Mods, feel free to merge this with the Heaps or RBNY P/I?P threads if need be. Need to get this one of my chest. Those of you who made the trip down to RBA for the game Saturday night knew that this game was going to be special for a variety of reasons. The joint march before the game. The video tributes. The Boston armbands. Hell, we had 3 busloads (or the bus and carpool equivalent) of fans come down. And the Revs got blown out. Which sucked. But what really pissed me off was the fact that at the end of the game, only a handful of Revs came over, including a visibly hobbled AJ Soares, to acknowledge the away supporters. This was more than just a game to many of us. This was about representing our region, which just went through what will be the most traumatic thing many of us will ever experience (and god willing will never, ever happen again). And our team let us down. I can't lie, I'm livid. And I blame Heaps. I'm sorry, but for a guy who lives around here, he should have a damn clue. He should have had the whole team come over as one group. Instead, a few players (whom I give full credit to, btw) took it upon themselves to do what what should have been second nature. Especially in light of last year's snub. I was outside the buses after the game when Jay came by to offer up his apology, but I did not get on the bus to listen to him. It was too late and I was so angry I didn't want to say something I'd regret. Last year, we got a letter from him after a similar snub. This year it was on the buses, which, mind you only had a portion of our overall contingent represented. This was absolutely pathetic. Now, I realize I might be way off base here. If I am, please let me know. This past week was a very emotional one for me personally and little things set me off. But if you agree with this, please let me know as well so that I am not alone in thinking this.
BOSTON STRONG........Revs weak. Highlight for me was the visit by Kevin Alston to the supporter section along with the shared support by the NYRB fans in solidarity before the match. Although I appreciate the effort by the Revs to help put together the bus trip to RBA after the emotional week in Boston it felt that the NYRB organization showed much more class/respect to the Revs fans then the Revs organization/players. Other highlight was seeing RBA in person. Great stadium.
I think you underestimate how down and dejected the team was after that beat-down. I was there. I'll give them a pass on that. I wouldn't have wanted to do that after something like that. Plus, we were way up high in the nose bleeds and not too close to the field. Kevin Alston was with us in the stands and he came over to our buses afterward. And as you mentioned, Heaps came on our bus to thank us personally. Give these guys a break. The look on their faces at the end told me they care and are not happy with this. Dorman and Ryan Guy looked the most dejected.
I will not give any of them a pass, save for Tierney. They were dejected? Waah. So weren't we. As I said, to many of us, this was more than just the game being played. Alston came by us and it put a smile on my face. It was great to see him interact with us. And I'm not buying the nosebleed seat thing one bit. Weak, weak excuse.
And the Bruins were dejected too after both losses at home and didn't proceed directly to the locker room. Theydid two stick salutes. The Celtics lost first playoff game in NY and from what I was told by friends there team went right to a group of 50 Celtics fans and shook hands before going to locker room. No excuses. The visiting Buffalo Sabres showed more class to Boston fans than Revs did.
Wasn't there but FWIW the Revolution (players, coaches, etc.) have a long, established history of not recognizing supporters as a team in such fashion. Clearly the team has had a very rough week and getting beat badly on the road didn't help... but it would have been the right thing for the team to come over after the final whistle to acknowledge the traveling support. In short I get where Jon is coming from and respect his opinion.
This. I wasn't there, so I know nothing of this other than what I read here. But this same thing has happened so many times in the past, in much more "normal" circumstances. When I was writing regularly, I mentioned this at the end of an article (the game was in NJ, on a Sunday night, so we weren't going to get home until 1:00 am). I got a call from the Revs FO at work the next day, telling me I was being too harsh on them. Because the locker rooms were the other way (near the ESC) and they didn't want to get abused by them unless they walked back with a Metros player! (Really! This was the excuse they offered!) Ironically enough, Heaps was one of the only 2-3 Revs who did come over and gave us a clap. Yeah, it's a shame, and with just a tiny bit of effort, it would have meant a lot. Thanking the fans is a convention that is practiced by away teams all over planet earth, in some places where a bad loss would be flat-out dangerous for some teams, but nonetheless, players do it. But we're different. Why is it that we're never different in a good way?
Heh, now that was some high quality excuse making right there, that's awesome. The players were so fragile they needed to be walked hand in hand by a guardian, out of the fear that a stranger might say something mean to them? Maybe the Revs could have thought ahead, and gotten one of those ropes you see teachers use for kindergarten classes, which all the kids have to hold on to when walking outside or wherever, and then had one of those nice Metrostar players lead them in a group back to the locker room. That actually seems like such an appropriate mental image for those running this team.
Poor job by the Revs. From what I can remember this might have been the biggest away game attendence ever supported by the Revs themselves. There was what 4 buses filled with passionate fans who drove 4 hours to see the team the love get smacked down. its a shame less than a handful of players acknowledged the fans. maybe next time there will only be 1 bus load or none at all.
Apparently I'm one of a very few who felt slighted, people are too tired about bitching or it didn't matter all that much.
To be honest, I'm so used to it from this organization that I don't care anymore. The fact that he "felt" bad enough last year to apologize to the supporter's in an email, and then repeat it again the next time in NY ... tells you all you need to know.
I felt slighted, but like Monty, I've come to expect this behavior from the organiztion. They're all talk and never follow through on their word.
Did Kraft Productions/CSN show any of the pre-game march, etc? I know RBNY had their cameras outside.
Please correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't the story we heard last year (or was it the year before?) that the player didn't come over because they "didn't know" what to do during such a bad year? This whole thing boggles my mind, and I share Jon's opinion. Your fans came down from the area this team represents on their dime. You take the- what, 30 second? 1 minute?- to walk over to where they are in the stadium (or as close as you can) and acknowledge this. Oh by the way, you do this at home too, where it's even easier. We see this every week in this league. Teams celebrating or acknowledging their fans home or away. When you have to deliver two apologies in two years...hm.
I think this falls on the players, they deserve to be called out. I think it would be more effective if you express your displeasure directly to them using platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Pretty sure all of them has twitter accounts
To me this shows the lack of knowledge about the sport of soccer/football from the organization as a whole. Watch any pro match across the globe and the players will acknowledge the fans immediately following a match win or lose. IT'S A FOOTBALL/SOCCER TRADITION! Something this organization has absolutely 0% of after 17 years. I see it as a culture issue from the top down. All to blame from ownership, FO, coaching and players. Unfortunately I don't see it changing anytime soon. How do they expect fans to respect the team and organization when they don't respect the game?