[Draghignazzo]

[Sorry in advance for this long rambling rant.
Also I started to post this in the Columbus Supporter’s Section Forum, but I decided that I wanted to reach as many as possible, and everyone reads the general discussion pages. If a Mod decides this should be moved, or set up as a ‘moved’ link, so be it. I just ask that you do it in a way as to keep the message in tact.]

Ok I love the supporters groups, and the atmosphere of their sections, but I am never going to convince my wife to move from our fantastic half-line seats in 106, and franly I like my seats too. Besides, I don’t think that will add as much value as my proposal below.

I love the Crew and do everything in my power to get 106 all riled up, with some success. I believe in the 12th man advantage. I used to have some cohorts and we would make some noise and get others to join, and we were only 5-6 people. (Unfortunately they kept true to their threats of not renewing after the 2 seasons of angst. I was shocked, because I thought they were die-hard —and I still do, but I digress.) I try to join in with 137/103, but I am a lone (albeit loud) voice, and quite frankly I sing like a water buffalo in heat, so I desperately need others! And I was surprised that even though 103 is closer to me now, I hear them a lot less—acoustics; I understand. 137 I still hear when they get a good one going. I have wondered what it’s like sitting more across the field from 103 than next to. Anyone? Anyway…

I also believe that, while the supporter’s sections are great and necessary, we need a bigger footprint across the stadium if we are to usher in any kind of atmosphere with rapidity. I believe it would be more effective to have many small pockets of supporters in many sections to lead and help get others going. And if two or more groups can actually hear each other sync-up and grow the noise. I know TV time is good for large crowds, but even though things are getting better, it will keep growing slowly as all the voices are concentrated in one area with very few voices nearby to get more involved and grow the sound. I also believe that Mr. And Mrs. Average Joe need the printed words of songs in front of them to join in with a group that know the tune.

I have thought about posting something like this before, but I feel the clock ticking now. I know that we will not be Liverpool overnight, but in two weeks I would like there to be at least the biggest effort we’ve ever given for Guille. I am doing my part in 106, but I need help.

I call on anyone else who feels as I do not already in 103 or 137 to post here or PM me, and if you are not in or near 106, create your own post (in the Columbus Supporter’s Forum, of course ) and announce yourself as a section X organizer.

Currently in 106 we yell and heckle --as I said before I am a terrible singer and need cover—with the occasional chant, but it is kept PG-13 for the most part. More colorful songs/chants are the domain and lifeblood of the official supporter’s sections. I would suggest that we keep to that. As has been stated before, the majority of tickets are families and such, we want them to feel they (and their kids) can join in. Eventually, if things move to a more involved stadium, or at least more involved sections then arrangements might be made with CCS like 137 and 103 as to conduct and general admission.

I would like to get some people to help me in 105/106/107 with the following:
-- Coming up with song/chant ideas
-- Meeting at least once every month or more to go over songs and chants so we can lead by example.
-- Printing and distributing some flyers with songs to these/nearby sections.
(I tried this during the 2005 playoff game before, but I spread my 1000 flyers to far across the stadium and the teams lackluster performance left no one in the mood to sing.)
-- Helping to start, join, and carry singing chanting and encourage others to join in.

That’s it, and if others do the same in enough sections, then the people sitting on their hands will finally lift their voices. I am certain of it. But even if that pipedream is not realized by 5/12 this is a starting point and adding 106 to 103 and 137 only helps.

Anyone in around 106 interested in loosely organizing enough to get some songs and chants going, PM me and or post here. If we get some real interest we can start an official 106 thread in the supporter’s forums. If other sections get going we can try to keep the brainstorming and song practice together to help with continuity across the stadium.

[FLAME ON]

[Draghignazzo]

So with that…
Idea stolen from 137's website.

Lamar's a Jolly Good Fellow
(tune is "For He's a Jolley Good Fellow)
Lamar's a jolly good fellow,
He gave us a team black 'n yellow,
Ask us and we'll tell ya',
Lamar's a Jolly Good Fellow!
http://www.fortunecity.com/wembley/highbury/1256/songs.html

+ original complete lyrics

http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/jollygood.htm

=
Lamar's a Jolly Good Fellow v2007


Lamar's a Jolly Good Fellow!
He gave us a team black 'n yellow,
Lamar's a Jolly Good Fel - low!
...which, nob’dy can deny!

which, nobody can deny!
which, nobody can deny!

Lamar's a Jolly Good Fellow!
He gave us a team black 'n yellow,
Lamar's a Jolly Good Fel - low!
...which, nobody can deny!

We won't go home without scoring
We CAN’T go home without scoring
We won't go home without score - ring
...'til day-light doth appear


'Til day-light doth appear
'Til day-light doth appear


We won't go home without scoring
We CAN’T go home without scoring
We won't go home without score - ring
...'til day-light doth appear

A ball dipped over the crossbar
A ball banged off of the crossbar
A ball went over the cross - bar
...to all of our chagrin


To all of our chagrin
To all of our chagrin

A ball dipped over the crossbar
A ball banged off of the crossbar
The ball went UNDER the cross - bar
...And now we start to grin

The Cup will be ours this season
The Cup will be ours this season
You don't know who you’ve just messed - with
...the hardest working team.


The hardest working team.
The hardest working team.

The Cup will be ours this season
The Cup will be ours this season
You don't know who you’ve just messed - with
...the hardest working team!


Lamar's a Jolly Good Fellow!
Ask us and we'll tell ya',
Lamar's a Jolly Good Fel - low!
...which, nob’dy can deny!

which, nob’dy can deny!
which, nob’dy can deny!

Lamar's a Jolly Good Fellow!
Ask us and we'll tell ya',
Lamar's a Jolly Good Fel - low!
That, nobody can deny!



I know it's kind of long. I dream of CCS singing a nice 5 minute song like You’ll Never Walk Alone one day--I know Rome was not built in a day, but I still would like to get something that is a little longer out there. I think this is easy enough it could be taught,
And simple enough it can be heard and understood. I would like this to be something we try to do once before each game starts, then again whenever appropriate.






BTW, I have drunk a lot of Kool Aid today!

[Eggy]

Any song of significant length leaves no time for yelling things like "Get at the bastards!" and "F*** Off you *************!"

Songs also need to involve humor.

[calderone01]

Do we have the abridged version of that tune.

Dragline:

Excellent post as it's certainly food for thought. Your first objective has to be getting those "diehards" back to the stadium even if it's for just a couple of games. Encourage then to join you and your wife for a match and maybe they'll catch the kool-aid bug again.

Second, at the very least come over to 103 and introduce yourself. There should be song sheets/"Work Zones" floating around that you can follow from your perch in 106. As to the vocal acoustic situation, I wonder if something as simple as turning towards the sideline seats for a song or too might get it done.

Finally, keep the energy flowing in your section regardless. More will come to me later, but that should give you a good start.

[TheOtherBastard]

Agree with Eggy.

Allow me to rain on the parade just a little.

Supporters groups have been trying since 1996 to involve the "casual" fan in the songs and chants. Most people just won't. You will get the occasional small group of people to join in half-heartedly. Most really just want to watch a game and leave the singing and dancing to the wacko's over there.

What is going to help the stadium atmosphere most right now is for the team to win games. That will bring more people to the games. And once the number of empty yellow bleachers starts to dwindle you'll notice a marked improvement in atmosphere.

[kaiser kraut]

I'm going to commend you for being very open and honest about what your dream is for the Crew and Crew fans. Nothing wrong with getting caught up in the fantasy here and there.

I'm going to be the middle-ground response. Tempered with a bit of realism, but still convey the hope.

The best thing to grow the atmosphere, with song and chant, is to spread from the supporters groups. You can't cast your net too wide, because then the holes in the net are too large and everything slips through. With 103, 137, and the Fort Knox guys, we've begun to cover the area from the tunnel, around the north end to about 104 (maybe). So a stretch down to 106 with some active organization and participation isn't too far out of the realm of possibility (but not at all an easy task).

Currently, 103 has been trying to distribute a "Work Zone Gazette" at the home games. I've been trying to produce one for each of the league home games (although a mix-up and a scheduling problem prevented us from having one against DC - written but never printed). On one side is commentary and news, basicly an Op-Ed w/ a schedule of games and a touch of info about the group activities. The other side is a song & chant sheet.

While reading your post(s), I was thinking that it wouldn't be too much extra effort to produce a more-family friendly-WZG with any objectionable chants removed and the commentary a bit less-thought provoking-or intense against the opposition.

So, if you and some other folks are provided with the fliers, can your end of it be to organize the distribution to 105, 106, 107? Maybe find some people to fill in the areas for the NE corner between 137 and 103?

If nothing else, its a start. It's just some paper, it provides a little something extra to the casual folks and might inspire them to join in if they have the words and such right in front of them. If nothing else, it raises the profile of what is being attempted, and thus may help in nonconventional ways (word of mouth of the group/effort or whatever).

[Draghignazzo]

Originally Posted by calderone01

Do we have the abridged version of that tune.

Dragline:

Excellent post as it's certainly food for thought. Your first objective has to be getting those "diehards" back to the stadium even if it's for just a couple of games. Encourage then to join you and your wife for a match and maybe they'll catch the kool-aid bug again.

Second, at the very least come over to 103 and introduce yourself. There should be song sheets/"Work Zones" floating around that you can follow from your perch in 106. As to the vocal acoustic situation, I wonder if something as simple as turning towards the sideline seats for a song or too might get it done.

Finally, keep the energy flowing in your section regardless. More will come to me later, but that should give you a good start.

Unfortunately, my diehard friends were only known to us at games. We never really exchanged information so unless they show up again, I have no idea where to find them. And very few of my friends can be convinced that soccer is not the most dreadful sport to watch since Icelandic Nose-picking.
Shame, really but I keep brow-beating them.

Realize that I understand that this is no easy task. I have been watching the success and troubles of 137 with interest for years, and now 103. But from my own experience, at least in 106 there are people who will join in for more than the half-hearted effort when I manage to get something off the ground. I am less optimistic about getting a ton of other sections involved, but I still believe that if you can get the casual fan caught between a song on two sides of them, they will join in. From observation whenever my small corps group did something it ususally stayed just with us. But, when we would get another few voices to join in a little farther away, the people in the middle start to help. It is just too infrequent to be effective, and as I stated earlier, I lost my corps group.

I have stood in 103 and 137 infrequently, and I am aware of the WZG. And I have met some of you, though I have never made any intentions about a 106 supporters group before. It's been in the back of my head as something that I wanted to do, but for all the reasons people have said, and will say, I had been reluctant to start the painful process. I should have gotten off my butt before last home game, but I didn't.

I thought I had implied in my rambling madness above that coordinating with others is a must. This includes 103/137, but my first objective is to identify anyone in the 106 area that wishes to help. I need some consistent backup voices. I will print some flyer with the basic sentiment from above for the 5/12 game, but I was hoping to get a little oopmh to that effort and to Gullie's arrival. And since I have no contact with them until then, BS is my soapbox.

Please keep throwing out ideas, concerns, pitfalls and even unveil the negative. I have no ego about the likelihood of success or the ease to which it will be accomplished, but I am going to try.

And as far as the song above, it could be shortened quite easily, by not singing each refrain 2x, and removing the last Lamar's a jolly good fellow bit; making it less than half it's current length. Also it could easily be simplified even further by reworking the 'unique' lines in each stanza. I know it is an ambitious song to try to get people to start with, and I do not intend it to be that, but I believe it could get more response than "columbus clap - clap - clap" or "let's. go. crew" Which frankly even I dont' always participate in for the aforementioned singing handicap outise of a group and thay are really just lifeless. (No offense meant to those who originated either, nor those who perfomr it. Keep it up, everything helps) I think if you give people something with a little more heart and meaning, they might perk up. I am probably wrong, but that's never stopped me before.

Anyway, keep it coming, keep discussing. Speak up if you want to try to do the same in your area, or if you want to help with my effort near 106.

[Draghignazzo]

Originally Posted by TheOtherBastard

Agree with Eggy.

Allow me to rain on the parade just a little.

Supporters groups have been trying since 1996 to involve the "casual" fan in the songs and chants. Most people just won't. You will get the occasional small group of people to join in half-heartedly. Most really just want to watch a game and leave the singing and dancing to the wacko's over there.

What is going to help the stadium atmosphere most right now is for the team to win games. That will bring more people to the games. And once the number of empty yellow bleachers starts to dwindle you'll notice a marked improvement in atmosphere.

No one is arguing that the product on the field needs to improve to improve attendance, but the whole concept of the 12th man is to aid in that. I know that in '05 and especially '06 you could see the effect of the fans on the team. As they did poorly and we turned on them , and even started to boo them off the field, their eyes lowered and shoulders drooped. I am not saying we did not have cause to express displeasure at our team then (or ever), nor that we casued their bad play, but positive reinforcement is ALWAYS more effective than negative. And we did nothing to lift the spirits of the team in those dark days. And it felt sad and hollow to rail against my team, deserved or no. I'd rather stick to berating the opponents.

TOB, these things go hand in hand. If there is good support, the team wants to win. If the team starts winning, more fans come out. It's a snowball, but we have to push it over the edge.

[Foosinho]

Originally Posted by TheOtherBastard

Supporters groups have been trying since 1996 to involve the "casual" fan in the songs and chants. Most people just won't. You will get the occasional small group of people to join in half-heartedly. Most really just want to watch a game and leave the singing and dancing to the wacko's over there.

After working on this for the better part of a decade, I've mostly given up. I'm getting old - I'd be an old geezer in 103 or 137 now. I mean, it will happen, but we just don't have the critical mass yet. It might take several years of continued top-of-the-table success to push us over the hump. It might take another 10-20 years, where fans have been fans since the cradle. I dunno.

I just know it won't happen soon.

As Sirk can attest, I'm mostly an unfiltered fount of passion during a match. (I actually scared off some poor family from 107 during the NER match. Didn't mean to. Just happened.) I cheer when I feel motivated to, and make snarky comments when I don't. Really, that's all we need - for all of the fans to be engaged in the game and passionate about the result. You can't fake that. You can't generate it out of thin air. It takes some success on the pitch, and some die-hard attachment to the team. The kind of attachment where you name your son "Fitz Schmid" - or think it cool when some other guy does it. (Ooo, I think I just got my first kid's name!)

As for proof that it can happen, just look at the passion during the World Cup broadcasts at Crew stadium last year. Or how the stadium gets for a US-Mexico match (most of those people are not "imports" for the game). We will get there, some day.

[kaiser kraut]

We almost named my son Duncan Owen but then decided we needed to have a little more family history attached to the name for the first grandson for my parents from either of my siblings. The name might come into play again in a few years, should we be lucky enough to have another little boy.