Toronto FC and Michaelnus

Many of you know my story: Although I was born and raised in Toronto I’ve been away for about 6 years before returning almost a year ago to recharge my batteries and start a new chapter. There were many reasons why I left my hometown but a big part of the reason was because I just didn’t appreciate it enough. (read my apology to Toronto HERE). I wasted a good amount of creativity into coming up with reasons to just hate on this great city and I think that part of it had to do with the fact that I was living at home away from all the action in the main downtown core. Going downtown was a novelty for me and I didn’t really explore it the way I have been doing recently. Going into the city meant just hanging around Queen West or Eaton Centre without enough money to really buy anything I wanted, seeing the occasional opera or rock concert at the Guvernment or Lee’s Palace or going to some stupid club with a 15 dollar cover charge and drinks that costed just as much. The problem was that I would bring my boring suburban friends with me so we would just be downtown but in a suburban mindset – i.e. “well it’s 12:00 and I should be getting home, I don’t want to drink too much because I have xyz to do tomorrow and I suck.” My friends have always seen me as sort of the loose cannon with a hinged tongue and a lust for life mixed with an almost self-destructive adrenaline addiction in my youth. Perhaps it was because I was always looking for more and didn’t grow up with the same sensibilities as most of them. Although I tend to speak rather softly most of the time, when I need to say something I can talk a blue streak.

I grew up in a boisterous and loud Italian/European/Mediterranean household. Loud meaning that you could be less than 3 feet from someone and they would still talk loud enough to be heard across the street but would not actually be shouting in anger. When I watched TV and my mom would have other loud people over I would have to crank the volume to max and that would still not be enough to hear every word so I would just lock myself in my room and read a book after loudly telling them to stop being so loud and suggesting they get their ears checked because they surely had severe cases of partial deafness to have to talk that loud.

Toronto FC - MichaelNus

Yes, the urinal has a little goal with a ball to piss on

But I left Toronto because outside of my home many of the people I knew didn’t know how to have fun and had a tendency to be pretty flaky. However for better or worse, I am still a loyal friend so at first I took out my frustration on the city itself. I used to complain that we didn’t have a proper opera house, or good music venues, good bands or a good lifestyle in general. I would envy European countries too and long to be in a place where people lived life and came together instead of rat-racing through their petty existence. The straw that broke the camel’s back for me was the most unlikely thing: Soccer. I noticed that all around Toronto and York Region there were some GREAT soccer fields but no one would really use them to their fullest potential. I even lived near Esther Shiner Stadium, where I used to play as a kid for the North York Hearts under the tutelage of my soccer star dad and I remember always being so disappointed in the generally crappy experience that was the Canadian Soccer League (CSL). The stands were rarely filled, the announcer was a 35 year old pedophile and the scorekeeper would pretty much be asleep at the wheel and not even bother to update the scoreboard when a goal was scored. The whole thing was such a joke that my brother and I, aged 10, would actually go to the scorekeeper’s box and hit the button to add a point to the electronic score board! The snack bar sucked, the players sucked, the games sucked and the spectators sucked. I don’t even think they bothered charging for tickets most of the time. My dad would take us there pretty much to pass the time and show us examples of how NOT to play soccer. We would always wait till the games were over so we could bum around the field and learn to shoot penalty kicks and bend the ball on the manicured pitch, which was always a nice change from the chewed up muddy pitches at G. Ross Lord park.

So as an adult I went to BC to go to university and the first thing I did was join the intramural soccer league for my love of the game. Boy did I ever play hard just because I was jonesing for some action. I would slide tackle, rush the crease, and grind my teeth when a team mate could not handle a pass or a cross near the net but I still loved it! Every Sunday, rain or shine I would be there despite balancing a 6 course load with my duties as an oarsman on the Varsity Rowing Team 6 days a week at 6:30 in the morning before starting my first class at 8:30.

Then I come back to Toronto and what do I find? I find good people, good fun, a new opera house, great bands, great venues and…A NEW FOOTBALL CLUB?! At some point during the past 3 years of my absence Toronto did away with the old CSL and joined MLS to create the Toronto FC, complete with legions of ravenous fans that act just as crazy as any European soccer hooligan. The players, unlike those in the old CSL, even cared enough about the games to take dives to force a free kick! Did I mention the fans!? A sea of drunken lunatics in red with their scarves, MASSIVE flags, drums and official chants and cheers! I was so shocked and in complete awe what I missed the opening kickoff because I was staring in disbelief at how insane BMO field was. Nearly packed stands, gallons of beer and fans that would be glued to the game even in the pouring rain! And boy did it piss rain that day.

To be honest, the skill level still wasn’t all there, especially in the shadow of the World Cup 2010, but that changed nothing about the experience. The game tied at nil-nil between TFC and LA Galaxy (Beckham’s team) but the TFC fans still partied after the match as if TFC had won! Maybe the point of going to a TFC match is to revel in the hooliganism more than it is to actually watch the game, but who cares! It was so much fun that I would go again! Thanks to @bigthinkerjon and casiestewart for hooking me up with the match and the rad TFC scarf!