NOW more than EVER we need the kind of fans who understand world football and have been to other lands and stood with those supporters to pick up the cause...right here in SEATTLE! We NEED YOU, and so do the SOUNDERS! Just bring your voice and let's watch as 12 become 20 and 20 become 40 and more...and so on! The right to cheer like YOU WANT TO CHEER is a sacred footy tradition...and so is getting behind your club... Up the Sounders! Jump into the mix with the Emerald City Supporters! Website: Emerald City Supporters Info
Or, should that be "in waiting?" Either way, if you love to get rowdy at a footy match, and you live anywhere near Seattle...what are you waiting for...MLS??? Get your *ss over here! http://soundercentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=2252
Good luck to you. Supporters create atomsophere which is as important to selling your team to fans as the on field product.
Thanks. The scarves really seem to have increased awareness. Unfortunately last week a "soccer mom" wrote the Sounders that she wanted a season ticket refund if we were allowed to continue "banging those drums and showing bad sportmanship by cheering against the other team, and chanting anti-referee slogans." Our front office passed along her request, but "sided" with us in as much as they understand world football and what we are trying to accomplish (atmosphere and support). Here's the thread about the "soccer mom" complaint on our fan site: http://soundercentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=2727
Reflexive anti-ref chants and booing do blow, though This is no doubt an unpopular opinion, but reflexive anti-referee crap gets on my nerves at any sport. Know it's popular the world over, but so are ethnic slurs in chants. Of course, the TA likes to do that whenever the French-Canadians roll into town and since they're the sort of supporters every team wants to have, then we should all start doing that. In my experience, booing the ref is much more awesome after s/he made a bad decision and shows that people are actually paying attention. But it's just my experience from years of watching high school and collegiate sports (baseball, football, soccer, basketball, etc) that the purely reflexive crap is slung by idiots who are there purely for the "history/tradition" bull rather than the love of a particular sport and desire to actually watch the game. In my opinion, those sorts of fans have an ultimately poisonous effect on atmosphere (unless one goes to games purely for the Two Minute Hate - which I will admit does seem to work for the TA, and most fans of the Philadelphia Eagles, the Boston Red Sox and the Detroit Pistons). Of course, I'm the sort of fan who claps when any team or player does something amazing and unexpected (like an out-of-the-park homerun by a pitcher in baseball or, let's just say, a goal from 40+ yards out ) - though I will be honest and say that bar is incredibly high for rivals (i.e. the Oregon *ucks), cheers for the home team unequivocally, boos when the opposing team are winning from normal play or showboating, and have never had a problem with yelling obscenities. Personal favorites include: "Hey ref/ump, why don't you bend over and call the game with your good eye?" and "Are you blind, motherf---er?" Subtlety, however, is under-rated; when I was in pep band "Three Blind Mice" was a favorite in the brass section after crappy calls during football/basketball games. Though this the "calling a female ref 'a bitch' incident," right? Hm, that sort of thing sets off a lot of otherwise normal women (how about calling an African-American ref "boy," eh?), but from the letter it's clear that the mom is still crazy, yo.