At the mls cup did anyone else hear the Revolution Fans (to call them supporters would be wrong) sing Wings of an Eagle. At the game my wife turned to me and exclaimed, "Paul Revere didn't have wings, why are they singing that song?" Why do they sing Wings of an Eagle??? Am I wrong to assume that DCU Supporters sing it because our mascot is an eagle.........
History lesson! The original chant is "Wings of a Sparrow" and its not a DC original - I'd presume that English fans or somebody created it. We didn't start doing it here until the end of the season in 1997, when Sam Pierron from KC (the same man who coordinated the creation of the Supporters Shield, incidentally) used it to win the chant contest at the inaugural Capital Soccer Ball the night before MLS Cup. We changed "sparrow" to "eagle" because its on the United crest and because we're the Screaming Eagles, and started singing it at the game the next day.
The song was the winner of the 2000 Capitol Soccer Ball as sung by the KC crew (i.e., Sam Pierron) and voted on by acclamation from the gathered supporters' groups. We adopted it 'cause it's funny, and has nothing to do with our logo. GM JINX! It was 2000 cause Don Craft and the Barn Burners were there.
It was 1997. Don was there with a couple of other people because Chicago had been announced as a new expansion franchise. Plus, it was at Lucky Bar. I remember this well
It wasn't at Lucky Bar, it was in the downstairs area of some bar down Wilson from Summers. Nanny, nanny, boo-boo! GM
Why don't both of you memory challenged souls just ask Sam himself btw - the Rhodeside Grill was the CSB spot that you were thinking of... as for when the song became part of the scene you'll have to ask better historians than myself. KGDG Come On United (States and DC) www.screaming-eagles.com Can sing out of tune with the best of 'em
I do recall the sparrow version being sung at games in England and had known it to previously exist. I did not know the local history. But the question remains: Why do NE fans sing the eagle version? Answer: L o s e r s It can't be that hard to come up with a version that goes like, if I had the hooves of a stallion I'd rear up to stomp and shit on those bastards below...
Sam definitely sang "Wings of an Eagle" at the ball at Lucky Bar in 1997. I remember this for a few reasons: (1) that is the only "Ball" that I ever remember attending and (2) Kevin Payne was pumping up the crowd with a colorful F-bomb filled rallying speech to which the moderator Ray W followed up, "Thanks for keeping it clean, Kevin." And Sam did sing "eagle" as an appeal to the DC supporters. Just my recollection. Cheers, Tim
Saw one of those stupid ESPN talk shows (at the gym, no choice but to watch) yesterday that ended their show with their Big Finish: NE Revs are the Buffalo Bills of Soccer. Ouch, this is a show that ignores soccer...so to have them do the big finish with a dig at the Revs, things have to be really bad. So maybe they should sing, "If I had hooves of a Buff, if I had the ass of a Bill..." Cheers, Tim
Kevin Payne, f-bombs? I'm shocked I tells ya! I missed the first CSB but I've heard the tale about Sam doing this there so it must be true. But GM is right that we did have a song contest at the CSB at Rhodeside in 2000. The Barn Burners might have won (I don't recall who did) and Don Craft was most likely dressed in a kilt. I do remember the River Ratz doing a really goofy song that had them kneeling down and I think had some hand motions (I guess they were supposed to be Ratz?) Kids this is what happens with age and booze, you can't remember stuff that happened 7 years ago. K
That was hysterical. It was in theory a party for all fans from around the league, but Denver had gotten hit by a blizzard that weekend and almost no one from Denver came to DC. So KP is like "We're going to go out and show everyone who the BEST F'ING TEAM in Major League Soccer is" and the place went apeshit The other thing I remember from that night was ESC founder Sandy Canetti graciously wishing DC good luck the next day. That era is long over... Didn't Alan Kelly drop a few f bombs too?
FWIW the NE supporters sing Wings of a SPARROW if you heard otherwise it's because you know the tune and your brain hears what it expects to hear.
I wouldnt be so sure there smart guy... Hell, I am willing to bet half the Barra Brava sings "La Barracudas" every time we sing our song... And on that same coin, I'll bet half of your intrepid bunch also do not know the difference
What my brain expects to hear from NE supporters usually involves crickets and the whipping winds of Foxboro. Maybe a crying child, or a pin dropping somewhere therein...
Do you mean 1/2 of us don't know what you sing or what we sing? Actually I would agree with both statements for the game Sunday since probably 1/2 the people there had never sung with us before. NBD, it would be strange of us to sing wings of an eagle, I agree.
Tom - You, and me, and Tommy Rongen sang that (or was it Tommy's Army?) while sucking helium during that Soccer Ball. I have no recollection of others singing, that might have been when I was hanging out in the back alley
Actually it was the Lucky Bar and Don Crafts was there also and it was 1997. So Nanny, Nanny boo-boo to you. I remember Brian Tucker trying to bits of several songs and he got turned off after just doing part of the first song. But I'm pretty sure we did the Sparrow song a couple times the first year. I also remember getting a couple of kids in the front row of that old section to yell "shoot the puck", a couple times each game. I remember Tom get on stage (granted small stage) at the Hidden Shamrock in '98 to play cow bell with a Parliment cover band. That was a fun night.