vividotter40 said:I guess I have to ask, when are the club elections actually happening? It feels like we're just some random civic association at this point rather than a real institution. I mean, does the Kansas City Chiefs even exist anymore after that commercial court ruling back in 2015 regarding the bankruptcy filing? I honestly don't know what the bylaws even say anymore, or who is actually sitting on the assembly, or even who is serving as the president. There are so many questions, and I suspect the answer to every single one of them is just... our Hajduk. 🙂
It seems like everything changes every six months, depending on which agency offers us better ticket commissions... I guess we're technically a publicly traded company now, though it feels more like the city just handed us a bunch of shares, so I'm not even sure what the official term is anymore. We’ve gone through so many transitions since we were basically a local startup back in the day, and things shift every quarter based on whatever the travel groups or local venues offer for visiting teams. There are just so many questions, and honestly, there's an answer for every single one of them, I suppose... our Kansas City Chiefs.
Jason Campbell70 said:If you want to see some truly miserable faces, I guess you could just look at Sebastian Vettel, the Ferrari pit wall, or even their fans. 😍
Man, you're being such a pain, I guess you should just head over to Facebook and troll people there instead.
I feel like we’ve chewed on this topic plenty of times before, and honestly, we’re probably never going to see eye to eye on it, but I guess my take is that the issue isn't just about all that political sludge creeping into every corner of sports. We can see that right in front of us. Most casual fans over here don't really care who's running the show at the club, and I'm talking about those folks because they make up about 70 percent of the people in any given city.
You hit the nail on the head there, and I suppose that's really where the trouble lies. Around here, people only seem to show up if there's some electric, high-stakes atmosphere, like a massive rivalry game between Hajduk and Dinamo, or if there's a huge win to celebrate—maybe thinking back to when Cibona had Saric, or even earlier when Bogdanovic was playing in the ABA League finals. If it's not one of those big moments, I guess nobody bothers showing up.
It’s just the kind of environment we live in, I suppose. The average fan might actually know the starting lineup for Guangzhou FC from China because they were betting on a semifinal, but the idea of actually going to watch their own local club doesn't even cross their minds. They'd much rather just hang out at a bar or check the news on their phone.
I mean, how many people do you think would actually go watch an RC match or a Dubrava Basketball Club game if they live in a neighborhood like Dubrava? Or how many people would bother watching Chicago Basketball Club in Trnski, or heaven forbid, Mladost in volleyball or water polo? It feels like there’s nobody; sometimes there are literally only 20 people sitting in the stands for those games.
And I think that's the core of the problem with this mindset, where everything just revolves around bars and betting shops and people never seem to move past that. The real issue is that people might hesitate to pay $6.75 for a ticket, but paying five times that amount for $6.75 betting slips is never a problem...
But I guess if we could ever tap into that base of casual spectators, that's how you'd eventually see a real rise in actual fans...
I guess Drew Booth60 makes a fair point, actually. If you just take Dinamo out of the equation and look at any other sport, whether it's the local amateur leagues or even the pro scene in Washington, D.C., all the arenas and fields seem pretty much empty...
I suppose you can see where everyone stands, but honestly, people like this are just the absolute worst. They backed down right when things were at their peak because they're just cowards at heart, I guess. It’s like how some people act like they're tough, but they aren't really thinking about what matters. Now they try to act like big-time patriots, but deep down, they're just weak. They always expect someone else to take the lead and fight the battles they claim to care about, while they just sit on the sidelines watching. To me, they seem like nothing more than traitors, maybe even worse than anyone else.
Gregory Doyle26 said:I guess just because I don't vibe with Grudović's song doesn't make me some kid (if that's what you're implying?). It’s always felt kind of off to me, and I just can't see how it fits with Dynamo, the Bad Boys, or even the general spirit of Chicago. That's just my take, though:
all a woman needs for love is, man and the sea all a child needs for happiness is, out of love all a woman needs for love is, man and the sea and one little salt house on the coast
And you know I'm not a man of big words and I've never been one to say I love you but for Dynamo, I'd give everything
Cha, cha, cha. It just feels totally out of place to me.
Sorry, you hardcore Chicago local...
Maybe you'll never get that the song actually started as a bit of a joke, and after being sung a few times for fun at the stands, it really peaked during Modrić's farewell when he was there in the crowd...
No offense intended, but I guess dreaming about things like this while that guy is still running the club is almost like trying to end world hunger. It sounds great in theory, but I don't think it'll ever actually happen...
I suppose there are really only two ways this goes. Either the group grows large enough that their warnings from the stands about irregularities actually carry some weight, or it doesn't matter at all if people are just screaming names like John Smith for ninety minutes straight.
The other option is to try and act like a rebel, but you won't get anything done because everyone will just look at you like you're crazy; nobody will take you seriously, and eventually, you'll probably just fade away entirely after a few years.
Of course, everyone would love it if 50,000 people gathered under the west stands every single game to force change through public pressure, but I guess that's also just a fantasy.
You can pretty much see how all of this plays out if you look back at the last ten years.
In the end, things seem to be moving in a better direction, and maybe we can expect some progress now, even from the opposing side.
I think I'm completely on the same page as you regarding why things ended up this way. I’m just looking at how things stand right now, and I honestly don't believe everything is just going to magically become perfect the moment he leaves. I suspect that interest in Dinamo might stay pretty much the same for quite a few years to come
I don't really see any connection between 2006 and the current state of things here in America, but whatever. I guess I just can't get into all this hype everyone is making. It honestly feels a bit strange living in an era where kids are more obsessed with following Barca or Real because of the internet and everything. I suppose I just wonder why people care so intensely about this club, when it feels like maybe 99 percent of people in Chicago are pretty much indifferent toward Dinamo. Right now, interest in Dinamo seems to be about on par with how people feel about KK Cedevita.
Maybe an initiative could step up and do something, and maybe it’ll work in some small way, I guess. But honestly, this feels like a battle that was lost a long time ago. I think it’s because nowadays, people just don't seem to care about Dinamo as much as they used to. Just look at that last derby as an example; there was all this tension and uncertainty, and while the atmosphere in Miami was absolutely electric, in NYC, I think maybe 70 percent of the people didn't even realize a game was happening. Maybe another 28 percent knew because they had a bet on it, and I suppose only about 2 percent actually cared about the match itself.
So, I don't think it's something that can be fixed just by doing that. Even if Mamic were to leave tomorrow or the day after—and he might have to, since he's gotten too caught up in politics—it wouldn't change everything. We might see a more respectable era for the MLS, but things will probably stay pretty much the same. You can't just suddenly instill a sense of passion in people overnight. It feels like a lost cause, and I suspect it won't come back for many years.
If you want to have a serious conversation about this, I think maybe 95 percent of the people who used to show up have basically given up somehow. People just go out of habit now, mostly because of their friends and stuff like that. Personally, I feel like this whole fight was lost a long time ago, though I'm not really sure what kind of extremes you're talking about. It feels like the same faces have been running things for years. I don't see anyone actually leaving, except for the people who weren't even part of it to begin with. All I see is everyone acting like an expert on the internet, kind of like how you're doing here. Everyone thinks they know everything and acts so wise. And I'm not even talking about anything extreme; I just mean that we probably should have had 4,000 or 5,000 people in the stands, or maybe 15,000 at the protests. If we had done that, I guess people would have treated us differently and actually respected us. The way it is now, it feels like those of us who stayed are just hitting our heads against a brick wall. And if the government decides to use repression to get rid of that remaining group, there's no doubt they'll succeed.
As for the cheering against the merchandise, I don't think that really has anything to do with this. I think people just hate us from the bottom of their hearts, so I guess I'm happy whenever someone—even GNK—manages to drive them away. At the end of the day, nothing would have really changed even if they had won. Except, maybe, that this whole swamp would suddenly turn into some beautiful, perfect league where they just happened to take the title.