November 30, 2017 - 1:40 PM
TORONTO - Greg Vanney hasn't done much wrong this season. But hand the MLS coach of year a drumstick and watch out.
The Toronto FC coach was still hearing it Thursday for his drum performance in leading the BMO Field south stand fans in a Viking chant after dispatching Columbus 1-0 in the Eastern Conference final.
Banging the drum in front of the stand is usually awarded to the star of the game. Vanney got the honour Wednesday, only to forget at one point that he had to hit the drum twice each time.
"It's become a great talking point and (made for) some good humour amongst our staff here (and) the players," a somewhat sheepish Vanney said Thursday. "I told them I felt like I should spin the wheel and pay my fine for that.
"Some other people gave me excuses that I could ride but I'll tell you that when the game ended, my mind was in so many different places (that) I was trying to hide from the drumstick, to be fair. I couldn't hide far enough."
He did it right to start with but said he lost track of how many times to hit it when he started counting when to bang the drum so as to speed up the clapping.
"Then I hit it once and I was waiting for everyone to clap. Nobody clapped and (I thought) 'Oh, that's me. I've got to hit it again.' Then it was all off. Yes, that was embarrassing. I'm sure I'll show up in the worst plays of the month or something somewhere."
"But it wouldn't be the playoffs if we weren't talking something other than soccer, right?" he added with a smile.
"Greg Vanney. Football genius, lousy drum major," tweeted Daniel Knee.
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News from © The Canadian Press, 2017