Wouldn't style of play and results fall under the coach? At the end of the day, the coach is the one that sets the formation, tactics, player selection, subs, etc. I think it's far easier to say rate the coach, instead of separating all the things he does into individual topics. I think rating style of play and results would likely fall under similar ratings to each other. I'm sure a lot of people in the long wrong wouldn't really care how the team played, as long as they're getting results. While I'm a huge fan of fast, counter attacking play, I'm more than content watching a more boring defensive tiki-taka style of play if we're winning. Results are ultimately what matters. Most people 10 years from now won't remember our style of play the year we won the cup, they'll just remember we did it. As far as alcohol goes, I just don't buy it at sporting events. I tend to try and avoid food and drink since I'm not exactly well off, so I can't justify a $9 beer, when that can either buy me a meal before or after the game, or I can go get a 6 pack of something I'd prefer to drink. I do wish we'd get rid of the liquor stores though. I love when I'm out of state and I can just grab something from a nearby grocery or convenience store, or even hit up a BevMo and have a massive selection at a fair price.
Utah breweries actually make quite a few great 4% beers - probably better than most breweries in the U.S could. It would be nice not to have to make a special trip to a state store to buy anything.
Actually, 3.2 beer isn't arbitrary...it is standard on military bases and some states used to actually distinguish legal age for 3.2 versus more potent quaffs (CO for example, 3.2 beer was legal at 18). And NY and many places in New England have as strict (or stricter) blue laws than Utah...can't buy beer in a NY supermarket before noon on a Sunday, for example. (Not that I was looking to consume it before noon on a Sunday, it's just if you are doing your shopping, it is kind of a hassle if you want to stock the fridge!)
Okay, so, a couple things. 1. If you don't like it here, you can always try to change things* or move. You either figure out a way of working around the eccentricities or you scoot. Hopefully CrazyJ628 won't leave, but it's understandable why he would. I've been on the verge a number of times, but the positives always outweighed the negatives. And I'm a lazy ass. And we have our dirty little secrets, like you can get real, refrigerated beer from the brewery, late nights and on Sundays if you know where to look... B. I'm not only a lazy ass, but have no moral compass or backbone and am considering buying season tickets again. Already told the season ticket rep we wouldn't be renewing, but there are still seats available in our old section and while I still hate the way they dealt with Javi and how we haven't figured out how to plug the holes on our back line, going to the games has some real appeal. God help me. I know some of you have been in the same season-ticket boat and I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but tell me why you decided what you did. Oh, and cheers! *good luck with that one
I bought mine because the thought of not having them was weird. Will I be overly upset multiple times this year and question why I did it? Sure. But I also love local soccer and the RioT so... Oh, and those that are like "I will just buy individual tickets" - if you do this more than 10 games in a season, it becomes a monstrous hassle. Finding seats where you want to sit, for the amount of people you want to come, for the price you can afford, not in the ********ing sun in the summer, etc. It gets old fast. If I didn't have tickets in the hotdog section what would you give me shit about? I'm a perfect specimen of a human outside that.
I'm thinking about the mini-pack route. I looked at the two packs offered and while they were good, I don't know if you can customize them. I didn't see the Columbus game as an option, for example. What did me in last year wasn't the results on the field. I expected that. It was the time constraints. With my job I always miss the opening game and a playoff game but last year so much of the schedule was front-loaded due to the new turf install that I missed a few games in April. Then it seemed like July had a game every week. July is prime Uintas hiking time for me.
I did this last season and really wasn't inconvenienced at all. I never bought for more than three people though, so that's probably why. This year I'm choosing travel over soccer though so I probably won't worry too much about it.
Did not renew despite having them for last eight years, and am perfectly fine with the decision. MLS direct kick will bring the games to me, and I will have plenty of extra money for entertainment. Maybe some day if front office figures out that they want supporters to come (versus selling corporate no show seats), I will revisit my decision.
the shit they pulled on section 1 (and surrounding sections) this year, in the name of corporate bullshit, was just flat out... well bullshit
It was mentioned in the townhall post that our rat provided. They removed the top rows of a few sections to install a corporate section. Those that it displaced were, understandably, not in love with the idea
They decided to put in the "East Side Club" seats with free hot dogs and nachos for 4x the cost. This caused the ejection of the top 4-6 rows of Sections 1, 2 and 37. We were offered the "opportunity" to keep our seats at the new price...but helping find alternative seats was not necessarily on the agenda--kind of, "well I know these aren't the same seats you had...but take it or leave it". Found this particularly offensive, as we have had four seats since RSL has been at RioT. Got there early on to scout out our location--wanted to be near mid-field, up higher so we could get better perspective, on the aisle etc. You support efforts for public funding for the stadium, you sit through all the crappy Chivas USA games, you pay up for the privilege to watch them sell promo seats for cheaper than your discounted season ticket price, buy the shirts and hats and over-priced food, they basically build their franchise on the backs of people willing to support them in the lean times...and this is how the front office says thank you. They would rather sell seats to corporate clients, seats that will go half empty and erode the atmosphere (remember last year's LAG game? I looked across and the seats were half empty). Yes, they will report "sell outs", but isn't the same thing. That is their choice, and that is fine with me. I just figured if this was how they were going to reward loyalty, I had better ways to spend my money! (Funny as I write this, I also see parallels in the handling of the Javi situation!)
They really should've handled it better. I fully understand why they'd want more premium seats, since they're worth more. However, there are a few ways they could've handled it that would've kept more good will. First, maybe allow the current STH's in those seats to keep them this year at the same cost they were paying. Give them the year to experience the new perks. Maybe it gets a few to stick with the higher cost in the following year. Move them out like now, but give some kind of incentive to do so. Maybe x% off of renewing in their new seats. Maybe give out some swag, like some official jerseys, or hats, scarves, etc. Help ease the annoyance of having to move. In all situations though, they really should be doing everything they can to help give at least a near equivalent new set of seats. I get they can't just force other people to move as well, but you really should be in some kind of priority setup of being alerted of new seats that you want. Do it in the order of how long people have been STH's. The sad thing is, this is probably what we'll start seeing more of in future seasons. From what I recall, the stadium wasn't built to be easily expanded, so we're probably going to slowly get priced out of areas as the years go on. It'd be nice if they could just somehow expand to ~30k seats, so they could add in some of these more expensive seats, while still having a good selection of less expensive seats.
GENTRIFICATION! I remember those years where our discounted price was cheaper than the promotional price. I felt too that I was supporting pro soccer. The team was a blast to watch. We made a market decision, so did they. We lease the right to sit in the seats during games, not much more.
I've ordered tickets through my work email for people and have my season tickets setup through my personal email. Because of this, I've been able to see how they treat a season ticket holder versus a single ticket purchaser from time to time. It's interesting. They send A LOT of stuff to my work email about "come have a RioT" and stuff like that. Whereas my personal email is like "yo, you owe us money". That said, I haven't seen too many promos for the home opener. I'll keep an eye on it as the year progresses.
I've seen a couple of billboards along I-15 for the home opener, but not much else. Already bought single game tickets for that one, though, so maybe I'm not the target market.
So, just to bump this back up and because we're talking about the statistical possibility of making the playoffs, what song would you play or sing at the stadium with "dream in the title?