FORT to be G.A. (I'm back!!!)

This is fantastic news... probably better than fantastic.

If this plan is agreed upon then monster kudos to the Revolution on this.

The Magpie

 

Excellent news! Kudos to the Revs people who worked this out.

Just curious, why not make all the Category III sections GA? This way, people who are in another section and see what's going on in the fort can join if they want. Likewise, those who find themselves in the fort and don't want to be can easily more somewhere else if they want. Seems that there would be a lot less hassle with ticket checking, etc. if they just let people sit where they wanted (within the Cat III sections).

As for the scehdule, 15 regular season games, plus 2 US Nats games (Gold Cup) and the Man U game equals 18. If they played 15 league games, it would be easy enough to set up, with 4x your own division (16), 2x5 in the other division (10) and either an extra home-and-home with 2 teams (we played Colorado 4x last year) or play 4 teams from the other division, 2 home and 2 away.

Tom

 

This also bodes well for U.S. National Team games, provided this plan does apply to all matches.

It helps groups such as Sam's Army immensely, in that, they can purchase tickets in a particular section yet they're not restricted to a particular seat.

That's also good news.

The Magpie

 

Does this mean that season ticket holders who currently have assigned Cat III seats will go to General Admission? Sounds like that could cause some friction.

Sounds like a major step in the right direction though. Perhaps the fort will grow back to what it was back in the old stadium.

 

My thoughts exactly.

Definitely sounds like a step in the right direction. It would be great for all matches at the 'boro...er, Gillette.

 

1. The Revolution reach the MLS Cup 2002 final.
2. Prospects are bright for 2003.
3. The management is listening to the fans.

I'm searching Revelation. There's got to be a mention of these signs somewhere in there.

Seriously, I'm quite pleased with the GA change. However, I feel that if all Cat-III sections are lumped together, we'd still get an influx of sitters in the Fort. They should open Sec.142 as Cat-III/GA, but leave the Fort as, say, Cat-IV/GA so that you have to specially request that section to get a ticket there. I'd even pay a buck or two extra so that Sec.143 doesn't show up when TM searches for the cheapest seats.

 

I'll believe this GA plan when I see it!

According to MLS Confidential, we'll be having at least 3 home games in the Champion's League. So, if they are correct, it sounds like they have settled on the 4 team group/round robin 1st round format (as if anything else made sense!).

 

I think the idea was that Cat III season ticket holders could request "their" seats in whatever section they wanted, but all other walkup Cat III seats sold would be a "sit anywhere in these sections" deal. This practice used to be a lot more common in the old days. When I was a kid, all the kids in my neighborhood would cough up $1.00 to sit anywhere in the top deck of Yankee Stadium (or if you were really cheap, 50 cents for the LF bleachers about 150 miles from the plate) on "bat day." Maybe it was the "kinder, gentler America," but can you imagine today giving out 40,000 baseball bats to any kid who wants one, and let them roam the South Bronx?

As for the Fort, if the "sitters" get their tix through TicketBastard, they shouldn't have a specifuc section on them. So if they manage to find their way to the fort, they made the choice to be there. If they don't like it, they can go anywhere else in Cat III.

I still don't see why the Fort shouldn't be open to anyone who wants to be there, especially since if someone decided mid-game that they want to join, they obviously know what they are getting into. The only problems realated to the fort is when someone who isn't aware/used to what goes on there decides it isn't what they bargained for. In this case, they can move.

As long as they make it clear to people (even if they had a sign at the top of the aisle), no one should have a problem. I just don't see how anything positive can come from having a guy in a yellow windbreaker checking tickets and not letting people in if they want to be there.

Tom

 

ive been waiting to hop on the revs train for a while, always felt like a hypocrit for not supporting MLS more but i just couldn't get behind another unsuccesfull boston team. being a red sox fan is enough. however, given their post season performance i've decided to finally give my due and get revs season tickets or some kind of package. because i want to be around the rowdy knowledgable set i definately want to be in the fort. any suggestions forewarnings advice about getting the tickets? they're already on sale? what about public trasnportaiton tot eh games, even just a bus?

 

Sign posted by Section 8 in Naperville at Fire games:

 

A good template for the Revs to work with.

The Magpie

 

Great! Welcome Aboard. You'll not regret becoming an active Rev supporter.

Yes. tickets are on sale now. Call 1-877-get-revs and say you want season tickets in the Fort. If you want to really be in a Rev die-hard you can join the Midnight Riders. While its possible to get lesser ticket packages, this years season ticket package will have so many extra goodies (like 2 National Team matches, a Manchester United match and 3 CONCACAFF matches) that if you can do so it's one of the best deals we've ever been offered.

I can't say much about transportation but the Riders will gladly help you figure out a way to get to the Boro. Most of us come to matches and tailgate in a area set aside for the Riders. The food is great and the fellowship is rewarding.

Glad you will be joining us this year.

 

I called Craig last week to get my ST moved within the Fort, and had a similar conversation.

I suggested to him that the Fort tickets have "standing section" printed on them as well, after what we went through at MLS Cup.

The 3rd tier MLS Cup GA experiment must have worked well.

Great news and good for all of us.

-Amy

 

I don't know that it was an experiment...I figured that they wanted to cut down on staff checking tickets for level 3, so they just made it GA.

 

Whatever the reason, they've tried it and they must have decided it worked well, is all.

It'll be interesting to see if it works better than the current m.o.

-Amy

 

How do the people who have had the front two or three rows in the Fort for years feel about this GA idea?

Now they will have no longer have any claim to those "seats," and early arrivals may crowd out the Riders regulars.

 

There may be a few folks on these boards old enough to remember the "Gallery Gods" sections in the second balcony at the old Boston Garden. These were all gen'l admission but the first rows which, like at F'boro were terrific seats, were always "held" for the regulars and woe betide ANYONE who tried to usurp those spots. I think the currently vougish term is "community." I'd define it more as "you take "x-s" spot and you are toast." It should work in the Fort too.

JIM DOW

 

I can relate to this, "big time" (as the Vice President might say from his "secure, undisclosed location").

As a freshman at BC, a buddy of mine and I were in the 2nd balcony for a B's game and got there early, and started staking out a front row seat (in the old 2nd balcony, beyond the 2nd row you couldn't see the first 20 feet of the near side of the ice without standing).

We were soon asked "how far down do you think it is to the 1st balcony?"

We moved back.

 

just to give you an idea of how it is elsewhere


when we (section 8) were at soldier field... it was all GA done to the first row(for anything behind the goal)... but it was pretty much the same people at the bottom... the drummers, trumpet guy and the main leader of cheers were all right in the front (along with the other regulars... space would be given up for an extra drum or whatever

about half way up the section were the ultras... the ultras provide intensity and keep everyone going... in many ways they are the heart of section 8, without their efforts we wouldn't be as loud or as passionate



now that we are in naperville, things are a bit different...

everything behind the goal on our end is GA, but no longer do we place ourselves in the front row... we have backed off the first 5 or so rows and let anyone who wants it have it

it's still the same set up with the instruments, leader, and regular front people in the first row that we take up... and the ultras are still found in the middle, maybe a bit more towards the top of the section than what they were in soldier field



but at no point is it, you are in my seat... if you aren't able to get in the same area that you typically are... you ask, you don't bother, or whatever... it's not a big deal

you are already behind the goal and not in the best seats to see the game anyways... you are back there because the seats are cheaper and thus the better, louder support will occur

hell, when i go to to games, i miss around 80% of the game because i'm trying to get people in the section next to us to join in, or i'm keeping an eye on our leader to pick up what the next cheer is, or i'm keeping an eye on other people holding flags, so i know when to wave mine about


movement is a given, people will often start out somewhere in the section and not be anywhere near that at the end of the game... especially if some areas of the section aren't getting into it... a couple of guys/gals will go over and do what they can to get moving (or kindly ask them to move to a different section)


-jim

 

Hang usurpers off the bridge?

Or find some novel use for that damn lighthouse.