenched away in the most heartbreaking fashion imaginable -- deep into an abnormally-long amount of stoppage time, on a penalty kick decision that anyone watching the replay (including referee Drew Fischer, if he can bring himself to do it) would conclude was incorrect.
Of course, the aggrieved Canadian soccer Twittersphere did the au courant thing in the footballing world -- they threw out ridiculous, unsubstantiated claims of match-fixing. And while many who made those suggestions last night, in the heat of the semi-anonymous mob mentality, have probably re-evaluated their views since then, it's still worth addressing.
It was a bad call. Surely no one disputes this. But to throw out match-fixing allegations every time a bad call happens not only belies a fundamental misunderstanding of how match-fixing generally takes place, but also belittles the hard work, sacrifice and self-endangerment that people such as Declan Hill and my friend Ben Rycroft have undertaken in order to expose actual instances of result manipulation. (It would also mean that every game in the history of the sport has been fixed, which is hopefully untrue.)
Sometimes make-up calls happen. Sometimes officials (in all sports) find themselves subconsciously making decisions in favour of the home team and/or the favoured team that they may not make the other way. Sometimes referees simply make mistakes.
It really would have been a neat story if Edmonton had made the final. And the way they fell out of the tournament was heartbreaking. Devastating. Possibly unjustified. But not a conspiracy. Just another instance of the cruel way in which sports can rip out our souls and lay bare our base emotions... feelings like vengeance, which is surely something that soccer fans in Alberta are already craving.
Hell, the base emotions were on full display right on the pitch at Stade Saputo, when Joey Saputo and Colin Miller exchanged what could only have been polite pleasantries in the game's aftermath.
"That was a good game by your team!"
"I agree, yours as well!"
"GOOD LUCK IN THE FINAL!"
"GOOD LUCK IN THE NASL!"
"WHICH WAY IS THE EXIT OF THE STADIUM?"
"IT'S THAT WAY, LET ME FORCIBLY AND REPEATEDLY POINT IN ITS DIRECTION SO YOU DON'T GET LOST!"
"YOUR KINDNESS IS MATCHED ONLY BY THE QUALITY OF YOUR COMPANY'S DAIRY PRODUCTS!"
"HAVE A SAFE TRIP HOME!"
Um, yeah, I've got nothing else to add. What a scene.
Over on the west coast, Ryan Nelsen apparently saw fit to channel his inner Jose Mourinho, deciding that a flukey fourth-minute goal from Doneil Henry (that could easily have been disallowed either due to a foul or for offside) was going to be more than enough, and having his troops lean back for most of the rest of the game.
Credit is due here to whoever cut together the "Game in Six" for Toronto FC, because it really made the game look like a titanic back-and-forth struggle. The reality is that the Whitecaps were directing one-way traffic for the majority of the contest, and anyone who's ever seen TFC play a game during its existence -- or who has any idea who Tobias is -- knew that the equalizing goal was bound to come during the final 10 minutes of the second half. Sure enough, it did.
Some brave goalkeeping from Joe Bendik in the game's latter stages -- and the decisive stop on Kekuta Manneh during the kicks from the penalty mark -- were the difference for the Reds, while 17-year-old Marco Carducci, making just his second professional start for Vancouver, showed glimpses of why those within the Whitecaps organization and the CSA are high on his future.
Heck, I offhandedly and unthinkingly mentioned during the game that Carducci is probably sixth on the goalkeeper depth chart for the senior men's national team right now. But even with a night to sleep on it, I think that may not be too far from reality. Can anyone give me evidence to the contrary?
In the end, it was a thrilling game at B.C. Place that -- again, judging by the wholly unscientific rubric of social media reaction -- had fans in Vancouver disappointed in the result but proud of the performance from a team full of youngsters over the two legs of the semifinal.
And, of course, long-time 'Caps fans couldn't help but hang their heads at the fact that Vancouver is now 0 for 13 in its attempts to win the Voyageurs Cup.
But the "can Vancouver ever win the damned thing?" storyline is just one of the many narratives that forms the rapidly-evolving image and history of this weird little competition of ours. The Miracle in Montreal in 2009. The thunderstorm during the 2011 final. The addition of Edmonton and, this year, Ottawa -- and, in the years ahead, perhaps even more teams?
The tournament is set to move to the summer months starting next year, which would not only avoid scheduling conflicts with such trifling sporting events as NHL Game 7s, but also allow (theoretically) for earlier qualifying rounds to be played during May and June. That's where things are headed. How it will look, when it will happen and who it will involve... that's all yet to be determined. But it's coming.
As for this year's competition, Toronto and Montreal will slink into the two-legged final, surely both sheepishly aware that it was only through good fortune and the soccer gods that they found their way through a pair of charged and memorable semifinals.
Well, unless you're one of the conspiracy theorists who would add "the machinations of the villainous CSA" to the reasons why Toronto and Montreal made the final. But hey, if you're reading this, clearly you still care enough about the tournament to want to read about it... so they've still got you!
And they've gotten more and more people as the years go along. Amidst all the controversy, amidst all the wildness and heartbreak, the Voyageurs Cup (not just the competition itself, but the trophy awarded at the end) is ingratiating itself into the Canadian public consciousness. It's here to stay.
Next year, how ravenous will Whitecaps fans be to finally see their team get over the hump? How psyched will those in Edmonton be to see their team attempt to avenge this year's injustice? How excited will the fans in Ottawa be at the chance to be part of the madness? And how many fans in how many other cities will be looking forward to the day when their local club will join the party?
The Voyageurs Cup is 13 years old. Just hitting maturity. Growing pains are inevitable. Of course it's still imperfect. And it's never ideal for a pair of exciting semifinals to be defined and remembered by referee's decisions or on-field arguments between team officials.
But hey, that's what happens when you hit your teenage years -- you make mistakes, you learn from them and you grow.
That's of little solace to fans in Vancouver and Edmonton in the immediate future, of course. But so long as the Voyageurs Cup continues to produce real emotion, real excitement and real memorable moments -- while, oh yeah, giving young Canadian players a chance to shine in meaningful game scenarios -- it will continue to blossom into a massively important part of the sport's evolution in this country.
And yes, some day -- no one knows when, but some day -- Vancouver will actually win the damned thing.
.