Sounders fans have had enough!

[Brooker]

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: :rolleyes:


I burst out laughing when I saw this.

http://www.12thminute.com/?p=97 (nice name.)

http://www.mls-rumors.net/8152/2010/04/report-rave-green-ref-blackout-seattle-sounders-fc-supporters-plan-sept-protest-against-questionable-officiating/


Sounders fans plan a bold statement. Rather than the normal shots of a jubilant crowd in their team’s brightly colored green kits supporters plan “a sea of black” to show their discontent with the US Soccer Federation Refs who are responsible for officiating MLS matches on a nationally televised ESPN home game scheduled for September 9 vs Real Salt Lake.
I seem to remember Seattle denying Houston a point and taking all three on a goal that never crossed the line last season. Where was their protest then?

[DichioTFC]

LOL of all fan bases to protest....

[DichioTFC]

and hold up.. they're upset about it now and they're protesting in september?? that truly is a west coast way of doing it.

[Roogsy]

Try walking a mile in our shoes Seattle...you guys don't know the meaning of suffering. One bad call? Pfft....that's like comparing getting shot in the face with a shotgun to a paper cut.

[Suds]

But they have point - the MLS refs do suck.

[McBrace]

^^^ And they only realize that now? How were the refs in the USL? I can't imagine much better?

[billyfly]

They need to learn patience.

[McBrace]

Was Freddie L not playing last night? Is he injured.. Please say that he is....

[Detroit_TFC]

I say if it rains Sunday we should wear our shirts backwards July 1 vs Houston. That will show how angry we are to the rain gods.

[KRO]

That's what I call planning ahead!!!

[Redpunkfiddle]

Was Freddie L not playing last night? Is he injured.. Please say that he is....

Nope, he was just held back as a sub to be in shape for our game.

[McBrace]

Perfect.. Now why would you hold back your DP for TFC... I guess the sounders see more in TFC then most of our supporters..LOL....

It's going to be a long Sunday Afternoon...

[Auzzy]

I think Freddie also had a slight groin issue, another reason to rest him a bit on Thursday.

[Hooligan69]

I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore. I'll show you what's what, MLS. I shall protest... in 2014.

[Lucky Strike]

They need to learn patience.

Yes, MLS has a five-year plan to address the issue.

[Hooligan69]

Yes, MLS has a five-year plan to address the issue.

http://brokenworld.wikispaces.com/file/view/five_year_plan.jpg/30617147/five_year_plan.jpg

[Redcoe15]

God, they're spoiled in Seattle.

[Kaz]

Well You know September is a long enough time away you could work on arranging things with all the support groups that every supporter for the week of the 9th comes in Black as a League wide protest. Ambitious but might get the point across.

Chicago on the 8th,
Seattle on the 9th,
Chivas on the 10th
Toronto, NY, Philli, KC, San Jose, and LA on the 11th.

if it could be pulled off it would be fairly major and send a direct and publicly covered message.

You have a chance with TFC, Fire, Sounders, Union, and Wizards fans at the very least.

[twistedchinaman]

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: :rolleyes:


I burst out laughing when I saw this.

http://www.12thminute.com/?p=97 (nice name.)

http://www.mls-rumors.net/8152/2010/04/report-rave-green-ref-blackout-seattle-sounders-fc-supporters-plan-sept-protest-against-questionable-officiating/


Yeah, what's new? MLS officiating has always sucked super monkey balls...

[twistedchinaman]

God, they're spoiled in Seattle.

True dat, bro. True dat.

Protest. Pffht. :facepalm:

[Brooker]

Seattle got a lot of calls going their way last season that weren't very fair, and I didn't hear a peep out of them. like i said earlier, a goal that never actually crossed the line which counted.

The only way their protest is going to work is if the FO gets behind it and leads the way. Just like everything else with that clubs support. Portland can't come soon enough.

they can't even organize a march to their shitty stadium without that fat cunt organizing it with his silly marching band. the dude would not abide.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n7B-CaUcnJY/ShBoxH52ZzI/AAAAAAAAAWI/anze0NIGjpU/s400/middle_finger_explosion.jpg

[twistedchinaman]

Seattle got a lot of calls going their way last season that weren't very fair, and I didn't hear a peep out of them. like i said earlier, a goal that never actually crossed the line which counted.

The only way their protest is going to work is if the FO gets behind it and leads the way. Just like everything else with that clubs support. Portland can't come soon enough.

they can't even organize a march to their shitty stadium without that fat cunt organizing it with his silly marching band. the dude would not abide.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n7B-CaUcnJY/ShBoxH52ZzI/AAAAAAAAAWI/anze0NIGjpU/s400/middle_finger_explosion.jpg

+1, bro.

Seattle is nice, but without so much help, can what they have now actually be possible...?

[FluSH]

and hold up.. they're upset about it now and they're protesting in september?? that truly is a west coast way of doing it.

LMAO!!!

I didn't realize this... WTF hahahaa

[Pookie]

Aside from the absurdity of protesting months after something has happened... imagine if Seattle gets a (another) favourable call in the games leading up to this... what exactly are they trying to say.

"Hey you Ref, do a better job. I DEMAND BETTER OFFICIALS"

What's that? An application to get my Officiating License? Me? Oh, no, I couldn't be a Ref. Wouldn't want that kind of pressure. I'm afraid to even Ref a mini-soccer game... the parents... some of them are loud and honestly, I don't like controversy... besides see my black t-shirt... I'm protesting... yeah so stop asking me to be part of a solution when I'm protesting... maybe we can go for a latte when the scoreboard prompts me to end this protest and put my green on... oh look... SEA TTLE... SOUNDERS!... Just a sec, got a call... hey Chaz... look, I'm at a soccer game... wait till you see this massive protest, I got a pic of it on my facebook right now... huge... it's about....uh..... dude, what's this about again?... oh yeah, the Refs... they suck man and we aren't going to take it anymore... that's what the black t-shirt says... if they don't want to see the black t-shirt again they'll have to smarten the fuck up... "

[koryo]

Kaz has a very good point. Instead of knocking Seattle for demanding better from this league, why not go in with them?

I know it's a bit naive of them to start moaning now that the calls aren't going their way. The bigger issue, regardless of individual circumstance, is that there could be an opportunity for SGs around the league to unite on this issue and make a very strong statement.

[Pookie]

^ but in "uniting to make a strong statement" what is the outcome?

In business, I always begin conversations with partners asking the question, "What would success look like?" From there, you can build a plan to get you to that point. If you can't define what success looks like... well, then there is no point in taking any action as you'll never know if you've achieved anything.

On the Referee front, yes, quality should improve. But it's subjective. Is the quality in World Cup qualifiers better than MLS? You'd think but then there is Henry and the hand ball that knocked out the Irish.

It's also biased. Seattle fans weren't concerned about calls that went their way. They didn't express sympathy with the opposition and demand the games be replayed. If you circulated a performance evaluation on the referees as some supposed measure of effectiveness, you'd get scores weighted based on who won the game.

Even at BMO, where we have supposedly knowledgeable fans, I often feel like turning to someone bitching about the flag and saying "you know, it is possible for De Rosario to actually be in an offside position, particularly on that short pass in which he was 10 yards behind the nearest defender."

Unless you can define what success looks like, a protest like this is somewhat futile.

[koryo]

^ but in "uniting to make a strong statement" what is the outcome?


Well that's the thing, you have to go about it the right way. A knee-jerk "fuck you" because the toss doesn't go your way is pointless. Part of it has to be presenting realistic options to improve the level of officiating, it has to include all SG's and must be measured carefully and well thought out.

I see your point. Not going to happen.

[Brooker]

Aside from the absurdity of protesting months after something has happened... imagine if Seattle gets a (another) favourable call in the games leading up to this... what exactly are they trying to say.

"Hey you Ref, do a better job. I DEMAND BETTER OFFICIALS"

What's that? An application to get my Officiating License? Me? Oh, no, I couldn't be a Ref. Wouldn't want that kind of pressure. I'm afraid to even Ref a mini-soccer game... the parents... some of them are loud and honestly, I don't like controversy... besides see my black t-shirt... I'm protesting... yeah so stop asking me to be part of a solution when I'm protesting... maybe we can go for a latte when the scoreboard prompts me to end this protest and put my green on... oh look... SEA TTLE... SOUNDERS!... Just a sec, got a call... hey Chaz... look, I'm at a soccer game... wait till you see this massive protest, I got a pic of it on my facebook right now... huge... it's about....uh..... dude, what's this about again?... oh yeah, the Refs... they suck man and we aren't going to take it anymore... that's what the black t-shirt says... if they don't want to see the black t-shirt again they'll have to smarten the fuck up... "


roflmao

[James Oliphant]

Aside from the absurdity of protesting months after something has happened... imagine if Seattle gets a (another) favourable call in the games leading up to this... what exactly are they trying to say.

"Hey you Ref, do a better job. I DEMAND BETTER OFFICIALS"

What's that? An application to get my Officiating License? Me? Oh, no, I couldn't be a Ref. Wouldn't want that kind of pressure. I'm afraid to even Ref a mini-soccer game... the parents... some of them are loud and honestly, I don't like controversy... besides see my black t-shirt... I'm protesting... yeah so stop asking me to be part of a solution when I'm protesting... maybe we can go for a latte when the scoreboard prompts me to end this protest and put my green on... oh look... SEA TTLE... SOUNDERS!... Just a sec, got a call... hey Chaz... look, I'm at a soccer game... wait till you see this massive protest, I got a pic of it on my facebook right now... huge... it's about....uh..... dude, what's this about again?... oh yeah, the Refs... they suck man and we aren't going to take it anymore... that's what the black t-shirt says... if they don't want to see the black t-shirt again they'll have to smarten the fuck up... "

Funny how much of this could be easily tweaked to apply to anti-Mo people.

[dannyd]

^ but in "uniting to make a strong statement" what is the outcome?

In business, I always begin conversations with partners asking the question, "What would success look like?" From there, you can build a plan to get you to that point. If you can't define what success looks like... well, then there is no point in taking any action as you'll never know if you've achieved anything.

On the Referee front, yes, quality should improve. But it's subjective. Is the quality in World Cup qualifiers better than MLS? You'd think but then there is Henry and the hand ball that knocked out the Irish.

It's also biased. Seattle fans weren't concerned about calls that went their way. They didn't express sympathy with the opposition and demand the games be replayed. If you circulated a performance evaluation on the referees as some supposed measure of effectiveness, you'd get scores weighted based on who won the game.

Even at BMO, where we have supposedly knowledgeable fans, I often feel like turning to someone bitching about the flag and saying "you know, it is possible for De Rosario to actually be in an offside position, particularly on that short pass in which he was 10 yards behind the nearest defender."

Unless you can define what success looks like, a protest like this is somewhat futile.

I couldn't agree more. Officiating is a tough job, especially soccer where one official has so many duties and tasks (time keeping, score keeping, record keeping etc..). Referees are human and make mistakes. Even the top referees in the world have admitted to making mistakes in crucial games. This isn't an anomaly found only in MLS.
One thing that frustrates me, and I wish FIFA would push for is more communication between the media and officials. I never understood why the refereeing bodies don't issue statements about calls, and whether it was considered correct or a mistake. I understand not having the individual officials talking to the media, but why can't the officiating bodies put out a statement on critical calls explaining why it was a foul or not a foul etc.

[james]

Well You know September is a long enough time away you could work on arranging things with all the support groups that every supporter for the week of the 9th comes in Black as a League wide protest. Ambitious but might get the point across.

Chicago on the 8th,
Seattle on the 9th,
Chivas on the 10th
Toronto, NY, Philli, KC, San Jose, and LA on the 11th.

if it could be pulled off it would be fairly major and send a direct and publicly covered message.

You have a chance with TFC, Fire, Sounders, Union, and Wizards fans at the very least.


Hey hey now, you forgot DC United, they probably got the longest supporters group running and one of the most organized, if only they could get a new stadium! Wizards??? hey Columbus and Houston got bigger and better support then the wizards. Wizrds got all of what 20 guys?

[Kaz]

Hey hey now, you forgot DC United, they probably got the longest supporters group running and one of the most organized, if only they could get a new stadium! Wizards??? hey Columbus and Houston got bigger and better support then the wizards. Wizrds got all of what 20 guys?

DC is already in Black, and dosen't have a home game that week.


As for what success would look like, in this case acknowledgement from the league and the USSF to work on improving standards, and sufficient embarrassment to Refs and the USSF that Refs will think before they call enough that if they were so far out they may consult with the lines men first before issue a decision.

A action like this is designed as a start kick start, to a long term solution from the league, not create day and night changes. It might also inspire other leagues fans to do the same and perhaps force FIFA into the late 20th century technologically.

Not that I thought it would occur, nothing worth doing isn't worth giving up without trying.

[ForestGlade]

Didn't they just win the US Open Cup?
Didn't they just make the playoffs in their first season?
Aren't they in the Champions League?

Holy crap.....