Fiddle was matched up against NYC Chris, playing for NYCFC. Here is Fiddle, fresh off his PSG escape, once again forced to battle against Middle Eastern oil money. NYC Chris was the odds on favorite, with Fiddle given very little chance and even less respect. But it was quickly time to clean egg off of faces as Fiddle scored the opening goal, leaving NYC Chris flummoxed, confused, and grasping at electronic straws. Without an air fiddle goal celebration to completely bury Chris’ confidence, Fiddle left himself vulnerable. Expectedly, NYC Chris answered back with a goal almost immediately, tying things up. In my palatial home office, I clapped, groaned, yelped and cursed throughout the game. My five year old son was sound asleep one door over, and I thought about waking him for what would surely be a formative memory. Better judgement prevailed. Finally around the 70’ mark of the second half, Fiddle struck on a delicious counter attack, grabbing the lead, and never letting it go. NYC Chris struggled to make sense of it all, and took to Twitter to blame his loss on an internet LAG, mostly created in his head. A barrage of FCC supporters flocked to his account, pointing out his sour grapes and sore loserness. Embarrassed and dejected, NYC Chris deleted his tweets, and rightfully admitted his loss was fair and just.

By then, something had happened. Something nobody could have expected. Not only did we watch this together as supporters; we truly cared. From the bottom of our orange and blue hearts, the defeat of NYC Chris felt very much like a victory on the hallowed grounds of #TheNip. The night wasn’t over yet though, and we watched the other matchups with a keen eye, awaiting Fiddle’s semifinal opponent. Storylines abounded, too many to name here, but all of us were quickly wrapped up in the soap opera of eMLS League Series One. When it came time for Fiddle to face off with a young Irishman named Doolsta, we had already meme’d the matchup and thrown our passion behind Fids.

The outcome of Fiddle vs Doolsta is irrelevant at this point. Needless to say, NYC Chris may have had a point about the LAG he experienced. Doolsta was able to grab a few, borderline illegal goals against Fiddle in the first half… and the second half. But for all those who watched, Fiddle was already our champion. Tuesday had bled into Wednesday, with Fiddle’s match taking us past midnight, and the entire event started to feel like some remarkable dream. We had yelled, cursed, virtually high fived and excessively urinated, all for a video game. The old me (the one from a few hours prior) wouldn't have even recognized the new me. “I am an eMLS enthusiast”, I quietly said into the mirror of my dark bathroom. There was no going back. Those of us on Pride Slack took in the moment together, and commented on this brave new world we had entered. When you get a glimpse of the future, even for just one brief evening, you make sure to remember the feeling.

This isn’t the last for me, The Pride, and eMLS. Far from it. This is the new reality, taking place, in virtual reality. Adi can score goals, but Fiddle can as well, from the comfort of a gaming chair, in a production warehouse in Los Angeles. That’s something special as well. Until next time, hold your sticks tight, and I’ll see you all on the web.