Major League Soccer

good times, sounds like my trip to columbus late last year

i took my mom to a sounders game on saturday and whoa there were some bad vibes in my section. everybody was so drunk, people threw beer and the cops showed and three groups of people got kicked out. "so, this is what you like to do on the weekends, huh honey?"

Um. Jergs, what section were you sitting in? And were there a bunch of West Ham or ex-pat-seeming types near you?

I almost got in a fight with a guy who was throwing shit on the field last Sunday. I told him not to disrespect our home and that if he wanted to throw things he should go to Columbus (they're getting kind of notorious for this). He responded by getting in my face and calling me "pinche guero" and some other shit before leaving 15 minutes early. Quite the "supporter" there.

xp Let me put it this way: were you anywhere near where the away fans from Columbus were seated?

115, near the GA. it was actually the usual people around us, guys i see every game. it was just...different. drunker.

i think i did see some westham jerseys around though. people you know?

xpost ah i see. there were very few columbus jerseys around, didn't see them in the stadium

IT WAS THE HUDSON STREET HOOLIGANZ IN DISGUISE -- THE MILLWALL OF MLS

http://www.kumb.com/gallery/news/hsh.jpg

There were some ex-pat Hammers looking to settle a score from the West Ham friendly against Columbus last year. Someone I know who was there actually got thrown out by police, I wondered if that was one of the ejections you saw...he did say they were sitting in gen adm.

xp Hah I think that was the "crew" they were gunning for, actually?

Yeah, actually the first GIS result for hudson street hooligans is this:

http://i.usatoday.net/sports/_photos/2008/07/20/soccer-topper.jpg

I know I shouldn't laugh because this kind of bullshit could really hurt the league, but I can't help myself, it's so pathetic!

I think it's funny. I also think any US "firm" better have their shit awfully together before they start offering to throw down. It's one thing when you know the yellowshirts are going to stop you before it goes off. But if you actually have no intention of accepting the offer to meet in a park after the game, then really, do stop running at the mouth.

those guys look like such dorks

Speaking of MLS, I have to go watch a slaughter now.

Every time I've gone to Columbus, except for the last time, there were people waiting in the lot for our group to come outside the fences where the security guards' jurisdiction ends. They're all a bunch of punk OSU students.

lol I'm bored so I went to the Crew boards and in one of their Seattle threads they mention West Ham fans showing up in their section. Insanity.

cannot embed

http://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l293/Saeyddthe3/tifo-09/?action=view¤t=vHouston-60509.flv

this was so much fun

except the whole losing part :(

how does that work, with the flares? do you sneak them in? do they burn the stands? it looks fucking apocalyptic, i am kinda in awe

Flares? What flares? I think the story was that Houston fans came into our section with burning rubber dicks... ;)

I didn't bring anything in, personally, but I was standing next to one of the dudes who did. Baggy pants/shorts are all it really takes as far as I can tell. Security has been kind of lax lately, either that or they've been told to go easy on us since we're the only reliable fans the team seems to have at the moment.

Found another good pic:

http://i39.tinypic.com/md2ys2.jpg

for those that maybe don't read Ives, here's a link to an excerpt of Grant Wahl's upcoming book on the Becks in USA debacle

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/the_bonus/06/29/beckham.book/?eref=sircrc

pretty eye-opening stuff, I almost want to feel bad for the rest of the Gals, but fuck 'em anyway

Interesting blog piece a friend of mine wrote about MLS and supporter culture:

http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2009/07/08/american-soccer-a-little-bit-dangerous/

In other news, Columbus is coming to town this weekend, and I really hate Columbus.

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/594/bulldozer.gif

That is a very interesting article. You'd think that with NY having the oldest SG in the whole league, who have been British-style and sometimes 100% hooligan-eque since the beginning, that whatshisface MIGHT HAVE MENTIONED US. Because our front office secretly hates us, I'm convinced.

We had a speaker from the FO come to our season-opening group meeting, and he was pro-SGs and said the league has to realize that soccer moms aren't their current or future market, and I believe that when that statement got to the FO's ears, he was censured and fined out of pocket for his remarks.

interesting that the idea of an area or end for the hardcore is the reverse in the UK. in my lifetime, a lot of teams, including my own, have added "family enclosures", where norms of behaviour are of course a little different to the back of the home end. everywhere else in the ground you expect pretty appalling behaviour, even if it is done while sitting down.

one of my happiest memories of attending football matches is watching two of my friends get thrown out of the family enclosure at sheffield united for singing during the three minutes silence for princess diana in 1997. happy days.

it wasn't even a rude song!

The league here is terrified of "soccer violence" and any kind of bad publicity, never mind that fan behavior at any major sporting event like, god forbid, AMERICAN football or basketball is some of the most horrendous anywhere. If the MLS is now starting to come around to the realization that season ticket holders are unlikely to be 12 year olds, it's only taken them 16 years to stop vilifying their strongest market.

I think he didn't mention New York, Laurel, because it really isn't an example of where a group has really helped drive or shape the team's approach to growth. If anything fans of Metro are probably the most shat-upon in the league.

The author of that article is English btw.

*the most shat-upon in the league by their own club

fans being at least pissed-upon was apparently a not uncommon experience here in ye golden age

There have been a couple of big ('big' lol MLS) stories this year about families/normals getting upset about cursing in the stands of a handful of different teams. I guess I can kind of understand not wanting to hear two thousand people shout "YOU SUCK, ASSHOLE" simultaneously at a goal kick, if only because it displays a real lack of creativity.

On the "soccer violence" end of things, people still go for that shit. After the national team beat Spain in the Confed Cup, Jim Rome had a piece where they showed all kinds of Greek and Italian ultras clashing with police, video from at least 5 years ago, and treated it as if it were all part of the same spectacle. That mentality is going to take a while to get over for a lot of the clueless masses out there.

Actually he probably didn't mention NY because that writer historically doesn't like NYC anyway and treats the supporters as if they're responsible for the team being named after a commercially available product.

Tis true, most people here don't like NY. Then again, most people here don't like anybody.

The match v. Columbus was a wash, 0-0 and both teams looked like crap. Really tough to watch. Scoreline aside, the Poles were at it again:

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/8943/firehpr.jpg

(you can see me on the right margin, white shirt with my hand over my face. f'n smoke...)

I love flares. Any time someone manages to smuggle one in here it gets stamped out immediately.

I <3 that 2-Tone banner too btw.

Oh yeah, that's great. What's the significance?

The guys that made it are total ska-mod-soul-heads. It says "2nd City -- The Fire" or something like that, and has a bunch of other Chicago references in place of the various 2-Tone label markings.

found a better pic

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k82/nowak10/IMG_6475.jpg

So, The Beckham Experiment drops today. I'm very tempted to go get a copy.

"I can't believe I enjoyed a book about soccer."
—Rick Reilly, ESPN Columnist

good luck usa

Ex-Sinister Julie now living in Pineapple Upside-Down Land sent me an old ESC scarf from the Metro days!! I post it here for your adulation:

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e66/LimitedLiabilityGirl/Metro.jpg

I may wear it to my 2.30 status meeting.....

IT WAS THE HUDSON STREET HOOLIGANZ IN DISGUISE -- THE MILLWALL OF MLS

http://www.kumb.com/gallery/news/hsh.jpg

scarfers........

do like 2-tone banner and flares though.

lol Pavel Nedved to MLS?

this fucking league

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-c720nNtgI

who is the genius who came up with the idea of Beckham's first home game back with LA being vs. the team that he wants to leave them for?

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2009-07/48163082.gif

love these guys:

“I’m flabbergasted,” Martinous said later at a bar. “I’ve spent three years trying to get under the skin of players who are nobodies, and I got under David Beckham’s skin? Never in my wildest dreams did I think he’d lose his head like that.”

Paige, an independent film producer, was issued a $55 ticket for trespassing and released by the police.

“It was surreal,” he said. “When David Beckham calls you out, you get on the field. In hindsight, I wish I didn’t stoop to his level. I wish I was the bigger man.”

their official response to everything

•What/why were we booing?
We want to support our teams and our players, and we do that week after week. We were really torn between our desire to support the team and the need to register our disappointment with the entire Beckham circus. We don’t fault David for his desire to play for his country and for playing abroad during the off season, but we do find fault with his stated desire to play in Europe rather than the Galaxy. After going out on loan last winter to Milan, Beckham shortly made it clear that he no longer wanted to play for the Galaxy. He returned this month only because he and Milan were unwilling to meet AEG/MLS’ price for a transfer, yet his public comments don’t reflect this reality. Rather, he has rather unbelievably said he is “fully committed” to the Galaxy, as if repetition can make it so. He has been unable or unwilling to show any understanding of why the fans are disappointed with his actions and choices. We chose a friendly match, one arranged as part of the payment by Beckham and Milan to extend his loan, to let him know that if he was unhappy to be here, we were unhappy too.

•Did LARS ban anyone?
No. We do, however, have an actual meeting scheduled later this week with Galaxy officials to discuss the matter.

•Will we appeal the ban?
We have a meeting scheduled later this week with the Galaxy to discuss the events.

•Did we cross the line?
No. We questioned David’s loyalty to the club and we sang, made signs and chanted things that were bluntly dismissive. As far as we can determine, no one from LARS crossed over to referencing his family, as Beckham has claimed. In our discussions on our internet forums prior to the match, we agreed that David’s family expressly off limits. We know that Beckham has received very rough and deplorable treatment during his career, and that’s why we were genuinely shocked by his response to us on Sunday. We don’t believe questioning Beckham’s commitment to our team is over the line, but it’s clear that David feels otherwise.

•Explain the confrontation at halftime?
We have a meeting scheduled later this week with the Galaxy to discuss the events.

Addtional Question: Will we support Beckham in the future?
We want to support David - we want to support anyone that wears our team’s shirt. Had David responded differently on Sunday, the booing and chanting probably would have ended by halftime. We will almost certainly end the booing and chanting when Beckham plays in his first MLS match at our stadium, but it is ultimately up to David. If shows the evident disinterest he did at the end of last season, or if he provokes us further, we might have something more to say to him, but our ultimate desire is to support him.

Requests for further info should be directed to
i✧✧✧@lariotsq✧✧✧.o✧✧

This is all really entertaining btw. Finally some actual passion in US soccer.

OK that last bit is sarcastic but still, who the fuck is David Beckham?