“Football is played on grass.”



This was the most consistent message from season seat holders on the other side of the telephone in the early days of Toronto FC when BMO Field was still layered with plastic.



Canada’s first Major League Soccer team switched to the natural order in time for the 2010 season. While that year is otherwise forgettable, nobody will begrudge that BMO Field finally had that freshly cut lawn scent.



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Grass is one of the biggest arguments for BMO Field proponents as the venue for the Champions League quarterfinal match against Los Angeles in March of 2012. The alternative: Rogers Centre.



Yes, it will be cold in March at the outdoor stadium by Lake Ontario. But the purist heart is hardened. It won’t melt and spread two kilometers east to the confines of an indoor baseball stadium with a carpeted floor. It’s not grass.



BMO in early March has problems that can’t be glossed over. First, will 22,000 souls embrace the cold and give this match the attention it deserves? Many passed on the early MLS calendar in 2011 under frigid conditions, but those weren’t defining games for a fledgling club under new management. The opener in 2012 will be one in a series of vital matches dating back to CCL group stage. Can persuasion and a parka do the trick?



From emotional to practical: frozen pipes, cold concessions and potentially unsafe stands. However, if BMO Field was able to hold MLS Cup Final in mid-November, can a few fixings be pitched for March?



Shifting the spotlight back on Rogers Centre, one wonders who will occupy those 30,000 additional seats. CCL matches hadn’t been well attended as TFC slogged its way through the group stage of the prestigious tournament. But how much media attention will Champions League receive when fighting for column inches against a long-awaited Toronto Maple Leafs playoff run, alongside pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training? BMO Field is on par with expectation.



If fans are willing to give up some – probably many – comforts to usher in from first whistle a promising 2012 with continental triumph at stake, then our house in its natural green glory is the way to go.



Fans are split between venues and while neither they, my pro-Rogers Centre counterpart Mike Ulmer, nor I have the deciding vote, we do have a voice and can only make it heard.



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