Matt Steps down

Discussion in 'Sons of Ben' started by Ruud11, May 9, 2013.

  1. Ruud11

    Ruud11 Member

    Dec 2, 2009
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    See: http://www.philadelphiaunion.com/ne...s-down-end-year-calls-time-dynamic-experience

    Matt is a great guy (who did some great things, like bringing back beer to the tailgates) but I would like to see someone step in who will bring the SOB's back to life. Under Matt's leadership a bunch of empty seats appeared in the RE, forums died down, folks lost interest in bus trips, the singing in the RE is half what it used to be, etc. Just a thought...
     
  2. jess370

    jess370 Member+

    Feb 14, 2008
    collingswood
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    It has nothing to do with the gingers leadership. Look at what happened to this team.

    We go from making the playoffs to watching that team get dismantled by the coach...
    Said team plays terrible ugly games for most of last year...
    Team has been on or off for most of this season too...

    It is hard to organize huge trips when the team isn't playing all that well sometimes, and on more then one occasion people got into it with the very people that were organizing the trips to begin with.

    And alot of the older heads not using the boards anymore has everything to do with the douchebaggery that goes on around here most of the time, they are all on facebook or twitter.

    But I would love to get your feedback on what exactly we can do to get people to stop selling tickets, come to games and be louder??? Because the capos have been trying from day one to keep that energy going.
     
    EmeraldDawn repped this.
  3. Ruud11

    Ruud11 Member

    Dec 2, 2009
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    A good leader knows how to rally the troops (no matter how badly the team plays)...

    It starts by communicating with the troops; hell, there are enough at the tailgate to have a proper discussion of how we can do better. I am sure a lot of ideas can be generated that way. Instead everyone is just standing around in secluded groups and the only 'big' gathering is at the bear fight (and the occasional beer line). I think we can actually get even more to the tailgate once the word spreads that this is the best deal in town (as long as the beer does not run out too early, as has been happening to the better stuff recently).

    Agree that the capos do a great job (and I love the new megaphone), but it is not enough just to have a couple of capos full of energy trying to energize the crowd. We need to be more consistent in getting folks from the outer sections to fill the empty spots in the middle. And talk about things like why we don't wave scarves anymore during certain songs. Counted 5(!) scarves the other day in 138 while before we had so many that it was difficult to wave them around. Then we haven't seen the Tifo in 138 all year. Heard the other day that this is due since no one is willing to help bring it up and down. If true then why has this not been discussed?! Would have been a lot of fun to pull it out during the 2 goals the other day.

    A lot of things could improve, but if no one talks about it it will just get worse.

    I am on Facebook and not much is happening there on the SOB page .... Doubt Twitter is much better...
     
  4. SmashtheVan

    SmashtheVan Member+

    Jan 13, 2009
    South Jersey
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    On the whole, people are not SoBs to be SoBs. People are SoBs because the team made a huge deal about us, pushed the group as an advertising platform...and oh yeah, gave cheaper season ticket rates.

    There's a reason they ballooned from <500 members to >3000 in under a year...
     
    jmalex and jess370 repped this.
  5. slitz

    slitz Member+

    Feb 19, 2005
    Red City, 140
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    too many people simply dont give a shit about the game and care more about how drunk they can get or how many shots they can down. too often it feels more like a glorifed high school house party than a soccer match. case in point: the guy last week from 137 that asked if the Union won when he was walking out
     
  6. Dills

    Dills Moderator
    Staff Member

    Philadelphia Union
    United States
    Jun 6, 2006
    Southampton|PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That's like blaming a single player for the demise and subsequent relegation of his team(s), and that's never happened around here.

    I think SoB has been on a downward trajectory ever since I stepped down back in the day ...
     
    JamesTaylor and aztec21bas repped this.
  7. aztec21bas

    aztec21bas BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 24, 2009
    Mullica Hill, NJ
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Which is exactly why many people have stepped away from SOB. I understand that things tend to evolve, but did anybody ever stop to think why so many of the "older heads" are not involved any more? While I can only answer for myself, and I am still a dues paying member, it does not seem to be about supporting the Union, as much as it is about drinking and acting sophomoric. It no longer seems to be about camaraderie, sharing a good beer, talking soccer, and supporting the Union!
     
  8. jess370

    jess370 Member+

    Feb 14, 2008
    collingswood
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    not like anyone could actually see you walk away dills
     
    Dills repped this.
  9. aztec21bas

    aztec21bas BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 24, 2009
    Mullica Hill, NJ
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Maybe it is time to consider a new supporters group founded upon the principles of the early SOB. Dills knows a thing or two about this sort of thing.
     
  10. Dills

    Dills Moderator
    Staff Member

    Philadelphia Union
    United States
    Jun 6, 2006
    Southampton|PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I only appear to those I deem worthy. If you've never seen or met me in person, accept the fact that you have a hole in your soul.
    I do? Oh yeah, I do. What do you think I'm trying to do over in Section 109.

    CIXers UNITE!
     
    OldRetiredCoach repped this.
  11. aztec21bas

    aztec21bas BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 24, 2009
    Mullica Hill, NJ
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Ouch. That hurts.
     
  12. Dills

    Dills Moderator
    Staff Member

    Philadelphia Union
    United States
    Jun 6, 2006
    Southampton|PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    But I've seen you ...

    [​IMG]
     
  13. aztec21bas

    aztec21bas BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 24, 2009
    Mullica Hill, NJ
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Dude, that is kinda creepy. ;)
     
  14. Dills

    Dills Moderator
    Staff Member

    Philadelphia Union
    United States
    Jun 6, 2006
    Southampton|PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Fixed to reflect what you'll say after we're done talking.
     
  15. Ruud11

    Ruud11 Member

    Dec 2, 2009
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Not sure I agree. Met three College students on Saturday at the Tailgate, shared couple of beers, talked soccer and then supported the U! Had a great time with them. Just make an effort and meet new folks (not all at the Tailgate are there to get pissing drunk!)!! Matt could for example have called all together during the last tailgate and told everyone to hug or high5 their neighbors to create some camaraderie. Think it is a joke that he wants to keep on leading the SOB's via Skype from Dallas.... What ever happened to Cory? He wrote an emotional letter end of last year but have not really seen him since.... Think the SOB's should get a whole complete set of new leaders who have the vision and energy in making us OWN the RE properly again. Establishing another group in another section seems the easy way out. Maybe I just don't know enough about the internal SOB politics...
     
  16. aztec21bas

    aztec21bas BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 24, 2009
    Mullica Hill, NJ
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Cory got married..... It happens to the best of us.
     
    UnionFreak1 repped this.
  17. EmeraldDawn

    EmeraldDawn Member+

    May 11, 2008
    Brick, NJ
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Sooo much input I have here which I don't want to type up on a phone. That being said, I <3 my sectionmates in 136. They do it right.
     
  18. Dills

    Dills Moderator
    Staff Member

    Philadelphia Union
    United States
    Jun 6, 2006
    Southampton|PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Good call. Just stick with the sexting.
     
    jess370 repped this.
  19. jess370

    jess370 Member+

    Feb 14, 2008
    collingswood
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    you pretty much described bearfight till you got to the sophomoric part :)
     
  20. EmeraldDawn

    EmeraldDawn Member+

    May 11, 2008
    Brick, NJ
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Okay, so here goes.

    The first thing I'd like to echo is people being in TRE for the wrong reasons. I sit in 136 and am fortunate enough to have really, really good seats. I'm six rows off the field. Thanks to whatever derp decided to give 'em up. There's people that sit in 136 behind me that I can hear starting some pretty vulgar chants, which I've got no time for. For me, game day is 50% about having a good time and 50% about the game. A lot of people in TRE it seems from my observation see it as closer to an 80-20 split.

    If you scroll down a few threads, you'll see a thread I started called "post-game altercation". Long story short, I took a friend to the NYRB game last year (season finale), he was a NYRB fan and got into an exchange with a Union fan in Lot C. The two guys were going at it good naturedly, others in the Union fan's entourage did not see it that way, and shit escalated. I wound up jumping out of a moving (barely) vehicle to get people away from my wife's car and took a beating to do it. While wearing a Union shirt with Big Kev on the back. (Note: Some people from that group claimed to be in an unofficial subgroup of the Sons of Ben, the validity of which I have some doubts.)

    That $hit has no fcking place at PPL Park. And that's the extreme end of, imo, what's currently wrong with TRE. The focus has gone too far from what's happening on the field. If you're coming to PPL Park to drink too much and fight anyone you can, even another supporter who's friends with a NYRB fan, stay the fck home.

    I've got no idea how to fix this. I don't know how you make a culture change like this among so many people. I'm not saying that it should be all police-state with the chants and stuff, but somehow the really bad stuff has to get reigned in.

    (more later. maybe.)
     
    SideshowBob, Doop, aztec21bas and 2 others repped this.
  21. Ruud11

    Ruud11 Member

    Dec 2, 2009
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Not aware of anything like that happening in 138 (drinking too much & looking for a fight). If anything it is too calm in the section...

    Changing a culture (or implementing a vision) only happens when folks put their heads together, talk about it and hash it out. Would start with making a list of things that are wrong, or need to be fixed, and a larger group should prioritize them. Then work the highest ranked ones first. Maybe the current SOB leadership has such a list; if so let's hear it. But please don't make excuses that the team has so-so results and hide behind excuses. Ask your members for what is bothering them and ask whether any of them have solutions!

    Congrats to him!! Would have been nice if we all had been informed at the time so that we could have congratulated him earlier ... (maybe we were and I missed it)...
     
  22. jess370

    jess370 Member+

    Feb 14, 2008
    collingswood
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Like the SOB supporters summit last summer that over a hundred people RSVP'D and like 30 people actually bothered to show up?

    EVERYTHING was on the table at that meeting with all the elders present, but for all the bitching people do on BS and facebook it was the SAME faces in the crowd that I've seen since 08...

    people really have NO idea how much time and effort goes into this, I was a just a section rep and just that alone was a meeting every week on skype to talk about what was going on in the stadium. Just imagine the elders that have to sit in meetings with the team to discuss when members do something stupid or god knows what else.
     
    SideshowBob and JamesTaylor repped this.
  23. EmeraldDawn

    EmeraldDawn Member+

    May 11, 2008
    Brick, NJ
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That sounds like something I would love to be a part of next year.
     
  24. Dills

    Dills Moderator
    Staff Member

    Philadelphia Union
    United States
    Jun 6, 2006
    Southampton|PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Don't know if you're on twitter or not, but Corey's wedding was all over it for a while leading up to the big day.

    Back to the topic at hand, I don't think this forum is the place to start making changes within SoB. The elders are long gone, and have been for a while, and I only know of one of the founders who's a regular poster, and he no longer has any pull within the group's leadership. Best bet would be to request participation in the weekly elders' meeting - if they still occur, they used to on Sunday evenings - and start to discuss things. I'm sure all their email addresses are readily available on the group's website as well. Not trying to be a jerk, but if you bring it up here it'll just fall on deaf ears, or blind eyes as the case may be.
     
    aztec21bas repped this.
  25. ericlfd

    ericlfd Member+

    Nov 28, 2011
    Philadelphia
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    I'm in 138 row d, and have 5 tickets. I wish people would get drunker a shit would get rowdier.
     

Share This Page