What happened to Sam's Army?

I think it is a good sign I could not distinguish SA in the stands. It means a lot more US supporters are in the stadium cheering on the red white and blue.

 

Well, I don't know, of course, but here are some things ...

* The guy who's in charge of it now is a good dude and a tried-and-true fan of the team and the game.

* SA is, I think, generally more important to the USA fan who was around in the 1990s through the early part of the 2000s. It's my understanding that they guy who was in charge of it then had other focuses after the 2002 WC (got married, I think??) and just never made a clean handoff to someone else. I think it was that void that spurred the creation of AO.

* There's no doubt that SA blazed the trail and showed there is a "market" out there for USA fan groups, and they should always be credited with bringing ultra-fandom to the USA fan. It's my opinion that AO stands on SA's shoulders to some extent, although I know that my opinion is not shared by everyone.

* I think they decided to keep their structure centralized and depend on 1-2 guys. It was a smaller "market" then and it probably worked well up to a certain point.

* With AO's success, SA has been a little crowded out. It's my experience that the SA guys who were there in the 90s are still intensely loyal to the group, as they should be. But it's also hard to deny that SA leadership made some mistakes that led to declining influence.

The future of SA is a little cloudy right now, but the guy in charge is a capable leader and all of the initial friction with AO appears to have been worked out for the most part, with only petty skirmishes at low levels still going on, but that can never stop completely.

IMHO, there's plenty of room for both, if only they don't try to be identical and do the same things. This is up to the respective leadership, of course, but if the current upwards track of USA fandom overall is any indication, they seem to be finding their respective places in fandom just fine.

I always say to join both groups as it supports the game and helps empower both groups.

 

It's fairly convoluted, by the gist of it is that the people who ran/run SA had an opportunity a while back, well before WC 2010, to expand on their fanbase by allowing a number of volunteers to assume greater roles within their organization to take advantage of everything from establishing regional 'Brigades', expanded marketing and better use of social media.

However, those who wished to help out were constantly rebuffed in their attempts to build SA. The owners of the SA "brand" (it was trademarked) fought tooth and nail to protect their mark, insofar as to threaten legal action against one of their most ardent brigades when they made up a batch of SA scarves without including the TM symbol on them (we sent them out for aftermarket stitching).

In the meantime, they apparently made some sort of marketing deal with US Soccer & Nike as the Sam's Army online shop is nothing more than a parrot marketing site at this point.

Failure to let others help them out has caused them to wither while AO has assumed the torch and run with it. And good on them.

But I was one of those guys back in the formative years in the mid to late 90s when SA was established and growing and it pains me to see what they have done to this once-proud organization.

 

I hung out with Sam's Army -- I was a little late to the party, going to my first match in 2004. I think the AO guys are to be commended, but I'm a little sad not to see any Sam's Army gatherings anymore. The last time I was around a Sam's Army presence at a match was 2009 in Nashville for Jozy's hattrick vs Trinidad & Tobago

 

I second all that.

From what I saw, a couple guys thought they could make some kind of living off Sam's Army, and even made some half-assed attempts to stake a monopoly on supporting the USA, stunting what should have been organic growth of SA as more supporters came on board. When things didn't take off as they hoped, they more or less abandoned the organization to local "brigades" at the same time AO was forming.

It's a warning to anyone who tries to "own" supporting the USA.

 

Sad, really. I'd love to see it resurrected in a way that works for a lot of the folks who aren't as excited to be a part of the AO atmosphere. Seconding Haig and Weber, as well, since that is the same intel I have and I've been around since '98-'99. SA's decline became a big reason why I traveled less to the games. I didn't find the AO presence as organized on the ground (this was circa '08-'09, so grain of salt) nor as welcoming. That may have changed in recent years. I plan to find out by getting back on the road in September for Cbus and hopefully KC in October.

Either way, I think SA needs to come back in some form, even if it's the Olde Phartes Auxiliary.

 

It was fine when it led the US support for USA-Ecuador in RBA last yr.



In all honesty, it's "alive" but just among individuals, with those individuals being near the top of the leadership of some of the older MLS SGs out there.

 

Sam's Army def. brought it for that game last year. Wonder why...

 

Haig is an amazing teacher/mentor.

 

They were out losered by AO

 

Not surprising this comment comes from a Chicago Fire fan. To this day, still the only type of fans (save for a few DCU ones) I've seen proudly wearing club gear in the USA supporters section.

 

There was an article questioning Sunil Gulati as to why the fervor for USA games was not the same as it had been pre-2010 and right after with the Gold Cup. I think they were looking at numbers post WC 2010. Some think it is the lead up the Cup but others see a pattern. Yes, Gulati is not good and should step down/be fired and the US Men seem stuck, but could the weakened SA be part of it ?

BTW, if the SA guys were trying to make money, you think they would have forced annual dues and benefits for dues payers. They did not last I checked. AO is closer to that model. I went to the US v. Argentina game last year in New Jersey. AO had a huge turn out but the tail gate by the local chapter was a little chaotic. SA had 1/10 the particpates but looked pretty good and organized and were being fed.

 

Wow. I didnt realize Sams Army had diminished.

I am hoping the American Outlaws grow and every support group grows. the more the better.

 

IIRC, they actually did have this for a while. The problem was that the rewards available ebbed and flowed based upon the time of the 4 year WCQ cycle.

 

Here's my .02, following the Jamaica game. I saw three SA Columbus Brigade scarves in the crowd. For all I know, there may have been more. Anyway, the pre-night bash, tailgate, and post-game bash were for all USA fans. Heck, even a couple Jamaican fans came wandering through the crowd.

I know other SA people were there, because I saw one person with a North Jersey Brigade shirt on.

Anyway, there WAS a good SA Columbus Brigade up until about 2005 or so. The original group was primarily lead by a bunch of OSU grad students who either had kids, moved away, or both. When you have kids, as a lot of us know, it makes things much more difficult to attend games, let alone plan two days of partying. I think the 2005 US-Mexico game was largely a Columbus Brigade coordinated event, but by that point, it was largely a newer "second wave" group of people.

When AO came along, the Columbus supporters groups had largely shifted to a younger, more rowdy crowd. I'm sure a lot of them hadn't heard of Sam's Army, so it probably made sense for them to join AO.

 

LOL.

Club before country.

 

Hey

@Wessoman

Maybe you should start your own Ejercito de Samuel

 

If I had the money and time, I would start the Ultras NorteAmericanos.

 

@HomietheClown May help with some of the Spanish chants.

 

@Wessoman and @ceezmad FWIW in Houston this year for our boys versus Canada, we had Sam's Army, American Outlaws and Dirty Yanks all tailgate together, march in together and of course stand and sing together. I met people from Cali to Chicago to Massachusetts and while the footy on the field was shitastic at best, the spirit in the stands was genuine and alive across the board.

 

#Wecametosing, you will see the hash tag on twitter...could be something brewing for the USA Mexico match and the Sammers

 

There's a good chance you'll see the auxiliary implemented tomorrow night.