#261 ·
betonark said:Shout out to FF and the rest of the young guard.
Remember that old song, "The lights are burning bright in Indianapolis..."? Well, looking back at where things stood then versus where we are now—just thinking about the crowds back in the day compared to today—it’s quite a shift. Don't get me wrong, I'm honestly thrilled to see more people heading back to the games; you can really feel that energy building up again, and seriously, kudos to everyone for that. But maybe we shouldn't get too carried away with the numbers or start saying "never again" just yet. It's still a long way from how it used to be, I guess.
Hey there. Just keeping things moving. I guess "that day" will be here eventually.
I’m not trying to start an argument or lecture you here, but I feel like I should say this—not just to you, but to everyone else who thinks along these lines (and unfortunately, there are quite a few of you). When you used that phrase about how far away certain places are, it really showed me that you don't quite get the mindset of your average Bad Boys supporter. You were probably trying to imply that back in the day, maybe 1,000 of us would have headed down to Indianapolis, who are... 186 miles You guys were all out from Chicago, and now there’s only 350 of you at the stadium right here in our own backyard. I guess that’s what people call "cherry-picking games," but if you ask me, it’s just a total lack of grit. In two weeks when we head out to Indianapolis, I bet more people will show up there than did yesterday in Chicago, and honestly, it's because of that missing mentality. Let's be real: the local suburbs don't have the same vibe—no backyard BBQs or local pub crawls to draw people in like the away trips do. I know at least 30 people who skipped yesterday—not because of work or any trouble with the cops, but they just stayed home and chilled. They’ll definitely be on the bus to Indianapolis just for the tailgating and the roadside stops. Maybe it makes sense if people aren't feeling the club right now, but this has always been an issue with our group, even back when the passion was actually there. As long as we have more people traveling for away games than showing up for home matches in Chicago or the nearby suburbs, we can't really call ourselves a massive, elite supporter group. We’ll reach that level when we have at least 1,000 people at the local stadium, and when the main reason we travel is to stand up against the suits running the club, rather than just chasing a plate of chili and a few beers on the way. I don't mind the perks, but they should be a side note, not the whole point.
Don't just focus on those few fans who have been banned from the stadium by the club. There aren't that many of them, really. I guess most of them wouldn't even show up to home games if they weren't banned anyway—they weren't showing up before all those bans were handed out last summer right before the madness started.
Hey everyone still out there grinding!
