I must go there to find my soul yeah....
Tomorrow night is significant.
It's significant in the life a soccer club. It's significant in the life of a city. It's significant in the life of a beautiful game in a country where it's never quite caught on. It's significant in the lives of supporters who will pack a stadium wearing Claret and Cobalt, wrapped in scarves that show their colors, and standing together on an evening that's likely to be cold and uncomfortable. It's significant in the life of this sports fan.
I grew up watching sports. I remember watching my first baseball game with my father at 4 or 5 years old. I was never overly athletic. I played baseball into my high school age years, but was never real great. I did a short stint as a defender in UYSO, but was never really fleet of foot enough to stand a chance at playing soccer. I always loved watching sports though. I'd get wrapped up in the teams, the tactics, the stats, the raw emotion that only true heartfelt support for a team can bring. When they're up, you're on cloud nine. When they're down, it can devastate you, if only for a few agonizing moments.
My history as a supporter has been mixed. I watched the Atlanta Braves screw up more than one chance at a World Series in the 90s, luckily they did get one. I watched Michael Jordan drain the color from the faces of my fellow Jazz fans two years in a row. In the NFL, I've watched the 49ers win several times only to fall on hard times.
That brings me to Real Salt Lake. When RSL joined MLS in 2005 I was a soccer fan, but only of the international variety. I loved watching the World Cup and the Olympic tournaments, but I'd never really seen club soccer. My friend Rick took me to a couple of matches during the Rice-Eccles era, and I had a good time. I started following the team, but never really had a ton to cheer about.
In 2007, I got married and moved out of state. It was hard to follow RSL in Florida, especially when you don't have steady internet access. A couple of years later, we moved back and I should have gotten to witness the MLS Cup run, but I worked a crummy job with crummy hours, and the local media didn't give a fuss about RSL. Even when they won the cup, it was barely a blip on the radar in a NBA obsessed market. I missed, we missed the significance.
It will not be missed tomorrow night.
RSL has come a long way from that 2009 cup win. All the way to 2011 and a chance to earn a trip to compete with best in the world. Last summer it seemed like merely a dream to us fans. Tomorrow, it may become reality. Significant.
I want to be there. I'm going to be there. I wouldn't miss it. The RioT has become kind of sacred ground in a new faith to me. So much has been going on in my life the last year, some good, some bad, but all significant. Through all the upheaval I've had a constant. That constant is soccer. At the end of the day when work is done I can always come home, flip a match on the DVR, and get lost for just a little bit in the game I love. The most poignant manifestation of that has been the evenings at Rio Tinto, watching the guys leave everything on the pitch in order to earn this chance. For a couple of hours every few weeks, I've found my own slice of heaven in Sandy, Utah of all places. I've loved every minute of it. It's been quite significant.
Whatever the outcome tomorrow night, I want to say thank you. Thank you to the players, the staff, the stadium staff, and everyone who helps make the RSL experience so great for us fans. It's been quite the ride, and I'll never forget it. If a soccer team from Utah, in a small MLS market can go out and beat the world, then it should give all of us faith to reach for the stars and pursue our dreams. The significance of that cannot be understated.
I will be there, I MUST be there...
I must go there to find my soul yeah.....
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