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Why FCC Resonates

Panorama During Home Opener 3/17/19 

January 9th, 2016 is a date you will not find associated with FC Cincinnati. However, it is a day that I believe is the most important date in the growth of this club.

150 days prior, FC Cincinnati was announced. I heard the news while driving home from work. I remember rolling my eyes and laughing at the idea of another minor league team in Cincinnati. We are a major league city. Home to the first professional sports team in the country. We had a football team vying for home field advantage in the playoffs. Why would this city get overly excited for another minor league team that was destined to fail? The list of hockey, indoor football, soccer, basketball and probably ultimate frisbee teams that have come and gone is too long to mention. Yes, some of those games were fun to attend, but not to emotionally invest in.

I was in attendance when the Bengals played that team from Western Pennsylvania on January 9th. I had said all week leading up to the game that this was the game the Bengals had to win if they wanted to get over the hump. It had to be against this team. Just the way the Red Sox had to beat the Yankees in the playoffs before they could win a World Series, the Bengals had to finally overcome the villains to our east. The game started horribly. It appeared we were about to lose again. Then something happened. Giovani Bernard was assaulted and knocked out cold. No flag was thrown even though our running back laid motionless on the turf. Not only did a penalty NOT get called, but the play was challenged and the officials decided that our nearly dead running back had fumbled the ball and it was awarded to our rival. I have never felt so much anger in my life. The stadium erupted and a new energy was filling the building. The collective rage in PBS that day is something I will NEVER forget. That energy led to the Bengals taking the lead and then an interception to seal the win. The journey from rage to jubilation was at a break neck pace. There was hugging, screaming, and nearly tears. We had done it. All I could think was, that this was our moment. Just as the aforementioned Red Sox came back from a 3-0 hole, we had done the unthinkable and won this game… I don’t need to tell you what happened next, but the train derailed. Scars were left. Just as the Reds had done to us against the Giants in 2012, our city’s sports fans were left at the alter yet again…

Fast forward 1,163 days. March 17, 2019, a day that marks a promise kept. That stupid minor league team that had so arrogantly announced its arrival and intentions to become a Major League Soccer franchise was now hosting an MLS game.

I was not one of FCCs first fans. In fact, I didn’t attend a game until their second season. I had nothing left to invest. Why should I get my heart broken again by a minor league team at that? Once I went, however, I was hooked. By the third season I was sharing season tickets with my brother. I was reading soccer blogs, I was relearning all the soccer knowledge I had gained playing eight years of SAY soccer. (Not to brag, but I was a hell of a middle fullback in fifth grade.) As much fun as it was, I was still waiting for the bottom to fall out. MLS was going to pass us by and instead invite the larger, flashier cities. Cincinnati wasn’t going to get out of its own way. Political fighting would prevent the team from building the mandatory soccer specific stadium. Something was going to derail all the promise and excitement. 

None of that happened, somehow we finally got good news. Nippert Stadium was electric. Not only was OUR team succeeding but they were happy to be there. The difference between FCC and the other teams in this city is that they have embraced the city, whereas at times it feels the other teams expect us to embrace them. They are weaving themselves into the sports tapestry that is Cincinnati Sports. The other teams are taking notice as well. Both the Reds and Bengals seem to be making positive changes. They see what this city is craving and now must catch up. We now know that it is possible for good things to happen in this city for the sports fan.

Thank you FCC for helping this city realize we are not just an afterthought to the rest of the country. This city is a great place for sports and we are not going to allow ourselves to be defined by our failures anymore.

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