Columbus Pilgrimage

By Peter Mallett Globe & Mail

TFC supporters gear up for Crew
TORONTO — As an estimated 2,500 red-clad Toronto FC fans prepared themselves for Saturday’s pilgrimage south for a Major League Soccer match against the Columbus Crew, the cities’ two political leaders exchanged good-natured jabs.

“I didn’t like Toronto FC last year, and I don’t like them now,” Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman said yesterday, while rededicating a street adjacent to 22,555-seat Crew Stadium as Champions Way in recognition of the team’s 2008 MLS Cup victory.

While TFC have been a box-office smash at home, the third-year MLS franchise has yet to make the playoffs or beat the Crew, their rival in the annual three-game regular-season Trillium Cup competition.

Last year, the Crew went 1-0-2 against TFC to claim the honour – a sore point with Toronto Mayor David Miller, who said he and his Columbus counterpart will make another gentleman’s wager ahead of Saturday’s game.

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