Trust me that I know they are completely unrelated to the Black Sunday Protest. I'm just answering the people who keep bringing up the YSA chant, and the ridiculous notion that it is so offensive that it justifies TeamOps behavoir, and their backing by the FO.
In regards to the person that asked the question, yes, it seemed (key word) to me that they were targeting the SGs. First Kelly Way came after me even though I proved repeatedly that I wasn't swearing. Secondly, their reaction was overboard. Did everyone in the Fort (especially members of the SGs) act appropriately? No. I finally left the capo stand when a group decided just to chant the F word over and over again, showing their frustration ... which was my final straw, since I had been the one who had to deal with security when I didn't do anything, but then our own fans didn't help any. I haven't once said that there isn't a bit of responsibility on both parties. But... going after people that aren't doing anything wrong, while ignoring those that are (the gay slurs mentioned earlier) absolutely makes me, and others obviously, think that this was indeed targeted a the supporters themselves. BTW, I'm pretty sure that no kids melted in Colorado as their fans chanted "F you ref" at the last minute penalty the other night.
Did they act inappropriately? No. They said "f*ck" and "a$$hole." That is not inappropriate in the context. Immature? Maybe, but how mature is it to scream like a little girl when your team scores a goal, or wins a championship? Sports bring the immaturity out of everyone, and it's not a bad thing. People need to lossen the sphincter.
Look, I'm not going to get into the argument about language here. My point was more that I personally had requested to stop the swearing, just to get TeamOps off my back, and the response that some fans used was (to me anyway) inappropriate. Regardless ... just answering the question someone had asked.
Ok, I understand the position you are in, and I'm not looking to back you into a corner. I'm just giving my (outside) opinion on the matter.
Um, excuse me? In Le Maison de Kraft, you DO NOT have the right to swear. They write the rules. Right or not, agree with it or not, they have rules. In these instances you must check your rights at the door. This is the issue to them. But any way, call Bob Kraft, would ya? I want to swear in his house too.
We keep saying "it isn't about YSA" because, the general consensus among the uninformed seems to be that the protest was simply "fighting for the right to swear." Which isn't the case at all. It was Team Ops conducting a premeditated attack on the Fort, which was the culmination of 16 years of mistreatment. This mistreatment went unaddressed when the team invited the SGs to a followup meeting, where even Bilello himself continued to make it about YSA.
I'm saying that generally, I have the right to say whatever I want. If they want to exercise their right, as private property owners to deny me swearing, then I refuse to give them my money. I don't even swear that often (almost never), but I find it offensive that I cannot do it at a professional sporting event if I so choose. Just another thing in a long list of reasons why I will never support Bob Kraft ever again.
I know why you keep saying it. I'm saying that it is a joke that you have to preface your arguments with it for two reason: One being the reason you state (which is what the protest was about), and the other being that this whole thing is about a "naughty word" to begin with.
Lossen the sphincter sounds to me like Danish for a sex act. These two statements are both correct, but, as I've said before, most American sports venues have the same language clauses in their ticket contracts. I've seen plenty of ejections from the Pats, Sox and Celtics in the past several years. Many have noted that the rules aren't always applied consistently, like the Fenway fondling incident and flash incident, but welcome to life, nothing is consistent, just ask the guy who threw his pizza slice and was banned for life from Fenway. Just to clarify, I do understand the policy, but don't particularly condone it. I also don't at all condone how the policy was applied in this case, where it pretty clearly was something of a vendetta (or at least a "we'll show you") by the security forces.
Unfortunately, some people still seem to think it is about YSA, so that's why people keep clarifying it with the disclaimer. The bolded part is the most important part. Kelly Way and Brian Bilello are lying sacks of fecal matter when they presented their explanation of their spin on the events. There was a larger than normal Team-Ops presence, the Rev Girls were not there and someone (I forget who) mentioned that a Team Ops person told them that something was going down that night. It is not because someone said "asshole" in the fort and a pink hat complained. Kelly Way said that this happened once in the first half and twice in the second, and that's when they moved in. Maybe it's me, but if people are going to be shouting un-nice things at the opposing goalkeeper, all the abuse would be taking place in one half. The other half Reis would be at our end and their keeper would be at the far end. I guess Kelly Way is no Sherlock Holmes and didn't think about that before opening her big, fat yap.
And somehow, it appears, these same actors are now saying "Sure, we'll revise our training a bit, we'll communicate your concerns to TeamOps employees better and we will tell that strange workforce we have no control over, to treat you, our loyal supporters with respect." Ummm, right. Show of hands. Who believes this? But who cares? Oh well, Revolution, clap, clap, clap-clap-clap.
Black Sunday Protest Nice looooong thread. Gave me something to read during the RBNY-PSG game! The SGs may want to be a little more creative in future protests. Example, the word 'craft' is an interesting substitute for Ass & Feck. "You suck, Crafthole!" might be a new taunt on goal kicks. "Craft you, ref!" might be a legitimate reaction to a bad call. After all, someone's been 'crafting' the SGsup their 'kelly way' for 16 years, no? Just because people, sitting quietly in other sections, might not correctly comprehend your pronounciation, is no reason for them to think that you are using actual profanity!
I just want to give my opinion here. I think we should continue to protest. I'm not saying walking out at 16 min every game, but we need to do something. Has the FO had any type of response? Did they even notice? The only change I've seen since Fortgate is the new sign when you first walk-in to the stadium. I don't know what it says, but it is about the Fan Bill of Rights or something like that. That is very little done by the FO part. The protest was in response to 16 years of apathetic ownership and mistreatment of the most loyal die-hard fans. The ownership still doesn't seem to care, and I know Bob and Jonathan have had a lot more important things on their mind lately. Does anyone feel that this team values The Fort any more than it did pre-Fortgate? To me, nothing has really changed. Therefore, the protest should continue.
I think fans need to continue to protest. I also think that if the protest continues, it needs to be more focused. We need to decide what exactly we're protesting. Is it the FO? Is it TeamOpps? Is it Kraft? I think different fans will give you a different answers, and therein lies the problem. We get so little info from the FO and none of us know exactly who to blame. As a result, none of us know who/what exactly to protest. Do we want to protest ownership ("Kraft Out")? Do we want to press for sweeping changes in the FO? Do we want more respect from Team Ops? We need to decide now.
I'm going to continue my protest by watching the Revs from my couch. Nice work Brian B., Burnsie, Stevie, Briggs, and the Kraft family, you've done a bang up job. Thanks, -Beau
This is coming from a complete (but interested) outsider; your post just gave me an idea for a protest of sorts. For one game, the Fort can let it be known that every disaffected Revs fan, every person who would go to Revs games but do not because of the Krafts' incompetence/apathy, are going to show up. And then, fans like you put your disgust aside, just this once. All the SG's get in touch with every such fan that they can, and beg them to do the unthinkable, all for the greater good. Absolutely pack the place, possibly wearing t-shirts or holding signs that say "Kraft must go" or something similar. Having a crowd of 40,000 or so all chanting "Kraft must go," while demonstrating what could be, and providing stark contrast between it and what is, could be a pretty powerful message. EDIT: Especially if the Fort and its allies boycott the next match. Still sort of thinking out loud here.
Alright, we need the phone numbers of the 61,000 people that showed up to the 2002 MLS cup final in Foxborough.