Wow, this is the most overblown incident of the season. The news media in this country is so f'ing stupid. The articles I read at work made it sound like there was a gigantic brawl. I watch the video and I see 3 West Ham fans going into the Columbus Crew section.
I have tried it. I've been escorted through rows of mounted Polizei both entering and exiting stadiums. I've been in stadiums surrounded by plexiglass partitions and chain-link fences. Trust me, we don't need that on this side of the Atlantic. Segregation of away fans doesn't create atmosphere.
I have to kinda agree with this. I know there has been problems with fans getting into it but my understanding is that this WH/Crew incident is the exception to the rule. Traveling fans for the most part seem to get along but again i might be forgetting about a bunch of other incidents.
Err..................yes it does. Have another Big Mac and tell the wife and kids it's just another day out.
No, it doesn't. Away fan segregation exists because of fan violence. Segregating fans in the USA will not create atmosphere. I lived through the worst of continental "fan support" when I attended games in Germany between 1984 and 1987. We do NOT need any of that crap here. None of it. I haven't set foot in a MacDonald's in over 20 years.
Except all those fans aren't nearly as well organized. The only thing that comes close is college sports and their students groups and guess what buddy? they have segregated fans just for that reason.
Please point out which stadium in the USA has or needs these sorts of barriers: What kind of moron would want that garbage here?
Except that you're the one equating an away fan policy as fences and barriers. Do you see that at Emirates stadium? I mean...theres sensible policies as simple as security escorting away fans in and out the stadium. Having designated sections blah blah blah. But Gee....how's that slippery slope there?
I've never been to Emirates. However, I have been to: Stadio Olimpico (Rome), Stadio delle Alpi, Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Stadio Pierluigi Penzo (Venice), Fritz-Walter-Stadion, Olympiastadion München, Moselstadion, Waldstadion, Veltins Arena, Frankenstadion, Stamford Bridge and a few others I don't remember. And I can tell you that in every single one of those places, I've seen fences and barriers.
What kind of moron thinks that's the only way to segregate supporters? I do NOT think all stadiums should be segregated for all fans. I think anyone should be able to buy tickets from Ticketmaster. I DO believe supporters should be protected while on the road. People organized in groups act differently than random individuals. Why is it OK that a group of 10 or so Columbus fans were waiting in the lot at our bus pickup after our last game? In a lot that isn't lit, of course.
I suppose I'll call it away supporters segregation. I think it's essential that supporters are kept apart inside the stadium even if most of us are intelligent enough to share a beer with other supporters before and after the game.
It doesn't build an atmosphere. Fans and supporters build an atmosphere. EDIT: I forgot that however it's done in England is how it has to be done everywhere. Sorry.
No. It's part and parcel of what the stadiums need to do in dealing with the realities of organized away support. Is it unreasonable to ask for a safe trip to a MLS stadium to support your team without having to worry about fisticuffs in the stands or on the concourse, getting jumped exiting, or threatened while waiting for a bus?
I'd say just about everyone in the front office of MLS. They're so determined to foster rivalry based on differences of ethnicity, language and even nationality that they allowed a once culturally separatist and a foreign team into the league. You can argue all you want that we, as Americans, should be above any resultant extreme antagonism. But the league FO encouraged the antagonism in the first place. You want tribal passion? You want people asserting identity? You want people jealously protecting turf? You got it, Mr. Garber.
It's not unreasonable at all. And doing it does not mean that MLS stadiums need to have mounted police, police in riot gear, physical barriers inside or outside stadiums, etc, to ensure that fans are safe. The biggest issues I've seen in MLS with regard to that safety is usually related to an unprepared or uninterested security presence. CSC manages to keep away fans safe in other leagues, but really doesn't seem to give a shit when it comes to soccer fans. Look at the crap that happened at the Meadowlands this past weekend. I think that's far worse than what happened in Columbus because from all accounts it looks like the guys paid to protect fans actually attacked them.
Damn that tea party. Damn them to hell. Cornwallis will hear about this. Or are you talking about Montreal?
Who is Cornwallis, what did he do? We learned of Alfred the Great, and how he beat the Vikings with a two handed axe.
No. Remember all the noise that Chivas USA made? We misunderstood and underappreciated Latinos will show them. We'll conduct team business in Spanish. We'll be tireless exponents of the beautiful game. Before you knew it, Bob Bradley was the coach and they were relying on Guzan, Razov and Jesse Marsch. I like Chivas USA, by the way. But their initial mission was controversial. Yet the league, hoping that the rhetoric would fan the passions and create a rivalry with Galaxy, encouraged it. Don't get me started on Montreal. Not here, anyway.