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The play keeps going on, and you're like: “Wait, I think we're actually good here?!�

That was today.

That was here in the gymnasium at the Mathews-Dickey Boys' and Girls' Club as it all just seemed too good to be true: St. Louis is very, very close to getting a privately funded soccer stadium.

On stage, in front of a blue banner with the fresh new hashtag #MLS4THELOU, the Taylor family announced they've partnered with Jim Kavanaugh and his family to privately finance a soccer stadium in downtown St. Louis. No votes. Just families who care about St. Louis and have the means to make St. Louis a Major League Soccer town.

You thought the Taylors made a splash on the local sports scene with naming rights of the Enterprise Center? This is next-level.

“It's incredibly exciting, it really is,� Jim Kavanaugh told me afterward, while he wore a soccer scarf featuring the flag of St. Louis. “To see that we have all the right pieces of the puzzle put together — the support of the city and political leaders — it's just very exciting to see what we can do not only for soccer in St. Louis and the energy and support behind it, but also what we can do for the community. I think this is a big piece of the puzzle for St. Louis overall, with all the things going on downtown. It's so complementary with what's going on.�

So when could St. Louis have a team playing MLS games?

“We're shooting for probably 2022,� he said. “There's just different things with the timing. First we have to get through the application process with MLS. There are some things we need to do with the city and state that are moving pretty efficiently and expeditiously. Once we get those things underway, and get support of the MLS, then it's how long will it take us to build a stadium? I would bet it's going to take 18 months to two years to build it, maybe a little quicker, depending on the design.�

This soccer town deserves MLS. Today, a line was drawn in the sand. The past is the past. This is the current (and future) endeavor toward getting a soccer stadium, and thus a team, in our city.

St. Louis is a soccer town. For generations, our city has been nourished by a passion for this sport. This is the town of Keough and McBride and Twellman and Glavin and Guelker; of the Soccer Park and Soccerdome; of the Stars and Steamers and Storm and Ambush; of the SLU Billikens and their 10 NCAA championships; of CBC and so many great high school soccer programs; of Scott Gallagher and Busch and Lou Fusz; of the Bronze Boot played for by the college teams SLU-SIUE; of Bill McDermott, “Mr. Soccer.�

As I've written before: St. Louis soccer culture is special because its homegrown. Many other cities — these modern metropolises like a Denver or Las Vegas — have affluent and thriving soccer cultures, too. But there's so much newness to it. Dad didn't play soccer in Denver. In St. Louis, not only did dad, but grandpa, too.

“The city is definitely ready for a team,� said Carolyn Kindle Betz of the Taylor family, who will be part of the female-led ownership group. “And as a business person, I think it's unbelievable that there's a sport that's so internationally known. And if we want to be an international city, we need to have an international sport.�

Today was a big day. St. Louis was onside — and is about to score.