Thank you Papi.
I’d been sitting on this piece for what feels like months now, but never found the energy to put it together. I jumped on to write here at BigD the same time Oscar Pareja came back to FC Dallas, so his arrival was always connected to mine in some weird way. So his exit was difficult to process. In fact, the first time I saw FC Dallas play in person was actually Pareja’s first game in charge - down in San Antonio for a pre-season friendly.
I don’t really remember the game, but I do remember a nice contingency of FCD fans made the trip, primarily made up of members of the Dallas Beer Guardians, and as Pareja made his first appearance on the field during warm ups, the fans erupted in the “Papi!