This is one of the exact quotes I was talking about. Nice work in digging it up. Put this in context and you'll see what I am *trying* to say, and that is as I understand Bruce made this comment BEFORE the match -- well before it -- in that he was anticipating a pro-Guatemalan crowd. When you now couple his comments with some of the players, the picture I see is that they had originally thought, as is often the case, this "home" game would be pro-Guatemalan, and when they showed up this is exactly what they saw; until the whistle went off starting the game and all the Yanks came in from the cold (their tailgates and offices, etc) and joined in the celebration. Now I'm not saying the US support in Birmingham was the best it could be. It was not. And I'm not saying it was heads and tails above our opponents support. It was not. But our was far greater than some of the articles suggest and as people have given more life to this non-story. To me the story is, when will we as a soccer nation get to the point where we do not have to worry about who were are playing and where we will be staging the match such that we will ALWAYS have a pro-US crowd, when it is a given, when it will not matter what color shirts we wear to the game, when it will not matter who cheers and sings and chants our songs, because the whole damn stadium will be on our side, when if even a fraction of them vocally supported their team that the support for our boys in the match would run akin to the support us Yanks show in some of our pointy football games.
Press reports I read before the match stated that Arena was a factor in choosing Birmingham as a WCQ site, because he expected a pro-USA crowd. But I guess everything we get from the media should be taken with a grain of salt. USA would probably have to reach the final of a World Cup before the bandwagons begin to fill. In the meanwhile, it'll continue to be "USA Fans vs. The World" mentality at home WCQs -- except against Canada and Costa Rica; neither team has much traveling support.
And they could say 'Be the Reds'. Unless that has been used. At the risk of sounding like a heretic, should this debate turn into a poll to get started about what the 'official' support color should be? (Possibly changing to blue.) I prefer the red myself, and love my red kit from WC '98 more than anything else in my closet, but the lack of a red jersey these days, does make it hard to wear that color at matches. That is, if you like wearing a jersey..... which I think most of us do. As our fan base grows, it will be more difficult for the newbies. Just a thought.
Red jerseys remind me of France '98. Seriously bad mojo. That being said, when I go to a USMNT game, I'm still wearing a red t-shirt. I say red for the fans, white or blue for the team, and we're all good.
As I understand, this is true. But as it pertains to my comments, my guess is that they chose Birmingham because of historical solid US support; however, in spite of this, Arena was still skepical of whether US fans would show or, as he probably assumed, the Guatemalans would show up in whatever numbers he anticipated, which according to his comments would probably mean a pre-Guate crowd.
"...Previously on the red vs white vs blue debate: Red supporters couldn't agree with White supporters who couldn't agree with Blue supporters. The debate continues...." I'm not sure why I'm posting at all because this seems a ridiculously drawn out fight over things none of you will ever agree on. Having said that, I have another conclusion: WHY NOT CREATE MORE SUPPORTER GROUPS???? If you don't want to wear red, DON'T WEAR IT! If you don't want to be part of "Sam's Army", DON'T BE A PART! Create your own supporters' group! It's not like you're turning your back on the US just because you don't want to take part in Sam's Army activities. Look at teams all over (mainly club teams yes, but support for our national teams is something like a very spread out club team), they don't just have ONE group. The Chicago Fire have several groups. That doesn't mean they don't sit together, sing the same songs, wave the same flags and cheer for the same team! You want to "rep" America! Embrace your different opinions! (Imagine me standing in front of a rippling, waving American flag with one hand on my chest as I say that.) Get a group of people together from your hometown or state or county or local (at least near) MLS team or other team... and START YOUR OWN SUPPORTERS GROUP. You could all buy tickets for the section right next to Sam's Army or right behind. This would seem to coordinate everyone's efforts and still allow for differences in wardrobe. I'm actually thinking this would be pretty cool to do myself. Anybody around Milwaukee want to start a new group? (I'm sure a friend in Champaign, IL would be on board so we could probably include you damn FIBs as well! )
Rep. I am going to play devil's advocate from my previous post. So if we can't agree on what color to wear....... can we agree that the Nats should have a red jersey? How concerted of an effort have we put toward the Fed to make this happen?
For what it's worth - I emailed both Nike & Soccer House requesting a Red Jersey for the American Soccer Fans that are desperately trying to build a soccer fan base. Like I said, for what it's worth. My email and a dollar might get you a cup of coffee....
Yeeeaaaah; wearing all the same color is boring, stupid, and makes no sense: Like there's any orange in the Dutch flag. The Magpie
I sent the USSF and Nike an email also about providing a RED US Supporters jersey for the fans. If the Fed and Nike want to the keep the USMNT wearing blue and white, at least provide a red supporters jersey for the fans.
and I sent an email to Natalie Portman telling her to give me a BJ. I'm assuming we'll get the same results...
I didn't read this entire thread, but I read quite a bit. My thought is, who gives a damn what color you wear to the game as long as when you go, you are as loud as f---ing hell and an a-hole to as many opposing players/coaches/refs as possible?
This issue will never be resolved. Sam's Army will always wear red. It's a tradition. Just look at Korea 2002. Korea wore red, Poland wore red, Portugal wore Burgundy and still USA fans wore red. Personally I think wearing red when our opponents are clad in the same color is just plain disrespectful. I am watching Liverpool/Chelsea match and almost everyone is wearing Red or Blue. Fans in England got it right wear the color the team wears on the field. Anyone who thinks that colors doesn't matter have never seen a Holland or Korea home game where the entire stadium is Orange or Red. It does have an effect on the players to a small degree. I'm proud of Sam's Army and the way they raise hell in the stands. I wish every USA fan had that enthusiasm. I'll continue to wear the overpriced official USA jersey that the players wear during the game. And I'll continue to bring a flag even to games here in the US. My suggestion is this wear whatever you want, Unite and congregate with fellow supporters (we all want this team to take the trophy in 2006), and bring the USA flag. Flags stand out and clearly state your affiliation. I am sure other countries laugh at the way we wear different colors to the game. But that is the beauty of The United States Of America. Our country is about diversity, tolerance, and freedom. Just my worthless opinion, Kris
until we can get a whole stadium of "supporters" then i say wear what youwant. SA sticks out as a whole in red ( I will be wearing red in Chicago). Alot of the posts that I have read on this talk about a whole stadium looking the same. We can't fill a stadium with "supporters". Most of the people going to the games are "soccer moms". Soo, until youcan get a stadium full of "supporters", don't worry about it. Wear what you want (my choice is red of course)