NYC Tomek Checking In!

nyc tomek

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Mar 23, 2014
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Hey everyone, nyc tomek reporting for duty, just found out about this upstart community last night. Just wanted to say a few words about myself.

A couple of you may recognize my handle from the twitterverse, I certainly am glad to see some familiar names as well.

I'm of Polish descent, Tomek being the diminutive form of my name, you can all just call me Thomas for simplicity's sake. I'm approaching my mid-twenties, and though hockey was my first love (I could name every Ranger by kindergarten and used to spend hours looking at the backs of old cards), I've also been following soccer/football from a very young age. My first memory of the game is Baggio's infamous penalty miss at the 1994 World Cup, but probably the most vivid memory I have, which made me fall in love with the game, is Michael Owen's wondergoal against Argentina in the '98 World Cup. As luck would have it, we then took a family trip to France that summer, and the football-mad atmosphere I experienced there was like nothing else I've seen before or since. That only served to further indoctrinate me. The Michael Owen jersey my parents finally bought me after hours of begging didn't hurt, either.

These days, I think it's safe to say that the sport has now comfortably supplanted hockey on the tier list of my favorite sports. The countless hours I spent playing Football Manager in my teen years only cemented - and attest to - that. It's honestly hard NOT to fall in love with the game (of football) once you're exposed to the vast, intricate and interconnected nature of it's landscape, I find. More and more of our compatriots are starting to see the light too, which is great news.

As far as NYCFC itself is concerned, my story isn't really different to any of yours. I just never could feel that connection with NJRB. I'd go to their games because I love football and because the stadium is admittedly nice. But I never felt that intrinsic link. Supporting them just felt unnatural, my heart was never in it. They say you don't choose your club, your club chooses you. Well, that never happened. Until there was talk of bringing a team to the city. Until there was NYCFC.

To be fair, I have every reason not to support NYCFC. I don't like Manchester City, their majority owners and, in the eyes of the fans, their big brothers. I don't like the Yankees. The disappointment of the eventuality of a home in the Bronx (and not in my home borough, Queens) was also difficult to take, although it is starting to dissipate over time.

Despite everything that would lead me to feel the contrary, I love this club. Although a ball hasn't been kicked yet, this club now means everything to me. Slowly but surely over the last couple of years, I have gone from being a full-blown, unabashed Euro-snob, to staunch lover and defender of all things MLS.

The way I see it, the opportunity to be a part of something from its very inception, to able to together forge a culture and history, is far more important than any tenuous links to clubs which could be severed over time. The Yankees and Man City will one day leave. They will be footnotes. NYCFC will remain, my friends.

NYCFC will remain.
 
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Quick note, I will (hopefully soon!) be starting an NYCFC related website, so keep your eyes open and follow me on twitter @nyc_tomek if interested. Don't worry, it won't be a forum to compete with this one. ;)

Looking forward to being an active part of the community, thanks for reading!
 
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Thanks for joining! After seeing your handle I immediately suspected Polish heritage. Do you live in Q Or Bk?

We have a similar background as far as our sports tastes go too. Love NYR (congrats to Henrik!)

I look forward to seeing what you have in mind for an NYCFC website. Even if it is direct competition with this forum, this is all about the fans. Then MLS and NYCFC. Lastly are the SG's and forums.

Cheers, and welcome!
 
Thanks for the welcome.

It's probably something you'll be interested in so I'll mention that I found this forum when it was retweeted by the supporters group account on twitter.

As far as the website is concerned, I plan to start it with a friend of mine, Chris, who I suspect will also join this forum soon enough. However, as I said in my post, I don't intend for it to be competition for this forum. If anything, I could see us having a mutually beneficial relationship. Maybe work in tandem. We'll see.

Planning for the site to be a comprehensive blog of sorts, although I plan for it to be far more in-depth in terms of both layout and content. That is to say, not just opinion and fluff pieces, but analysis using every available resource (not least important of which being our eyes ;)) and a comprehensive statistical database built-in to the site. My friend and I will likely produce a podcast as well to go along with that.

But I didn't come here to advertise the planned site, that was just an aside. As I said, I'm looking forward to being an active member of both this forum and the SG in general.

I'm originally from Queens.

P.S. Watching Henrik over the last 9 years has been an absolute privilege. I've followed him since his days in Sweden, and knew he'd be good once he dominated NHL competition in the lockout season, but never did I think he'd reach the heights he has.