Short Answer
Ms. Canales, come to RFK. I await the column after that with interest.
posted by D @ 2:53 PM
25 January 2006
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4 Comments:
Dude, seriously!
I'm sure Andrea Canales would respect the atmosphere at RFK -- and agree with us that what our country needs is more of it.
In fact, even RFK needs more of it.
He's right...many soccer fans are lame.
I went to the the Seattle matches at the gold cup and yeah...people were pretty lame.....course the US did play like crap so I'm sure that factored in...
One challenge of U.S. soccer fandom is that the most visible, audible style of fandom-- chanting, singing, etc. did not arise organically in this country. While the RFK folks have captured it masterfully, complete with rude lyrics, we just don't have the singing tradition. In the big three sports (football, basketball, baseball) there is no singing tradition. (save "Hail to the Redskins" and "Take me out") Whats worse, whatever real cheering that used to exist in the big three is now being coached by an electronic clapper machine or Gary Glitter. I'd challenge Ms. Canales to go to any of the big three games and record (I almost wrote tape record but its probably digital now) any genuine fan participation outside of clapping and cheering. So when new fans come out to see soccer, they are used to guidance on how to cheer, in the absense of that guidance they are quiet. They also aren't comfortable to jump right into the cheering sections.
While I don't tend to do a lot of singing at games (I get too focused on the match) I am very thankful for those who do. To me it creates an incomparable atmosphere, even if it is an "import" from countries with more established soccer traditions. Even in those countries though, there is always a-- usally standing-- cheering section that is considerably louder than the rest of the stadium.
As to the diversity of the audience, I think that would depend greatly on where the game is played. Also, I'd be shocked if a great number of the fans in the crowd weren't hispanic in San Diego. Soccer is the world's sport.
-K
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