2025-11-09, 05:53 PM - Word count:
As I type this, the final of the Canadian Premier League is being played in Ottawa.
Outdoors.
In a snowstorm.
It is possibly the most Canadian thing ever to watch the highlights, and I'm mesmerized the the highlights trickling out, including what was instantly (and correctly) called the greatest goal in league history, a bicycle kick to clobber a bouncing ball into the corner of the net off the crossbar.
I see players with names like Rodriguez and Dos Santos playing in more snow than they may have seen in their entire childhoods. It is a marvel.
All of this makes me think of what playing in Montreal is like in the SSL. A player like Tlacaelel Tepoztli comes from the highlands of Mexico, 2000m or more above sea level. While places like Mexico City might be nearly permanently "room temperature", nearly leaves room to have at least seen a snowflake or three, as often as once every other year.
But 7-10cm of snow accumulating on the pitch during the match is extreme. Having a snowplow break before the first half of supplemental time when the game was tied 1-1 after 90 minutes is rare. I even wonder whether anyone thought to substitute a dark coloured ball in place of the white one.
I have no idea whether FM24 is capable of delivering us a "snow bowl" game. No ground game is possible, the ball must be moved in the air. Dribbling is not a thing. The pace and acceleration that define the SSL's play are neatly and uniquely nerfed to a slow trudginess.
It would be an extreme pleasure to see a Reykjavik or Montreal game deliver such insane pitch conditions. And one could only hope to hear @Metafiction calling the match with childlike glee. But I ask too much of our engine, so I will instead turn my attention back to this real-world soccer that feels less real than sim-league soccer on this one glorious and ridiculous occasion.
Outdoors.
In a snowstorm.
It is possibly the most Canadian thing ever to watch the highlights, and I'm mesmerized the the highlights trickling out, including what was instantly (and correctly) called the greatest goal in league history, a bicycle kick to clobber a bouncing ball into the corner of the net off the crossbar.
I see players with names like Rodriguez and Dos Santos playing in more snow than they may have seen in their entire childhoods. It is a marvel.
All of this makes me think of what playing in Montreal is like in the SSL. A player like Tlacaelel Tepoztli comes from the highlands of Mexico, 2000m or more above sea level. While places like Mexico City might be nearly permanently "room temperature", nearly leaves room to have at least seen a snowflake or three, as often as once every other year.
But 7-10cm of snow accumulating on the pitch during the match is extreme. Having a snowplow break before the first half of supplemental time when the game was tied 1-1 after 90 minutes is rare. I even wonder whether anyone thought to substitute a dark coloured ball in place of the white one.
I have no idea whether FM24 is capable of delivering us a "snow bowl" game. No ground game is possible, the ball must be moved in the air. Dribbling is not a thing. The pace and acceleration that define the SSL's play are neatly and uniquely nerfed to a slow trudginess.
It would be an extreme pleasure to see a Reykjavik or Montreal game deliver such insane pitch conditions. And one could only hope to hear @Metafiction calling the match with childlike glee. But I ask too much of our engine, so I will instead turn my attention back to this real-world soccer that feels less real than sim-league soccer on this one glorious and ridiculous occasion.
