Who's got the orange ball?

Day -553. WorldCup2018

The pitch is in perfect condition, the time and place of the pre-game street party has been announced, the fans have their tickets (thousands of others have complained that they couldn't buy any while others have been selling them on re-sale websites for big profits), the press conferences have started and their is definitely a buzz for Toronto's football team, on the verge of giving the City a rare winner. What else do we need? The orange ball.

Years ago, watching on TV, I was always captivated by the orange (red?) ball that was used when a match was played in snow. It made it seem so exotic, and exciting, that the players needed a ball they could see through the snow. And this was before I had ever experienced snow. So it wasn't just the sight of the different coloured ball. It was what it signified- that this mysterious, cold, white stuff was coming down so hard that the players wouldn't be able to see a white ball. And if a groundsman had to run on with a shovel or a broom to clear snow off the lines, then it was another level of wow-ness.

It's snowing in Toronto tonight. The forecast chance of snow for Saturday keeps changing. But wouldn't it be great if the referee rolled out the orange ball. Even it wasn't snowing at kickoff, the sight of that ball would mean that somebody thinks there is a good chance it could turn snowy. I believe it was Nick Hornby who wrote in his excellent book, Fever Pitch, that the ingredients for a good football match are rain, a mid-week night kickoff and a brawl amongst the players (I paraphrase). There is something about a player sliding into a tackle on a muddy pitch and carrying on with that slide for a further twenty metres down the pitch with another player attached to him. Now imagine that with the sliding mass of two players shrouded in a cloud of snow and an orange ball flying out of the white chaos. The snow, Mr. Hornby, would be the last special ingredient.

It's going to be cold on Saturday night. Wind chill could make it feel like -9C. That is going to be a unique enough experience. But add in some blowing snow, mixed in with the TFC fans' non-stop chanting and bouncing and that will be an atmosphere like no other.

The orange ball, ref. Don't forget the orange ball. Bring it and it will come.