I am greedy!

I want this trophy back again.

I want nothing more on Wednesday evening than to see the club I support through thick and thin beat an emerging Canadian rival and hold onto that precious Voyageurs Cup.

And if there is one thing that I have learned on this five year long journey supporting Toronto FC it is this. Losses and bad results fade sooner from the memory than great results do. And no win is better than one that ends with your club lifting a trophy.

I also want Champions League football back as well. TFC is a better club for it the more times it goes to Central America and competes in hostile situations win or lose. You learn more about yourselves as players and as a team away at Cruz Azul or Arabe Unido than you ever will from a trip to a run of the mill MLS venue like for example Dick’s Sporting Goods Park!

I want the supporters at BMO Field tonight to truly be the 12th man they have proven in the past they can be. Whether it is due to losing more than winning or due to the novelty of the whole TFC thing wearing off a little there is no doubt that the intimidation factor from the stands directed towards the opposition has frankly not lately been truly what it can be. Tonight there is no excuse for that to remain the case. Our club is playing a rival that has beaten TFC once and almost beat them again last Wednesday. However Vancouver did this at home, and not at BMO Field. And with perhaps TFC’s only realistic shot at glory this season now at hand, I for one intend on being as loud and boisterous as I can be. I am going to do everything I can do in my power up to the raggedy edge of the rules to get into the faces and heads of the Vancouver players and make their visit here as unhappy and unproductive as it possibly can be. If you are going to the game I encourage you to do the very same thing.

The task at hand is without a doubt going to be a tough one. Vancouver is rested. TFC is not. Vancouver has fewer injuries than TFC does. TFC has with due respect to them been significantly outplayed by the Whitecaps in the 180 minutes they played at Empire Field so far this season. Vancouver’s Designated Player Eric Hassli has run roughshod over TFC’s somewhat shaky defense in those two meetings and his strength and skill on the ball pose a significant threat. Yet TFC is to a degree in the drivers seat. That goal from Maicon Santos last week means that Vancouver will have to chase the game. A nil nil draw does nothing for them. They have to score to win and they have to push on to do so. And thet might give TFC the chance they need on the counter to salt the game away. The dynamic on Wednesday is significantly different than what it was last week in BC.

There is one other lesson to take away from this competition for the Voyageurs Cup for me at least. And that is a lesson of regret. In 2009 with TFC needing almost literally a miracle to win the Voyageurs Cup in Montreal I made the terribly stupid choice, with tickets in hand, to not go to the game in Montreal thinking that the chances of a win to the scale needed was out of the realm of possibility. And that decision meant that I missed seeing live TFC’s first ever trophy presentation and arguably the greatest game played so far in the club’s short history. There are tickets still available for this match and if you do not have one yet I suggest that you remember my story of regret. Do not let that happen to you. You might end up missing something dramatic and memorable. There could be penalties tonight people! Something even akin to the Montreal Miracle might take place!

And speaking of “Montreal Miracles”, to get you all a little more in the mood for Wednesday evening’s festivities here are six minutes of memorable video from that pretty decent game two years ago.