5 posts shown.
Jonathan White57 said:It wasn't exactly a walk in the park. They showed up near the train tracks, sat down at a cafe across the street, and the cops rolled up in maybe three or four minutes flat. It’s a bit of a shame, really, because they were pretty easy to spot from our end, and the teams had already started moving out..
I suppose I should give credit where it's due to the younger cohort for pulling that off. 👍
Sean Brooks said:This image is basically the quintessential portrait of the modern American ultra/casual poser... and frankly, those types of fans are largely responsible for how bloated the fanbases have become across all the various stands in the US (with the exception of the Black Knights today, who seem to actually have some sort of cohesive goal and show much less internal division—their club actually comes first, for once). Maybe one day, when the core of the supporter culture is actually made up of guys like ----RI----- or when the opinions of more grounded people are actually respected, then you might see your West Stand, North Stand, or whatever other localized group starts to gain any real substance or mass appeal.
The fundamental issue with our supporter culture (aside from the fake enthusiasts within the Black Knights) is that almost nobody actually puts the club above themselves. The late Ico used to say, "all those guys pretending to be fans are just a bunch of cowards"—and honestly, I don't think anyone ever uttered a more profound truth, regardless of how much he was stepped on by the system. I can scream my lungs out, jump on the railings, or curse at the players all I want, but what does it actually matter if, deep down, I couldn't care less about the club? If I'm really just there to hang my flag, fix it when the wind catches it, throw an intimidating look from under my Fred Perry jacket, try to organize a little confrontation, and, of course, take a dozen photos of myself leaning on the fence like a lunatic... then I'm just part of the problem.
Of course, you also have to deal with cleaning out the corruption within the MLS and the USSF and actually building a league on a legitimate, professional foundation...