improving the atmosphere

do you guys have drums? how many sit in your supporters' section? do you stand and chant/sing the whole game? we have a "Dallas" "Burn" question and answer chant that gets both sides of the stadium involved - maybe you guys could try some of that. never been to Arrowhead, so i'm not sure what the acoustics are like, but it can't be much worse than the Cotton Bowl.

 

Get the numbers in the cauldron into the 100's. Get the front office to be more soccer atmosphere friendly instead of trying to entertain people with the music and other stupid gimmics.

 

You, and every person that comes with you stand in section 114, or in GA across the tunnel from 114, and join in the chants with the Cauldron. Then you convince more people to come to the games and stand near the section, and make sure they all sing/chant all game. Imagine how large the section would be if every person convinced 1-2 more people to join, and so forth.
Most important, the people in the section have to make noise. I've seen too many times when there are people in the section, who are in the section for every game, but they aren't singing/chanting. Just clapping your hands doesn't count people! Open your mouth and scream with the rest of us.

 

Spoon, you are dead on.

People don't even yell at any kind of game anymore unless "something" happens. Do people cheer at Royals games? Not the last time I went. Do people cheer at Chiefs games? Only when "something" happens -- like a score.

Get the too loud music off the PA before, during and after the game. Forget the stupid Zard stuff during the game also. List winners before the game and get everyone's attention focused on what is going on on the field.

Now, I don't chant -- at least not yet. And I don't sit in the Cauldron. But I do watch the game and I do yell a lot about what is going on.

Great ball! What a tackle! C'mon, pretty boy, get up [Donovan going down for no reason].

And every time I yell like this I have at least two or three people turning around, looking at me like I'm from Mars. Next time this happens, I plan to just say to them -- Get In The Game. You should be yelling too.

Again, the Wizards organization needs to remember or even learn that the game is what counts. Get people involved in watching the beautiful game and there is no need for all the "extraneous" junk. All that stuff is just a distraction to the game. There is so much going on in a game, I don't want to look away to see what's on the scoreboard unless it is a replay of the great goal we just scored. I want to watch the game.

We need to educate everyone on what it takes to watch a soccer game.

 

Frankly, Colorado's fans are quieter. That's about it, though.

 

Concentrate the Crowd (in the chemical sense). If you're sitting next to someone making noise, you are more likely to join in.

It may not be feasible this year (because of existing season tickets), but how about closing both end zones and moving GA or The Yard or whatever into the corner across from The Cauldron. Maybe also leave the section across the tunnel from The Cauldron open. For big crowd games, open the end zones, sell lower rows as reserved and upper rows as GA.

 

I'm not sure how many Chiefs games you go to, but you're dead wrong here. There's a reason why football people all over say KC is one of the hardest places to play. Its because the fans cheer and make noise the entire game. This is especially true when the opponents have the ball, to try and throw them off. Granted, it isn't quite what it used to be in the '90s due to poor defense, but it still happens. Last years Colts playoff game was one of the loudest every time Indy had the ball until the 4th quarter when everyone a) couldn't scream any more and b) knew we wouldn't stop them.

As for Wizards games, Spoon hit the main point. More people in the section.

 

I've only been to half of the MLS stadiums, but I take issue with that part of your post.

I was in Denver and Dallas and I heard much quieter crowds than I usually hear when I'm at Arrowhead (shocking when you consider which particular Dallas game I saw). To be sure the atmosphere in KC can be improved, but I wouldn't say it's the worst in MLS.

 

Out of the places I've been to for Wizards games.... LA, KC, C-Bus, Chicago, Colorado, I'll rank them as (worst) Colorado, KC, C-bus, Chicago, LA (best). KC isn't the worst, but it's definately down there.

Improvement takes time, KC's SC is tons better now than in 2000, which was tons better than in '96 (minus the drums).

 

I'd agree with your list, although having been to Dallas, I'd put them between Colorado and KC. The Inferno's a spirited bunch, but their numbers aren't stellar.

Of course, part of that could've been because I was visiting during their time at Purple Haze Stadium (a.k.a. Southlake).

 

1. Full time chant leader
2. a greater collection of chants. The "We are KC WIz" over and over again gets a bit old.
3. more drums, or music makers (I would, but God decided not to give me rhythm so I would just throw everyone off beat) The wife had to take my tamborine away from me last game because it was so bad.
4. No piped in music. no zard crap annuncements, nothing that takes away from the game on the field.

 

You mean like the multitude of chants that they have in Chicago?

 

1. I believe that has become me over the last two years.
2. You want to volunteer for #1? Ok, didn't think so. I try to mix it up as much as possible. But sometimes some noise is better than no noise at all so you'll have to live with "We are..."
3. I disagree with more drums. They drown out the voices, and the words of the chants are far more important than the beat. Now if there were more drums and they just played while the voices were taking a break that would be fine.
4. Talk to Curt Johnson about that one.

 

Higher altitude=less atmosphere=noise not carried as well..

 

The first thing that will improve the atmosphere league-wide is to get rid of every marketing and game experience person who comes from a non-soccer background.

Piping in canned sound doesn't work for Soccer. I think it's been shown the world over. But then again, I'm preaching to the choir.

To improve the atmosphere, you need a GM in place like Peter Wilt or Stephen Zack. Someone who understands that the supporters group's support is crucial and can save the team money in the long run.

 

I think we do need more drums. I thought the atmosphere was a lot better in the cauldron when we had three or four drums. If I recall, they really interfered with the microphones carrying our chants, but then the drummers should just pay better attention to the group and cease drumming during chants and songs. It seems to me that we're quiet a lot throughout the game, and drums are a way to preserve voices and still make noise and make our spirit heard even during lulls in the game. I have a several leads on cheap used drums hear in Columbia, and will like show up to next game with a new tom.

Of course, I've missed a few games of late, and I'm not really sure how many I'll be able to make the rest of the season, so I could be off base, but these are my observations from the last two years.

 

Some people don't like to chant. I love watching soccer, but I don't like chanting or singing or dancing. I like to sit in my seat, applaud for good passes, plays, or efforts, and go nuts when a goal is scored. That's probly why i've never sat in the cauldron, I just don't care for that.

I dont mind the cartoony noises. To me, it doesn't take away from the game. I think that is necessary for the kids that come to the game. Im not sure but I think more children come to the games than adults.
That said, I agree that the league is geared too much towards youth but thats another topic.

I think the only way we can create a better atmosphere is if we have a soccer specific stadium and we have higher attendance.

I really like listening to the chants you guys do. But not everybody wants to join in.

 

I totally disagree that it is necessary. You have to let the game market itself to children. I doubt children/families have ever thought/said "If the booiiing noises ever go away, I'm not coming to another game. The real danger, though, is that you give children the idea that soccer is a kids thing. If you do that, they'll think they're supposed to grow out of liking soccer. Baseball has made the same mistake by putting so much piddly crap for youth.

I don't think an SSS is the only way, but it is a very good way. The best thing is, you don't necessarily need a higher attendance than what we are getting now. I know Wizardscharter disagrees with the call for an SSS, but the game in Columbus on the 12 had an attendance anywhere between 12k-14k. Columbus fans as a whole (with the exception of V-Army and the little $hits that tried to steal the banner twice) aren't wild or crazy, but 12k-14k sounded much better than 12k-14k in Arrowhead. It may look like a wonderful high school football stadium, but I would kill to have a place like Crew Stadium for the Wizards.

PS: Someone, PLEASE ask me to kill for a SSS.

 

Outsider fan here just giving a couple of tips. Write some songs and post them on this board. Then all of the fans that go to the board can decide which ones they like. Games are alot more fun if you can see 4 or 5 different songs during a course of a game. Write songs for opposing goalkeepers, when the Wizards are up, when the Wizards are down, for certain players, etc. In NE we have a song for Adin Brown, a song when we are up, and a couple of songs that are just fun.

Do you guys have a banner or flag to cover ur section and "wave" when you guys score. Thats more fun as well.

As for drums, bring about 3 or 4. Its a good way to get chants started. Its loud and crisp, it will get the attention of people.

If you are crazy and creative, create a gimmic for your self. I remember when I went to two games in SJ, they had a guy called Crazy George who would walk around the stadium banging a drum and getting people in the game.

I hope some of this works because I'd love to see all MLS teams have loud fan bases, it makes going to away games a lot more fun.

 

I'm pretty sure we were the first section in the league to have a checkerboard flag. Since then I've seen them pop up at a lot more locations and I always think "what copy cats".


misterbean17: Thats perfectly fine that you don't like doing what we do in the Cauldron. That is what all the other sections are for. But we do need to create a better atmosphere within the entire stadium. My personal opinion is to make the Cauldron grow outward, both across the tunnel and down the sideline, and that will get the job done. But we need to grow a lot for that to happen.

 

The problem with this though, is that the majority of the posters on here are regulars in the Cauldron, and that just makes it a little hard.

 

We've got a thread with our songs on them. We even pulled it out of the archives a few weeks back.