The view from the Woods

With exams over, I took the opportunity to head to Toronto on Saturday to take in a Major League Soccer match between Toronto FC and Real Salt Lake (whose team name still makes me laugh) at BMO Field. It was the home opener for TFC and the weather was picture-perfect for an afternoon game. Andrew, who I traveled to the game with, has a detailed recap of the 1-0 Toronto win at Sporting Madness in his typical Clint Eastwoodian-fashion. As a neophyte of North American soccer I won’t attempt to duplicate it, but rather discuss my impressions of the experience as a whole.
Prior to Saturday, my experience of live professional soccer consisted of one game in Nottingham, where I saw a championship-level match between Nottingham Forest and Ipswich. Even though it wasn’t quite the Premier League, the level of buzz and amount of camaraderie among the fans was astonishing.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Major League Soccer in comparison. Toronto FC tickets are in extremely high demand and can be tough to get. The team is only in its second year, but BMO Field has already developed a reputation throughout the league of being a really tough place to play. As the game got underway I could see why. A rabid fan base, nearly all of whom own team jerseys and scarves—was not once quiet throughout the match, singing accolades for their beloved players and hurling abuse at the opposition. The dedication of the fan base became apparent when the starting lineups were announced, with the P.A. man announcing only the players’ first names, leaving the crowd to gleefully fill in the blanks. Imagine trying that at a Leafs game! Some of the corporate stiffs in the crowd would have trouble filling in the blanks:
“AND NOW, PLEASE WELCOME, NUMBER 16, DARCY…”
“Um, Sundin, right guys?”
One of the most hilarious parts of the match occurred whenever an opposing player had a corner kick. The fans closest to him would pelt him with streamers (which were constantly flying through the stands all afternoon), forcing him to untangle himself and kick through a web of red and white paper. Although this clearly agitated the opposition, it certainly added to the entertainment value of the game.
I’m used to watching hockey live, so seeing a soccer game in the flesh brings to light some interesting contrast. Hockey is a game with great flow but nonetheless features a lot of stoppages. Soccer, however, is played non-stop for 45 minutes a half, leaving fans to initiate their own cheers and chants instead of the P.A. announcer. As Andrew pointed out, that’s why soccer’s great to watch on TV as well—45 minutes without commercials.
The one fear I normally have with a soccer match—this is the hockey fan in me—is that it’ll be a hard-fought battle that ends up in a 0-0 tie. However, Toronto’s goal off a beautiful free-kick in the 32nd-minute solved that problem quickly.
Of course, no professional sporting experience can be perfect. This one was no exception. The vendors clearly hadn’t received adequate training to serve the masses in a short period of time (15 minutes at the half) and their inability to perform routine tasks such as take orders, swipe credit cards and give correct change resulted in many fans (myself included) missing much of the first part of the second half.
But as Andrew pointed out, Toronto FC matches represent the way professional sports should be viewed. No corporate stiffs in suits and ties with their minds more on networking than the game itself, but simply 20,000 screaming, red-clad fans who want nothing more than to see their team emerge victorious (and will do everything they can to make that so). It was a great experience, and I recommend it for avid soccer fans, casual soccer fans or anyone who’s looking for a good time and enjoys singing along to tunes they don’t know the words to but will belt it out anyway.