My thoughts exactly. IMHO, there should be simple rules for section 8 participation: - stand - chant (and/or sing) - wear red - Fire till you die - don't be a ********head (includes throwing things on the field and jumping on things obviously not meant to support your weight)
I was kidding. Expense was spared, and that's just the way it was. It would have been great to have a $200 million stadium, but that wasn't realistic. The place is great, and it seems like they add something every time I go back (grass on the outside, etc.). Hope they pave some of the gravel stuff, especially in the back towards 79th Street. The only other thing I would really, really like to see is the Fire logo on that water tower, or, even cooler, the entire water tower painted as an MLS soccer ball.
This sort of damage is wrong, plain ordinary wrong. It plays right into the hands of those that would want tighter constraints on supporter sections. You don't bust up the furniture when you're invited to someones home; poor form.
Cool. I wasn't sure if it was a legit gripe or not. I wish the village hadn't skimped out on some things...having a club in view of the field would have been nice as would have a nicer club in general. I guess if AEG had kicked in some dough, maybe, but i think the village wanted to do it on their own instead of half and half. there have been nice additions, I think the lot it going to stay as is until phase two kicks in. I heard the plan is to put some commerce out front and they didnt want to pave and then just have to dig it up again
I guess standing and/or jumping on the seat parts of the benches just isn't cool enough anymore? It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that a vertical piece of bench isn't going to be able to spread weight around too well.
Definitely down with the logo since the watertower is a prominent portion of the view from S8. And hell no for the soccer ball...we aren't the Crew.
Some of you guys think WE have problems with attendance?! http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=377510&cc=5739
The Euro snobs can laugh at us all they want, but the reality is that the Wigan / Reading match this past week was attended by a crowd of 14K and small change. If indeed the FIRE had 15K plus in the seats it means that they out-drew atleast one EPL fixture, with far less expenses to have to pay; isn't that interesting!
ANd don't forget that English football benefits from geography - these low attendence figures reflect a significant number of travelling fans. It's not like MLS stats where the stadium attendence is a direct reflection of home fans only. In other words, a match with 20k in attendance may have 16k locals and 4k visitors.
You can't compare European numbers to US. How many teams does London have? They are so many clubs all competing for fans. And some of the other teams are in cities of 100,000 to 200,000 people. In the U.S. you have a city, like Chicago, with a metropolitan population of 7 million plus and we get 5K for a Wednesday game and are happy if we get a 20K sell out. Pathetic. If the MLS played quality soccer and had quality players we should have no problem averaging 40K.
There is a big difference in drawing power when you're the #1 sport in town and when you're the #4 or 5.Also a big difference when your franchise is 10 years old and when it is 100 years old.
Trib had huge coverage of cubs, bears, sox, and said that our game was an away game. 90 to 100 years ago, not many people showed up for games. It's amazing what coverage you can get from tv when your sport has little gameplay and lots of commercials, this is why b-ball and f-ball are hyped as much as they are. And, if you throw in some negatives about soccer, you can keep people blind and ignorant. I, for one, will continue going to games and try to bring more people in. I will stand up to the ignorant and fight for what is right, even with my dying breath. If all the Fire fans, (for example) show up for the next game, it will sell out. This is what will move us forward. Even comcast can't ignore us then.
You mean a 20k match over there, right? Because I've never heard of 4,000 visiting fans at an MLS game. Hell, we're lucky to get 40 visiting fans at an MLS game. And some of them are just fans of the other team who live there. When you guys go to Columbus or KC, that's the biggest traveling contingent of fans I've ever seen that the team's front office just didn't out and out bribe and pay for to go.
No. Not even close. There were some well-attended games, but nothing like 40-60k. Crowds over 10k happened, but not regularly.
Fanaddict, Actually, the U.S. should be easily able to surpass Europe in attendance. First of all, soccer has been on and off in the U.S. for the past 40 years. The NASL used to draw as well if not better than the MLS they were drawing crowds of 30-60K and they weren't double headers with international powerhouses. When 50K came to see an NASL game they came to see NASL teams. Thus the MLS has not been able to grow the soccer fanbase, even though the youth and young adult market for soccer has increased exponentially since the 70's. Second, the U.S. has the largest consumer market in the world in terms of dollars there is much more potential for money to be spent on soccer than in England, Spain, or Italy. And actually, soccer could easily become on par with the "top 3 sports". When the Sting played indoor they were on par with the Hawks and Bulls at the time. Granted the Sting were good and the others were and are crap. The reality is that currently MLS doesn't have the quality to attract soccer fans. The MLS would be a great second division league in terms of talent and attendance. For the MLS to proseper they need to let the free market reign and eliminate the AEG monopoly.
Yes, I was following on and referring to another post where someone had linked to an article regarding low attendance (avg about 20K) for the EPL so far this season. My complete point is: European soccer teams, as a whole do not draw huge crowds day-in day-out. It is a myth. And this is with the benefit of substantial visiting team fans. Sure, ManU, Pool, Real Madrid, Roma etc. pull in huge crowds. But look farther down the table: We draw about the same as Udinese, Reggina, Parma in Serie A We draw the same as half la table in France. Only three teams in Holland would find our quarters too cramped. Our stadium would be sufficient for Mainz, Wolfsburg, and Beyer Liversausage in the Bundesliga. Yes - EPL does outdraw MLS. No shit. They have 140 yrs head start, they benefit from numerous derby days and don't have much competition from other sports. MLS is okay folks. Stop hitting the panic button.
NASL did not average 30-60k for matches. Kenn has the facts straight. NASL was a novelty act. It was a side show to parade a few Euro stars. People attended out of curiosity more than out of devotion for a club. Many folks here are not old enough to remember the league first hand. Let's not fill their heads with lies.