It certainly helped our attendance that the two games after the WWC were against mJ and WYN, both of which have a nice line-up of high profile players. That being said, I have to say kudos to the Beat fans for showing up time and again, knowing that the team didn't have much in their arsenal to be competitive. As I mentioned, I admit that I skipped games because I felt a little jibbed, as Galanis' comments at the beginning of the season on how great the team was were followed by disappointing results, which then resulted in Galanis admitting that it was never their goal to reach the playoffs. Rest assured that except for one occasion, we gave our tickets away, so that at least we didn't leave empty seats. Given the fact that the Beat fans for the most part have been incredibly forgiving and have been showing up consistently despite a lack of quality players and despite a lack of honesty from leadership, I feel that they really deserve a better season next year. The fans have taken a leap of faith for two years straight, it's time for management to do the same.
I would vote them the most dedicated fans in a futile effort.. not the loudest but they did go to the games
There is definitely room to improve for the Beat crowd noise. There isn't really a supporter's section, and the PA guy/scoreboard graphics could show a bit more energy to pump up the crowd. The crowd does indeed get loud when they are giving away tshirts/balls, but personally I kinda dislike that "fake" crowd noise.
Agreed, GADawg. And a lot of times it's bad timing, too (for instance, when the opposing team has a scoring opportunity and it would be really helpful for the Beat defense to be able to communicate).
I think I commented somewhere in the Philly section about the big difference I noticed between the Independence supporters and the Beat crowd. Atl seems to be overwhelmingly kids (kids who love free t-shirts, at that). In Philly, I got the impression there were more adult soccer fans and they were very knowledgeable about the game. I have a feeling if those fans were down here, there would be a much less forgiving attitude and a lot more boos at the end of games. The kids don't seem to care so much, they're just happy to see a game and get some sigs. Remember, too, that this is Atlanta and this area seems to breed a general apathy towards any non-pointyball sport. Up North, there seems to be much more of a culture of living and breathing sports whereas here it's more of a distraction from the heat and traffic.
I've been to several games this year, and quite frankly, you need to score goals if you want the crowd to be involved. I think people can tolerate losing, but they can't tolerate poor offensive performances. Bad luck or not, the offensive team has had pitiful offensive output. The coach has to either realize that he can not take any player and develop them to compete in this league or he should leave. This year was lost in the recruiting.
Salient point :-He should leave,be shown the door,kick his pathetic ass to the curb. Management should also quit taking fans for granted,we are loyal to the players and the team and have been very patient but will not take much more of the Scrooging trying to squeeze every dime out of fans giving nothing,not even respect, in return.I had some second thoughts about buying Season Tickets again for this last season after the "Massacre" but bought Flexi-pass instead to continue supporting the Players,League and Women's Soccer in General.
Not necessarily. At Silverbacks games, the 109 and 309 sections make plenty of noise. The Silverbacks scored just 2 goals in their first 8 home matches, yet those sections were loud every match. True, the more you score, the more the crowd gets involved...but it would be nice to see the Beat crowd culture change a bit. The crowd feeds off the team, but the team also can feed off the crowd. I'd love to see the Beat have a dedicated supporter's section - one where you can stand up and cheer with out being shouted to "sit down" by a soccer mom behind you.
The Beat might want to consider some sort of incentive for season ticket holders who might be dissatisfied with the team's performance and roster strategy this year. A good one might be to guarantee that the Beat will make the playoffs in 2012. These sort of promotions that I've seen before include, "Pay 50% for season tickets now and the other 50% is due only when we make the playoffs", "If we don't make the playoffs this year, next year's season tickets are free", and "Full refund if we don't make the playoffs".
I don't think that there is a shortage of fans and potential fans that are not little girls, but the problem is that almost of the team's marketing efforts are limited to and specifically targeted at the Kennesaw area instead of metro Atlanta.
Exactly! I live in Alpharetta and didn't even know Atlanta had a team until August of 2010, and I consider myself a pretty knowlegable sports fan of Atlanta/Georgia area teams.
Totally agree. I read the quote about "no natural forwards" and needing to develop players into forwards. But I was shocked at the last game to see Chalupny laboring away up top... I hadn't thought that that was what Galanis meant. That is just never going to work. She is one of the best midfielders around and is just wasted playing as a wannabe striker. Ugh. Not to mention, there was no strategy at all... Just long balls lofted hopefully up for her to chase, rather fruitlessly I might add. Sad to watch.
Atl had a nice squad of young players, was suppose to develop them. They were actually playing better than the 11 they have now. Fitz got a spike in attendance and thought the pick ups would win some games. i'm not sure that the opening day lineup, if allowed to play the whole seaon, wouldn't have won 3 games at least. i thought Vendula Strnadova was going to be really good, had the naturally euro football skills like kelly smith. i think Analisa Marquez was a nice pick up. Kelly Parker has to be taught like Kai how to finish at the WPS level. nice going fitz.
Wow, I have to 100% disagree with that statement. I can't imagine how you figure our squad at the beginning of the season was better than the current one. Are you basing that on the one win we had which came early in the season? Look at the team's record in April and May, then June through August. First half of the season we were beaten 1-4 (Boston), 0-3 (WNY), 0-2 (mJ), 0-3 (SBFC), 0-4 (mJ). Yes, there was a win in there and a few draws, but we were getting blown out. Since the beginning of June, we've only lost 2 games by more than 2 goals and most of the games have been very close. I think the style of play has improved tremendously since the beginning with much more fluid passing in the midfield and a stronger defense. We need a pure forward, no doubt. Passing up on Press is one mistake that I can't defend; I was genuinely looking forward to seeing her play in Atlanta. Chalupny up top is not ideal, but she's a world-class player who can play almost any position and is generally a pretty accomplished finisher. Yes, "nice going Fitz". He saw that the youth experiment wasn't working out and switched gears, picking up White (SBFC's co-captain last year who has also seen time with the USWNT) and Parker (Canadian WNT). I would much rather him make a few shrewd pick-ups mid-season than just go down with the ship. Yes, it's frustrating to see promising young talent going through the Galanis shredder, but many of those players didn't show much during their limited game time and no one on this board knows what they did during practice sessions, so it's mostly theoretical. I've honestly been much happier with this current lineup than the sloppy, confused one from Spring.
they still only have 1 win. let the young players play through the lumps this season. bring back your best 8-10, bring in Val (she needs her own team, enough of that philly nonsense), and Vero (if you can get her from philly. 4th yr everyone is open game including marta), and sign Thais (they've talked to her she is better than maurine). thinking of that thais and press should have been their forwards this yr. their defense is ok. all the moves were pointless with the coach they have. and people complain about magicdan coaching. 2-0 or 4-0 with young players, they still only have 1 win.
i don't know how much val, vero, press and thais would cost. but if there is a next year, the big question will still be fitz's approach. will he stick with his $$ saving tactics? or will he go out and buy a couple of good forwards? you've got to admit that his $$ saving tactics seemed to work for him financially. there's no reason for him to stick his economic neck out.
oh, i don't think he will, but how much would thais and press have broken the bank this yr? if his budget team keeps them healthy, then, by all means, bring back the same team and win 2 games next season. the wps is still more about survival than winning a champion. if a championship is that important to sahlen and mj, then more power to them.
At some point though the fans will stop supporting a terrible team. 1 win in 18 doesn't cut it by any definition. At least the Silverbacks started putting together some good performances as the season went on and won a few games.
If you mean the Silverbacks' women's team, they won the W-League this year in extremely impressive fashion. It was like the proverbial tree falling in the forest around here. For the most part, the Beat and Silverbacks schedules never really were in conflict, so I was surprised when only a handful of people showed up for their games compared to the Beat's consistently robust crowds. So much for getting behind a winner. Ironic, though, that we had the worst team in one league and the best team in the other.
I think westau was referring to the Silverbacks men's team - they started off winless in their first 12, barely scoring any goals...then started on a decent run of scoring goals and winning a few matches. And being realistic, yes the Silverbacks women won their title...but they are the second tier of women's soccer in the Atlanta area. A direct comparison could be made between the Gwinnett Braves and Atlanta Braves. Even if Gwinnett was in the AAA pennant race, and the Atlanta Braves struggling...the A Braves would still outdraw them by a ton. People want to see the highest level, even if their team comes out on the losing end.
Yeah, if US women's soccer were like English soccer, you'd still have a WPS team, just a different one.
GaDawg is correct, I was talking about the Silverbacks men's team. The women did have a great season in the W-League obviously.
Has anyone heard anything about offseason stuff down in Atlanta? Player movements?? FO/management/coaching changes??? All of the other forums have had at least one post in the last three weeks, while ATL's been silent for well over two months. I know they're in for 2012, but the silence here is deafening.
If by "active" you mean, "full of shout-outs for Carli Lloyd and other nonsense", yes, they have been very active.