I believe it sounded something like this. [ame="http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf9oGIk8iUE"]http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf9oGIk8iUE[/ame]
I don't know if it was just because it was a derby, or if it was the roof. But it was ********ing loud.
That's what a SG looks like. I get it now. According to the RSL SG's you get drunk, swear and maybe think about a banner. You don't actually make a banner or do a Tifo and if anyone questions you you say give it time. I'm not waiting. I make my own.
If you're lucky. Anyways, I was surprised they mentioned this game at the end of Bill Simmons podcast today. The co-host was in a soccer mood after the women's game and caught it on ESPN afterwards. He was blown away by the atmosphere and wanted to travel to Portland for a home game. It was fairly amusing.
Shouldn't surprise you. They're your biggest rival and second closest neighbor. You guys have never really been as motivated to travel somewhere so easy to get to.
apparently americans dont care about soccer...even tho usa has the 2nd highest number of registered players in the world i luv hockey...but f the haters....real fans support their local team.
One of the local sports radio guys here has recently been getting into soccer (much to his own surprise. He went to a college friend's wedding in Europe/Spain, went to a Barcelona game and now has slowly been becoming a fan.) Anyway, he led off his show today talking about the women's national team game v. Brazil but by the end of his schtick he was talking about how he later tuned into the MLS match and by how impressive the crowd was in Portland. He had NEVER previously talked positively about MLS (only about the two national teams), so the atmospherics (and the exciting game, which also had an effect on him) are having their effect. The TA really comes off well on tv. A lot of color, flags, vibrancy, noise, chants, scarves, tifo, the whole thing. Better than a lot of European venues, not that that's really important. Just great, quality stuff, however, hard to imagine anyone really doing much better. I love how in both Portland and Seattle (and for many games in Vancouver too), all the seats are filled. The games aren't just called a "sellout" but with many open seats; all the seats are filled with people, intently watching the game. Great stuff.
But seriously wow, incredible on TV...best rivalry atmospheres I've ever seen in American sports, just absolute in shock still watching the highlights. This has to be bar none the best rivalry experience in American Sports. The Portland crowd just explodes on the opening scoring... http://www.mlssoccer.com/matchcente...-seattle-sounders-fc/highlights?videoID=16811
6th trip to PGE now Jeld Wen park. as a organizer of a supporter group I can tell you that any single one of us would die to have a wooden roof over your heads when chanting. it does make a huge ********ing difference. not to take away from TA. but that roof is one ********ing sound board and a half...sometimes at qwest i feel like my songs are sucked away by the clouds.
Qwest is one of the loudest outdoor stadiums in the US (definitely the loudest in the NFL). I can't see how much louder it could get. Maybe it sounds less loud since you are right underneath a roof at the JW but players on the field at Qwest can hear you loud and clear.
I've come to the conclusion that soccer player/fan =! MLS fan. This is a world sport and watching soccer can be done in many different ways. Equating MLS popularity to soccer's popularity is therefore logically unsound. One great thing my mother did as we found our season ticket seats, around a dozen Sounders fans, was to chant "USA USA USA." Broke the tension immediately because it opened a great conversation between us two groups. Great game to see, even if not the result I wanted.
We also have a larger GA, Timbers Army sections. TA is the only SG. No splinters. Very little confusion. Years of experience dealing with the mob and interacting with great FO. From a long-time MLS fan it's absolutely brilliant to have spectacles like this. We're both great at different things. Right now, you're Barca, we're Bilbao. ECS is great MLS SG. No bullshit. Just not as big, organized and experienced dealing with big SG issues as TA. Admittedly, our FO is probably MUCH better at dealing with us from a supporter's POV. Really not trying to talk shit, as I usually do. Just stepping back what's happening up here is just amazing as a fan of the game, and all this Cascadia business is just good for the game in America. We all provide some unique, and different things. God knows MLS needs a team that bring 35k+ every game.
For Seahawks games the volume comes from the people on the sides under each roof, especially those in the upper deck. The louder supporters at Sounders games are behind the goals, not under a roof. At least I would assume that's the explanation.
ah yes, the highlights... parke forgets that in soccer you might pay attention to how the ball hits your foot. wahl is dangerous to goalies (his own). sadly, keller is so done all he can do is tip over. the por wall has never been told that on a free kick you jump... you know, just in case the guy is trying to chip you. long crosses floated back and forth across the por defense without anybody coming close to making a play. brunner out of position and then does one of the weirdest leg jobs on an opponent you'll ever see... in short, the game on the field wasn't as good as some other mls action. but the look on tv was fantastic, and perfect to catch the casual sport fans who might be flipping channels. i thought it was unfortunate when mls lost its regular weekly slot a few years ago. but one advantage of the current migrating time slots is that you can cherry pick some pretty good positions. i don't know how many people watch tv over fourth of july, but for those who did mls had some very good presence. and last sunday afternoon pbl also was a great time slot to catch some new eyeballs. great turnout by both fan groups.
The roof does help a bit, and the stadium sits in a nice bowl. Then again you need a nice sound source too for this method of sound travel to actually work. I'd estimate we have roughly around 4k that participate directly in every TA chant...However on Sunday, this was amplified due to the entire Timbers Army literally singing full lung for the derby match, something I haven't seen this year yet, at least not at that level...people were just giving all they had.
I wish they would take the tarp off the Hawks Nest and turn that into another supporters section. Its a giant, Hollow, alluminum stand designed to project noise towards the field. A couple thousand Sounders fans stomping their feet on those stands would be pretty awesome.
And then when you accidentally went to ESPN, you ask "who is that team with a silly colored uniform?"
Regarding soccer moms. They are half the demographic. The really smart teams are basically becoming sporting clubs with a key ingredient being a woman's team. They want soccer mom money too. And I can foresee a time in the next decade when there is a WMLS that picks up when WPS etc fails ( which is pretty much certain) Women warm up game that draws 6 - 7 k or enough up break even. Then the team really becomes the community. Soccer is always best as tribal. Look at that ladies French national team that plays like men. They basically are Olympic Marseille women. So tangible goodwill is created. Portland may never need a women's side to fill it's place in the community. Some other markets on the other hand ..... Every market is different
Huh??? Of the many oddities here, how is a warm up game going to generate revenue when the 6-7k are just showing up early to the main event?