6ix on a Wave: Empty At The End

Is Toronto FC fighting for its very soul on Wednesday?

Two Interesting pieces dropped over at TFC Republic, the latest edition of the Video Blog, in which JMo spills some tea on the Preki era at Toronto FC (#yikes) and this Op-ed, wherein he suggests that Coach Javi’s rant about the refs, weather, and phase of the moon and its effect on TFC’s performance against Inter Miami CF mid-week is indicative of a creeping sense of ennui taking root at the club, a ‘why me?’ mentality that is in stark contrast to the knife-in-the-teeth, take no prisoners attitude that led us to the heights we’ve enjoyed over recent years. While he certainly didn’t make this suggestion himself, the irony is there for all to see: TFC in 2021 is one hell of a lot closer to Preki-Ball than we’d all care to admit.

We’re chasing shadows here. Looking for apologies after the fact, and getting damned comfortable with mea culpas. I support Arsenal. I’m getting too used to excuses and word salad in place of a winning culture.

And we cannot deny that on Tuesday night, we saw the first sign of what our friend Jack Burns has been screaming from the mountaintops for near 2 years: apathy and/or outright fan revolt.

While the “Official” numbers for attendance came in at just over 7K, I was there, and based on my own eyes and the recent memory of the first game back, which was capped at 7K, I just don’t see it. Maybe the extra 3-4K were in private boxes?

I’ve spent the last two of these columns asking the same basic question, What happens now? Sure, I couched it in variations of “Kids?, No Kids?”, but essentially I’m stuck in the same limbo as our beloved Reds.

This limbo could get very, very, VERY, uncomfortable in this coming week, as we have a date with destiny, and destiny is wearing green and blue stripes and coming for our souls.

That’s right, sports fans. York United is coming, and they smell blood.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again – this lost season hurts, but it’s fixable. Lose to York United in this round of the CanChamp, and there may be nothing left to save. The last gasp of Toronto FC 2015(ish) to 2020 may be a death rattle on a chilly midweek match in September.

It’s truly all hands on deck now. Forget pride, ego, even job security. We are playing for the soul of our club. Losing to a lower-tier team NOW, would, in my knee-jerk reactionary fever-dream, be a death-blow to the last embers of our winning culture.

Do you agree? Is it that bad, or am I seriously catastrophizing?

To the comments! You know what to do!

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THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST

More fun word association! Ole!