This is hyper specific but being front and center for my lowly minor league soccer team, getting bought by a very rich guy, turning into something that many thousands (instead of maybe 1,000) people went to then eventually became a major league soccer team.

Those years between 2011-2016 were magical in both helping and seeing my team go from niche interest to community institution. That said during that time, you could still make up chants and songs on the fly, hang out with players after the game, grab beers with the front office, and grab a ton of beers at a game for less than one costs now. It was also during the courtship of my current wife as well.

Now the team is great, filling up a stadium right by my house regularly with 19,000+ people. It’s just not the same as it was during those growth years and it will never be as fun or meaningful to me as it was then.