The Lady Bulldog got us season tickets for section 35 row P...she's the best! Can anyone tell me how far from the top row that is? Keep an eye out for the ugly guy covered in tattoos! I'm friggin' excited!
Yeah, I'm stoked....almost the top of the section and seats 1 and 2 and my best friend have 3 and 4, so I'm getting entirely too impaitent for March.
I expect some great things from section 35 this year. It's been turned into the supporters section without the supporter bullshit. It's 26 but a bit younger and more aggressive. In short: it's what the south end should be
Granted, but don't shit on the people who have made huge investments to get us to this point. I don't think it's any younger than the other groups.
I agree with you...why so harsh on people supporting our team? I get it that you don't like them, but why throw verbal cheapshots every chance you get? I just don't get it.
That's very cool. The south end is what it is. I give them props for trying. They are making incremental improvements but I seriously doubt that they will ever rival the ECS, TA, the guys in DC and Chicago or any other supporter section around the world that people look to as examples of what a supporter group could be. To be fair I think that is probably asking too much anyway and I don't think that's what they want to be anyway. As I said I think the south end is getting better and I applaud their efforts. On the other hand I think that much credit needs to go to the folks in Section 35. I sit on the other side of the "expensive" sections on the east side in Section 3 and I am very jealous of what I see happening over there. It's what I hope would happen in our section but we are quite a ways behind. We have one or two guys making banners and 3 or 4 with flags, myself included, but compared to 35 and 26 we are way behind. I love the flags in Section 35. I just might have to start making flags instead of banners and get my section motivated. March can't get here soon enough.
I really like 26, but you guys openly admit you aren't as "hardcore" or however you want to say it, as the south end. That's your selling piece. There is nothing wrong with it. I really like your section. In this day, though, with how the league is progressing, the people that get attention are the ones that have a coordinated supporters group and/or big names. Portland isn't that big of a market, but people LOVE watching because of the atmosphere. I want RSL games to be similar. We're getting better, we're still really far off. 26 isn't at all the issue, you guys are really helping to spread the atmosphere. I honestly didn't mean it as a dig to you guys at all. I like a lot of the guys in the south end, I am just baffled by the lack of coordination and the size of egos in the varying groups. When the south end gets together on a chant, the entire stadium can hear it and participate in it. The simple "Real" chant we do with the drum beat is proof of this. What amazes me, though, is that these guys are too occupied doing their own chants and thus creating just noise and not atmosphere for 75-80 of the 90 minutes. You can see the potential of the groups when they work together, especially with the growing numbers, but there seems to be a lack of coordination (or wanting to coordinate) that is holding them back. We have enough in terms of numbers and the passion far exceeds what is needed, it's just the agreement to work together more than not that is lacking. It makes me a bit sad when Seattle or Portland fans travel down, have like a third the people of the south end, but I can hear them in 14 better and more coherent than the south end supporters.
And I can't disagree with you one bit...and that's a bit better discussion than some of the comments I've read. And you're absolutely right...it is disorganized and I think there is a few different reasons for this. One is the barrier with La Barra...I really hope that they and the rest of the SG's can work together with chants. Maybe they can learn some in English and the rest of us can learn some in Spanish and switch off every few chants...I don't know how to fix this. All I know is the two sections drown each other out. Another is the one you mentioned and that's the egos between the groups. In my experience of living in Utah is that it has a very "cliqueish" (sp?) and I have no idea how to get the heads of SCU/RCB/Royal Army together (sorry if I missed anyone there) and starting cooperating. I would love to see it though. I have been in section 9 for the past few years and it has vastly improved as supporter sections. Everyone is friends and the atmosphere is fun, despite the faults, it has grown leaps and bounds. I got season tickets for section 35, but I do plan on hanging out there a bit.
I might get in trouble for saying this, but of the official SG's, everyone but Barra is playing ball and coordinating as best they can. Big egos are definitely a problem. Section 35 isn't interested in doing lots of coordination either, but that's their thing. They didn't want to be affiliated. Bitch about it, but that's what we've got. It's going to take someone who is able and willing to sacrifice a huge chunk of their life to bring us all together. I'm not willing to do that. I just want to have a great time at the games.
It wasn't a bitch...just an explanation. As a member of a SG that has read and heard a few comments from individuals, I felt the need...I probably shouldn't have, but I did. My main point was that it's getting better, but we need to try to reach out to La Barra if we are going to have any kind of unity in that part of the stadium. And from what I take it (and I may be completely wrong), section 35 is kind of a mix of SG's and people who are independent who are doing something with a lot of promise. I give big kudos to the SG's progress, keep it going.
I have so much I'd like to say about the SGs, but I would rather not stir the pot, so I will remain quiet.
Looks like there are no more season tix left in sec. 35 - that's pretty cool. Well done, you knuckleheads!
Not true at all. The majority of the stuff happening in 35 is Royal Army (chants and streamers) while the flags and banners are a small group of friends that have nothing better to do with their lives..... (we lead a sad existence). The reality is that a few of us have tried to get others on the same page, tried to create unity and move everyone forward, but no one was having it. That's where 35 came in. Steinekert started it and what he did has drawn a lot of people to that section. Now we have our own thing and we're getting really good at it. Since the SGs weren't on the same page, we've figured it out on our own. That being said, the TIFO that the south end did towards the end of the season was quite impressive. It showed what they are capable of. I just hope we see more of it. As for 35, look for something big at the home opener and as the year goes on we'll only get more flags and banners.
My fault. I meant more that they aren't interested in getting officially deemed an SG. REading it again, it seems like a complete dig. My apologies. Obviously, they are in tune, and more people are into being a part of that during the game than 26 has ever achieved. As to the bolded part, Section 26 is the same thing, we just got persuaded into being an SG. It has its pros and cons. The main reason is the ability to go on field for flag running and now the R-S-L chant. I'd recommend trying to stay unofficial as long as possible. When problems start to arise, then the FO may start asking 35 to organize so that there is more accountability and less anonymity.
What if you are already part of a SG? Having an official SG for each section seems to only divide the masses to me. I think we need more unity as it is.
As a SG member, I actually like the idea of non-SG standing sections. Not everyone wants to be a part of an organized (well, insofar as we're official) supporters' group or the atmosphere that comes along with that, but that doesn't mean they can't stand and sing and wave flags and have banners. Anything to encourage more fan participation is good by me. As for the "what's wrong with our SGs and why aren't we Portland yet?!" discussion, it may be the offseason, but I'm still not bored enough for that. That said, look for more tifo this season--in building the last one, we had at least one or two people from (IIRC) every group except La Barra, and I think folks are pretty excited about it now.
What will it take for LBR to actively participate? It seems they are getting a lot of blanket treatment from RSL because, well, RSL essentially created the group. While I love that they bring a constant noise, it's time to grow up beyond being just that, noise
I must have misunderstood...I thought he said the section became an official SG... And I can't wait to see what's in store for next season.
About 35? We're not. Nor do we care to be. I mean, Royal Army is pretty heavily represented, but that's more of a stadium wide thing than built into a particular section or area of the stadium.
I was referring to the rslfanboy and section 26. I'm in section 35 and I'm in a SG. I got seats in 35 because I wanted better seats that will put up with me...and my lady thought it would make a nice suprise. I didn't want to join yet another supporter group. I hope section 35 stays the way it is.
So the question is what are the other 3 home games going to be - or did we just get 17-18 games for the same price as 20 last year? 1 - U.S. Open Cup 2 - ? 3 - ?