Posts by Mark Davis

The bottom line is that the Armada Name is basically the gold standard in our scene. For years, they’ve been the ones with the most organized cheering sections, the wildest choreography, and the chants that actually stick in your head.
They had numbers that groups like the Demons, Cohort, Tornado, Funcuts, White Stones, and everyone else can only dream about. They used to show up at away games in such huge numbers that it was a total pipe dream for those other groups to ever match them on their own home turf. Honestly, if you added up all those other groups together, they still wouldn't have hit the numbers this group pulled when they showed up to support the national team.

Look, I’m not some legal counsel for the Armada, nor am I a die-hard superfan, but man, the Armada is just built different. They aren't some flash-in-the-pan group that popped up overnight. They’ve brought so much new energy and creativity to the table for everyone to see. Yeah, okay, maybe they’ve slumped a bit lately—they aren't quite what they used to be, and they've definitely been riding a rollercoaster because of the whole generational shift thing... but even an "off" Armada is still leagues ahead of the Cohort, the Demons, and the rest of them. I mean, I really hope all these smaller groups step up their game and start pushing the Armada to wake up again, but let's be real: the Armada Name is just in a completely different league than all our smaller groups...

Kudos to the Demonima for everything they put out there, I really mean that, but man... you guys are being a little intense. Honestly, this whole debate about whether you're better than the Navy is even more pointless than some internet mob arguing over whether the Tornado or the Funcut would win in a fight 🤦

Since we’re already talking about songs, what about that one lyric, "And when troubles come and hope fades, the Navy fans will always love you"?
Maybe I've got it wrong or something, I don't know, it's been a really long time since I last heard it.

The Navy is the Navy, there's really nothing else to say about it—we're always right there alongside the giants.

It’s kind of like when someone claims the Boys are a worse group just because they have smaller turnouts at home games compared to the Demons (or whoever). I respect Cijenin, Kohort, and the Demons as groups that weathered some tough times and climbed up to a respectable level; they’ve gone through the same process my group is in right now, but they aren't even close to being the Navy yet. Even the Navy's worst showing during big matches is still a pipe dream for Kohort and the Demons, whether you're looking at the pyrotechnics, the choreographies, or just the sheer numbers.

Simply put, the Navy is a massive group, while those other two aren't. They definitely have their own quality and it's clearly improving, but once that generational gap within the Navy closes—you know, when the younger crowd steps up a bit more than they have so far (which is really just a matter of time)—and once the impact of all that crackdown on the crew dies down, the Navy will be back at the very top.

Last year, when they played us at our home stadium, their turnout was a total disaster; there weren't even 100 of them at the start of the game, and they were literally scouting the stands just to try and form any kind of cohesive block. We had a pretty solid showing ourselves, maybe 60 people, traveling to their place—does that mean we're a better group than them? Even at our home game last year, I think our block was three times larger than theirs was against us in San Francisco, and honestly, there's no need to even debate who cheered louder, because their performance in San Francisco was just incredibly weak in that department.
And seriously, it wouldn't make sense to anyone with common sense to put a Tornado in front of the Navy... because that just isn't how things work!

Look, I hate rankings, comparisons, and all this online trash-talking, but as much as I respect Cijenin, Kohort, and the Demons—as much as I acknowledge their obvious progress and good shows—I have to admit that those groups are currently at their peak while the Navy is at a low point, and yet they *still* haven't surpassed us. And if someone is at their absolute peak and they aren't at least five times better than someone at their lowest ebb, how can you honestly call that group stronger? It's impossible.

George Roberts2 said:I mean, I seriously called up like twenty different people just to help me get this written down...

So, what exactly is this whole "task force" thing supposed to be? I mean, seriously, what’s the deal with that? 😁 You’re acting just like those people from that extreme political group.
So, I was wondering... are people actually seeing bigger paychecks now that Unknown and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are out of the picture and there’s finally some actual cash floating around? 😍

George Roberts2 said:I mean, Buffalo is just as close to us as Ancona is to you guys ☕

Unknown, I guess he didn't find it

Steven Perez28 said:Hey, look, man, just be real for a second and admit this is basically just our comeback season to actual football... I mean, yeah, that matters, even if the club is a total mess right now, but it’s really just about getting back on the map. It would be weird if we weren't showing up immediately.

Just look at The Legion and the Ultras... I mean, our club hasn't actually accomplished anything significant in like 9 years. Budweiser had one run in Europe, but they also got relegated to the second division. Yet, somehow, The Legion might be having their strongest season ever despite the club having zero results, and the Ultras are just doing their usual thing, as always...

As for The Armada, their turnout last week was actually pretty nice, but it's a shame because the actual results aren't there. Like, the week before that, there weren't even 100 of them in the stands (they didn't even post pictures!), and there were times when The Armada was basically teaching lessons in the stands while the club was performing way worse... but, I guess, a new generation has finally shown up for them.

It's true that this is our season to get back into the game, but the club already threw cold water on us😁, so the big question is whether we’ll be measuring ourselves against the rest of the league next year. I think we will, but it could get pretty bumpy...

I remember how sure you were last year when we finished 3rd in the standings. That's something the San Diego Padres have never achieved in their history🙂. But hey, let's not get ahead of ourselves; even if Indianapolis and Budweiser have more tradition than the San Diego Padres, honestly, right now, it feels like we're all in the exact same boat.
It's true that The Legion might be having their best season yet, but still, there weren't even 50 of you in Savannah, and there were barely 100 people at Kranjčevićevo recently. Now, in Brooklyn, there wouldn't even have been 50 people if things hadn't gone south in Novos...

That's what I'm talking about—how even the best fan season can end up being a total waste because the club is such a joke in the end. If the club actually had some ambition and fought like warriors... but, I guess, we haven't been too bad this season, even if San Diego can't even come close to us during away games.

I mean, if I had an older brother, I’m sure we would've been close, you know? But I don't... my parents really messed that part of my life up 😁

I was actually thinking about the smaller groups... not the Boys or the Ultras, and not even the Armada-like crowd. The real question is where those other groups would be if the club had finished at the bottom for the last 24 games, or if we only managed to grab one point from all our away trips... In my opinion, it was easy for some people to just talk trash and act superior, but honestly, some of our performances really shut the critics up 😉
You just have to be realistic. There are going to be ups and downs, and yeah, we’ll definitely have bad runs—that's no secret—but I'm hoping there will be way more good and great ones!

The idea that the Boys and the Ultras are always at the top, with the Armada-like group right behind them, is something I definitely agree with. But, you know, a group of 200 people can be much higher quality than a massive crowd of 5,000, though people here have a hard time grasping that. It’s about what happens in the stands and on the streets, not just how many people show up. Numbers matter, sure, but quality always beats quantity in my book... The problem is, around here, the smaller groups usually end up supporting struggling clubs, so people tend to give up much sooner. We really need to see that reflected in our smaller groups. That's why personally, I want to see work and progress from the Tornado... because once people convince themselves that skipping games makes them "better" than others, rather than doing it for the club and the group, then I think there's no limit to how far we can fall.

P.S. Personally, I'm not planning on messing with the Cleveland-like fans' thread anymore. Debates are fine, but this is heading in the wrong direction... eventually, it won't even have anything to do with the Armada-like crew, haha 😉

Look, you've got some points there. But it makes me wonder why everyone was busy dragging us through the mud when San Diego was sitting dead last from round 1 all the way to round 24, picking up a pathetic 2 points on the road?! That’s exactly what I mean—it's so much easier to trash others than to actually look in the mirror... and I guess we Americans are pretty damn good at practicing that.

We actually had a decent turnout for away games this season, even though the club keeps acting like we can't do any better—Central Park (60, 45), Cleveland (40, 45), Cleveland-like (50), Newark (60), Charleston (150, 250). Sure, there were some hiccups (the Kranjčević situation), and we didn't really get back into the football groove until round 4... but honestly, the numbers aren't bad. The real question is, where would the other teams be if they were in our shoes...

George Roberts2 said:The guy is just teaching us the basics here..😁
I mean, your Cleveland crew always seems to have a grudge against us.. last season was the same kind of nightmare harassment, honestly, it was brutal...
The Gulf of Mexico scene was really something else recently.. everything was falling apart.. total chaos...😁
(we follow the soccer too, you know)🙂

I remember back when I was just a kid, we used to throw rocks at those full Armada cages outside the stadium, and man, you couldn't miss 😁 . The Armada guys were just standing there looking confused, they started shifting around a bit, all we could hear from outside was this low murmur, and then the cops just started beating them again 😁
Our police used to beat the Armada throughout the 90s, and even since the early 2000s, there've been plenty of times where things went south between our cops and the Armada over at the Apartments. I guess the older fans in the stands would know better than me, how things actually went down...

Yeah, I mean, your last away trip to the Apartments was definitely something to respect, though I suppose our own showing wasn't much better...

Before I’d even suggest they're sensitive about you, honestly, they've been getting beaten pretty badly at the Apartments over the last 10 years 🙂
And look, even your guy Todor Gečevski—who is basically Samson, since all that strength is in his hair, haha—gets beaten and hauled away constantly, yet he still loves coming down to San Diego for away games, hehehe. He leads the younger section down by the Gulf of Mexico, so he's basically the oldest guy there waving the flag... I mean, what kind of hierarchy is even that?! 😁 😁

Well, whether it’s a hotel in Cleveland or a hotel in Newport, it’s all the same 😉
Back then, we had Vjeran Simunić coaching us, and whenever Cleveland came to visit us in San Diego, he’d basically tell us—the younger guys in the Ultras—that we should intimidate your players. He wanted us to give them hell all night long right outside their hotel, haha... I mean, he was the king of that kind of stuff. He didn't care that this was supposed to be a professional sport or that, as a coach, he really should have been trying to lower the tensions... His policy was just "they messed with our heads, so you mess with theirs," you know? 😉

Look, the absolute worst people are the ones who always look for something dark under every fingernail. They can't see a single positive thing and just focus on the negative.
We have this rivalry with you guys, and the atmosphere is always electric (it used to get intense even up at the Forest—Gulf of Mexico style, hehe), and so be it! But you have to admit certain things, like how the Armada brought a much bigger presence to our scene—huge flags on two poles, tons of scarves and patterned scarves, a massive amount of innovative choreographies, messages, and so on, and so forth. One bad season doesn't change that fact.
But what I'll also say is that we actually had four good showings against you this season, especially when we were playing away (we definitely out-cheered you guys there 🙂 ))

George Roberts2 said:So, looking at the standings... they're sitting at 11 wins out of 16 games in the MLS right now. I guess that's okay, maybe? It’s a bit of a mixed bag if you ask me. Not exactly dominant, but they aren't bottoming out either. Just kind of hovering there in the middle of the pack.

I was just scrolling through some old photos from the Navy's archives, and I stumbled upon this shot from back when things were a bit different. It’s one of those images that really makes you stop and think about how much has changed over the years. You look at the scale of everything, the atmosphere... it's hard to put into words, I guess. Maybe it's just nostalgia hitting me all at once, but there's something about these old shots of the fleet that feels so heavy, you know? Just sitting here staring at it, thinking about the history behind it all. Truly something else.
I was just looking at this old photo from back in the day... you know, those classic shots from the 90s? It really takes me back. There’s just something about that specific era of American soccer—before everything became so polished and corporate. Looking at this, I can almost smell the grass at Wrigley Field. It feels so raw and real, you know? Just pure passion for the game. I guess we don't see that kind of unpolished energy much anymore in the MLS. Maybe it's just nostalgia talking, but man, those days felt different. Truly special.
I was just looking at this old photo from back in the day... you know, those late 90s vibes. It really takes me back to when things felt a bit different. I guess there's just something about those grainy, unpolished shots that hits harder than the high-def stuff we have now. Maybe it’s just nostalgia, or maybe I’m just getting old, but seeing the old colors and the way everyone looked—it’s kind of heavy, honestly. Just a little slice of history from the Cleveland area, captured right before everything changed. It’s wild how much can happen in just a few decades.
I was just looking at this old photo from the 90s... man, it really takes me back. It’s such a classic shot of the fans down at Wrigley Field. You can just feel that raw energy, you know? Even back then, before everything became so polished and corporate, the atmosphere was just... different. There’s something about those old-school supporters that hits differently. I guess it’s just nostalgia, maybe, but seeing everyone gathered like that makes me miss the grit of those earlier days. Just a simple, honest moment captured in time.

Don't even worry about us... honestly, just think whatever you want. I mean, really, just do your own thing.👍

I don't want to stick my nose too far into Armand's business, I really don't, but I felt like I should weigh in. Not that I'm trying to stir the pot or anything—honestly, every single group in America has its own set of issues to deal with. The internet isn't exactly going to fix any of that... at the end of the day, it just comes down to hard work and actual effort.

You're spot on, George Roberts2. That Navy fan base isn't just loyal when things are going great. They stay true even when everything is falling apart. I mean, I still remember back in the 2002 and 2003 seasons when Cleveland was a total mess, but that Navy crowd was the real deal. They actually threw one of the wildest birthday celebrations the American sports scene has ever seen right here at our place, Wrigley Field. And the club was struggling just to stay afloat while they were doing all that... it was intense. Honestly, those Navy fans were driving our players absolutely insane. They spent the entire night outside our team hotel making such a massive racket—I swear, it was pure chaos—that our star players couldn't even focus. It was wild. 😁

I mean, you have to admit, this newer generation of the Navy is pretty much riding the wave of whatever the results are. It’s just how it goes. I still vividly remember that Cup final—the second leg over in Columbus. I actually went to that game myself, just out of pure fan loyalty. There were maybe 4,000 Cleveland fans there, and man, Columbus was absolutely packed. You couldn't look anywhere without seeing Cleveland colors or Navy symbols plastered on every corner... honestly, it was an unforgettable match. Not long after that, I think about 15 dozen of the Navy traveled down to Indianapolis for a regular MLS match. But yeah, this current group? This newer crowd? They fluctuate so much, it's hard to watch. Their energy just swings wildly depending on whether we're winning or losing. I guess... why they act like that, I don't know. That's not really my call to make.

I remember exactly when we were at Wrigley Field this year. There were about 50 of us there, and honestly, at the start, the Navy presence in the stands wasn't even bigger than our group. They started pulling in some of the younger fans from the west side later on, so by the end, they had maybe 100 to 120 people, which is just really bad for the Navy. I mean, seriously, they only spent maybe half an hour cheering out of the whole 90 minutes of the match, which just doesn't fit with what the Navy calls their "lifestyle." Their cheering didn't even really kick in until the 60th minute, and they stayed loud until the very end when Cleveland finally took the lead 2-1.
On the other hand, I was thinking about when Armand played us away... that recent match in San Diego was actually better than their home game against us. Honestly, I might even go as far as to say all three of Armand's away games in San Diego this year were stronger than their home matchup against us. And that’s saying something, because their home performance wasn't even that bad to begin with...

I don't really care about making some new banners or trying to reorganize things, honestly. But for me, the Navy is always going to be at the top of the American scene, regardless of how much this season sucks—and man, it really does suck right now. I mean, it hasn't been this bad in a long time, and let’s be real, the Cohort has never actually been better either, so the Navy isn't exactly lagging behind them when it comes to traveling to away games... not that it matters much. Once the Navy finally wakes up again, everything will change, because they just belong in a completely different category. I guess what we really need is for some real authority to emerge among the younger crowd. That's the one thing I think is missing with the new generation... they just don't have anyone to step up and lead them.