I think we could all fit in this branch of the Bulldog that has opened in Mexico http://cancun.bulldogcafe.com/party/ so we'll be brining a 2nd bar online in downtown Cancun. See ya' there next Wednesday.
COYP: Sorry it's taken a while to reply, you know it is with the home games coming thick & fast. The Bulldog / BSG partnership (2 independent entities working together) is the only one that exists with a commitment from both sides to work together for every single Rapids game. This partnership has mutually benefitted both sides so we naturally want to continue it & develop it further. I know that the other groups appear to favor a 'touring' viewing party approach. We understand their policy, even though we don't think it is the best way for the BSG to go. I personally believe the best way forward is for the groups to cross promote each other's viewing parties, meaning that more people living near the respective bars are likely to find out about the events in their neighborhood & therefore actually turn up. It would work a bit like a code share, similar to how airlines group together in alliances. I know this view is not universally shared but I still believe it's the most workable next step.
Well if you'd like, you can always tell people which bar(s) we convince to open up for Rapids away games. Anyone & everyone is always welcome. If the location is better for anyone or they just happen to want a change, they should feel free to come on over. Tomorrow we are going to be at the Streets of London hoping to make some new friends. The Bulldog is always open for every soccer game and everybody knows it, so there really isn't a need for us to promote that. If somebody wants to go to the Bulldog for whatever reason, cool. And if people ask what is going on for a particular away game, we tell them what we are doing and say "of course the Bulldog always has the game on".
Dave, We'll never stop promoting the bar(s) we are working with. There are always new people to tell about the game so we can grow it. If you promote the Bulldog event as an event on NoFanAlone / social media, we'll promote any viewing party you guys organize on our website / social media. I'll make that a standard offer for any game this season so please let me know, offline if you like.
And as you said, we need to promote the establishments we are dealing with. Face it, the Bulldog doesn't need our help promoting it as a soccer bar, that is its business. Also, as we know, if the supporters culture is to keep growing in this town, we need more than one small bar to support it, so we have made it our goal to get more establishments involved and wanting to HELP US grow the sport. We are seeing this work already somewhat with this weekend as an example. The Celtic AND the Highland are throwing Champions League final parties Saturday. And some other bars are doing it also. This never used to happen in this city and it is good to see. As for the viewing parties we set up, we need all the people we can get at these viewing parties so the proprietors continue to ask soccer fans to come back and we then have more opportunities for their regulars to see how much fun Rapids games can be. Then maybe they start showing more Rapids/soccer games and more people get involved. Actively trying to send people to the Bulldog when we are trying to get something new off the ground just doesn't make sense as it may lessen the likelihood of those bars really catching on. So sorry, but the Bulldog doesn't need our help marketing for people to watch soccer there. That said, if we end up doing some combined viewing parties with all the groups somewhere as we have bounced around, we of course would promote those and it would be a great time had by all. So much for all this talk, man we need to start scoring some goals!
OK then Dave, if you don't believe you should be promoting the Bulldog: Offer me a deal. If I scratch your back... Or do I just approach the other bars in the city to partner with the BSG, including the Celtic & the Highland?
I wasn't really asking for anything, just commenting on your idea. Not sure I get the point of your last comment, but sure Richard, you can do whatever you want. We don't own those places. Or people can just go wherever they want, which sounds fine to me. Most people see all the facebook invites for all the viewing parties and choose whichever they prefer anyway. We're just getting more TVs to show the Rapids! Up the Terraces. COME ON YOU PIDS
Hey, I was just reminding you we are still ready to talk, still here etc. No problem bud, the BSG will just carry on with our own plans to grow the supporters culture instead.
As someone that has actually been around a while, the plain truth is that the supporters have outgrown the Bulldog. I, as well as a few other posters on here, can remember a time when getting more than 10 people for any viewing party was a big deal. The reason people started going to the Bulldog was because it was virtually the only place in Denver that was willing to actually feature MLS games - as opposed to either giving you a queer look for asking about soccer, or shoving you into a tiny back room. They're were other bars...but they were either generic sports bars that didn't give a shit about soccer, or they were havens for Eurosnobs that turn their noses up at our domestic league. The landscape has changed quite a bit since those days. We've seen a big influx of new blood over the last year and a half and we've also seen more bars stepping up to the plate that are willing to work with supporters. As much as many people would like the idea of everyone meeting at the same bar...its just never going to happen again. Plain and simple. We are past the point where we can all congregate at one bar. Sure, numbers vary from game to game. I remember the Rapids had an afternoon game last year during the World Cup an there we're literally 8 people at the Bulldog. I also remember the away leg against Columbus where both the Bulldog and the Celtic were completely full. It's no different than ticket sales at home games. We are branching out not because of politics, but because of necessity. I still go to the Bulldog from time to time, but the days where I felt that I needed to heavily support them and go there multiple times a week are long gone. Now I feel that I need to lend my support to other bars to help them establish a strong supporters following as well. Viewing parties are a non-issue. The real problem here is people are blurring that with the real issues we should be dealing with...such as cooperation at home games.
This is exactly the sort of garbage being peddled around by the leaders of the supporters groups (other than the BSG) supposedly on how to grow the supporters culture & one of the reasons why enough people felt so strongly about what the existing groups were or were not doing that the BSG was formed. No other successful group around the league has said 'well everyone knows about X bar, so we won't bother promoting them anymore'. The Timbers Army will always tell you what's going on at the Bitter End Pub, the Red Patch boys will always talk about Shoeless Joes in Toronto despite those groups having operations at other places in their respective cities. I believe an agreement between the groups that everyone promotes a list of bars, to form a network of places where supporters can go is the best way forward. As it has done more to promote the game than all the other places in the city put together in the last few years, the Bulldog deserves its place on that list. In the end, the supporters can then make an informed decision & choose where they want to go. At the end of the day I either get the agreement to work with the other groups or I don't. It's no issue to me, the BSG has a Plan 'B' on how to grow the supporters culture. Just don't ever say we didn't try to work together.
Re-read my post. I don't mention a goddamn thing about promoting one bar over another. I am talking about my personal experience and saying that my own personal goal is to grow other bars now that the Bulldog is doing so well. What exactly are you looking for here? Are you looking for acknowledgement? Are you going to be happy with other groups saying "the BSG is the supporters group based out of the Bulldog" in official writing? I have no problem with that. I also have no problem with, for example, the BSG saying officially that "Pid Army is based out of the Highland Tavern" or "Class VI is based out of the Celtic Tavern". I really do not see the issue here, unless you think that non BSG members are weaving some kind of conspiracy against you. Also, do me a favor and spare us all that 'Plan B' shit. Clam the fv<k down and take a deep breath. This really is turning into the biggest non-issue I've ever seen. Let me reiterate: What would you have Class VI and Pid Army do with the BSG concerning viewing parties?
I'm perfectly calm about this. No drama at this end. I would have the groups cross promote each others viewing parties. I've been pushing this for a while now but all I seem to have gotten is a string of 'reasons' why it can't be done. 'Everyone knows about the Bulldog' is the latest. It appears you have a disconnect with what Pid Army are saying to me as we have posts from Dave saying he does not believe the Bulldog needs any more promotion. It sounds like you are more positive to the idea?
You know, I had no plans on making any of this public Richard, but you are forcing me to because you are trying to act like you took the high road and we're at fault here. The truth is - we had an agreement to work together. CVI and PA approached the BSG on working together and came to the Bulldog to meet. CVI, the PA, and BSG sat down and agreed on how to move forward working together for the Portland trip and viewing parties. We shook on the deal. The leadership of the BSG did not follow through with agreement in any way shape or form and tried taking things in a completely different direction. The fact is for the last few years - two of the three groups have worked together. One new group hasn't been interested - and I don't want to say group - cuz I know a number of BSG members that do want to cooperate more - so I will say leadership - which is really you from what I can tell because the other leader seems much more open and cooperative. The website http://NoFanAlone.com is a Rapids Supporter Association website. CVI and the PA have walked the walk in doing things for the greater good of supporter culture ... we've bridged the gap between two supporters groups and have cooperated with just about zero issues. Only one group has "Plan B".
My thought is to plan 1 or 2 away games a season where we all go to the Official Rapids Away viewing party. All supporters should go and make it a big deal and treat it like a game away from home. For a start. Edit: Looks like this is already something that has been discussed.
oh Richard, you crack me up. YOU are the only one pushing this cross promotion idea. The heads of Class VI, Pid Army and the BSG met a while ago and all agreed that we were going to put together a plan to have two COMBINED viewing parties, one at the Celtic and one at the Bulldog. As a matter of fact, the agreed upon plan was that last week's away party was going to have all the groups at the Celtic and tonight's at the Bulldog. Well, things did not get communicated out to all the groups or really planned out in time to ensure a successful combined even, so we decided to postpone that plan and find another time to do that. We still think it would be fun get all of us together, to get people to know each other better and have a good time and break down the walls of groups, or home bars, or whatever. The plan isn't dead, we just haven't all talked about another time to try it. YOU on the other hand came up with the cross promotion idea, which isn't something that we had agreed to. I have stated my opinion on that and don't need to restate my opinion here. So quit trying to promote YOUR idea in public and we will discuss how to deal with viewing parties in private (as we had done before). Until then, it was agreed that we will continue having separate parties like we had been doing. If all the parties agree to do something like you propose, fine we will do it, but the public forum is not the place for you to try and push your personal agenda (this isn't even something that was proposed by Jon, the President of the BSG. I've never even heard this come out of his mouth). I will not discuss this plan again in public until we all agree upon a follow up action to the previous plan. Big Soccer is not a place for you to point fingers and push for some agenda that we had never discussed as a group of leaders before. We will discuss soon with Jon how/if/when/where we want to do something together in the near future. We have many game related things we are focused on right now, and promoting bars is not at the top of our list (getting people to Portland, making the Portland trip amazing, making some great Tifo, planning killer tailgates, making the terraces louder, etc. are).
my 2 cents... I dont like anyone in BSG. I do not want to hang out with them. Any time I look over, I get NASTY looks from you guys, ESPECIALLY the girls, who I havent EVER seen before last year. I've been a Rapids fan since I moved to Denver, and a season ticket holder since 07 ( I got free tickets from my player friends for the 2 years prior.) Before last year, I count on one hand how many people from BSG I've seen before. And now you guys act like your shit dont stink. You are the Eurosnobs of the MLS. I used to go to the bulldog, but I do not feel welcomed there. It would be a cold day in hell before I ever go back. Sorry, that probably didnt help this argument, but I needed to get it out.
I was wondering what happened to the planed then unplanned Celtic party, but the CVI leadership wouldn't say anything more than the plans fell through. I ended up not going to the Highland Tavern for that gem because the Celtic was more convenient for me and the way things fell apart it seemed more like "A few of us are going to go over to the Highland" instead of "Supporters Watch Party!". I guess that was an opportunity lost by the SGs.
I enjoy places like the Tavern (which has a pool table, and poker table and medium patio) and Streets of London. People have preferences, as a supporters culture we have to understand that. I supported the Bulldog from '05ish on and enjoyed it. It isn't my kind of place now that we have other locations who are happy to have CVI/PA at (which wasn't the case before)! And I'll support wherever my family (PA/CVI) go! Our main focus should always remain the terraces and making great tifo. And let's be honest if we want to talk about BSG creating an authentic supporters experience, they are slacking at that big time (re: to their east terrace)! where were you guys Sunday? It was very section 116 like! Up the terraces and up the Rapids!