Other than hockey and the on-going talk about the Grey Cup and who won and who came up short on the scoreboard, talk around Toronto will be about the Toronto FC.
Prior to 2007 Toronto had a tough time even giving tickets away for any match, that is until now and the upcoming match this Wednesday as they host the Montreal Impact.
We are hearing that up to 37,000 might take the game in, not counting the one’s that will tune in to at least part of the match.
This alone is interesting as the CFL had a hard time giving/selling tickets for this years Grey Cup, not to mention the giveaway by a local Pizza by a local chain.
One has to ask why and the answer that we are hearing is simple – marketing and getting the game out to the public.
Both sports have various issues, which the fans absolutely hate and for soccer it’s the “diving” by players who think they are the worlds best and for football, it’s the continuing annoyance for some of the rules they have in place.
While the officials are doing what they are instructed, it’s time those in charge take a long hard look at the game and ask the real fans that attend what the problem is, let alone how to fix the sport.
We are hearing that there is close to 100 media (TV, print and radio) that have been accredited for the match, which should prove to be exceptional match.
It’s hard to believe that 10 years ago Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment purchased this franchise (Toronto FC) for a sum which is less than the combined annual salaries of its starting strikers both Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore.
One thing that many hate in Vancouver and area are the long dates between any match, which we are hearing that the MLS is working on fixing, but this match will see the first match since Toronto’s previous home playoff date.
That match saw a sell-out of 28,000 at BMO Field that saw Toronto defeat New York by an interesting 2 nil score after 90 minutes of play.
It did appear that Toronto FC was all but done at 3-0 midway through the opening leg played in Montreal, but two late goals have Toronto all but set to advance to the MLS Cup.
TFC Head Coach Greg Vanney earlier in the week “I would say that momentum is on our side, but it’s going to come down to the start of the match.
Either way it’s great to see two Canadian teams in this match, but the downside is that only one Canadian team can advance to the final, but either way that’s not all that bad!
Onward and upward for either of our Canadian teams!!
Oh yea the other match see’s Seattle play Colorado and if either Colorado and Toronto advance, they will be the first team to ever come back from a loss to win a two-leg series in MLS Conference Championship history dating back to the two-leg format began in 2012.
