MLS Cup thoughts

When faced with supporter backlash over the automatic inclusion of the MLS Cup final in the 2011 season ticket package, Tom Anselmi, Paul Beirne and co expressed surprise and admitted being caught out by the reaction.  They stated that they saw it as a reward for TFC supporters, and thought it would be embraced and welcomed by the city's enthusiastic football community.  Obviously, as we all know it didn't quite work out that way, and with hindsight, making the purchase optional might have been wise, but I for one always did feel that way.  I was excited when it was announced, and when it was made known it would be part of the package, I didn't mind at all, I was happy to have my guaranteed seats at a reasonable price, and there was never a question for me that I'd be attending, even before all the apologies and townhalls and concessions that followed the cratering (MLS Commissioner Don Garber's word at the Supporters Summit) of the renewal percentage.  So first of all thanks to MLS and MLSE for bringing the game here.

My enthusiasm waned a little with the dismal end to TFC's season, and then the playoffs really didn't work out all that well.  The teams I would have liked to see win got knocked out, as did the high profile teams and the teams I would have loved to watch lose, and we ended up with the MehLS Cup final of Dallas and Colorado.  Combined with the puzzling lack of hype and promotion, and ensuing lack of buzz in the city, and it looked like it was going to be a disappointment, I'd still go to the game, I'd be cheering for Colorado but my heart wasn't really in it.

Over the last few days though, my interest and excitement has been renewed.  Though I'm sure it hasn't really reached the general public, there's been a lot of extra buzz, I've really enjoyed the MLS Cup Classics series and extra programming on GOL TV.  Mainly though it's the events that have been going on around town, organised by TFC supporters groups, open to and attended by supporters from Colorado, Dallas, and all the other MLS cities.  So a huge thanks to everyone who organised or volounteered or spread the word about all those events.  A friend's shotgun wedding stopped me from attending as many events as I would have liked, but from reading about them, and from attending the Supporter's summit this morning, it's clear there's a great sense of camerarderie between supporters from different cities, a real sense of being in it together and sharing a common goal.  It's a very similar feeling I got when I was at games in Seattle and Chivas, where supporters were very friendly and welcoming.

Obviously this comes from MLS still being a very young and very small league within the North American sporting landscape, one that needs to be grown through mutual respect and co-operation.  It's in the interests of any individual set of supporters that the rest of the league remains healthy and develops further.  The teams or supporter experience can be fantastic in one city, but without the rest of the league also improving, it would be rather pointless. 

Which is why I'm hoping that tonight's game will be well attended.  Obviously some people will have very good reasons not to atttend, and the late start time and potential bad weather will put off some other fans as well.  But many fans have talked about not going, and leaving their seats empty as a protest against MLSE, as a way to embarass them at their showpiece event.  I understand supporters' anger at how TFC's lack of success has been combined with ever increasing ticket prices and exploitation of the atmosphere the supporters bring, and other protests have certainly been effective.  I just don't think this is a good venue to be protesting further, this game isn't really about TFC or MLSE, it's about MLS.  Many supporters have come to Toronto from all over North America, to enjoy all the festivities, the climax of which should be the MLS Cup, for TFC fans to metaphorically piss all over that for the sake of proving a point would be a terrible shame.

If attendance is weak, it'll lead to accusations that Toronto isn't really a good soccer city, instead it's just a good TFC market.  I imagine anyone that's not going to the game as a protest, or simply because TFC isn't playing won't really care about those charges, which in a way actually proves the point.  All I know is that if I were a supporter of another team, I wouldn't want to hear the oft repeated "TFC has the best supporters in the league" mantra again.

Hopefully that won't be an issue and those season ticket holders who have tickets will actually come out to enjoy the game, I guess we'll see soon.  As for the game itself, I'll predict a tight game, with Colorado winning 2-1 in extra time, Omar Cummings with the winning goal.

Post game edit:  well, I got the score right.  All in all a decent night, the crowd was respectable if far from a sellout, the game wasn't a classic by any means, but Jeff Cunningham missing a chance to tie it at the death was satisfying, and the MVP being awarded to Casey Conor was very amusing.  The most alarming part of the night was seeing Mo Johnston in one of the corporate boxes (ballsily enough the one right behind the North End Elite) hanging out with Nick Dasovic, Leo Percovich and others.