Which guy? The one on the left or the one on the right. I know the guy on the left. The other guy I've never seen before.
The guy on the left looked like he was on acid when he was walking through 101. He had no clue what the hell was going on. His buddy was at least smart enough to get out the section before he got his ass beat. If you're looking to start trouble, walking through the home team's supporters section is the way to do it. I have no respect for the majority of DC supporters.
FWIW, the guy who got his face banged up DID go home on the bus and DID NOT spend the night in jail. Also FWIW, a child (about 6 or 7) was hurling the Fvck you's at a group of us (all ladies and one guy) on the way back to the bus and his father was encouraging it and seemed rather proud of his little future wife beater. I think it's safe to say you can find classless people in any large group.
Yes, this thread got silly, but don't they all. For what it's worth...there are a couple of issues here: 1. If the NJSEA rolled a couple of guys without provocation, that is very unfortunate and I am sorry that it happened. No one deserves thuggery from an $ 8 an hour rent a cop too dumb to operate the hot dog concession. I've heard a couple of versions of this from both sides, and as I wasn't there when the fit hit the shan I am not going to comment on any of it, other than to say that I'm sorry any incidents happened at all. Last thing we need is for stuff like that to happen, for stuff like that to create further problems, or feelings on behalf of travelling supporters that they need to "get back" at the fans of other teams next time they host them. 2. Fan clubs should stay away from each other, especially in things like road playoff games, especially when up on the road. Imagine (and yes, this is hypothetical) Metro are up 4-0 in DC in the 85th minute of the return match. How well would an ESC walk-through of SE/BB/LN sections go over after knocking you out of the playoffs? Pretty poorly, I'd guess. The guys photographed in the photos above were the two idiots who tried to walk through our section. Why, I can't tell you, but doing it up 1-0 is all you need to know about how smart they are. They didn't have the sack to do it when the game was level, they came to be d!cks when they started winning. Very classy. When I first saw the guy on the left walking through the section, my first reaction was to jump down two rows, punch him in the face, and roll him over the balcony, down 14 feet onto concrete that would have surely broken something. But, I'm smarter than that. I stopped two guys from going after him, alerted the NJSEA guys, and had him chucked from the section. For that guy, I have no respect. If he got rolled by the cops, I am not sorry. His little stunt alone merited a security induced SS kicking, even if his later actions did not. I can't explain to you how stupid that is. 95% of DC fans did nothing but come up in large numbers and sing. Kudos to those people. D!cks like these two idiots, d!cks like the guy(s) that threw the bottles at NE fans last month, etc, are why DC fans have a bit of a reputation for idiotic behavior. I fully belive that it's a small minority, but for some reason it never happens when the Midnight Riders come to town, and I don't think that's an accident. Nothing ever happens when we go to New England, and nothing happens when the come here. It is not fair to paint all DC fans with the same brush, but at the end of the day groups become responsible for the actions of their members, whether they want to or not. No one is a saint here, but if you see a guy about to make a spectacle of himself, even as a solitary fan you should step in and stop him. Maybe someone tried, I don't know, but these two guys need to know what they are fooking with, and to back off. None of that excuses NJSEA thugging DC fans, but people need to be smarter, on all sides. I can't speak to the shouting match and fight that broke out after the game on the escalator since I wasn't there, but when fans go on road trips they should chant for their team and go home. No one should ever look out for guys that support the other team so that they can rub in their face, and no home fan should go after an away supporter after a loss. It's just dumb. As Mike mentioned, neither I nor metro fans in general are saints, but supporting one team isn't a license to act like a jerk and go "hey, I was just supporting my team". Not saying that's what happened, just saying. Mike, can you please explain what "verbal acosting" you were referring to was? I'm just curious to know what happened. 3. In the future, I would recommend that SE/BB bus trips park in lot 4 or 8, both of which are always open. You can park there, walk/march in to gate B, and be right at your seats. Parking in lot 18, walking into gate D and past home support (both organized and not) is either bad planning or intentionally provocational. I realize that people look at it like "Well, I'm just supporting my team". I understand that, and I think you have a right to do that, but people also have to be smart about how they do it. To walk around wherever you want and to act however you want is to invite incidents to happen. That doesn't excuse any Metro fan from their behavior, but there is a reason why Metro trips don't park in lot 8, why we enter through a specific gate, why we don't march through or past certain sections of the stands, etc. It's to avoid incidents like this. I'm not blaming SE/BB brass or anyone for the incidents described above, just recommending that there is a way to prevent them. A way to show passionate support without causing problems, without letting minority of idiots in the group to smear the reputation of all. As for where DC fans sit in GS and where Metro fans sit in RFK, that's all dictated by management. In GS, there is plenty of space to put DC fans behind a goal, with empty sections on either side. In RFK, there are not the same number of options, and that will only get worse with the Expos running the show.
I say a surcharge be placed on ticket prices to be used to finance the construction of fences to keep visiting clubs supporters penned it. MLS coming of age. I'm lovin' it, as Shep would say. Come Wednesday night if you want to see some REAL brass-knuckle action.
Here's a lenghthy thread on a bottle-throwing episode with SJ fans. And then we wonder why they won't let us keep the cap on the bottles at the concession stand? https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=130857&highlight=United+bottles
On the bus parking, we go where Metro sends us (we get a bus pass with the tickets and I gather lot 14 is the bus lot?) In the future we can ask if we can be dropped off in a different lot closer to our seats (sound idea!) K
FYI Jessica, That little 6 year old NJ boy that hurled cursed words at you had more class then your idol Dima Kovalenko. Ending someone's season by breaking his leg and then telling him that he would do it again next year isn't exactly a sign of a professional. He is far from a Ukrainian Dynamo, in fact he has no chance of even playing for any Ukrainian club or Ukrainian national team for that matter. In fact he's a fvcking disgrace to Ukrainian footballers altogether. So before you lecture us about the class of our fans you might want lecture yourself about the class of boy Dima.
Maybe you should learn to spell the guy's name right before you criticize him. D-E-M-A. By the way, Dema and the rest of the team have repetedly denied him threatning RoB. RoB is just a little pu$$y and was trying to look a big man.
If you watched on TV you could not possibly have seen if Stewart was offsides or not, there was no replay that showed where Stewart was when the ball was played or where the Metro defenders were. I have no idea if he was offsides and unless you were at the game neither do you.
He seemed totally fine on bus, tho god damn it I swear that kid was still drunk on way back lol They seemed fine when I took pic, I was returning from your side and stoped them near our section to grab a quick picture. I figured they just went to buy a beer or something. Good points jamison, but while I think it's stupid for 2 or 3 guys to walk into your section (they should be singing on other side not wasting time on that) when 150 drive up we'll park wherever we please Not sure how it was done this game as I went with bus, but last month our will call ticket window was next door to ESC window (clapclap MFO).
Fine w/me. When the first MLS fan fatality is a DC guy getting stabbed in the neck at a Metro game, please keep the hand wringing about why no one looked out for him to yourself.
Will call is at gate C. If you enter at gate C and take a right at the top of the escalator you are right at your seats. You don't have to interact with any ESC members.
Um, there has already been an MLS fan fatality dude. I forget which year (199x) in DC there was a Salvadorean gang member stabbed at a United game..
I felt pretty safe at your stadium, and I've seen few hostile stadiums in my time. Actually I think Iceland away game next September might be scarier heehee We do have to do better job of getting people to keep their a$$es with the group. Mostly since that discourages security on the mission to save the world.
What does that have to do with ticket windows, chief It wasn't a problem, I just thought it was funny that window they sent us to get tickets was right next to your window
Actually, ESC gathers at 16A right outside Gate C, and that is the escalator where the confrontation & fight occurred as the opposing supporters groups met at the top on the first level concourse. It would be smarter for DC to park in Lot 4 & use Gate B (if it's open). Perhaps some foresight by GS (ok, I'm asking a lot here) would give DC its own access. I'm glad the DC guy made the bus with both arms still attached. That said, I agree with Jamison that there are far more problems with DC than NE. I have made several trips to NE. The atmosphere is fine. The Midnight Riders are a great bunch, who support their team without the juvenile need to confront visitors. We've partied with them before & after games. One great memory for me was when they gathered outside behind the Fort and waited for us after a game, not to fight but to sing & drum as we sang & marched by. Props to Monty & Co. On my one trip to DC, several people directly insulted me. When called on it, they all apologized & turned out to be nice people. We talked. Inside, a Barra Brava guy bought me a beer (when I went to buy the next round, sales were closed!). I appreciated that more than guys with beer muscles getting in my face.
Actually its D-I-M-A, as in DIMITRI or DMITRO, depending on whether you want to translate it from Russian or Ukrainian. The fact that some a$$hole in the INS mis-translated his name, doesn't necessarily mean that its right.