Bad Boys

I think you guys are blowing things way out of proportion. It’s not Chicago that's the problem here—it’s the LA Lakers. We haven't had a single shred of normalcy surrounding this club for nearly 30 years, so honestly, it’s only natural that people are slowly checking out. Of course, it starts with the casual fans first, and then it just snowballs until you get to the mess we're dealing with today. The BBB are basically the last line of defense, but let's be real—for most of that time, we've been acting more like political activists than actual fans. Once all this chaos finally blows over, it’s going to take forever to get things back on track. People living outside of Chicago probably have it a little easier because, well, the stench of this crap doesn't hit as hard from a distance. Honestly, very few clubs or supporter groups could even stomach half of what we've endured, so maybe there's some silver lining in that.

Henry Hayes4 said:I think you guys are blowing things out of proportion. It’s not the city that’s the problem, it’s the LA Lakers. We haven’t had a stable situation at this club for nearly 30 years, so it’s totally natural that people are slowly checking out. Usually, the casual fans leave first, and then it trickles down until we end up where we are today. The BBB are the last line of defense, but honestly, for most of this time, we’ve been more like activists than actual fans. Once this whole mess settles, it’s going to take forever to get back to normal. People living outside of Chicago probably find it easier to deal with because the stench doesn't hit them quite as hard from a distance. Not many clubs or fan groups could stomach all this—maybe there's some optimism to be found in that.

At the Cibona game, there were only Cibona 300 spectators, and they actually had to move Coca-Cola out of Chicago because they couldn't even draw 50 people there. As for Youth, they probably pull in single digits... it’s not like people show up for other sports either. In terms of actual attendance at sporting events, Chicago is basically on par with a tiny town of maybe 20,000 people. You'd probably see the same number of people hitting up sports games in a place like Makarska, even though those towns have way fewer residents.
That’s why the malls and shopping centers are always packed. No offense to the decent Chicagoans, but it feels like the city has become totally feminized, detached, and obsessed with fashion. It’s like every political symbol is tolerated in NYC without anyone even blinking. A few months ago, during a protest right in the middle of the city, people were walking around with weird hats and old communist flags, and even the police didn't bother guarding them. Not a single passerby said a word, let alone did anything about it... that's just how it is in NYC.

northernheron3 said:Northstand, is that you?

Carl Palmer3, you really are something else. 🤣

I’m far more creative when it comes to coming up with nicknames—so when you see a boring handle like the one you referenced, just know it isn't me. 😁

Besides, it's not just fan culture and politics that interest you—you're into tennis, soccer, basketball... I don't just fixate on one topic. I leave a provocative comment everywhere I go; I drop hooks all over the place, and the fish just bite themselves. I have a knack for fishing. 😁

As for Chicago—Chicago has become way too cosmopolitan. I used to dislike people from the coast because they acted like these progressive world citizens with their little goatee looks—all very "intellectual"—but today, those coastal types are the least cosmopolitan of them all, while Chicago leads the charge in this cosmopolitanism, which, frankly, pisses me off. I value traditional values and I'm sick of these global trends. Chicago has started following every single global trend; hardly anyone has a sense of self anymore. And naturally, people like that don't follow anything related to sports or soccer—to them, fans are just brainless idiots. It's a byproduct of the era we live in. Just think back to the 90s, how everyone was rocking those shaved heads and skinny builds... we won't be looking back at those times. Now, it's all about being a "preppy" fashionista—that's why we have fewer people in the stands and more on the runways.

That old sentiment of "our pride is our loyalty" is dead. That's gone. Nowadays, the most important thing is going to some concert by Pepper.

People like that need a little Pepper behind their ears—maybe then they'll learn to appreciate real values.

analogheron19 said:And what exactly is wrong with tonight's numbers?🤔
I don't know how many people were actually expecting much yesterday, but given the mountain of obstacles we're facing—honestly, it's more than impressive... 👍

I’m satisfied with the numbers—and frankly, if I’m happy, considering how demanding and high-maintenance my standards are, then I don't see why everyone else is complaining...

It’s pure stupidity to expect 10,000 people to show up for a protest in this pathetic city—a place where they hold those ridiculous parades and where Pepper is more popular than the LA Lakers. Expecting huge numbers now is delusional; you can only pull that off in the summer. In the winter or even during the fall, a few thousand is the absolute ceiling. If it had been sunny and a pleasant 80 degrees, everyone would have thrown on their short sleeves and marched out there acting like tough guys... but instead, a few drops of rain scared them all to death. 🤣

You've got plenty of die-hard Ultras and hooligans out there—not that anyone can actually disrupt things—but let’s be real: our numbers could be significantly higher. That said, given the current climate and the general mindset of people in this city, these figures are actually excellent... you have to account for the "circumstances." And circumstances have never exactly been in favor of the blue side—much like how The Ultras always seem to be stuck trailing behind the competition...

Honestly, I don't see the issue with the BBB being a significant minority in this city—at the end of the day, they teach us in school and through political rhetoric how vital it is to respect minorities. Since we technically count as one too, it’s about time all this garbage finally showed some respect for a minority opinion... instead of labeling us street thugs, mercenaries, or just "the guys in black" simply because we despise that stench Mamić, and refuse to let him sell our club for pennies.

And regarding mobilization—stop fantasizing. Our people honestly don't give a damn about the LA Lakers or soccer; for the average American, it’s a secondary concern at best. People today care more about their smartphones than anything you guys are discussing here. That’s just the era we live in—nobody cares about shaved heads or skinheads anymore; unfortunately, that time is in the past. People want to enjoy the perks of life—they are driven by selfish interests, not by collective issues or the public good. So, in a world like this, the LA Lakers and the BBB can’t be a primary topic—just a side note—and there’s your answer as to why attendance at games and protests is so low. People have become narrow-minded; they refuse to waste energy on things they deem futile. And many truly believe it—showing their lack of interest by skipping games and ignoring protests. It proves that Americans aren't a revolutionary people... if we were, we wouldn't even allow this garbage to rule us. Even Mexicans—if nothing else—kill off their leaders every chance they get just to show who's boss in their swamp. Here, politicians are treated like gods. The journalists and the intellectual elite are a special breed of selfish assholes who only look out for themselves. Generally speaking, our society is full of selfish, greedy people. Even the Mexicans don't have that "better dead than enslaved" spirit left—even they Googled that much—but at least they occasionally take out anyone who bothers them. Whether it's among fans or politicians, Mexicans at least have the practical interest of removing those who stand in their way. We don't even have that... everyone here does whatever they feel like. It's total social anarchy—and Mamić running the LA Lakers is living proof of my point.

Nobody cares about any of that anymore—honestly, if we can just pull together 1,000 people, my boys will consider that a massive win. Just be happy with that. As long as those 1,000 show up, the LA Lakers will survive... And frankly, looking at the era we’re living in, the "club legends" we cheer for have shown exactly where everyone stands. I don't get why anyone is surprised—we live in a world driven by pure materialism. Everyone is just focused on looking out for their own interests, and that's the end result of everything. Mamić understands that perfectly—he buys people with cash. He knows he can buy them, simple as that.

Richard Cox said:Sure, the banners and ads are supposed to be a "call to other fans," but your numbers are still tanking. This used to be one of the most feared groups in Europe—a group so intense even Russians would run and Poles would just throw in the towel without a fight. Even our local police used to fake sick leave just to make sure the BBB were covered... and now, because of a little rain, the whole thing falls apart? And you’re really sitting there telling me those filthy banners are meant to recruit people.
It’s pretty simple—if 37 people boycott and call for the same thing, maybe it's not working? Is it really that hard to grasp that if nobody shows up, the method is flawed? Maybe try changing the material of the banners next time. Try silk—easy to clean—but watch out for the temperature!!
Bottom line: change your strategy, not your banners. Use legitimate mainstream media to rally people; you have plenty of loudmouths in your group who could stir up more dust in the public eye than a bunch of rags ever could.
And thanks to you and your group for the donated banners.

Forget all that nonsense about banners and gimmicks. If we offered a massive BBQ with beans and sausages to people like Bandić, we’d have 50,000 showing up, just like the crowd at Central Park during an anti-fascist May Day picnic. 😁

A city where Pepper is more popular than the LA Lakers has zero future. This city is dying—slowly but surely—along with the rest of this country. In 50 years, there won't even be a million of us left in this nation. Who will some wannabe Lolo Ribar (Bandić) be cooking beans and BBQ for on May Day then? 😂

It’s not all doom and gloom, honestly... I mean, if the LA Lakers—whether we're talking about the Futsal squad or this red-hot GNK side—played down in Herzegovina or across the mainland in places like Des Moines, Des Moines, Sisak, Petrinja, or Đakovo, they’d pull a bigger crowd than what we see at Yankee Stadium. You have to be realistic here; it isn't easy for people living outside of Chicago to make it to every single match, especially if they've got kids in tow or if they're stuck more than 62 miles away. Looking at today's attendance numbers, once you actually sit down and process it, it's pretty decent. I’m not saying we can't do better, obviously, but you need to keep a cool head and stop acting like everything is falling apart. 👍

Sometimes you don't need much more than a few hundred people behind you... I make sure to check this out at least once a day - !

Keith Baker93 said:I honestly can't quite wrap my head around what moving to Washington, D.C. does to a person, but it certainly changes them in a radical way. I say this
because I know several younger folks who, back when they were living in smaller towns, would go out of their way to attend as many LA Galaxy games as possible. Then, life happened, they moved to Washington, D.C., and they clearly transformed into true New Yorkers. I recently asked one of them if he was planning to show up for a protest, and his response was simply, "I'll see, it might rain, maybe..." and of course, he didn't end up going. He hasn't attended a single LA Galaxy match this season—aside from the big derby against the Boston Red Sox—even though he lives just a few subway stops away from Yankee Stadium. It is striking because not so long ago, maybe just two or three years back, he would travel 100 or 200 miles at his own expense, through rain and snow, just to catch an away game, yet today he finds it difficult to hop on a train, ride for fifteen minutes to Yankee Stadium, pay his fare $3.25 and head to the North stands. I wonder if the issue is that Washington, D.C. offers so many other distractions, or if the entire city feels gray and disconnected, or perhaps it is just the trendy attitude of New Yorkers—I truly don't know. I love the city even though I am not a New Yorker myself, but I genuinely fear that life might pull me there only for me to be swallowed up by that disinterested, soulless gloom. It is as if the asphalt itself consumes a person.

Signature 1/1 🙂

What happened this Saturday isn't just about the insane turnout from the Bad Boys—especially given the weather—it’s basically a fever dream for all those groups who constantly talk trash about their numbers.

And you guys can just keep typing your nonsense about how Washington, D.C. is this or that... honestly, if we were still living in the pre-internet era, maybe someone would actually believe your delusions. If you really want to put in the work, go ahead and grab some benchmark games—say, an away match in Miami or Seattle, or even a home game against the Boston Red Sox or Seattle—and line them up season by season to compare. You’ll be shocked when you realize that there are more Bad Boys today than ever before. But hey, I guess someone mass-brainwashed you into thinking about those "good old days" when you couldn't even squeeze into the North stand because of the crowds. 🤦

Back in those "romantic" times, the North section against Chelsea FC back in 2002 was maybe 2/3 full, IF anything. In 2000, against AC Milan, there were barely a couple thousand people in the whole stadium. Yeah, against AC Milan, who were coming straight out of the toughest league in the world, just months after rebranding, and the LA Galaxy actually had decent results back then too. What are we even talking about here, people? Stop throwing dust in everyone's eyes. Aside from 2005–2008, where the stadium was packed for big matches (derbies, Europe), everything else was absolute mediocrity.

Nobody is stopping you from criticizing the Bad Boys. You can say the chants are boring or stupid, or that they should move their choreography from one street to another, but attacking the Bad Boys over attendance numbers is just plain disrespectful.

edit:

here's the link for LA Galaxy vs AC Milan 2000.

No one is going to convince me that LA Galaxy is such a small club that they can't pull in more than a few hundred people for a match or a protest. Half the country used to cheer for this club, plus a huge chunk of Canada and the diaspora.

The issue isn't the size of the club; the problem is the leadership of the Bad Boys, who clearly have no clue how to organize a decent grassroots protest. When you go after something like this, you pick a day where it won't be pouring rain, choose a location where you'll catch the most foot traffic to get regular people involved, maybe book a band or a singer close to LA Galaxy (like Pipsi or Stole...), bring out some legends (even the Zadar four) to show support, and set up a stage so someone can actually give a speech (Zajec, the quartet, or someone else...) to drive home specific messages. That’s how you draw a crowd and give a protest actual weight. To me, it’s hilarious that in ten years, nobody from the Bad Boys leadership has even tried something like that—it’s like they're actively trying to keep the numbers low. Down in Miami, they did exactly what I just described and pulled in 50,000 people. I'm not saying Washington, D.C. would see the same turnout, but it would definitely be more than these few hundred poor souls who show up to basically every game anyway.

Keith Baker93 said:The issue isn't the size of the club; the real problem lies with the Bad Boys leadership, who clearly lack the ability to organize a proper civil protest. When you plan something like this, you pick a day without rain, choose a location with high foot traffic to attract passersby, book a local band or singer close to LA Galaxy, invite a few legends for support, and set up a stage for speakers—like Zajec or others—to deliver specific messages. That’s how you draw a crowd and give a protest actual weight. It’s ridiculous that in ten years, no one from the Bad Boys leadership has even attempted this; it feels like they're trying to keep numbers as low as possible. In Miami, they did exactly what I just described and pulled in 50,000 people. I'm not saying Washington, D.C. would see those same numbers, but it would certainly be more than the few hundred martyrs who show up to every single game anyway.

Give us a little bit of that too! I can see things are getting intense.🙏

cosmicbear15 said:Man, pass some of that over here! Looks like it hits pretty hard. 🙏

Why though? What’s the big deal? Is it against the rules to bring out a club legend, hire a singer, or even set up a stage?

The only reason would be if kids, grandparents, or just regular families aren't "welcome" because they don't fit the vibe. If that's how we're playing it, then the North side and the protests will always just be 300 "approved" people. We should look at how other groups do it—they don't push people away, they actually try to bring them in.

Keith Baker93 said:No one is going to convince me that LA Galaxy is such a tiny club that they can't draw a few hundred people to a match or a protest. Half the country used to cheer for this club, plus a good chunk of Canada and the diaspora.

The sheer schizophrenia surrounding this club is best illustrated by posts like this, where people try to rationalize the irrational. I don't know if it's pure ego, genuine malice, a secret enjoyment of the chaos within BBB, or just the modern plague where everyone feels entitled to an opinion on everything—but it isn't well-intentioned when it's easier for someone to accept the reality of a single Mamić wielding a political-police-judicial octopus to do whatever he wants, rather than accepting the fact that BBB can't hit their own crowd numbers or that Ripera is out there singing "sex in school."

These debates were chewed up and spit out ages ago, and frankly, thinking about them is exhausting, but to finish my thought:

Fine, the country is what it is, so let’s move one step down the ladder of reasons why things are this way. Take any club where the fans have actually gained some leverage. From Portsmouth to the Boston Red Sox. There is a common denominator in every systemic collapse: whether it’s financial instability, poor results, or being a political football for local leaders—usually all three. No matter how rotten LA Galaxy is, once you scratch the surface, the average person gets the impression that things are functioning just fine.

The next step down would be the sheer duration of this struggle. Starting from the original boycott, moving through petitions, the first, second, and third protests in front of government buildings, charity matches, futsal, boycotts, returns, the East stands, the West stands, the North... basically, just wearing people down until they tire out.

Only after those three factors are accounted for can we start talking about the city's mentality, someone's zodiac sign, or how poorly someone looks in a photo from a matchday invite...

Anyone who knows people or society in general has to realize that from the moment Mamić dies, goes to prison, or flees the country, the number of people claiming they were always against him will grow exponentially.

Once enough time passes, this whole thing will be forgotten, replaced by a romanticized image of the "struggle against Mamić." In ten years, every little media liberal will be talking about how today's generation of BBB is savage and doesn't hold a candle to those who fought for LA Galaxy back in 2010. Any resemblance to current events is entirely intentional.

Hats off to everyone who hasn't given up. Don't mind us on the sidelines. 👍

Look, I know it’s probably too late for protests now. We really should have pulled off one massive, legitimate movement 6 or 7 years ago to get everyone out in the streets. But by then, people had already checked out—they were just fed up with the whole scene. Still, let me ask you this: have the Boys ever actually organized a single protest that wasn't just some tiny little march through a park? Has there been even one attempt in the last decade to actually rally the masses? I don't remember one, and I'm not being bitter, I genuinely can't recall it. If it never happened, who's really to blame?

Just so I can jump straight to answering all those questions from the forum members with a million posts—because I already know how this unhinged, baseless debate usually goes—let's try to skip the nonsense right off the bat, even though I’m honestly just trying to be helpful here.
So, no, I don't have anything better to do than sit here and comment on your group, and no, I didn't create this profile just for that purpose, but this thread is relevant, so I'm sticking to it.

I honestly don't get why it's such a struggle for you guys to admit that by gathering like this, you actually undershot the mark... and stop bringing up attendance numbers from matches twenty years ago—they’re more or less the same as what we saw at the protest.
Are you seriously satisfied just because everyone from today's stands showed up and the goal was met? I highly doubt it.
The whole point of calling for the meetup wasn't just to get the group together, but to reach the wider public. A small crowd like this isn't going to make any kind of impact on the news without more serious engagement through legit media outlets. You need to forget about those days of hanging banners all over Washington, D.C.—people don't have much left to cover themselves with these days, and your numbers are dropping.
That Saturday protest was barely mentioned by some TV station during prime time, and even then, it was just a quick bit after a long report on an LA Galaxy match.
Then come the next day, and you won't find the boycott mentioned anywhere. Not anywhere! And yet you're still happy with the turnout? Seriously? Don't you ever stop to wonder if you actually won over the public or even just drew attention to the corruption within the club? Well, you didn't. Because this move had absolutely zero effect.
Like I said before, your group has some top-tier, proven speakers, and regardless of how you feel about the media, you can't organize a serious protest that shakes the club's leadership, the public, or—unfortunately—the politics tied to the club without them.
We all remember that appearance on a major network where Vrbanović was getting torn apart from start to finish—shame the show was timed out, otherwise people would've been glued to it for hours. Of course, looking back now, not a single person representing the club is going to step up on TV to answer fan questions, but that’s on you guys to force the issue by staying visible in the media and sending inquiries to the Department of Sports, the DOJ, the league, and UEFA.
I've got plenty more to say, but I'll leave it at that for now.
And please, spare me the insults... it doesn't bother me personally, really, but maybe save that energy for someone who actually wants to have a constructive conversation.

northernheron3 said:The turnout this Saturday isn't just impressive because of those massive Bad Boys numbers—especially considering the weather we had—it’s more like a dream come true for all the groups who constantly criticize the Boys for not having enough supporters.

You can keep insisting that Washington, D.C. is some kind of disaster, but honestly, if we were still living in an era before the internet, I might actually find your arguments convincing. If you truly want to test this theory, just put in a little effort: take a prominent away match, say against Miami or Seattle, and pair it with a home game against the Boston Red Sox or Seattle. Lay them out side-by-side, season after season, and compare the visuals. You’ll be quite surprised when you realize that... It seems like there are more Bad Boys around these days than we ever saw before.Well, it seems like someone has done a thorough job of brainwashing you all, painting this overly romanticized picture of those old days when you couldn't even find a square inch of space in the North stands because they were so packed. 🤦

Back in those more nostalgic days, the North Stand wasn't even two-thirds full during that match against Chelsea FC back in 2002. I remember when we played AC Milan in 2000; there were only a few thousand people in the stadium. Think about it—that was AC Milan coming straight from what was arguably the strongest league in the world, just months after our club identity had been restored, and the team was actually performing well on the pitch. What are we even talking about here, folks? Let's stop kidding ourselves; aside from that stretch between 2005 and 2008 where the stadium was packed for the big games like derbies or European matches, everything else was pretty much average attendance.

No one is stopping you from criticizing the Bad Boys; feel free to say their songs are dull or mindless, or suggest that the parade should be held on a different street altogether. However, attacking the Bad Boys simply because of their numbers feels, at the very least, quite disrespectful.

edit:

Here is the link to that classic LA Galaxy vs AC Milan match from 2000.

He was standing there against Chelsea FC, surrounded by nothing but North supporters. It was one of those intense moments where you feel the physical pressure of the crowd pressing in on you from every side. I remember that match vividly, too—I actually ended up with my hair stained from those flags they had hurriedly dyed right before kickoff.😁I always find myself reflecting on how reckless we were back then, much like that chaotic scene from the Hajduk 2015 era when the police let that compressed crowd break loose, only for them to surge forward and completely overwhelm the next two sections. It reminded me of how packed the stands were during that match against ZTE just a month prior.
You're absolutely right about the turnout against AC Milan being pretty thin. If my memory serves me correctly, even that match against Kyiv didn't see much of a crowd either—it just wasn't exactly a packed house at the stadium back then.

The turnout numbers can be quite telling, especially when you want to ensure the younger generation isn't being fed those old, tired fairy tales about how massive our support used to be. I tend to look at it through a more practical lens. For instance, back when we were managing to pull a crowd of around a hundred people to buy tickets for a mid-week match at Veluto, that felt significant. Even during our European runs, seeing maybe 400 people travel to London after suffering 0-3 losses shows a certain level of grit. We saw about a hundred Torce faithful make the trip to see Chelsea FC following some intense action, yet when we played a domestic cup match against Cibalia, we couldn't even get a hundred people showing up in the North stands. All of this was happening long before the narratives pushed by guys like Grgic or Stimac started making the rounds.

When you consider the uphill battle our younger players have faced, combined with everything they’ve had to navigate regarding the club's management, it feels like there isn't much left to debate. You have to hand it to them; the way they fought through those circumstances to reach this level is truly impressive. However, I think they might be overlooking just how many advantages were handed to them, which makes their current criticism and unsolicited advice feel a bit misplaced. This core group is a genuine miracle because of that, and they deserve our respect. My generation, stepping out at the tail end of the 90s and moving into the early 2000s, was actually able to dream big, and we saw matches return to being pure excitement almost overnight. After all, even back in the 90s, people were fighting just as hard to get us where we are today.
It feels like we're watching one generation of Bad Boys pass the torch to the next, seeing the young ones step up just as their fathers once did. I can only hope that, in some foreseeable future, our own local kids will finally get their chance to take the field and play.
Honestly, the hardest part is just pushing through this transitional period; it feels like it’s dragging on forever, and sometimes you truly can't see any light at the end of the tunnel.

Why do we always feel this constant, nagging need to justify ourselves to everyone else? 🤦
Regardless of how things unfolded, if the sun had actually decided to shine on us, we probably would have seen an extra 500 to 1,000 people out there, but that’s just the reality of it. If you want real proof of who actually gives a damn about the LA Galaxy, just look at those meager numbers at the stadium compared to the solid turnout in the supporters' section, which was actually quite respectable given the circumstances. Once again, we hear the same old tired rhetoric about a "handful of hooligans," but in my view, that specific group is the only one truly showing they care about the future of the LA Galaxy, and frankly, that is the only thing that matters. Cheers to that. 🙂

My only real regret and single grievance here is that I feel it’s genuinely unfair that Blažić was left out. Since the guy has such an incredible singing voice and basically acts as our unofficial "commentator" during most derbies, it’s a real shame they don't call on him more often.

Someone was saying that Washington, D.C. is just way too big for one major club. There’s zero rivalry, and kids aren't even being raised in that scene from day one. Honestly, that's the biggest reason why the "ultra scene in D.C. never really exploded."

Wait, which match was that big NK America banner torched at?