Two weeks ago the Philadelphia Union was in the midst of a month-long winless streak and took on NYCFC. The match would end a 2-1 loss for the boys in blue and was their unprecedented fourth loss in a row at home. But that wasn’t what stole the headlines that night. It was a Raccoon that made its way into the stadium and onto the field for a run-about! Thus Raccoonion was born!
A retelling of the Raccoon incident as seen by Union fans
It was a crazy scene; I can recall it so vividly. I was standing in the River End watching the Union get torn apart by a clinical NYCFC side. Philly was making sloppy mistakes and fans wanted something to cheer about. That’s when it happened. “THAT’S A RACCOON IN THE STANDS,” shouted a fan. Everyone who was in earshot in section 139 turned their attention away from the pitch and made their way to where the fan was pointing. Sure enough, there was a raccoon running from the concourse up the steps toward section 101.
At that moment, the raccoon disappeared from sight, running under fans legs. You could spot where the little trash panda was by looking at which Union fans stood up in unison like they were doing the wave. Soon, the raccoon was spotted in the middle of the stadium, right by the player’s benches. I’ve never seen a group of substitutes risk pulling a hammy as fast as the Union’s and City’s benches did as the raccoon scurried past the benches. That’s when we all knew what was coming next… the wide open spaces of a freshly rained on patch of grass birthed Raccoonion.
Raccoonion scampered onto the pitch and for a few seconds the players and officials on the field didn’t notice it, but the more than 18,000 fans in the stadium, the camera crews, and the announcers sure did see it! All of a sudden everyone in the stadium was mesmerized by this four-legged phenom stroking about the field like it owned the place. The raccoon scampered through midfield and toward the far corner of the stadium. The small mammal even tried to climb up onto the far advertising board; after a few failed attempts it got up on top and tried to tiptoe down the boards but slipped and fell back onto the field. That’s when things really got going.
Now obviously frightened and tired the raccoon laid down just inside the NYCFC box, but just for a quick moment as members of the grounds crew and staff were out trying to rescue this creature. The fight/flight instinct kicked in and Raccoonion started running on the pitch again. It evaded all that were trying to catch it comically and went on a run down the right wing making its way to the River End.
As it was chased it changed direction to not get cornered and turned back the other way. After a long chase sequence, members of the ground crew were able to secure it in a trash can of all things. The trash panda was then taken out of the stadium and released in some nearby natural habitat.
Is Raccoonion a good or bad omen?
Raccoonion spent 161 seconds on the field and took MLS and the nation by storm. Everywhere you looked for the remainder of the week you saw footage of this raccoon on the field. It made local, national, and global news overnight making this little raccoon a sensation. Unfortunately, Philly lost that match and continued a bad run, but later that week the Union would break their winless streak with a 3-0 win at New England. They followed that up with a draw on the road at Charlotte. Could we be seeing an unbeaten streak now forming after seeing a raccoon on the pitch?
We will find out tonight as the Union takes on Toronto FC in Philly’s first match back at Subaru Park since Raccoonion graced the field. Will we look back and see this raccoon encounter as the thing that helped the Union turn around its form? Tune in tonight to see if Philly can get back to their winning ways at home against red-hot Toronto FC. If they can, then I think we have to think of Raccoonion as a good omen rather than a negative one!
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Doop on Union fans!
Mandatory Credit: Philadelphia Union
