A Positive Impact

When Joey Saputo brought the Montreal Impact to Montreal, there was a buzz. A new phenomenon was coming to town. The excitement was palpable.

For some reason, though, besides the season opener (and when a certain Mr.Beckham was in town) attendance was low. The anticipation had subsided when fans and casual observers alike realized that this team might not be very good.  There is a honeymoon period with any expansion team; but in a city that sets its expectations at Stanley Cup or bust every year, it just felt right to expect instant success, even if this team only started to fully come together about a month ago.

Thankfully, for fans of soccer and for people who will certainly jump on the Impact bandwagon sooner or later, Saputo is a good owner. He wants to win, he has the means to put the best possible product on the field, and he’s a passionate Montrealer that people can relate too (financial status notwithstanding).

Perhaps most importantly though, is that he listens. He listened when people clamored for professional soccer in Montreal. He listened when people complained (yes, complained) about ticket prices being too high.  A lot of these early issues with the new team in town brought back haunting memories of the Montreal Expos; a bad-to-mediocre team with a “poor” location (don’t get me started), but Saputo halted that train of thought before it could gather any steam.

Fans have slowly started to fill up the stadium; and Saputo has thanked them, by shelling out big dollars to Italian superstar striker Marco Di Vaio, who has finally started putting the ball in the net on a consistent basis, and legendary defender Alessandro Nesta, a pillar on the backline, despite his now advanced soccer age of 36 years. 

All of this good karma, it seems, has translated onto the pitch. Before this weekend’s loss to Columbus Crew (a heartbreaking one, at that), the Impact had strung together five straight wins and were making a serious push for one of the last available playoff spots. 

In the long run, a playoff berth this season is not of the utmost importance. The Impact just needed to leave a mark. They needed to show this city what they were about, that this team was not just any old run-of-the-mill sideshow rolling through town for a few years. If Saputo continues along this steady route of building his team, then the Impact could eventually become a fixture of the Montreal sports culture, along with the Alouettes-not quite at the level of the Montreal Canadiens, but always in our minds and hearts. 

Andrew Maggio Hosts The Game Misconduct on Sundays from 12:00pm to 1