"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way."

These words of the writer Charles Dickens, that are the first of his novel, A Tale of Two Cities, could be used to describe the passionate, contradictory and fragile situation of the San Lorenzo de Almagro athletic club on the 1st of April, 2012. It's not the first time that our dear club has been on the ropes in terms of sports, politics or the institution...and probably won't be the last. Our history has always been exciting, and often troubled. Let's be honest: we don't go for easy things. "We had everything before us, we had nothing before us." That is not a contradiction. That's the way life is. What we always have before us is the possibility and hope of creating what we crave as supporters, as members, as true Cuervos. Relying on our glorious history, we always have the choice of requiring the best from our club, the best from ourselves. It's a question of one's point of view, of criteria, of individual and group codes. The question is what do we want to contribute, being optimistic or not. We are what we imagine and what we do. We will be what we want to be.

We celebrate our 104th birthday with our usual pride, even more pride than ever now that we are suffering a little. We suffer together and everyone together is San Lorenzo. We'll continue singing, "I go with you everywhere..." until death. Whatever other supporters say, there is no other [club] in the world that would have been able to unite 100 thousand people like ours did on March 8 for the Historical Restitution [tr. note: the march held for return of San Lorenzo to Boedo]. There are no other supporters that feel the colors like we feel them. It's an honor to be a member of this great family that always faces up to things, is straightforward, that never surrenders. A happy day to everyone. HOLD ON LIKE HELL, CICLON!