Paul Daugherty: FC Cincinnati to MLS not business as usual, and that's a good thing

Ears to the ground are hearing great news about Futbol Club Cincinnati’s short but not always sweet march to Major League Soccer. MLS officials have announced they will be in town Tuesday, to make the proverbial “major announcement.’’ It won’t involve apologizing to us for missing the cut.

Two and two is four this time. After a long winter of false springs, dashed hopes, annoyance, impatience and the occasional to-hell-with-it, all the apparentlys have been removed. Cincinnati is going to be a major-league soccer town.

That’s good news on its own. But it’s a lesser triumph when compared with the good that it speaks about who we are and who we can be. Soccer fans will rejoice. Sports fans will smile. Lovers of our region will nod in approval. A pro sport with big appeal to young adults and young families is a fine addition to our resume.

But it’s even bigger and better than that.

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Bringing the MLS to our midsized, modest, conservative corner was, in some very important respects, a grassroots movement. From the stout support of The Bailey denizens and the Minivan Families, to the door-to-door selling that Jeff Berding undertook (literally) in the West End, this was a bunch of people from all walks, gathering to dream big and agree on something progressive and good for our area. We don’t often do that here.

In my 30 years here, our conservative approach to the world has been exceeded only by our inability to sing our own praises. Civic confidence has never been a civic strength. We find reasons not to come together, not to do things.

Even the great things we’ve done get pilloried. We don’t marvel at the rise of the central riverfront. We complain about the sales tax.

Some of it is geography, some of it is politics. Ironically, some of it is our belief that we here in the Republic of Cincinnati – cozied into the southwest corner of the state, not really Midwestern, not quite Southern, nothing in common with Cleveland, not huge Ohio State football fans – are a unique and favored lot.

We do things here the way we’ve always done them. If you don’t like that, well, three interstates will lead you right outta town.

Not this time. We needed all sorts of people pulling in tandem on this one. Our rich diversity of competing interests mixed well with MLS’ arrogant insistence that we build a soccer-specific stadium, in a location to the league’s liking. The league didn’t want Oakley, the neighborhood and politicians fought the West End, a deal could never be reached with Newport.

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Berding became a professional optimist, negotiator, cajoler, publicist and spokesperson. When did Hoop-Jumping become an Olympic sport? Berding once told me that if Cincinnati ever got an MLS bid, he’d celebrate by taking a nap.

I don’t know this, but I’ve witnessed things that would make me believe it. During times when he most needed a boost, Berding would seek out a favored futbol watering hole. (There are more than a few around here these days. It’s not just Hap’s and Rhinehaus anymore.)

There, he’d be enveloped in enough enthusiasm and genuine concern to convince him the community would carry the day. Not politicians or wealthy business owners, but rather the people at large. “The supporters,’’ they’re called, and as it turned out, Berding was right. Same ol’ Cincinnati has been turned on its ear.

One day last week, for my daily blog on Cincinnati.com, The Morning Line, I asked readers if the proposed West End stadium site would dissuade them from attending games. It’s not considered a “safe’’ neighborhood by some. I recalled the subtle, anti-Broadway Commons campaign from two decades ago, when that area was being considered for the new Reds ballpark.

“Safe’’ is a loaded term and as it turns out, thankfully outdated.

Readers told me the location made no difference. Some admonished my thinking. Washington Park is close by. Music Hall, the night life of OTR. Where have you been the last 10 years, Doc?

Ignoring the great signs, obviously.

Young people with fresh ideas and big enthusiasm have no time for “how we’ve always done it.’’ They’re Can Do by nature. We need to thank them and, just as important, keep them in town.

They helped bring the big dream home.

From the day FC Cincinnati entered the United Soccer League, the goal of its ownership group was membership in the MLS. The group wanted the good business MLS would provide. It wanted, too, for Cincinnati to surf the rising wave of pro soccer. That, too, is good business.

Now, it’s here. We dreamed huge. The dream came true. This isn’t simply a win for soccer in Cincinnati. That’s the least of it. It’s a win for a healthier way for us to look at the world, and our place in it.