I was at the inagural game. Its a day I will never forget. As I remember it we were in line in a last minute effort to get into the stadium somehow. If we couldn't get in we were just going to go home and watch it on the tube. We got in line and it didn't look good. The guy in front of us was screaming and shouting at the poor girl in the ticket booth. She was almost brought to tears. When he finally stomped off in anger, we walked up to her and nicely asked if there was any possible way to get tickets. She paused for a moment and said to hold on. She then emerged with two tickets. She landed us seats in the press section. We even got official media guides, press releases, and official updates during the game. Had that guy not been a d!ck to that girl, I would have never had the pleasure of being there on pening night. I think the thing I remember the most was that goal. Man was that great! I'll be a Quake til I die!
count me in at the age of 12. i begged my mom to take me to the galaxy's opening game at the rose bowl but she did not give in(partially cause she could not handle the 70k crowd and the driving since shes a terrible driver). but from even before day 1 i was a galaxy fan. my sister worked at a soccer store in des moines in college so she got me some galaxy shirts along with this sweet "galactic warriors" poster that had jorge campos and cobi like standing on the city of LA. this was long before the season even began.
I am one of the first 20 DC United Season Ticket Holders and have been a full season ticket holder ever since. I watched not only the first DC United home game in person, but also by happenstance the first LA Galaxy home game in person. I've also attended 6 of the 10 MLS Cups over the year, but a good buddie of mine has attended all 10. We are both planning to go to Dallas in November. Also take a look at my join date on big soccer, its one of the oldest ones you'll see here.
I actually worked as a volunteer in the offices of the Boston/New England MLS Season-Ticket Presale campaign. I can remember all of the excited speculation about which 12 cities would take the field for the inaugural season in 1995 (needless to say, adjustments were made to the initial launch plans). I can also remember the 43 potential markets targeted by the presale campaign (eventually, 22 markets submitted formal bids): Albuquerque, NM Atlanta, GA Austin, TX Boston, MA Buffalo, NY Charlotte, NC Chicago, IL Cincinnati, OH Cleveland, OH Columbus, OH Dallas, TX Denver, CO Detroit, MI Houston, TX Indianapolis, IN Kansas City, MO Las Vegas, NV Long Island, NY Los Angeles, CA Louisville, KY Memphis, TN Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, FL Milwaukee, WI Minneapolis, MN Nashville, TN New Orleans, LA New York/New Jersey Orange County, CA Orlando, FL Philadelphia, PA Phoenix, AZ Pittsburgh, PA Raleigh-Durham, NC Sacramento, CA Salt Lake City, UT San Diego, CA San Francisco, CA San Jose, CA Seattle, WA St. Louis, MO Tampa, FL Tulsa, OK Washington, DC I also remember that we had an office pool going to see who would come closest to predicting the lineup of markets for the inaugural season. I predicted that Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, New York/New Jersey, San Jose, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa and Washington DC would secure franchises.
That's wild. I get a kick out of realizing just how long some of us have been supporting "the beautiful game" in this country. Crazy! Actually, I wish that I'd known about that pre-existing list... I wouldn't be suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome right now.
I've been here since NASL in the '70's. I almost take MLS for granted now, which is wrong, but in some ways a good thing.
My uncle and I were both regulars at Boston Minutemen and New England Tea Men matches, not to mention Boston Bolts, Rhode Island/New England Oceaneers and New England Sharks games.
Like you, I too started following "the beautiful game" with the NASL. Better late than never, I suppose. -G
Can you name the location of the location of the first meeting and who from the team was there? I drove down from Harrisburg for it. It was nice to meet some people like, Matt, Dale and Brian which I had known from the NAS list. I had season tickets for the first season and drove out to Columbus for DC's second game of the season. It's too bad Thor Lee scored one for the Crew.
I was drunk at a girlfreind's brother's house. I remember Waldo's goal, but I think the redskins beat the Redwings 26-7 at the end.
In 96' I was 10 and played a lot of soccer but only very casually watched MLS just cause it was kind of the hot new thing. I went to a New England game last summer and kind of lightly followed it until their game against Columbus in the playoffs. Amazing game. Been following it a lot now. The whole league in general has really impressed me. I had the same kind of view most foreigners or americans view of the league. I thought it was a step behind. Now that I watch it, I'd say it's just as good as any other league out there. People that bash MLS are only people who refuse to watch it.
I went to Wiz opening night because I couldn't get tickets to Royals opening day and the Chiefs were months away (and probably also sold out). It was my first professional outdoor soccer game ever and I haven't looked back since. That one was 3-0 over Colorado, Digital Crawl, Samba Club and all. I went to almost every game that season and so on...
I went to a few games in 96, even more in 97, then became a season ticket holder for the Metros in 98 till present. It has been tough as most of you know. There were times when I considered not renewing my tix because of the constant short comings of the team. But then I thought, if I want a league to succeed in this country I need to support it. So I am here waiting, I hope it all pays off. LONG LIVE MLS!!!!!!!!!!!
I was a senior at crazy Tulane University when the first game was played. I was cheering DC on as I was planning on moving there after graduation. I thought the game sucked for the most part, but Waldo's goal was awesome and I still remember the crowd going crazy........................ Moved to DC in June 1996 and checked out a few DC games. It was sweet! Since then, I've lived in England (four years), Bosnia, Iraq, and some parts of Central America, and I always manage to keep up with the league. Now I'm back in DC and I just need to go to some games......................... United Kicks AZZ!
I have been a fan since 2000. Not fanatical mind you but attentive. I drive for a living - trucks, taxicabs, limos so when I'm not driving I'm sleeping. I don't like any other sports. MLS & USA games I try to catch but I live where no MLS team exists. How I became a Revs fan: My brother is a eurosnob. Only likes EPL & spurs in particular. His construction colleague got injured breaking both legs etc. & was hospitalized for months. He was from Boston. I had a contact in Somerville, Mass who recorded Revs games for me. (all Revs games on local tv.) Around this time, Revs were in last place & I watch the tape then give my brother to give the guy in the hospital. Well Revs started to win & made a nice run to the playoffs. I saw every game & they won me over. I especially appreciated Adrian Healey & Brad Feldman as announcers. Healey is gone now. Anyway Revs discovered how good they were & now are MLS best team. Just wanna say that MLS is America's dream sport. It gives us 2 hours to forget our crummy marriages, nagging wives etc. Who cares who wins or loses. Now that we have MLS our USA team is awesome. It helped a guy in the hospital forget his predicament for 2 hours. MLS makes other sports unwatchable.
I was a year out of college when the league started and living in Greensboro, NC. My roommate and I chose a team to support based on geography. We watched the first game and were in attendance 4/20/96 to see DC's home opener. 11 hour drive roundtrip with our girlfriends. We went to 5 matches and the US Open Cup Final that year. I moved closer to DC before the 97 season started. Joined a supporters group in 2001. Now it's only a 3.5 hour roundtrip.
Having moved around a bit, I've had three home teams since MLS began: San Jose (sadly, as the Clash, not the Quakes); DC (my home team for 97 & 98); and the Crew. Yes, I was there in Spartan Stadium for the opening match, and brought a bunch of my students with me. I can claim that I'm one of the fortunate few who saw Thor Lee play.
Eric Wynalda shot the inaugural winning goal about a yard or so away from where I sat during my San Jose State University Graduation Ceremony eleven months earlier. -G
I'd buy copies of Soccer America prior to 96 just for news of the league (not too much else in that publication to read about) I was living in San Jose in '95 and following the news of the Clash...but as fate would have it, my employer moved me to LA in Jan of '96...and just to seal the deal, I ended up renting a room in a house which was walking distance from the Rose Bowl. I was among the 69K who actually made it into the Rose Bowl that night for the first game against the Metros. I missed no more than 2 or 3 home games (including Cup games in Fullerton and all the other extras in So Cal) prior to this season. My wife says I need to seek treatment for my addiction...
Nope.. I wasn't there for that. I heard about the SEs on AOL and got in touch with Matt directly. Sachin