Circle Celebration/Marching In

[Chowda]

This was posted in another thread and I think it deserved it's own discussion:

Originally Posted by patfan1
Drum circle ... good Lord, no one ever should have an excuse not to join in after a game. And we need to make this a tradition win/lose/draw. Prior to this, we'd only done it after wins/ties. We should be out there every game no matter what. We had an embarrassing 15/20 people join us for the Houston game.

Another thing ... we should really start pushing to enter in together as a group about 45 minutes before game time. Start walking in, get your tickets stamped, wait for everyone (with the drums playing) right in that big concourse area and then walk up the stairs and into the Fort together. It would be an incredible scene to see 50, 75 or 100 walking into the Fort like that.

[edlova]

Marching - Ok so when the clock in the stadium says 45-50 minutes, we march in, so at about the 60 minute mark we start packing in the grills and gather in a group



Circle - We are supporters not glory hunters, sing all the time, sing when we win, sing when we lose, sing when we draw...we need to always make noise, yes it sucks when we lose or give up a tying goal late, its still our team, dont stop singing/chanting. The Circle will now happen every time, and we need more than what we had after playing Houston

[Chowda]

I agree with the premise of what Monty said, but I do have a few issues with this:

1. A lot of people have issues with celebrating a disappointing decision. The Houston game, although a tie, was a disappointment. Still, a tie is a tie and there should have been more people out there.

2. I love that we generate atmosphere, but we shouldn't have the reputation of being impervious to what happens on the pitch. Celebrating a loss the same way as a win implies this.

3. There are a lot of new people in The Fort this season. No one told me, so I had to ask if we were going to the circle after the game. Others might have assumed we weren't or were afraid to ask.

4. The celebrations after the two wins this season were about half as long as those 10-15 people who last left the circle were in there. Some people, me included because I was ill, left about halfway through. I can see a win being celebrated for a long time, but a tie or a loss? I can see 5 minutes of spirited "Oh New Englands", "New Englands", and "Revolutions" and then march off to the tailgate after a tie.

5. Just a comment: Unless our group has at least 50 people singing , don't go standing on a rock next to the ramp and scream "revolution" at the exiting fans. I know how serious that person is about getting fans to come back, but that may have had the opposite effect. It looked quite psychotic.

6. I have mixed feelings about marching in for home games. I quite enjoy walking 30-45 mins early, finding a seat, and mingling with others in The Fort. It's a lot less stressful than approaching new groups in remote areas of the tailgate. If everyone is marching in, I'd do it. However, that would lock everyone down for close to three hours of this (counting postgame). Some might not have the endurance for that. Big games, absolutely. I really want to do it for the celtic game.

7. Communication. If we plan on doing this every game, we need to do a better job of spreading the word at the tailgate and at halftime.

[REVS FAN 1]

I think marching in together is key!

One thing we can do in the tailgate is alert everyone that we are marching in in 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 Minutes....and allow people to pack up their shite and get together...maybe a megaphone is in order???

So many times I've looked up and Monty et al are already gone!:o

On top of that we need to come up with a time when we'll go in...45 minutes prior, 30 minutes prior?? I understand that many wish to consume as much alcoholic beverage as they possible can prior to first kick, but I think we can do better than getting 10 people in at a time....

Maybe a halftime march through the stadium is in order??? I remember a few years ago at a US game when we tried to move to the other end zone in the second half....We marched down....got kicked out and marched back to The Fort, and the looks on people's faces in our own stadium was priceless:D

What would stadium security think of "bringing the noise" to other parts of the stadium...during the match or at the half???


The circle support can be a great recruiter as well....Most people in the stands have no idea what the hell we are singing in the Fort, in the circle we have them captive for the few minutes it takes to get down the ramps and into the lots.....we can bang through a few chants, preferably the cleaner ones, and educate some of the morgue dwellers as to just what we are saying.....

But we certainly need more people than we got at the Houston match....If we do get more people it would be good to get down there even earlier than we have been....as it is now half the people are already out of the stadium before we get down there! I'm not saying we leave the match before the final whistle by any means, but maybe we get out there quickly thereafter???

Thoughts???

[Chowda]

I think marching in together is key!

One thing we can do in the tailgate is alert everyone that we are marching in in 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 Minutes....and allow people to pack up their shite and get together...maybe a megaphone is in order???

So many times I've looked up and Monty et al are already gone!:o

On top of that we need to come up with a time when we'll go in...45 minutes prior, 30 minutes prior?? I understand that many wish to consume as much alcoholic beverage as they possible can prior to first kick, but I think we can do better than getting 10 people in at a time....

Maybe a halftime march through the stadium is in order??? I remember a few years ago at a US game when we tried to move to the other end zone in the second half....We marched down....got kicked out and marched back to The Fort, and the looks on people's faces in our own stadium was priceless:D

What would stadium security think of "bringing the noise" to other parts of the stadium...during the match or at the half???


The circle support can be a great recruiter as well....Most people in the stands have no idea what the hell we are singing in the Fort, in the circle we have them captive for the few minutes it takes to get down the ramps and into the lots.....we can bang through a few chants, preferably the cleaner ones, and educate some of the morgue dwellers as to just what we are saying.....

But we certainly need more people than we got at the Houston match....If we do get more people it would be good to get down there even earlier than we have been....as it is now half the people are already out of the stadium before we get down there! I'm not saying we leave the match before the final whistle by any means, but maybe we get out there quickly thereafter???

Thoughts???

- Personally, I need a break from all this at halftime.

- My question about marching in is are we going to continue to sing as we wait for the game? Again, 3+ hours of this is taxing.

- The circle is a great recruiter. People have stopped and joined in after wins. This is why I question the logic of doing it after an loss. We could go from serious fans to idiots who sing to a lot of people.

[Chowda]

Marching - Ok so when the clock in the stadium says 45-50 minutes, we march in, so at about the 60 minute mark we start packing in the grills and gather in a group

Yikes. That seriuosly cuts down on one aspect that I love about being in the Riders: socializing. Why not do some spurious drum circles throughout the tailgate to get everyone pumped up? It's a great way to teach songs and introduce new ones. Besides, who's going to be inside the stadium to see us march in that early?

Again, I'm a Lemming (nature's retard according to Robot Chicken). I'll do it if everyone else is. Unity is key.

[conquerant]

Not everyone wants to get into the stadium super early and then sit around for 45 minutes waiting for the game to start.

I bet if the call was to march in together 15 minutes before the start there would be a lot more takers.

[Chowda]

Not everyone wants to get into the stadium super early and then sit around for 45 minutes waiting for the game to start.

I bet if the call was to march in together 15 minutes before the start there would be a lot more takers.

I agree, but we would need someone to save a bunch of key seats in the fort.

[conquerant]

I didn't go to the circle after Houston because I was under the impression that we did the circle after a good result. And personally I didn't think dropping two points at home was a good result and was not very happy after the game.

If we want to go to the circle no matter what; well, I suppose, but I like the idea of it being a purely celebratory thing. Not that I think we should only sing when we're winning, we could still march out singing after a bad result while saving the circle with its extended celebration for good results.

[edlova]

I agree that it is amazing being in there after a win, if we want to do a march out at least if we lose or draw that is fine with me, but we cant leave our stadium with a whimper if we dont win...we WILL do the circle when we win for sure, but again if there are only 10-15 it doesnt look as good

[Chowda]

The good thing is we'll have plenty of time to iron all this out when the US is up 7-0 in the first half on 6/17.:)

[edlova]

The good thing is we'll have plenty of time to iron all this out when the US is up 7-0 in the first half on 6/17.:)



and then we can iron out the details of parading in the North End ;)

[ARNEL 7]

3. There are a lot of new people in The Fort this season. No one told me, so I had to ask if we were going to the circle after the game. Others might have assumed we weren't or were afraid to ask.


I didn't even know about this.


One thing we can do in the tailgate is alert everyone that we are marching in in 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 Minutes....and allow people to pack up their shite and get together...maybe a megaphone is in order???


Yea 15 minutes prior to start would be the best. Before that we could start to get everybody in the parking lot pumped :)


The circle is a great recruiter. People have stopped and joined in after wins. This is why I question the logic of doing it after an loss. We could go from serious fans to idiots who sing to a lot of people.

I AGREE!!!

[edlova]

if we wait until 15 minutes before, we will not get decent spots in the fort, I dont mind going in 45 minutes early and starting with 60 minutes before we can use Mike's idea and start rounding people up

[patfan1]

Great post Mike and I agree completely about the circle being a recruiter. We might not get a lot of adults, but a lot of kids/teens join in, and to me ... my gut feeling is a few of those will start joining us as soon as they're old enough.

One thing we can do in the tailgate is alert everyone that we are marching in in 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 Minutes....and allow people to pack up their shite and get together...maybe a megaphone is in order???
I've tried the "We're heading in in 15 minutes" etc, and yet when time's up, I'm still trying to find people who want to go in.

As much as I love the tailgate, to me I'm there to cheer on my Revs much more.

Why not do some spurious drum circles throughout the tailgate to get everyone pumped up? It's a great way to teach songs and introduce new ones. Besides, who's going to be inside the stadium to see us march in that early?
That's not a bad idea either, get the drums going in the lot. The problem (and I can see the complains already from certain parts) is that would take away the chance for people to talk and catch up out in the lots (the socializing aspect you mentioned).

If we want to go to the circle no matter what; well, I suppose, but I like the idea of it being a purely celebratory thing. Not that I think we should only sing when we're winning, we could still march out singing after a bad result while saving the circle with its extended celebration for good results.
As much as you just said you don't think we should only sing when we're winning ... you just said you only want to sing when we win (ie, not a bad result).

I agree that it is amazing being in there after a win, if we want to do a march out at least if we lose or draw that is fine with me, but we cant leave our stadium with a whimper if we dont win...we WILL do the circle when we win for sure, but again if there are only 10-15 it doesnt look as good
Bolded the key part. I agree with that and that's why I think we should start doing this no matter what.

What it should tell the other fans is that no matter the result of the game, the Riders and those that join in the drum circle are passionate about their team and they love the Revs. If it makes them feel we're crazy because we're doing it after a loss, who cares. Most of us are crazy anyway.

[conquerant]

As much as you just said you don't think we should only sing when we're winning ... you just said you only want to sing when we win (ie, not a bad result).

No I didn't, I said even if we lose we could still march out singing, which I believe qualifies as singing.

I said I don't want to celebrate when we lose, and that I like the idea of the circle as a special celebration after a good result.

[ProfZodiac]

5. Just a comment: Unless our group has at least 50 people singing , don't go standing on a rock next to the ramp and scream "revolution" at the exiting fans. I know how serious that person is about getting fans to come back, but that may have had the opposite effect. It looked quite psychotic.


In my defense, since I'm the one who always does this, I don't walk down the steps with the Riders more often than not. I will grab a drummer (generally my brother, again, since he'll listen to me) and walk down the ramps in the crowd, chanting the entire time. After wins, the entire ramp starts in with me, as long as I keep doing the simplest chant we know. When I get down, we come back around and face the ramps and keep it going.

I don't think it's psychotic at all. Every person that leans over the rail and chants down at me, I will point at them and give them a thumbs-up. I'll roll with the chants you guys behind me do from the circle, but again, I would wish that it would stay very simple, since this is one of those places we make our impression - as they're leaving.

It boils down to this - some of you guys have pet causes in that Rev Army and Midnight Riders aren't always on the same page. Some have pet causes regarding the chants we do. Some want flags, some want flares, some want longer tailgates. None of that particularly gets me going. This is my pet cause - the ramps. I will always shout at the ramps, and I'm grateful when the rest of the circle meanders over to support me.

[peabrainedidiot]

Not everyone wants to get into the stadium super early and then sit around for 45 minutes waiting for the game to start.

I bet if the call was to march in together 15 minutes before the start there would be a lot more takers.
15 sounds good to me.

[edlova]

15 sounds good to me.



maybe because you arent in the fort and have an assigned seat on your ticket

[Chowda]

Just to revisit the after game thing. I'll be there if we lose, but I'll probably be kicking a fence like I was after Chicago scored their third goal on saturday.

Maybe I could make my kicking more rhythmic and a song could come out of it.