The United States takes its first step on the "Road to Germany" with a home FIFA World Cup 2006 qualifying match on Sunday, June 13, 2004 against CONCACAF opponent Grenada, and Sam's Army plans to be there every step of the way. As part of the upcoming qualifying effort, Sam's Army is considering the production of new merchandise, initially a special, limited (150 units) production run of scarves as an offering to proud supporters of the United States National Soccer Team(s). You may find information about the effort (including the proposed design) here: http://www.sams-army.com/index.php?Mlist=content_full&Article_id=187 FYI, The Magpie
I'd probably get one (well, almost for sure), but I like the one Zohn is holding a lot better. Just my personal opinion, nothing more.
Hey, I'd much rather have a critical opinion rather than no opinion; believe me when I say it's actually appreciated. As indicated in the note on Sams-army.com, the sooner we get a sense of interest in this (and it looks pretty good to this point), the sooner we can get set-up for pre-orders. I've bought a few scarves from SportScarf.com and the quality's right up there with any scarf you'd buy overseas. Even better, as opposed to the old SA scarves, the response and turnaround time on shipping should go much more quickly than was previously the case. There's been a demand for new merchandise for some time, and some dedicated individuals are investing in this effort to help bring this about. As things stand now we look in pretty good shape, but if you haven't voted yet then please do. If everything looks good then perhaps by the end of next week we'll have ordering information on-line at Sam's Army.com The Magpie
Evan, I think this is both a great idea - and a bad idea. Sam's Army suffers from the impression that it is cliquish and exclusionary. Limiting sales of this cheap and generic scarf would be very shortsighted. "Look what I have, but you don't - and can't get". I think limiting sales to a single event (like the World Cup) scarf are fine, but this puppy is a great looking thing and Sam's Army should not put an artificial cap on how many will be made. Don't make it exclusive - or market it that way. Nice design. - Oh and the Copyright on Wade's photo should read 2002, not 2004 if you can pass that along to Mark Wheeler.
Andy, You make some good points. The limit of sales to 150 units represents the minimum order SportScarf.com will take to process an order. Should those units sell out, there should be enough money to purchase more, and that's the end goal of this effort - generating enough money to introduce some new merchandise, that's exclusively what any money will be used for. BTW: Photo copyright has been changed. The Magpie
Funny, I always thought of it as the opposite. Taking that scarf for example, it is nice, but a bit generic. Kind of like a lot of sammers. They show up, wear red...then what? Helluva of a barbeque in the lot before the game, but it's not the Andouilie Sausage supporters club, is the USMNT supporters club. Put the spatula down, get in there, and scream your face off. I'm a member, buy a ticket in the section at US games, I'm very glad it's there, but to me (and my friends who sit around and discuss this topic beyond all possible reason anytime a USA game pops up), it's always been that Sam's Army is so big, you can't get songs going or sustained because for every person that wants to sing, you have 9 guys wearing souvenir merchandise and holding a guiness who- while they stand up all game- don't really care to exert themselves vocally. But, that's not Sam's Army fault, just a mindset that needs to grow inside the heads of members. It's not that it should be smaller, it should be a larger group all willing to take our game to the next level. And, this thread is moving decidely off topic. Sorry about that. (note, I haven't designed a scarf, so I should shut the hell up about the design. It's a good one, just not great. I understand the idea behind it, but it's not a very dynamic design. Sort of a cut and paste americana. The one ethan is holding is a bit more unique to the club, just my $ .02.).
Any plans for a new SA window cling? Not that I'm aware of. To this point this is a one-off merchandising effort, albeit being used to raise enough $$$ to provide seed money for future ventures. Jamison - I whole-heartedly agree: there are a great many in Sam's Army who fit the profile as suggested, but it has to be understood that there are several others who necessarily don't, so one needs be careful in painting the organization with so wide a brush. It's a new qualifying campaign and hopefully there will be enough new blood from a supporters standpoint to be more vocal, to be more supportive, but in a fashion that's cohesive, consistent, and effective. BTW: Looks like the plan to produce scarves is a go. I'll make sure to post the pertinent information here once everything's set up to accept pre-paid orders. The Magpie
Just checked out the link, for the new design. VERY impressive!!! I will DEFINITELY buy one, perhaps two. CAN'T WAIT 'til they're available!!!