Monday, June 18, 2007

We've arrived on the world stage

It's official, in my books at least: Toronto is now a true soccer city.

What leads me to this bold declaration? Simple: this afternoon, not long after Toronto FC's defeat of FC Dallas, I saw a very drunk TFC supporter weaving his way down the sidewalk in front of Union Station.

Replica jersey? Check.
Scarf? Check.
Shaved head? Check.
Vacant, dazed expression? Check.

The only things missing to make this genius a true yobbo, in my books at least, were a) evidence of a recent violent encounter with a partisan of the opposing team; and b) handcuffs. Mind you, it would probably be pretty difficult to find a Dallas fan here in Toronto...

What I found truly odd about this particular dude was that he was traveling - if you can really call it traveling, he was pretty loaded - by himself. Normally, your garden-variety hooligan tends to prefer to travel in packs. Well, this is Toronto FC's first season after all, so I suppose this guy could just be an early adopter.

In other sporting news, Canada's men's rugby team lost to New Zealand's All Blacks yesterday. It was a squeaker; the final score was, er, only 64-13.

I'm sure the Canadians are thrilled with their performance, though. The All Blacks are the New York Yankees, the Montreal Canadiens, the Edmonton Eskimos and the Oakland Raiders all rolled up into one team. Playing respectably - and the Canadians did play a very respectable game - against the All Blacks is a significant feat. Way to go, boys.

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