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A Roar

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I was walking home through Hart House Circle, in the heart of the largely-deserted University of Toronto. There were not a lot of people around. I had left work some time after five, knowing that the Germany-Italy World Cup semi-final game was scoreless and had gone into extra time. As I passed University College — a long way from any kind of large gathering spot for soccer fans — I heard a dull roar of voices in the distance, coming from every direction. I thought to myself, “Italy just scored.” (There aren’t enough German fans in Toronto to make that sound). I checked my watch and saw that it was almost 5:30, almost the end of extra time, and Italy must have effectively just won. But I couldn’t quite believe I would have actually heard this happen.

Sure enough, I was right. Italy scored two minutes before the end of extra time, and I heard it happen in the middle of a largely deserted university campus. I don’t know what to make of this, but it’s pretty extraordinary.

(Italy scored a second very quickly after. I seem to remember hearing a further roar, but I thought it must simply be the end of the game — which happened right after).

photo by Mondo 

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4 comments

  1. It really was quite a party last night at St. Clair and Dufferin. As I biked up the hill I could hear the honking cars and the side streets full of parked cars. But this party was much, much bigger than bunches of Honda Civics and SUVs honking down St. Clair. The entire street was a party and packed full of people. The cops had closed down access to the street to cars.

    One guy told me that many people had come down from places like Woodbridge to celebrate.

    I really enjoy these pedestrian parties a lot more than close calls from honking, speeding cars.

  2. wow, that anecdote about the roar is pretty cool. for all the criticisms of and downsides to world cup celebrations in toronto, it’s nice to hear about something like that.

  3. I heard the same roar today, deep in King’s College Circle. It was really remarkable, I know how you felt.

  4. It turns out there were a bunch of people watching at Hart House, right near where I was, which explains some of the sound. But it came from a lot of different directions, so it wasn’t just that.