*sigh ... now I'm gonna have to practice a "golf clap" to attend a soccer match ... "Gosh Chip did you see that shot. My that was remarkably good. <golf clap> ... Now where did that bottled water vender go?"
OT--I can't stand the bangers. There are always kids with them who decide it would be fun to use them to have "banger fights." I really don't care, except it gets awful distracting when you're trying to watch the game and the kid in the row in front of you is constantly hitting his friends with those things. Sometimes I feel like reaching out and grabbing one and then pounding the offending kid with it... but then I'd really piss off my wife.
First of all, you have WAY too much time on your hands. Secondly, the horns suck. You cannot use the atmosphere argument, because they don't create atmosphere. They create a mind numbing droning that is more akin to some cruel form of Chinese torcher. MLS should stop selling them.
<--- signed as number 77. But i think that MLS should still encourage noise, but sell the kids those little dc flags instead of the horns. having 5k kids with 2x1 dc flags would suit me alot more that 5k kids with plastic horns messing up the songs. but let the kids bring them to the matches if they bring them from home, but dont let them buy them anymore. The kid will expect to use the horn everytime he comes when he buys it, dont suddenly not let them have the horns. vamos united.
I hate banger fights, i have the same urge just to take the bangers and hit the kids using it and then give it somebody who knows how to use them properly.
Actually, I hate the horns. That's why I said that they "suck so much balls." They're not nearly as bad at RFK as they are in, say, KC or LA. And they're not as bad in person as they are on TV - they can make televised games unlistenable. The petition idea just seems a little Grinchy, that's all. Then again, there's a little Grinch in all of us. And as for time on my hands, thanks to the magic of Google and the fact that I've got "a mind to rhyme,"[FN1] that little ditty didn't take more than ten minutes to write. Okay, maybe fifteen. [FN1: Hammer, MC, Can't Touch 'Dis, Capitol Records, 1990.]
I'm not a huge fan of the horns. As amatter of fact, I've shot a few hard stares at some 8 year old punks in the row behind me after a particularly long, droning rendition of "this is what a water buffalo sounds like when it's dying". I'd also like to show up to my assigned, paid-for season ticket holder seat, and not have some drunk, fat *#*#*#*#*#*#*# sitting in it, who then refuses to move. I also hate paying $6.00 for a beer. Oh, and I hate (I mean really hate) that I haven't landed one of those Bank One soccer balls they kick into the stands before every match. Or a T-shirt. None of these things are, in my opinion worth worrying about. If it would guarantee a win, I think they should mandate that EVERY fan have a horn and blow it. Now that I've blown my horn I guess my point is: I'd rather have more noise than less. I ain't signing.
Perhaps MLS will come to their senses concerning those damn horm when they are served with the first lawsuit for causing hearing damage. I have moved to a different seat before just to get away from those things. They are more that just a nuisance; the are physically painful. If I am going to pay for pain, it had better come from a hot lady in tight leather.
The problem in both of these cases is the supervision of the kids and not the bangers themselves. If the kids don't hit each other with the bangers, they'll find something else to do to be annoying.
Re: ... mod's note ... So Knave-the-stickler finds it in his heart to ignore the stone tablets when he editorially agrees with the blasphemer? I think that must be Page 1 of 935 in the Big Soccer Moderator's Guide. Seems to be universal anyway.
P.S. -- you can say goodbye to the drums too if this petition actually goes anywhere. No way are they gonna ban the horns land leave the drums in place.
When they take your horn away, the terrorists have won. Our horn in the Barra doubles as a beer bong so good luck trying to take it away.
I hate the horns for one simple reason. It hurts my ears when some kid inevitably blows it right in my bleeping ear. Of course, these kids only respond to polite requests to stop by blowing it more.
The horns in large quantities can bother me. The bangers can sometimes bother me, although my 3-year-old loved them. But I'm sure there are people bothered when I call Nick Garcia or Rusty Pierce a dirty, filthy, no-talent cocksucker. We all have our crosses to bear.
the horns are a pain ... the bangers are a pain ... and the whistles are a curse from God ... but we do need to have a fan atmosphere ... I have memories of the Dutch game at RFK, World Cup 1994 ... couple things were FANTASTIC ... first is that the Dutch were absolutely quiet and respectful when the Saudi national anthem was played ... and the reason for posting this is that they all knew and all sang songs ... together as if 40K of them all practiced before they came ... (it was VERY humbling) what we need is something with some depth ... songs or chants that all the DCU fans know ... the challenge is that the US is culturally shallow ideas? hell I'll stand and sing with you ... just tell me what and give me the words
I agree that the horns are lousy, but banning them is the wrong idea. We need to help find better alternatives. You've got to think like the kids who want the horns. They do not have the attention spans to watch the whole game. But in the future, these same kids are likely to become fans like the most die-hard of us. For now, they just want to do something fun. If they think these horns are fun, there must be something else that would seem more fun to them. How about hand-held drums? Cowbells? They aren't going to sing songs, but if there were little drums for sale with instructions on beating them to chants, they might be into that. Sure, they'd find ways to be annoying with those as well, but until we get 25k 16 year-old+ fans all watching and singing, these kids will find something annoying. Drums and cowbells can't be as bad as those horms, can they? We need to find a positive way out, not the negative 'ban the things' direction.
You are absolutely right in the first paragraph. As for the singing, I had to explain to explain to my 7 year old that the "hijo de poota" thing is for the Barra only, NOT for school!