News: Dynamo Supporters Sanctioned

Re: You guys saw this?

I don't know 100% why this happened or what the implications are but I know Miguel so this is reliable. A good speculation of why is becuase of the LA Gals whinning from the Final. One minute their fans are acting like internet thugs and the next they are crying to their mommy (MLS HQ/AEG).

 

Re: You guys saw this?

Say it ain't so...

 

Re: You guys saw this?

So if this ban is true, does this mean that Dynamo supporters at away games will have to start hiding the flares and smoke bombs they take into the stadiums?

Oh wait...

 

Re: You guys saw this?

Honestly, we deserve it or something close to it. I just hope this is the start of the league seriously looking into other stuff. We got physically attacked in the bathroom in Chicago 2 years ago. We have been physically threatened on more than 1 occasion. I have personally witnessed horrible homophobic chants in Philadelphia.


Of course, I am not saying "well if they get away with that, we should get away with giving Beckham the finger and throwing trash/smoke on the field". I am saying, that if they are going to punish us, this better be the start of some stricter enforcement.


If they start punishing things that should be punished, then I bet people will stop breaking the rules.

 

Re: You guys saw this?

Depending on how long this ban lasts, it may turn out to be useful that there is no away game at Dallas this year.

 

Re: You guys saw this?

Apparently one of the Dallas SG has a similar ban due to a smoke bomb during the Toronto CCL game.

 

Re: You guys saw this?

The information also says something about specific people being banned from BBVA and some sort of racism investigation.

Miguel Sada@miguelsada19
@dynamotheory the post was legit, looking into racism sanctions now.

 

Re: You guys saw this?

Full text and some specific requirements for lifting the ban:

http://www.dynamotheory.com/

 

Re: You guys saw this?

Yep.

 

Re: You guys saw this?

The way I see requirement #4 is that this mandate formalizes the ability of the front office to recognize or withhold recognition of the leadership of the different SGs according to its own criteria. This may have always been the case, but up until now official recognition has been meaningless. Now we have FO recognition listed as one of four requirements for SGs to have in order to be permitted to utilize items listed as Supporter Group Exemptions in the MLS Prohibited Items policy (e.g. flags, banners, confetti, drums).

Others may interpret it differently.

 

Re: You guys saw this?

Does the ban also apply to AEG's marketing department from using images of us setting off orange smokerz?

Oh, it's a mandate from the League head office, does the ban also apply to the League's marketing department from using images of us in Houston and many other supporter groups in our league, setting off flares and smokerz???

Since we all know the answer is of course not, this mandate is a crock of hypocritical bullshit. One cannot, with a strait face, market the sport with images of what said person cracks down on as illegal. Or one can, but he or she will only bathe themselves in a pool of foolishness.

 

Re: You guys saw this?

So these rules only apply to just MLS matches, not CCL or US Open Cup, right?

 

Re: You guys saw this?

I sincerely hope USOC isn't involved. Many of us may not travel in unison to a non-playoff game this season. As in more that 10 people at a time, but if there's a USOC against a Texas team which we have a few of. more than a few people may travel to that. God forbid we get stuck with FC Frisco in an Open Cup game.

(A few Texas teams not games, since nobody knows who we are facing.)

 

Re: You guys saw this?

One cannot continue to do something when told that punishment will follow and then bitch and moan when said punishment is handed out for repeated violations thereof. Or one can, but he or she will only bathe themselves in a pool of foolishness for thinking that nothing was going to happen.

Times are changing and this league is at a point in time where it needs to make decisions regarding the Supporters Groups and the Culture that surrounds it. The days were a small group of Supporters making an away trip were something to get excited about are gone as you have several locations were substantial numbers are making those trips. In order to keep something like that from potentially getting out of control the League chose to say here are the rules and there will be punishment if the rules are not followed. Does it suck that H-Town got hit with these sanctions? It sure does but as the letter indicates it was not for a one and done offense it was for repeated offenses which begs the question: Did the Leadership of said Groups really think they were going to continue to get away with that and not have some sort of sanctions applied? Did you really think the punishment was only going to be applied only to Individuals instead of everyone? If you did then you are the ones ultimately responsible for the sanctions now handed out that affect everyone, guilt by association if you will. You can call the sanctions heavy handed, unfair, hypocritical or stupid or whatever you like but that does not change the fact that the actions taken that resulted in the sanctions were taken under your watch.

 

Re: You guys saw this?

One angle that is missing but has been touched is the fact that some LA SG/fans posted on Facebook that they would retaliate. So if the punishment is to be given out it needs to applied evenly and to all not just the least favored team or groups. During the Final their fans threw objects into the Houston section, their fans threw prohibited objects on the field and cursed too but a blind eye was turned for them. That was just during that game so we have seen many others do the same but right after the Final LA fans flaunts how they will destroy our groups like they did Chivas USA then that is something that should also be considered in this development. Is this just about punishing actions or more?

 

Re: You guys saw this?

We aren't even affected by this. Only a few of us will attend those early road trips, and nobody will try to pull anything if there's only a couple of fellow supporters there. Since prior to May 12 is when MLS will make a decision about extending the ban. they'll end up saying nothing happened prior to that and thus the ban is lifted. Then everything will return to normal. It's not like we're in the Pacific Northwest or the Northeast where we can all travel in buses to a few games. We have to actually take flights and make them into mini-vacations. Sure we got some negative publicity out of this, but there's no such thing as bad publicity. We got the Houston Dynamo name thrown out there, and have created a discussion on smoke bombs and other SG things. This will, hopefully, force the MLS to address those discussions, and either say that we will be allowed smoke at BBVA or not. We'll probably finally end up with a straight answer. If they say no, then I'm pretty sure that will be the end of smoke ever appearing at a Dynamo game (/sarcasm).

It should also be noted that certain players instigated the crowd. Beckham made obscene gestures, and I even recall him doing something with his ass that was directed at us. The obscene gestures that they're speaking of were actually directed more towards us than them. I went to get a drink in the first half and was insulted all the way to the concession stand. For the record, I wasn't wearing orange and only had a scarf on. I cannot even imagine what some other people went through...oh wait...I can because one of my friends was also insulted and almost got into a fight.

Now, no matter what certain people on here will say, and I can go back and search for my first post in which I made the racism allegation in KC and a certain veteran poster or two on these boards disagreed with me. Racism was a major issue at the KC game. People will say that without video evidence nothing can be done. Well, I believe that enough people going forward with these allegations should be way more than enough proof. I can probably gather 10+ that are willing to testify. I'll love MLS to call each one of them a liar.

Something else happened in KC, and that involved the SGs getting stuff thrown at them while they were waiting to be allowed into the stadium. Many people saw this happen and even KC security saw it. Where's their punishment? Now let's not even bring up the fact that certain security guards harmed a woman in KC, and another security guard also harmed somebody in LA.

I find it hilarious that there are people standing up for us in Dallas. I saw a couple of posts from casual Dallas fans that said they never felt in danger during our visits to Dallas. One person even said we treated them nicer than their own SGs, and they were sitting right next us.

 

Re: You guys saw this?

I've given some thought to exactly what it is about this sanction that upsets me so much because on some level, it seems like it's perfectly reasonable, but yet the whole thing really bothers me.

• Throwing things onto the pitch - I really can't defend throwing things onto the field. I am completely fine with this going away entirely, even streamers. Yes, I do throw streamers currently, but not anything else. OK, fine, after catching the game ball that got kicked out of play, I did throw it at Danny Cepero's head during the 2008 playoff loss to NY, but I missed him so no harm done.
• Flares - I wouldn't mind if flares went away too. They are kind of neat, but it's just too easy for people to point fingers and say "Someone's going to get hurt!" whether anyone has or not. I'd rather keep them, but I'm willing to see them go away if it means we can keep smoke.
• Cursing - Yes it's crass, but it's also fun. It brings the fans together. Sometimes it gets into the heads of opposing players and upsets them. I think cursing should stay unregulated and spontaneous. However, as MLS attempts to package their product for distribution to a broadcast television audience, cursing is becoming one of those problem spots. We saw it last year with other teams cracking down on "You suck, asshole!" on goal kicks and I think we're seeing some of that trickling down to us.
• Smoke bombs - I absolutely love smoke bombs. I got into it on Twitter last night with a guy who was talking about how they are a burn risk and how LA County Sheriffs had to use fireproof gloves to remove them from the field. I call BS on all of that. Smoke bombs are awesome and the league loves them even as the league hates them. That being said, I wouldn't mind a little bit of organization to their use. I'm sure there is a way to responsibly use smoke bombs at games. They should not be thrown onto the field. Maybe there's a metal bucket at a designated spot and a designated person pops smoke and throws it in the bucket. No risk, no harm. Sure it takes a little bit of the spontaneity away, but if it lets us keep the smoke, I'll accept it. If Portland has figured out a way to have a guy with a chainsaw cutting up logs in their stadium, there must be some way to have smoke bombs. FC Dallas' smoke machine just doesn't feel the same, though, so there must be a better answer.
• Front Office recognition of supporter group leadership - I have to qualify this by admitting I'm not a member of any of the four official supporter groups, but I do see this as a potentially slippery slope toward front office regulation of supporter groups by using drums and tifo "privilege" as a lever to control SG policy.

Now you may be saying "Whoa there, Hungryjack! Take off the tinfoil hat on that last one." and you may be right; I may be crazy. I hope it doesn't go down that path, but I do believe this is the first (or next) step in reining in SGs in the name of safety when I think the real motivation is to have a controlled experience that can be packaged and sold to broadcast audiences which is suitable for the lowest common denominator. I accept this as a fact of corporate life in a for-profit league, but the simple fact is that I don't sing for my television. I sing for my team and for my fellow supporters.

One last thing. My orange army helmet has gone with me to three MLS Cups, many MLS stadiums, Hawaii once, Canada once, Mexico twice. If this current sanction can be interpreted to give stadium security an excuse not to let me bring my helmet to a game, then that is pretty weak.

I have a hunch that if Dynamo supporters completely cut out throwing things on the pitch, stop the flares, keep cursing, and just lay low for a while on the smoke, this whole thing will blow over. I have nothing other than my own gut feeling to back me up on this.

 

http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2012/02/mls-sanctions-dynamo-supporters.html

Letter to Dynamo Supporters:
http://www.mlssoccer.com/blog/post/2012/02/27/mls-letter-houston-supporters-groups

This letter serves to address several violations of the MLS Fan Code of Conduct committed by Dynamo supporters at the following events:
1. MLS Cup, Houston Dynamo vs. LA Galaxy at the Home Depot Center (November 20, 2011): Violations of the MLS Fan Code of Conduct included
a. multiple illegal smoke bombs were brought into the stadium, ignited and thrown onto the field
b. various objects that presented a safety risk thrown onto the field in the direction of players and stadium personnel
c. obscene language and gestures by multiple supporters
2. Houston Dynamo vs. Sporting Kansas City at LIVESTRONG Park (November 6th, 2011): Violation of the MLS Fan Code of Conduct included
a. a prohibited smoke bomb that was brought into the stadium and ignited
3. Houston Dynamo vs. FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park (September 24, 2011): Violations of the MLS Fan Code of Conduct included
a. a prohibited smoke bomb that was brought into the stadium and ignited

As of March 1, Dynamo traveling supporters will not be permitted to utilize items listed as Supporter Group Exemptions in the MLS Prohibited Items policy (e.g. flags, banners, confetti, drums). This sanction shall continue to be in effect until otherwise notified by MLS; provided, however, that at a minimum it shall apply to the following games:
1. Houston Dynamo vs. Chivas at the Home Depot Center (March 11, 2012)
2. Houston Dynamo vs. Sporting Kansas City at LIVESTRONG Park (July 7, 2012)

The decision to impose this sanction is based on the League-wide position that misconduct at any MLS event can affect a fan’s standing at other MLS facilities. MLS will not tolerate behavior which threatens the safety of any fan, stadium employee or match participant. The actions of just a few individuals can influence the perception of all of our supporters, clubs and League.

After the opening of BBVA Compass Stadium on May 12, 2012, the League will evaluate whether to lift the ban on the previously stated privileges. The following factors will be considered in determining the ultimate length of this restriction:

1. Supporter conduct at 2012 MLS away games
2. Supporter conduct at BBVA Compass Stadium
3. Implementation of a supporter charter
4. Formation of an effective leadership system for all Dynamo supporters that is recognized by the club

I know there were other supporters at other stadiums using smoke bombs. Are we being singled out? Not sure how to take this. No where does it mention the smoke bombs at Robertson over the years.

 

LOL at the smoke bomb violations!


So they're going to tell us - the fans - how to support our own team at our own stadium?

I feel a chant being made...lol

 

Really?



Yea, that never happens at sporting events. Don't the Chicago guys light flares on a regular basis?

 

So now is the time for the supporters to unite and hit and hurt the club where it counts the bottom line...

Dont go to any games until the club allows you to bring all your stuff back....


lets see how festive the dynamo home games looks with out the supporters clubs..... leave your section empty and lets see if the soccer moms and dads and thye non hard core supporters in enough of an atmospher with their lets go dynamo chants that will last 10 seconds at best....

 

yanqui - how do you love more. yourself or your club?

never abandon your club. find a way to improvise, but never abandon your club if you truly love it.