This MLS Cup final tonight amounts to more than just a championship.
It’s been “10 years in the making,” according to the sloganeering picked up by Michael Bradley and his mates. That’s a comfortable conceit and certainly applies within the walls of Toronto FC, until recently the most unique combination of boffo and disaster as any sports outfit here has ever delivered.
Look a little beyond, though, and there’s far more going on for far longer to get us to this point where Liberty Village, a community of shoebox condos and businesses that barely existed a decade ago has become ground zero for the TFC pre-game party, where this championship game sold out three minutes after tickets went on general sale, and where last month’s playoff run delivered rising and ultimately record TV numbers.