Ole ole ole, is that all we can muster up at these games? Cripes! That's all i heard, on TV at least. We MUST start singing the chorus of "God Bless America" and "We're an American Band" and stop singing that awful South American chant. Even the chorus of "America the Beautiful" would be wicked at a match. How about "U-S-A", except that each letter is belted out, and a pause of 1 second between each letter. Or have one side of the stadium chant U, then the other side do A, and have it go around for a minute or so?
Good idea. i think the fans have to incorporate more songs. i think they do, but i have not been to a USMNT match so it is unfair for me to judge. we should just make sure that our presence is felt and that it plays a factor for our team.
If you went to a match you'd know that America the Beautiful has been sung at more than one stadium. Stand up and be counted or shut up.
I think there's room for both, for the traditional soccer chants and songs of American folklore alike. Case in point, the best and most stirring rendition of "God Bless America" I've ever heard was at the end of the World Cup qualifier against Jamaica at Foxboro in 2001. That rocked... captured the spirit and the moment perfectly.
We were singing a ton of different songs at today's game. If you don't like it... come and get the crowd to sing even more instead of sitting at home complaining.
My God, you must have selective hearing or you're just an idiot. America the Beautiful was sung. U-S-A was done with the one second pause as well, and we had plenty of other chants. And if I were in Sam's Army when someone started singing Grand Funk Railroad, I would punch somebody. You really want us to sing one of the worst songs ever?
I think he's talking about it from viewing it on TV. On TV I sure didn't hear much from the crowd, unlike in other countries. Was the entire stadium singing in unison???
My biggest disappointment at the game was the lack of support. Of course, Grenada sent 2000 (approx) with attendance less than 10,000. I'm very surprised and disappointed.
It's f-ing Grenada. Give any thought to that? Hm? Last time I checked, Grenada sucked and it wasn't worth 25 dollars to watch them bunker for 90 minutes while you can do the same at home for free.
Probably... I watched the match on TV from a very quiet bar and was shocked -- in a good way -- when I heard the Ole-ole-ole's slip out from between the seemingly steady quietness from time to time (TV has a way of dampening the sounds of the game). I was very excited to see the excitement and even tossed in a few of my own chants from my bar seat; within moments, I attracted some of the cooks from the kitchen. My energy was quickly abated when I saw way too much yellow painting the landscape(empty seats), as I'm beginning to wonder whether my trip to Chicago in July may turn out the same way... then again, at least I can witness my mighty mighty Revolution whip the Chicago Fire to begin their now-traditional mid-to-late season pilgrimage from last place to first (or playoff contention) after a sleepy start. But yes, I too heard the Ole-ole-ole's... Nice job Sam'rs... made me want to be there!
I flew in from TN for Saturday's Crew match and Sunday's USMNT match. Sitting on the second row of the Sam's Army section was a great experience. A hell of a load of fun. Great people who care for the game like I do. For those of you who don't know, the full-time Sammers don't fuq around. They're organized and prepared. Yes, a good range of songs were sung. We yelled loudly and in unison. The TV mics don't do it justice. YOU would have to be there. I can't really complain about the other fans who were in the other sections. At least they showed up and yelled when they thought it was appropriate. I can't help the attitude of my provincial fellow Americans. After the game, I sat at the gate at the Columbus airport watching a good number of people reading their own copies of college football preview magazines. If that's all they know, so be it. I sort of feel sorry for them. One day, it'll change. My three-year old son knows about bugs, Bjork (my non-soccer obsession), and soccer. When he sees a ball, he kicks it instead of picking it up.
I like the OLE chant after each successful pass. It's a good time breaker for us to rest the lungs and watch the match a bit more intensely. And as was mentioned the other songs were sung too, but you don't get the full force on tv because the other parts of the stadium aren't singing along. OLE OLE OLE!!!!
Well done Zeek. Though not in the SA section, what we heard at the game yesterday was loud, proud and organized. We heard a lot of different songs from them. The Sammers take a lot of pride in what they do and it shows. I wouldn't place too much stock in the audio espn ...... it may not be the Sammers
America the beautiful was sung?!?! I was in the section and didn't hear it and I was waiting for it, because its one of my favorites, 43rd and 88th minute tradition, right? Anyway, the fact that I didn't even hear it is a bit odd and I think part of the problem is that the "chant starters" if you will were in the front rows... The most enthusiastic and leading chanters need to be square in the middle or in the back so the sound can carry to the rest of the section. I was in the middle back and a lot of the stuff I had to strain to hear, and the back never would have started if my small group hadn't been drunk and vocal and knowledgable about the typical songs and chants. Next game in c-bus, the chant starters need to move back.. I just don't get the fascination with being up front, worse view, worse position to start chants... I guess the camera usually gets the front row so if your goal is to get on tv, then that might be the place to go, but the place to start chants is not exclusively from the front. Maybe break up the group and put some in the front and some in the back...
Yes America the Beautiful was sung, but it was hard to hear at first and not everyone knew it was coming. This is still a tradition that a lot of the "new" Sammers don't know and whenever the song is started it needs to be pre-empted by people yelling/screaming that its coming up. You're exactly right that the chants need to start from the middle/back. One of the best parts about the KC game last time around (my only other cap) was that we were highly organized. Of course this causes some people to miss much of the game, but it seems necessary for the sake of sounding better. Spread some point men out, and start most chants from the back and everyone will hear them. All in all though Sunday was great, fun and everyone had a good time. Perfect start to another successful run to the World Cup.
Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I have been thinking about this for a few weeks. My first recollection about why I became a soccer "freak" (as my wife calls me) was the chanting/singing done by the crowds in Europe. I think to truly evolve as a soccer nation and hopefully to recruit more people into the arena we need to develop some new songs. I love the old faithfuls, USA, America the Beautiful, et al, but there are a lot of us around, and hopefully we have a few IQ points between us. We should put them to work. I heard an old Civil War tune the other day that I think we should amend with some soccer specific language: called The Bonnie Blue Flag. The lyrics are here: http://my.homewithgod.com/heavenlymidis/USA/bonnie.html. The chorus was what caught my ear the most: Hurrah! Hurrah! (my own words: For the United States!) Hurrah! I can just hear Crew stadium in the middle of a frostbitten night against Mexico in qualifying singing this chorus in unison, would be glorious. To that end, we need to come up some new lyrics for the song. I'll try to find the actual song on the web so that you can hear the melody if you don't recognize the tune. Just found the link to the tune: http://www.texas-brigade.com/bonnie.mid
Here is a chorus from the Union version of the tune: Chorus: Hurrah, hurrah! For equal rights, hurrah Hurrah for the brave old flag, That bears the Stripes and Stars Have to do something with the first line, Hurrah Hurrah for blank blank blank Hurrah. Could we insert one of the players names, like if by some miracle O'Brien was playing we could say Hurrah Hurrah for JOB Hurrah, or for Reyna, insert Captain American Hurrah.....