Question For Quake Fans I've been meaning to ask this question for the longest time... Clash fans who came up with the idea of calling your supporters section The Casbah. That was brilliant.
I did i dont know if officially I was the one that came up with it... but i do remember posting that some where on the BS boards. The Clash were my favorite band in HS. and "Rock the Casbah" was off of the Combat Rock album.
thank you very much. i'm glad to know it was a witty fan that came up with that. it was the only acceptable name for your fan section... anything else would have been uncivilized.
I'm not sure exactly who named the group -- it's been the Casbah since game one, 1996 -- but I'd be surprised if it was anybody besides Darrin Howells, grand poobah of the Casbah before he moved to Southern California. (He still gets to SJ for many games and also runs the Casbah web site at http://www.thecasbah.org/ )
Re: I did The Casbah existed before the BigSoccer boards. Here's a photo with the original Casbah banner at the league inaugural:
From the Casbah website: "QUESTION: Where does the name 'Casbah' come from? ANSWER: A casbah is a city center or fortress common to parts of North Africa such as Algiers and Morocco. Naming the supporter's section The Casbah was an offshoot of the original nickname for the San Jose team, the Clash. Back in the 80's, a British rock group named The Clash had a hit song called 'Rock the Casbah'. Naturally, with our team's name being the Clash, we chose The Casbah as the name of the supporter's section. Hence, whenever the Clash scored, they'd be "rocking The Casbah". In 2000, the San Jose Clash changed their name to the San Jose Earthquakes. With The Casbah being inhabited mostly by socer traditionalists, there was no desire to change the name so it coincided with the team's new nickname of 'Earthquakes', so we left ours as 'The Casbah'." Though it doesn't list a name of the person who thought of it.
Darrin is the Man... It was definitely Darrin Howells who came up with it. He used to do the fanzine Bazaar Times, and we used to trade issues of "Pictured of Chairman Mao" with him. The name definitely makes sense for a supporters group, and even with the name change, it still works. Tom
I'm pretty sure it was Darrin who thought of it. Back story: Way before there was a BigSoccer, or even a "Clash," we had a listserv newsgroup (I think people could also read it through usenet). We started discussing the Clash pretty much right after the league and teams were officially announced. Other than Darrin, the only other person from these boards who I remember was on that newsgroup is angry Mark. It was really funny when the supporter section was being discussed at that point. Many fans had already ordered their season tickets, and everyone wanted the supporter section wherever their seats were. I think because the Gold Seats were the loudest section at Blackhawks matches, some people thought that section would make a good supporters area. Many pushed back on the end zone location. There were some pretty rude net.discussions about it. Props to Darrin and friends for holding their ground and doing the right thing.
Yeah, the north end is a good place for the Casbah. But it's NOT a good place to see a game. I know that keeps people away, unfortunately.
as a lifelong clash fan (the real clash) , i've always thought naming the supporters group the casbah was incredibly lame and obvious. however, since my allegiance lies with revs, i'd be fully supportive of you naming it "revolution rock" what i'd like to know if the pa guy plays "card cheat" when someone dives, or "i'm not down" when an injured player gets up, "deny" when the keeper makes a great save, or even "last gang in town" when they win the cup.
Until you guys can come up with something less lame/obvious than "The Fort" and "The Midnight Riders," piss off.
Darrin was the one who started the name and group. The Casbah was an offshoot of the Clash song so it fit perfectly.
I've been sitting on the east and west sides when I go to the games the last couple of years and of course, they are pretty good places for watching the game. However, when 2004 comes, I think I will be getting seats with the Casbah in North End. Like you said, it's not a good place to see a game but I LOVE the noise and atmosphere that comes to the game from the north. Even if I don't get to see the game as close as I'd like, it's the noise that will have drawn me over there!!
Yeah, the atmosphere is the absolute best (well other than the one with your group of great peeps - you know who you are). But I just get sick of never being able to see a game. I'm always torn between what to do.
I spent the first two years on the east side before joining the Casbah in 1998. That was mainly because the 1997 Clash were so bad that it didn't matter if I saw the game from a good angle or not. This year, I was back on the east side for one game, and I had to restrain myself from standing and yelling profanities at the ref and the other team. But it was kind of nice to be able to see the action on the south end of the field for a change. Back in the Casbah, we're often wondering "hey, did we just score, or was that the side netting?" when it's in the far goal.
Love the North End view, and I'm so pleased no one tried to change the name when the team did. Fans always know better. I just wish there'd be one or two dudes noodling away on those funky middle-eastern recorders throughout the entire match. THAT would give our venue a unique aural signature. Okay how about just after SJ goals?