Quote Originally Posted by tfcfans View Post
I think some people are equating "quitting the team" or "stop supporting the team" as the only reason why some would drop ST. I would suggest in this economy (especially when many are working in jobs with little to no long-term security) there are a multitude of reasons why someone may drop ST and be no less of a fan - maybe finances or life situations (people get sick, have to take care of loved ones, get married, have a child, move away, etc.) are the real reason behind some dropping the seats and the frustration of venting about the team on here, is their means of dealing with what might be a difficult life situation elsewhere - ie. I'll vent about this stuff (including potentially dropping their ST) becuase this is ultimately just "entertainment" and not a "real life" thing (in fact its a distraction from real life in most cases) -- and this is a "bad thing" I can "punish" - while an illness or unemployment may be harder to "punish".....most of us are anonymous posters on this board - and we only see 1% or less of the person behind the posts in most cases ---- I have been fortunate to meet and get to know some of the people here as I have been a Year One member of RPB and there are lots of great people who have come and gone through the group and even through my section as a STH (I'm sure some are still big fans and others maybe not) - sometimes "stuff" happens in their lives that we aren't privy to, so I try to take all of the things I see on here (and the internet in general) with a HUGE grain of salt....

I laugh about this sometimes as a few years ago, the couple with the ST beside me who were regular attendees started to come less and less and I wondered if they had given up their seats as they seemed like "big fans" --- a few years later they reappeared with a baby in tow (and named him Gio!) and it all made sense -- I had no idea as to why they weren't coming to the games, I guess they were busy with more important stuff.....
Yeah always good not to judge because you don't know anyone's circumstances.

I bought seasons in second season in 2008. It was great to have MLS soccer in Toronto. Did my roadtrips to watch them as well. Life was good. My wife then got sick with a permanent and terrible illness and had to go on disability. Losing all that income and gaining huge medical bills for the last 10 years does some damage and causes one to redo their mortgage a few times as the debt piles up. My trips to BMO Field on game day was my vacation away from it all for a few hours and therapy for me actually. My family wanted to attend more games with me as a family so we added the extra pair beside my original pair and it worked out for a couple seasons but now my wife is sicker and makes it to less games and my daughter stays with her at home especially for the colder games because my wife's illness can't handle it. Now that medical bills are getting even bigger in recent years and the kids are on the brink of being 18 so we will lose more income plus they need to go to university it will be a bigger hit to our finances soon enough and every penny counts to keep life afloat. I am not saying this to everyone as a "pity poor me" story or anything but I am saying this because nobody would know my situation but may be quick to judge if I said I was giving up my seats. In my conversations about it with some fans I know I have already heard about how cheap my tickets are compared to other season tickets for other sports and how crazy or stupid I am if I am ever giving them up. I have been asked why I am not a fan anymore. Giving up seasons is nothing to do with being a fan or not. One thing I learned from our tough life in the last decade is that you can't judge anyone based on outward appearance because you never know what is going on at home. I would be at the stadium if I could win or lose every day of the season if I could. I just might be forced out by life's circumstances even at the good prices I have. That is just life and it is not the same for everyone. Giving up my seasons would be a hard pill to swallow for my whole family because it will just be one more thing we have to lose due to my wife's illness and situation. I will see what happens when the pricing comes out.