Results tagged “torontofc”

Real Madrid’s whirlwind tour of Toronto culminated with a 5–1 win over Toronto FC in front of a record BMO Field crowd. It might've been just an exhibition match, but the sense of occasion inside the stadium was palpable. The Madrid players were given the star treatment throughout their abbreviated stay; the biggest star of all was, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo, who joined Madrid from Manchester United for $144-million this summer and who scored a lovely goal in a game which also featured the Madrid debuts of Kaka and Xabi Alonso. Yet despite the star-studded Galácticos in white, the game’s highlight might well have been Toronto FC’s lone goal, scored by Gabe Gala, which made the 22,059 fans in attendance (not to mention the TFC players) go absolutely mad. As for the pitch, which was covered in grass for the occasion: the less said, the better.

Nothing’s official yet; so far there’s just a rescheduled game between Toronto FC and the New York Red Bulls. It would appear, however, that the move was made in order to free up Toronto FC and BMO Field for what would be the biggest occasion in the fledgling team’s history: an exhibition match against Real Madrid on August 7.

In their now annual attempt to recreate the partisan rancour of European soccer's traveling support, close to 2500 Toronto FC fans are crossing the border today on their way to Columbus, Ohio for an Major League Soccer match against the Columbus Crew (4 p.m. on GolTV). This will be the first of three regular season games between the MLS rivals; whichever team garners the most head-to-head points from the three matches will win the Trillium Cup, which last year went to the Crew. The Cup is also the basis of a friendly wager between Columbus mayor Michael Coleman and David Miller—Toronto's mayor was last year forced to wear Columbus' "ugly yellow shirt" at BMO Field, something he swears will "never happen again." We shall see, Mister Mayor, we shall see.

Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC have been busy the last few weeks preparing for their third season, kicking off this Saturday at 8:30 p.m. away against the Kansas City Wizards (live on GolTV and The Fan 590). As in years past, Canada’s only major professional soccer club is playing its first two games away from home to avoid any last gasp of winter weather before returning to the well-publicized mayhem of BMO Field on April 4. That may explain the relatively quiet media build-up to kick-off: the club is mostly noticed in Toronto for the spectacle of twenty thousand screaming supporters at every home game. That TFC is a professional club competing for top honours in a serious North American league often escapes notice.

Amid all the woe and gnashing of teeth within Toronto's professional sports establishment this winter—the Maple Leafs' continued struggle to reach .500, the Raptors’ inability to play consistently under interim head coach Jay Triano, the less-than-encouraging off-season changes with the Blue Jays’ roster—there was some actual good news last week, although news that didn’t exactly inspire sports editors to include a front-page spread.

SPORTS: The Toronto FC are playing FC Dallas this afternoon. The team's had a week to rest since their loss to Real Salt Lake last Monday, so hopefully a victory is in store. BMO Field (170 Princes' Boulevard), 4 p.m., $21–$85.

David Beckham is finally—finally—making his Toronto debut, and as we suspected it won’t be with the Los Angeles Galaxy. Instead, he’ll be the featured attraction of Major League Soccer’s annual all-star game, which this year pits the very best of MLS against the very mediocre West Ham United of the English Premiership.

FILM: Tonight, as part of Yonge and Dundas Square's summer film screenings, Baz Luhrmann's version of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet will be showing. Spoiler alert: sad ending, apparently. Also, definitely check out the official website for the film, ostensibly made in 1996. Yonge and Dundas Square, 9:00 p.m., FREE.

Many fast-food chains and grocery stores are reintroducing tomatoes to their menus after the American tomato salmonella outbreak last week. Officials for the stores said that they waited until everybody had forgotten about the salmonella thing before bringing back the tomatoes, and that in future they hope to make us forget about bad things faster.

Remember when David Beckham was supposed to make his Major League Soccer debut at BMO Field last year, then wasn't even on the substitute’s bench? Well, brace yourselves, transient sports fans: it’s about to happen again.

The Toronto Sun reports that Toronto has now gone 26 consecutive days without a murder, a streak unseen since the summer of 2006. A spokesman for the Toronto Association of Thugs expressed frustration at the dry spell, saying that their group was on track with shootings and stabbings but that their efforts were being stymied by effective medical services.

Toronto FC sells out of season tickets for 2008. In response, the club promised they will try "really, really hard" to win at least one more game this season. The team's lawyers then pointed out that this was in no way a guarantee and that season ticket holders should feel privileged to be allowed to watch the game.

Police are investigating a mysterious purple liquid found seeping around the Don River. When asked for comment, the police stated that they have all their men rolling around in the goo in the hopes that it's radioactive and gives them all superpowers.

Sure, the Toronto FC may have lost Saturday's game 4-1––hell, they may have lost 75% of this season's games––but this clip of the soccer team's fans on the Washington DC Metro (which we discovered thanks to DCist) is kind of sweet in a "loud sports fans yelling French" way. Plus, Toronto fans are totally "the gem of the league"! If only subway enthusiasm could be somehow be harnessed and channeled into on-field talent, then we'd really be set.

Marcel Marceau dead at 84. Torontoist hadn't heard anything. (Rimshot!)

The CNE adds "you are here" stickers to its guide maps. No, really. Apparently this is a news story. And you thought journalism was hard and required a degree or something.

Photo of David Beckham by rayxhead

Thousands of crane and heavy equipment operators go on strike. So if you needed to lift something really heavy, well, you should have done that last week.

Is Hazel McCallion's grip on Missisauga politics slipping? Possibly! However, McCallion's plan to outlive all potential challengers and firmly establish herself as Permanent Mayor of Missisauga by 2243 remains on track, thanks to her mastery of the ancient art of alchemy and her possession of the Philosopher's Stone.

Canada's second-last WWI veteran dies at 106. Percy Dwight Wilson (pictured) lied about his age to enlist in the army at the age of fifteen. Is that not amazing? Torontoist thinks that's amazing!

Each weekday morning, we pick a recent image from the Torontoist Flickr Pool and feature it here on the site. It's our way to give the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention they deserve!

Each weekday morning, we pick a recent image from the Torontoist Flickr Pool and feature it here on the site. It's our way to give the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention they deserve!

Say you work in government, and a famous environmentalist attacks the environmental plan you've put together, calling it a sham. Do you defend it on the merits? Well, if you're Environment Minister John Baird, no—instead you attack Al Gore with a "you weren't any better" retort. Because Al Gore was Vice President, seven years ago, of a different country! Also, he has a big house and is now kind of fat!

First major solar farm project in Ontario approved. The 40-megawatt farm in Sarnia will generate .02 percent of Ontario's energy needs, which is...well, a start, if nothing else. Now how about some investment in nanosolar technology, Ontario? And rocket-packs? Can we have environmentally friendly rocket-packs?

With Toronto FC's home opener drawing near, today's trip in the wayback machine stops at an earlier point in the city's professional soccer history, offering "super summer nights" for a pair of twenties.

City council says up to 2,500 tonnes of dog poop are deposited in park trash bins every year. This is problematic since our garbage dumps in Michigan refuse to take it. So where should we put our growing heap of canine feces? Councillor Pam McConnell (Ward 28, Toronto Centre-Rosedale) thinks the city should provide green bins in parks, while Councillor Paula Fletcher (Ward 30, Toronto-Danforth) doesn't think it's a big deal for dog owners to carry the waste home and flush/compost it. What are your thoughts on this crap?

If you're a red-blooded Toronto sports fan you probably already have your Toronto FC season tickets in hand, waiting for the big kick-off against the Kansas City Wizards and the day Beckham arrives.