Hey I was calling it that last night while I was still there... that being said, great minds think alike haha
I always took that, "Don't write bad or you won't come in" with a grain of salt...And I always enjoyed your writings MIKE. But, the way the MAINSTREAM Writers have never been scathing about this franchise. AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO FELT INSULTED BY THESE MORONIC OWNERS...yea, Perhaps I'm getting too heated and take it too personal..But, I'm not going to watch the Revs and be all sit quietly, buy a soda and leave through gate 2... I look around..I notice staff's condescending attitude. I see the cops looking at fans wondering why the hell did they get stuck with this detail. Then the thought of triple double overtime to watch a bunch of kids run up and down the aisles brings a wry smile across his smug face. Second class sport. Second class citizens are the fans...I may be reading a hell of a lot more into this...but my instincts are always spot on. I don't bash Kraft and his perpetual APATHY because I've got nothing better to do..or I want accolades. I do it because for years I've watched the Sport belittled by the very people who are now the supposed caretakers of the Team that plays our Sport. That's the only reason I do it.
Um, sorry Brian, but it IS about what happened. Since most everyone at the meeting agreed the YSA chant has to go, it obviously is not about that. It's about your organization conducting a premeditated attack on the Fort. If you can't even admit that beyond a feeble "We could have handled it better," then there can be no moving forward. If this attack was in response to complaints received during the game, then why was TeamOps presence increased from the start, and the Rev Girls presence withheld? Sorry, not buying it.
K-O, did you ever read anything on RevsNet? Seriously, I agree with a lot of what you say, but being a one-trick pony is getting pretty stale. Full disclaimer: I used to write for RevsNet. But what Mike says is basically true, and as I said in a previous post, I never felt any pressure from the Revs at all about the content of my articles.
Yeah, I'm a bit disappointed. Thanks ... I was going to post exactly that when I read the comments, and then saw you'd already done it.
I will say that Kyle's writing style and approach may change based on whom he's writing it for. That article was for MLSSoccer, of course it was going to be focusing on MLS' stance. Had Kyle written about the summit for the Herald, there may have been more focus put on the supporters' struggles. Kyle is a freelancer, guys, and writing what the check-writers tell you to write is a freelancer's life. Don't blame him for that article, blame the fact that nobody else wanted him to write it for them.
How much would it cost to get a NASL expansion team? There must be at least one person on these boards who made a bunch of money off of hedge funds or something. Or has a rich uncle. Then we soccer-loving folk could collectively be the Board.
Well written but lacking in balance or context; I'd call it a journalistic version of "playing not to lose."
Wow, that was some serious pablum. One thing that jumps out at me from ngower's notes (and thanks for those) is the number of women who stood up to talk about how they feel threatened by TeamOps. If the organization wants to create a more family friendly environment, then a climate in which women feel intimidated by the security staff is going to undermine those efforts.
Still the favorite part of my night. Great job Nathan ... I can't rep him, if someone could help me out please.
Here's a post to the USSF's standards for D2 Leagues Relevant to 'buying' a NASL team:Each team must have and designate one principal owner that owns at least 35% of the team and has authority to bind the team. Such principal owner must have an individual net worth of at least twenty million US dollars exclusive of the value of his/her ownership in the league or team. So it doesn't really seem like The Fort FC could afford a NASL team. USL Pro might be an option. Of the 12 USL Pro team owners, only two are Wikipedia notable. Dayton Dutch Lions owner Erik Tammer is a former journeyman forward, though there is no mention of DDL on his 'kipedia page. Richmond Kickers owner Robert Ukrop played in pre-MLS American soccer, even being drafted by the Revs in '96. He was the heir to the Ukrop's Food Group which was sold to Dutch investers for $140m, so he might actually be the only multi-millionaire in USL-Pro. Though it seems clear that Ukrop's father just bought the team so that his son would have somewhere to play.
For those that always say that people just are negative around here to the Krafts, read the comments in response to Kyle. Of course, the answer is usually because people around the nation just follow our negativity. Great line from twitter (courtesy of Nathan)...
Well, I can't say that I'm surprised by the nature of what this meeting amounted to. Despite Bilello's claims to the contrary, this meeting was all about blowing smoke up the collective keister of the die-hard fan-base in order to stave-off any sort of organized supporter-driven backlash against the Krafts and Revolution management. My random thoughts... * According to "The Drug Is Football", unlike at the Supporters Summit and Meet the Coach events, "[a]udio recorders were prohibited..." from this meeting. Why? What did Revolution management, TeamOps and/or the Foxboro Police Department have to hide? So much for transparency. * Despite claims on the part of the likes of Bilello that openly discussing the issues surrounding the events of June 18th with supporters was of importance, it apparently wasn't important enough for Mark Briggs - the Chief Operating Officer of TeamOps, the Krafts' own "Premier Security and Guest Services" company - to attend last night's meeting. Instead, responsibility for representing TeamOps was sloughed-off onto Briggs' second-in-command, Kelly Way. * Bilello stated, "When we have an issue, the best way to deal with it is live. From the beginning that's what we wanted to do." Really? So, when Revolution management had an "issue" with the language used in the YSA chant, why wasn't it determined that the "best way to deal" with disseminating information to the supporters' groups - as swiftly and directly as possible - about eliminating said chant would be to do so "live... [f]rom the beginning" with a mass meeting? Instead, Bilello and Revolution management sought to slough responsibility for communicating and enforcing said edict - at least initially - off onto the supporters group leadership via social media, etc. * According to "The Drug Is Football", Evan Daby of MLS Operations said that when it comes to fixing the organized cursing issue in league stadiums, this is an opportunity for the Revolution and its supporters to be leaders in the league. One wonders why - when they've spent the better part of sixteen years proving themselves all too willing to trail behind other MLS franchises in key areas such as the construction of soccer-specific stadia, the signing of designated players and the marketing of their franchise to die-hard soccer enthusiasts as opposed to the family demographic - the Krafts and their Revolution management team are apparently so gung-ho to establish themselves on the leading-edge of eradicating profanity in supporters' chants? Frankly, a bit of this "leaders in the league" mentality on the part of the Krafts would have been tremendously appreciated in other areas of endeavor on behalf of the Revolution. * While conceding that the behavior of the Foxborough PD officer seen in internet videos recorded on June 18th was "unprofessional", Foxboro Police Department Administrative Sergeant Alan Haskill went on to say that said officer WOULD be working future Revolution matches at Gillette Stadium. Does that seem a prudent course of action? * Kelly Way of Team Ops emphatically stated that an apology would NOT be offered to Monty for the manner in which he was treated by Team Ops personnel on June 18th, this despite the fact that Monty made every effort to cooperate with Team Ops while on the capo stand on the night in question. Bottom line? Last night was the same old "same old". More platitude-spouting on the part of Revolution management mouthpiece Brian Bilello about how the Krafts and the Revolution organization "care about" us and "support" us. We've been down this road before gang... REPEATEDLY. What has changed? NOTHING. No soccer-specific stadium. No designated player. No sense of urgency when it comes to signing new talent in a timely manner during the off-season. No sustained, serious, professional-quality, multi-platform advertising/marketing campaign to promote the franchise. Most disturbingly, no indication that members of the Revolution's die-hard supporter core are considered anything but second-class citizens by the Krafts and the KSG management team. I've already washed my hands of actively supporting MLS soccer in New England until such time as this franchise is no longer under the Krafts' stewardship, or another MLS team has set-up shop in this market. I'm no longer willing to cut them any slack. That said, I know that there are those amongst you who aren't ready to take such a drastic step. Still, those of you who wish to force the current regime operating the Revolution to change the manner in which they do so ARE going to have to be willing to do SOMETHING. And, at this point, the action you take is going to have to be VERY pointed in order to send an unambiguous message that business-as-usual regarding the Revolution will no longer be tolerated by the team's most ardent supporters. Mark my words: the powers-that-be - Bob and Jonathan Kraft, Brian Bilello, Mark Briggs, etc. - don't believe for one moment that Revolution supporters have it in them to stage a meaningful public protest action. Hell, I'd go so far as to say that they aren't even anticipating such an action on the part of Revolution supporters. Why? Because, for sixteen years they've repeatedly treated us as an afterthought and we've done nothing about it. We accepted the empty promises and feel-good platitudes that they spewed our way and never demanded any follow-through on their part. Rather, we time and again accepted the least they could offer and, by doing so, asked for more of the same. It is time to unequivocally tell them that the to-date status-quo with this team will no longer be accepted. It is time to shame the Krafts and their Revolution management team into treating the Rev's die-hard supporters with the respect befitting the discerning, valued customers of any business that aspires to true greatness. It is time to take a stand together. It is time to raise your voices in unison. It is time - at the very least - to stage a walk-out. Dig deep. Do it. Send the message that rights this floundering franchise. Otherwise, prepare for more of the same.
I've been going less and less. I'm not sure if this chain of events made a difference with me personally. Who didn't think stadium security/FPD had random events like that in them? But the "you suck *******" thing reminds me of the early 90's First Amendment debate involving 2 Live Crew. We know we are on the right side, but do we really want this to be where we make our stand?
When questions reverted to the supporters, one person asked for a rundown of the incident from TeamOps perspective. According to Kelly Way, there was one complaint issued by a season ticket holder outside the Fort in the first half. Way then dispatched TeamOps members at the concourse above the Fort into the section to monitor the situation. Liar, liar... when supporters were walking into the Fort BEFORE the game started, some TeamOps people said to the "You better be careful tonight" and "You better watch what you say tonight." so this proves that they were getting ready to strike BEFORE the game and not because a season ticket holder complained....
Here's ONE VERY POSSIBLE SCENARIO (If Kraft ever watches a game live or on Memorex)...We all know Bob Kraft was getting himself ready for bed. His wife had the Big Flatscreen with Surround SOUND on of the game and she clearly heard something SHE DID NOT LIKE. Suffice to say, Bob didn't get any that night. BUT THE FORT SURE AS HECK DID!!
And this is not about foul language by the diehard supporters. We are going to entertain Manchester United next week and if TeamOps would like a listing of their chants I will be happy to provide it to them. They are all profanity laced. Are they going to run around the stadium and arrest all of them? Is Bilello going to email them and tell them that Gilette is a swear free zone? It was agreed upon a few years ago that the Riders and the Rebellion could not bring flags in that were not fire retardent and had been inspected by the Foxborough Fire Department and we could not have poles that were more than 12 inches long. I stood there with my 24 inch flagpoles while TeamOps broke them in half and we had to wait a week for our flags to be inspected and then they were left in the stadium in a secure area. Well... the next game I came to was a double header... the revs played first and then it was Portugal and Spain. And what did I see.... ten foot flagpoles and ten foot flags from Spain and Portugal which I am sure were not inspected by FFD and they also had red flares they were lighting and throwing around. This goes to show that they only target us and we are treated like second class citizens in our own house....