Mike Eruzione: My name is Mike Eruzione from Winthrop Massachussetts. Herb Brooks: Who do you play for? Mike Eruzione: I play for the United States of America. Herb Brooks: That's all gentleman.
Agree with everyone else on here...Country over Club on U.S. match days. Wear your U.S. stuff and leave the club stuff at home. Sure, rep your city if you can. You'll usually find me with my Michigan 26 jersey on or my AODC 12 jersey or AODC scarf. It's not hard to ask that for one day we rep the red, white and blue of the U S of A in the stands.
I've been forgetting to mention. I had the entire January camp sign the AZ flag. I'm starting a new tradition. When the USMNT visits your state/city, get as many players as you can to sign your state/city flag.
I treat the state/city flags the same way as the U.S. flag...no writing on it whatsoever. I got plenty of things the team can sign instead. Just my $.02.
I remember buying a ton of these for the Mexico match in C-Bus back in '09 and can vouch for how awesome they are. They lasted through that day of extreme hot, wind, rain, thunder, lightning, hail and cold and emerged unscathed!
Would be cool if most state flags didn't suck. A logo on a blue background... boring. The only good ones are Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas. The rest are ********ing awful. lol (and I think it's fair to criticize since my state is among the awful ones)
I always thought that state flags were okay, recognizable or not ... that whole "e pluribus unum" thing. Besides, Texas's flag is best and Dempsey is from here! Anyway, FWIW, I think the reason that US culture regards its flag so much more than other cultures is that it's the central unifying symbol. Sure, there are other things - eagle, Uncle Sam, etc. - but the flag stands apart. And, I think the reason it is the central unifying symbol is that we have no royalty. Other nations have flags but they also have other images - queen's portrait, whatever. I don't see any queen's portraits with soccer club crests on them ... just a thought. As far as the jersey with the state on the nameplate and the order of admission as the number - I like that, too! Let's see some Vermonters do that this cycle, especially since the WC is in 2014! EDIT - Oh, and yes, for national team games, set aside the club jerseys. Nothing's wrong with being a fan of a club but think of where you are. It's just clueless ... and I have seen fights erupt at USA games between rival MLS clubs. Some a**holes are always going to do stupid shit. Granted, not wearing club gear won't necessarily stop all that, but why even go there?