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Canadian Blue
07-24-2008, 09:36 PM
Well it seemed to me that the game was decent but that the protest was an utter flop. With the All Stars wearing black few fans in black didn't stick out at all. Also there seemed to be way more red in 112/113 than black.

I think this type of failure even after press releases should give all supporter groups a bit of a wake up call. All in all according to other fans, we are in a very ditinctive minority. All these illusions of granger of us being able to motivate, sustain or perform these massive protests or whatever will fail until we own the entire southend. The other problem with the RPB site and I assume with USector and NEE is that we have many forum posters that don't even have season tickets therefore the message is not getting out to 1000 tickets holders only 1000 members of which 500 might have tickets.

I applaud the efforts that were made but seriously we are a sencond year team with 2nd years fans......strength both on and off the field will come in due time.

OneLoveOneEric
07-24-2008, 09:41 PM
yup. I hardly noticed the protest. Only thing that was different for me was that I could hear TRN drums for the first time :)

Oldtimer
07-24-2008, 09:48 PM
Exactly. Everyone seemed to want to stand, chant, cheer.
I think we should take a long, hard, look at what we realistically can do when we start talking protest.

kitchener-TFC
07-24-2008, 09:49 PM
I hope that people watching the game didn't find our fans to be "boring", just because we tried to protest.
BTW, was any attention given to the fact that we don't want the argos here?

flatpicker
07-24-2008, 10:03 PM
I was aware from inside 111 that crowd enthusiasm was at an all time low.
I think the protest by supporters had a big hand in that.
In the second half though I think people decided they had enough of being laid back and started getting very vocal.
Brennan warming up had a lot to do with that as well.

I think the protest went exactly as I thought it would.
It was small, subtle, and got swept away by the enthusiasm that was building later in the game.
It was good to make the effort... I still think we would have done better with chants and banners... but we learn as we go.

Draracle
07-24-2008, 10:07 PM
Personally, I thought the protest date was poorly planned. Trying to push the Argo issue during the All Star game is not going to draw much attention.

Miller knew what the black shirts are for, but he also said that if the money comes there is little he can do to prevent it. His only sticking point is that the current atmosphere must remain -- which means movable stands (so we aren't a mile from the field) and probably a seat cap around 25 000. The second would be a big issue for the Argos.

He also mentioned the idea of a second stadium, which would be fucking sweet. Citing Kansas, and their pair of stadiums, he said another could be built on the grounds. Either way, both teams in the Ex is a huge boost for the economy in Parkdale. If the Argos want it, and they front the cash, they will likely get it. I hope it is the second stadium.

James17930
07-24-2008, 10:09 PM
Hey -- the protest (or 'threat of protest') made the commissioner of the league take a stand on the issue during the State of the League address.

So no matter what actually happened at the game -- it worked.

Roogsy
07-24-2008, 10:10 PM
I think people are a little mistaken in thinking this was going to be some GRAND show of rebellion. This was supposed to be a subtle prod at the powers that be to remind them that we are paying attention and will not be overlooked. The truth is that we are not the end all be all of Toronto FC fans...and anyone who thinks that is silly. But we are the canary in the birdcage. The litmus test of fans. If something displeases us...it will likely displease the crowd at large and MLS and MLSE would do well to pay attention because failure to do so would risk the atmosphere at BMO.

I was fine with the protest as it was. It was plainly obvious to the rest of us that the southeast corner was very quiet and subdued. And people did notice and the ones we wanted to pay attention were well aware of it. Therefore it did it's job.

Just one thing though...it's obvious that since we chose not to be MLS' dance monkey that they would look elsewhere...and they did. I have never seen such media whoring as I did out of 117 today. It was nauseating.

Cas87
07-24-2008, 10:14 PM
I hope that people watching the game didn't find our fans to be "boring", just because we tried to protest.
BTW, was any attention given to the fact that we don't want the argos here?

All the Canadian news shows at 6 had stories about the protest.
ESPN?
I couldn't tell you, but ESPN has a record of comeing up to TFC for their one THursday primetime game a season and shitting all over the city and the team, so fuck them

Nuvinho
07-24-2008, 10:18 PM
I was wearing black, sitting in the clubs, people were looking at me funny b/c I didn't have a TFC jersey on.

rocker
07-24-2008, 10:20 PM
in the end I thought it was OK... but I was worried (as someone said above) that people who knew nothing of the protest would just think "man, those TFC fans are so fuckin overrated". but later, once Jimmy came on it was nice to see people just stop the protestin and enjoy chanting for him and Dero. I figured the protest should have just been one half anyways, to show the contrast of what the fans can really do.

Roogsy
07-24-2008, 10:22 PM
Jimmy B and DeRo coming on changed things big time. We had something to cheer for.

Before that, you could tell the crowd was like..."um...who do we cheer for?"

Now we had a reason...and I am sure Jimmy B loved hearing "WE WANT BRENNAN!"

Cas87
07-24-2008, 10:22 PM
From Rocker:
"I figured the protest should have just been one half anyways, to show the contrast of what the fans can really do."

^^^

Don't worry the contrast could be felt,
even on TV

Draracle
07-24-2008, 10:24 PM
Jimmy B and DeRo coming on changed things big time. We had something to cheer for.

Before that, you could tell the crowd was like..."um...who do we cheer for?"

Now we had a reason...and I am sure Jimmy B loved hearing "WE WANT BRENNAN!"

Don't forget Onstad! I think they subbed all three Canadians on to get the crowd in the game.

Oldtimer
07-24-2008, 10:25 PM
He also mentioned the idea of a second stadium, which would be fucking sweet. Citing Kansas, and their pair of stadiums, he said another could be built on the grounds. Either way, both teams in the Ex is a huge boost for the economy in Parkdale. If the Argos want it, and they front the cash, they will likely get it. I hope it is the second stadium.

That would be great. Even better: a second stadium for the Arrrgooos and community use, and the SSS gets real grass and no more community use.

Roogsy
07-24-2008, 10:25 PM
Onstad too...we cheered for him.

I just don't think to the same degree as Jimmy and DeRo.

Draracle
07-24-2008, 10:27 PM
That would be great. Even better: a second stadium for the Arrrgooos and community use, and the SSS gets real grass and no more community use.

yeah, somehow I think it is just a pipe dream. But if the cost of upgrading to a smaller stadium gets too high, maybe the Argos will look elsewhere.

jabbronies
07-24-2008, 10:31 PM
The problem with the protest was that not everyone was on board with it. if you go back and read the threads, you'll see that the group was split on what to do...some wanted to wear black, others wanted to sit and be quiet, whereas others wanted to sing and chant.

I think in future, before we go full speed ahead with a protest like this,we need to get a proper poll going and figure out how many people are actually on board. And not a message board poll...maybe like a membership/email vote or something....And in order for it to go through, you have a certain % of the club behind you (something like anything less than 80% on board then we don't do it)

jayeden
07-24-2008, 10:32 PM
i dont think the protest was a failure at all - i got to the section, and took my seat in row 13 to find i was sitting by 2 female west ham supporters - they told me that they spent extra to get into this section becuase they saw how crazy and fun it was on tv - i told them it would not be the same today, that we had agreed to tone it down to support a protest - after halftime, they did not return until the 80th minute - they were not at all pleased.

if we had wanted to we could ahve thought up all star appropraite chants, whipped out the drum, and shown north america what we are like game in and game out - we didnt, and i'll be very suprised if many in the stadium didn't think to themselves tongiht "why is the corner so quiet"

Phil
07-24-2008, 10:45 PM
Failure is harsh. We did learn a lot throughout this whole process and in the end thats good.

Going forward if issues persist we have something to work from for all supporters group.

TFC Cityboy
07-24-2008, 10:47 PM
Best way to protest - if necessary- is a baying mob outside the main entrance to the club- Gate 4. Trust me, I have years of anti-board protests at Manchester City behind me, and this angry mob protest works. I see the logic in tonight's plan,and fully respect the support for it, but when push comes to shove 500 angry fans outside the Main entrance works a damn sight better than sitting down wearing a black shirt.

GabrielHurl
07-24-2008, 10:59 PM
Both Drew Carrey and Don Garber had words of encouragement to us in 127 for the protest tonight.

People do know about it.

Drew Carrey is a class act all the way

mauser09
07-24-2008, 10:59 PM
I wore black today, the crowd was pretty quiet in 115. The best was when West Ham scored and we started chanting, "We don't care, we don't care, we don't care!" Then the All Stars scored and we chanted the same thing. I think the crowd just didn't know who to cheer for. That all changed when DeRo and Jimmy came on. It was a good game all in all, and I got Guevara's sig, woot!

loconet
07-24-2008, 11:10 PM
Yah, I think the protest could have been better organized and maybe gotten more exposure from the media. All I saw around me in the stadium and later on from people who watched the game on TV was confusion. "I thought this place was supposed to be loud". Did anyone end up going to the global interview?


In any case..some off the field highlights.. how about that national anthem eh? :canada: .. and the commissioner getting showered with streamers in the north end during his TV interview (on espn i think).

windsorlad111
07-24-2008, 11:15 PM
trying to protest by sitting down at a game was just plain retarded. get in their fucking faces, protest outside MLS offices, shout at them when they leave to go home...

windsorlad111
07-24-2008, 11:16 PM
or unfurl a huge banner at an Argos game at Skydome that says 'STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM BMO"

905shmick
07-24-2008, 11:24 PM
In the second half though I think people decided they had enough of being laid back and started getting very vocal


I'd wager that the beer was kicking in by then!

werewolf
07-24-2008, 11:27 PM
I noticed how much energy I normally use for a game, I am usually in desperate need of a drink (water or powerade) at the half, but today I was good until long after the game.

TFC John
07-25-2008, 12:14 AM
This was some of the best football we've seen at BMO. However, the protest was a flop for sure. I was expecting that at least 112 would be organized but there were as many red shirts as black. No one was sitting from what I could see and although it was quiet for the first 30 minutes, as soon as the goals were scored the "silent protest" was over. This showed me that, just like chanting in the south end, we cannot organize ourselves. I don't know how any of the leaders of the supporters groups will have any credibility after tonight. I know they worked hard and did all they could, but it is clear to me that we don't follow them. They asked us to do three simple things. Some of us did some of them. But most of us ignored them. I'm sorry to say that, even though I support Jack as our president, he does not hold any sway over most of our members. The same goes for the other supporters groups. It's actually a joke to even call us a group. We're a bunch of individuals who happen to all go to the same events. How can Jack go to the Front Office and say "The Red Patch Boys want this ... " They'll just laugh at him. If we can't even convince our own members and the people who sit around us to put on a black shirt for one game, how can we threaten to do anything? Tonight we were no better than Leaf fans who have shown MLSE that they are willing to eat shit year after year. This franchise will begin to mirror that one as soon as MLSE realize that we have no teeth when it comes to things like this. Sorry to be so bitter but somebody please tell me - what's the point of calling ourselves a supporters group?

james
07-25-2008, 12:30 AM
112 was disorganized, but sadly as disorganized as they were, 112 still put more effort into it then any other section. 112 was all sitting at ceratain times of the game, example from like 45 minute till maybe 55th minute. Then sat again maybe from the 65th minute to the 75th minute. But as soon as someone would come close to scorring some people would stand up and then not sit back down. But every other section in south end was constently stading.

But really tonight showed that we are not organized what so ever. If we wanna do a protest right we gotta find a better way to get organized.

And its kind of funny how at the begining of last year season we all tryed so hard to make everyone sing and stand up, and it took time, and now we want everyone to shut up and sit down but no one will. All i gotta say is there is a time to praise your team by telling them how good they are....and there is other times when you need to tell them how bad they are. The way we are going like tonight people are just gonna keep praising TFC and telling them how good they are even when they are shit.

masrawy
07-25-2008, 03:17 AM
I'm going to come out of my self imposed exile for a second and make one last post here, since this thing meant so much to me.

You can call it whatever you fucking want, we had all of 127 sitting down for most parts of the game, and you could hear a pin drop in the section. I'm not sure where you get off calling it a flop. We had Drew Carey come over and give us support, he noticed. Don Garber came and shook all our hands post game and guaranteed us that he'd do everything in his power to prevent this. He noticed. That's one section with 5 rows normally supporting all game going quiet. It got noticed.

The All Star team wearing black, call that what you want, bad luck, a conspiracy, whatever, I saw quite a bit more black than I expected.

Now with regards to the south end not going through with what we agreed on, you guys tell me. The truth of the matter is representatives from the groups have been discussing this thing for more than a month. We had a meeting where we solidified the results of this thing and the minutes of that meeting were made available to the representatives for a month. The press release was written up and posted for the representatives for a week. No one brought any concerns forward, no one had any problems, everything was go, and the southend stands for 90 minutes come game time and does the fucking Massive and sings Oh When the Reds.

Anyways, let's just learn from our mistakes and move on.

PS. Props to Flush.

Draracle
07-25-2008, 04:51 AM
Cathal Kelly brought his usual negative spin to all things TFC this morning in the Star. His topic was the protest and tried to insult it any way he could. He even went so far as to hold vandalism and violence as true protests while our Ghandi-like silence was an embarassing farce. What a dick.

Vhoghul
07-25-2008, 05:42 AM
I'm going to come out of my self imposed exile for a second and make one last post here, since this thing meant so much to me.

You can call it whatever you fucking want, we had all of 127 sitting down for most parts of the game, and you could hear a pin drop in the section. I'm not sure where you get off calling it a flop. We had Drew Carey come over and give us support, he noticed. Don Garber came and shook all our hands post game and guaranteed us that he'd do everything in his power to prevent this. He noticed. That's one section with 5 rows normally supporting all game going quiet. It got noticed.

The All Star team wearing black, call that what you want, bad luck, a conspiracy, whatever, I saw quite a bit more black than I expected.

Now with regards to the south end not going through with what we agreed on, you guys tell me. The truth of the matter is representatives from the groups have been discussing this thing for more than a month. We had a meeting where we solidified the results of this thing and the minutes of that meeting were made available to the representatives for a month. The press release was written up and posted for the representatives for a week. No one brought any concerns forward, no one had any problems, everything was go, and the southend stands for 90 minutes come game time and does the fucking Massive and sings Oh When the Reds.

Anyways, let's just learn from our mistakes and move on.

PS. Props to Flush.

QFT!

127 was a prawn sandwich eater's paradise last night. We sat on our hands, wore black, and in general, screwed with the atmosphere.

Hell, the only real cheering we did was when Drew Carey passed out a huge plate filled with steaks to us. (There's only one Drew Carey!!!)

/salute Flush
Awesome Bro!

onemanbarmyarmy
07-25-2008, 06:05 AM
Well maybe now all the RPB politico's can finally realize that the footballing world doesn't revolve around them. They can stop "red carding" people on farcical racial slurs and come to grips with the fact that BMO will go on without them and MLSE couldn't care less about their "protests". Good for Garber and X-ray specs spokes model but what can they do to stop the Argo's from moving in? Nothing. How do you stop a supporters section protest? Put a camera on them and yell "Dance Monkey! Dance!"

BuSaPuNk
07-25-2008, 06:16 AM
I love that idea bring a huge banner to the agro game and tell them to stay the fuck away from BMO. I did hear though that they are looking to have there own stadium built and a capacity of 35,000 i think. They want a CFL specific stadium so that they cannot bring a NFL team here.

Derko
07-25-2008, 06:51 AM
In my mind the PROTEST was a parcel of crap anyway.
Just my opinion, nothing personal

maninb
07-25-2008, 07:32 AM
You gotta realize that TFC can't do sh*t about stopping the Argos..It's owned by the City and Miller has already said that if the Argos pay the money they are moving in..So the best you could hope for is limiting the damage unfortunately. What else can ya do? Protests won't stop anything in this case.

Oldtimer
07-25-2008, 07:35 AM
In 114, there was no noticable change. The ultras did their chanting, eveyone stood, so I had to (to watch the game).

Fort York Redcoat
07-25-2008, 07:35 AM
:rolleyes5:Yeah protests don't do anything. COMPLAINING about protests on the board does.

Rochdale
07-25-2008, 07:41 AM
Problem was the protest was done at the wrong place. Guys, MLSE do not own BMO the City of Toronto does, so everyone wear your black T-Shirts and go protest outside City Hall.

Fort York Redcoat
07-25-2008, 07:43 AM
ESPN is not filming City Hall.

ACSertL
07-25-2008, 07:45 AM
In 114, there was no noticable change. The ultras did their chanting, eveyone stood, so I had to (to watch the game).

I was in this exact boat. I mean I was silent apart from our national anthem(s) and whenever Brennan or De Rosario touched the ball. Ok I have a soft spot for Dean Ashton and clapped when he hit his brace. :)

Rochdale
07-25-2008, 07:50 AM
ESPN is not filming City Hall.
Correct but EPSN is not shown in Canada so you the people that make the decisions did not see it. Protest at City Hall and they'll see it.

Fort York Redcoat
07-25-2008, 07:54 AM
Or perhaps they'll ignore it and say it wasn't that many people and an unsuccesful protest...

olegunnar
07-25-2008, 08:09 AM
Did the Blue Jays go from sell outs to 18000 fans a game in one year?

Drops in attendence are gradual. Yes it is a disappointment to see the lack of influence in the south end that the supporters groups have, but I think the protest was a bit of an eye opener.

The people that cheered were either wannabe fans who ignore the sport and just party or the ignorant masses that are there for the spectacle and the star power.

For the wannabes they'll die out over time as the soccer moms weed them out, for the ignorant masses they'll disappear too since the team will never have all-star power. The best was this morning on 680 news they interviewed a woman that said "it was nice to see a team other than TFC for a change".

What gets people to go while the team sucks, and what gets sponsors making ads etc are the supporters.

Yes it sucks that the south end is not influenced as much as we hoped by the supporters groups, but what the protest did do was give a glimpse into the beginning of the downward spiral. It was never going to be like a light switch that you just flip off.

alnawaz
07-25-2008, 08:12 AM
Hey,

First time poster here and id have to say the protest was a success. I beleive the expectations of this message board were very high and more work needs to be put into something like this for the entire support section to be sitting an entire game. How many fans in the support section are season ticket holders? How many seats were sold to fans that knew nothing about this protest? How many tickets changed hands and how many of these fans are members of RPB or atleast hear about these kind of things. I myself rarely get the opportunity to go to games, and eventhough I was all for this protest, I paid some serious coin to go to a game and have a great time. I wasn't going to waste my opportunity so I went out there, yelled and screamed from the first row of section 116. I threw streamers, taunted the west ham goal keeper and had a great time! I don't get opportunities to go to games all the time, and who says many of the fans in the support section do also. The support section has built a reputation of being loud and rowdy and in being real, it wasn't as loud and rowdy as it normally is. It would be nearly impossible to have majority of the section to be wearing black, sitting down and not singing/chanting unless everyone heard about the protest and the casual gamers wanted to spend big coin to support a protest. The only way it would have gone the way some of you wanted it to be is if RPB and other TFC websites purchased majority of the tickets and handed them to people you trust will follow through. I think thats enough complaining that the protest wasn't a success cause I definately believe it was. There was a major difference in the atmosphere for this game amongst other TFC games ive attend. Congrats!

Dave67
07-25-2008, 08:13 AM
Now with regards to the south end not going through with what we agreed on, you guys tell me.

Fine I will tell you. What NEE & Usector constantly misunderstand is that RPB are not confined to 112. In fact they don't really own 112 at all. RPB are represented all over the stadium. When the lists of where RPB sit in the stadium was up the majority of RPB with seats are located in other parts of the stadium.

The RPB that sit in my area wore black and sat quietly for the first half of the game. In the second half no one could stand it anymore and we ended up getting into the game (Brennan being the catalyst). A huge number of RPB did exactly what we were asked to. Once again as we are not all grouped together you have decided to skew reality.

Some took their protest quiet to the extreme of not showing up and let the tickets go unused.

Wagner
07-25-2008, 08:18 AM
In my area of 116, i'd guess that only a handfull for people are RPBs (or the Firm for that matter).
I tried to get people to sit down and stuff...
but every other game I'm telling people to stand up.

It's tough to get people passionate about something when they don't really care either way.

it's lonely over at the Top of 116.

Yeoman
07-25-2008, 08:24 AM
Correct but EPSN is not shown in Canada so you the people that make the decisions did not see it. Protest at City Hall and they'll see it.

I get espn. trust me other then 'we want brennan' chants, you guys were pretty damn quiet.
ESPN made no remarks about the protest. were they even aware?

UltraFootyKWC
07-25-2008, 08:26 AM
Just one thing though...it's obvious that since we chose not to be MLS' dance monkey that they would look elsewhere...and they did. I have never seen such media whoring as I did out of 117 today. It was nauseating.

Yeah, I agree. I sit in row 3 of section 117. There was a few of us on board with the protest from both RPB & U-Sector, we were wearing black and only chanted for Jimmy, DeRo & Onstad (well, we called Landycakes a cunt a few times as well.) But most of the people around us in 117 are not on message boards and if they did hear of the protest, they didn't care. It was mostly red as far as I could see, and everyone decided they were going to stand (the wet seats may have had a small part to play in that as well), which in turn forced me to stand as well. I didn't quite understand why people were chanting for TFC and singing "when the reds go marching in"?? I refused to join in. And then when singing for Jimmy, DeRo, & Onstad, they used the same chant, just interchanging the name. We tried to get "We all dream of a team of Jimmy B's" going, but no one would join in and we ended up getting drowned out by the "We want Brennan" hockey chant. But it just goes to show that the masses will do whatever they please.

I'm glad that Garber took notice though, as I'm sure he can pull some serious weight in the final decision to keep our stadium, footy specific. Wasn't part of the expansion franchise agreement that we had a SSS? isn't the league pushing for all teams to have a SSS? So I don't even understand why the idea of the Argos moving in is even being entertained and debated. Garber should just say, if the Argos move in, then we're out. But for some reason, I doubt that would happen.

Well done to those who did participate in the protest. We are young yet. And one day we will be able to coordinate the masses. All in due time. Baby steps.

Nomad
07-25-2008, 08:28 AM
127 was indeed a success...

Funny enough, generally we have to chant "Stand up for the TFC" to 126 and the top rows of 127 don't chant at all, but now the roles were reversed. All 126 were stood up while we were planted in our seats lovin' the prawn...

Fucking people sometimes......

Fort York Redcoat
07-25-2008, 08:28 AM
I was hoping there was more to the Brennan chant. Any Go Toronto Go!?

olegunnar
07-25-2008, 08:31 AM
Also don't forget...most of the all star VIP types were at the game on Tuesday. So the difference would be very noticable

Chevy
07-25-2008, 08:40 AM
Problem was the protest was done at the wrong place. Guys, MLSE do not own BMO the City of Toronto does, so everyone wear your black T-Shirts and go protest outside City Hall.


Exactly. Don't crap where you eat (and drink).

Batman
07-25-2008, 08:54 AM
Personally I think the protest WAS a success.

Sure there was some cheering etc., but:
The press noted it.
Garber addressed it, and said MLS was absolutely against turning BMO into a multi use facility.
TFC and MLSE has been aware of it, and they don't want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg.

Essentially the protest pointed out the fan's desire to keep the stadium soccer specific.

More discussion with the city etc. will be required, but the protest certainly let the powers that be know how the supporters feel. I think that's what it was designed to do, and in that context therefore, I feel it was a success.

FIL T
07-25-2008, 08:56 AM
There was definitely a RPB presence missing last night - while some knew this was the result of a protest others just saw it as a uninspired performance by the RPB. What might have helped was to let people know about the protest and draw attention to it via large signs and banners. Then it woul dhave been "ok yeah, they're protesting causing of this and that"

However, I do think that the TFC reps recognized that the stadium was not as loud as usual in large part because we were not loud - hence, I think that the protest worked to some degree in sending a message to the people that need to hear it.

denime
07-25-2008, 09:03 AM
Hey,

First time poster here and id have to say the protest was a success. I beleive the expectations of this message board were very high and more work needs to be put into something like this for the entire support section to be sitting an entire game. How many fans in the support section are season ticket holders? How many seats were sold to fans that knew nothing about this protest? How many tickets changed hands and how many of these fans are members of RPB or atleast hear about these kind of things. I myself rarely get the opportunity to go to games, and eventhough I was all for this protest, I paid some serious coin to go to a game and have a great time. I wasn't going to waste my opportunity so I went out there, yelled and screamed from the first row of section 116. I threw streamers, taunted the west ham goal keeper and had a great time! I don't get opportunities to go to games all the time, and who says many of the fans in the support section do also. The support section has built a reputation of being loud and rowdy and in being real, it wasn't as loud and rowdy as it normally is. It would be nearly impossible to have majority of the section to be wearing black, sitting down and not singing/chanting unless everyone heard about the protest and the casual gamers wanted to spend big coin to support a protest. The only way it would have gone the way some of you wanted it to be is if RPB and other TFC websites purchased majority of the tickets and handed them to people you trust will follow through. I think thats enough complaining that the protest wasn't a success cause I definately believe it was. There was a major difference in the atmosphere for this game amongst other TFC games ive attend. Congrats!

QFT

:thumbsup::iagree:

flatpicker
07-25-2008, 09:20 AM
From all the articles I have read this morning that mention the protest, it sounds like it achieved exactly what we hoped for.
It was noticed by media and players. Yes, the dullness only lasted the first half, but that was long enough to get the attention... and also long enough in my books so that I could have a good time in the second half.

flatpicker
07-25-2008, 09:37 AM
BTW

can Mods changed the title of this thread to "All-Star Protest Discussion"....?

clearly there are different opinions on the effectiveness of it...

Jack
07-25-2008, 09:37 AM
Funny that people are calling the protest a flop.

Did it go off exactly as planned? No.

Did it bring attention to the issue and get people talking about things? Yes.

For me, it got the job done, even if it wasn't perfect.

And Barmy, a racial slur is a racial slur, whether you think it's farcical or not has nothing to do with it.

Don Julio
07-25-2008, 09:42 AM
The problem with the protest is that the Argos coming to BMO doesn't feel like an imminent threat anymore so people lost interest in the cause.

flatpicker
07-25-2008, 09:53 AM
media quotes...


As the game started, the vast majority looked to the south end. Everyone there sat down. So the rest followed suit. The planned silence drained all the fun out of the league's mid-season celebration.
The only chant catching any stadium-wide traction in the first half was `We want Brennan.' The FC defender's 59th minute introduction along with Scarborough's Dwayne De Rosario perked things up markedly. Having proven their point, many fans jumped back into a rollicking game.
"I understand what they're getting at ... and I'm with them on it," Brennan, the man best placed to judge at pitch level, said about the protest. "I noticed it. I was always looking over to see what they were up to ... but with our fans, they can't sit quiet for too long, can they? They have to start cheering about something."
However, it was the first half that left the strongest impression. At times it was eerie, a Twilight Zone flip-flop of a Toronto FC game. The quality of soccer was the best the stadium's ever seen. The atmosphere was up there with detention hall and a doctor's waiting room.
For the team's owners, it was a glimpse of what Leaf games would sound like if they were played outdoors. If the fans proved anything, it's that they are the best reason to attend a Toronto FC game.

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Soccer/article/467136


QUIET FANS
The TFC captain admitted in a post-game interview that he noticed the fans sitting on their hands in the first half of the game.
"I kept looking over (to the southeast corner of BMO) to see what was going on," he said. "I understand they were unhappy at me not starting and because of rumours the stadium was going to be re-modelled for the Argos.
"But I knew that they couldn't keep quiet for the whole game. These, after all, are our fans and we know how supportive they are."

http://www.torontosun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2008/07/25/6259901-sun.html


I would say we did enough to make a point....

Fort York Redcoat
07-25-2008, 09:53 AM
My problem is that the Argos are not going to have a countdown clock to when they move into BMO. They would just announce out of the blue and people would be shocked. Less response time for organizers on this board.

colman1860
07-25-2008, 10:00 AM
Jimmy B and DeRo coming on changed things big time. We had something to cheer for.

Before that, you could tell the crowd was like..."um...who do we cheer for?"

Now we had a reason...and I am sure Jimmy B loved hearing "WE WANT BRENNAN!"

My friend who usually sits beside me at BMO is in South Carolina on vacation. He was watching on ESPN. He told me that during the we want Brennan chant, though it was obvious to him what was being chanted, the cunt on ESPN said "and it sounds like the crowd wants Landon."

No joke. Fuck ESPN.:taz:

Smenge
07-25-2008, 10:01 AM
The protest was ill-conceived, and based on pure ignorance. The ARGOs are never going to play at BMO.

Shaughno
07-25-2008, 10:04 AM
The protest was ill-conceived, and based on pure ignorance. The ARGOs are never going to play at BMO.


What a load of bollocks. Do you know something we don't? A friend who was at the game last night was told by an old lady (trusted source I know :lol: ) that the deal was done as per her son, an employee of the city.

Now, not that I believe it, but to say it's based on pure ignorance is well.. pure ignorance on your part.

jabbronies
07-25-2008, 10:05 AM
The problem with the protest was that not everyone was on board with it. if you go back and read the threads, you'll see that the group was split on what to do...some wanted to wear black, others wanted to sit and be quiet, whereas others wanted to sing and chant.



Now with regards to the south end not going through with what we agreed on, you guys tell me. The truth of the matter is representatives from the groups have been discussing this thing for more than a month. We had a meeting where we solidified the results of this thing and the minutes of that meeting were made available to the representatives for a month. The press release was written up and posted for the representatives for a week. No one brought any concerns forward, no one had any problems, everything was go, and the southend stands for 90 minutes come game time and does the fucking Massive and sings Oh When the Reds.


This thing was as organized as it was going to get. I think the people that were behind it did a great job at promoting it and they went through with doing it. it's the others that were not on board that made it feel "unorganized" or " not united".

Moving forward, I think we need to get all of our paid, card carrying members to let us know what side they'll be taking at a protest like this. it'll give us a better idea of what we'll expect at game time and alter plans accordingly - wether that be make more banners to compensate for the people not participating or I don't know...something...

The south end was quiet, therefore the stadium was quiet. There's no question about that. i've said it before and I'll say it again, the south end dictates what the stadium will sound like on game day, and it was proven yesterday. The problem, if any, was that it wasn't united...and it showed. but again, red my previous paragraph and that could be a possible solution for next time around.

GabrielHurl
07-25-2008, 10:05 AM
The protest was ill-conceived, and based on pure ignorance. The ARGOs are never going to play at BMO.

Are you Miss Cleo?

Shaughno
07-25-2008, 10:14 AM
Are you Miss Cleo?

:rofl: CALL ME NOW!




Moving forward, I think we need to get all of our paid, card carrying members to let us know what side they'll be taking at a protest like this. it'll give us a better idea of what we'll expect at game time and alter plans accordingly - wether that be make more banners to compensate for the people not participating or I don't know...something...


To be honest, I think it's the other way around. It should be the executives of the group saying, "Look, this is what's happening, this is what needs to be done, do it". End of story. None of this, everyone can do their own thing, bullshit. That's not how supporters groups work. It's supposed to be a unified opinion that you back up. Flush being the perfect example. He did not agree with the protest, or how it was done maybe, but he was yelling at people to follow suit and sit down. THAT my friends, is how you lead by example.

flatpicker
07-25-2008, 10:16 AM
^ well said Shaughno...

I was in the same boat... not thrilled about the decision on how the protest would be executed... but I still dressed in black and went along with it as best as I could...
But I did get vocal by mid point of the game... couldn't help it... things were getting good!

tfc88
07-25-2008, 10:49 AM
i was looking forward to this game for a long time... and i had a great time! i know a lot of ppl conveyed early on that they hate landycakes and blanco, and it's TFC for life (etc. etc.) so they were not going be the leagues bitches.. but as a fan of the beautiful game it was a great game. the quality of football was the best we've seen at bmo.

sorry to disappoint anyone

there have been great comments on both sides of the argument that show how many felt. personally i felt with all the media attention we got the protest was fairly successful. being in 112 every game we know that half the section are tourists anyway, so i'm shocked ppl were surprised that things didn't go exactly as planned.

we SHOULD have chanted some things in the 2nd half when things were starting to get louder.. about the argo's, about the league.. i want my cousins watching from england to know that we're a rowdy bunch who will give them a run for their money.

chip_butty
07-25-2008, 10:53 AM
My friend who usually sits beside me at BMO is in South Carolina on vacation. He was watching on ESPN. He told me that during the we want Brennan chant, though it was obvious to him what was being chanted, the cunt on ESPN said "and it sounds like the crowd wants Landon."

No joke. Fuck ESPN.:taz:

He was corrected on air a few minutes later.

nobodybeatsthewiz
07-25-2008, 10:54 AM
supporter's groups need to own their section's tickets and have selling authority throughout the section. we can try to not let one-timers make their way in but the truth is they do, and they did in droves for the ASG which shouldnt come as a surprise.

given the amount of people in the stands who aren't in tune with the cause because they're not even in the know or affiliated with a group, i dont think it was a failure, but nowhere near what it could have been. and tensions rise and those stupid one-game fakks yelling back at us prove the point that much more.

jaahuuu
07-25-2008, 11:38 AM
I was in 108, and I think I was one of the few people wearing black. The lack of sound coming from the south end was very noticable.

AL-MO
07-25-2008, 11:38 AM
IF YOU WERE WEARING A BLACK SHIRT AND NOT SITTING DOWN AT THE FRONT OF 112 YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF.

You Know Who You Are.

blackandwhite
07-25-2008, 12:34 PM
IF YOU WERE WEARING A BLACK SHIRT AND NOT SITTING DOWN AT THE FRONT OF 112 YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF.

You Know Who You Are.

glad I was wearing white!! :)

Carts
07-25-2008, 12:54 PM
Hey -- the protest (or 'threat of protest') made the commissioner of the league take a stand on the issue during the State of the League address.

So no matter what actually happened at the game -- it worked.

I was the guy who asked that question at the presser! lol

Carts...

redcard
07-25-2008, 01:31 PM
the fact that the commissioner had made his opinion known about the expansion for pointy ball football, the protest was a success.

A possible solution to part timers being in the supporters section would be to try and encourage mlse to have these individuals moved, especially when the stadium is expanded for real football...

then the supporters will have control of the south end, and it will be a real 'supporters section'

juki
07-25-2008, 01:57 PM
The problem is this: there is no desire from the people to do any sort of thing that will "ruin" their day. You want to be supporters and don't follow a lead. Then you complain. Until you are willing to give up your "individualism" for 90 minutes, there will be more flops. It is not like they are asking you to be in this for life, like the army or some kind of political party.

tfc88
07-25-2008, 02:31 PM
I wasn't sitting at the front of 112 and I'm not ashamed of it.

I'm writing this so that those who see this know who some of those being referred to are. I respect all the opinions of our great fans. I respect what this group and it's leaders have done for our great team.

CLEARLY I did not respect the group through my behaviour on Thursday, and it has made me reevaluate my stature as an RPB. I can only resolve that my individualistic nature is a liability to this organization.

Ochos

Chevy
07-25-2008, 02:54 PM
I was in 108, and I think I was one of the few people wearing black. The lack of sound coming from the south end was very noticable.

I was in 110 and trust me, NOBODY noticed a thing. Other than maybe a dozen or so, most in the south end were standing after the first few minutes.

Sure it wasn't as loud as a TFC game, but All-Star Games are typically low-key affairs (MLB all star, NHL, etc....)

Jack
07-25-2008, 02:56 PM
I was in 110 and trust me, NOBODY noticed a thing. Other than maybe a dozen or so, most in the south end were standing after the first few minutes.

Sure it wasn't as loud as a TFC game, but All-Star Games are typically low-key affairs (MLB all star, NHL, etc....)

Nobody except the people who wrote the articles in the newspaper?

Nobody except for the many, many people who have said they did notice?

Yeah...sure.

Miko
07-25-2008, 03:04 PM
I was the guy who asked that question at the presser! lol

Carts...

CTMW strikes again! :D

MadMike
07-25-2008, 03:04 PM
I would say it was a sucess in the fact that at least it got Garber talking about it. Although he has nothing to do with it. If they will pay , they will play!!! But from where I sat , there looked to be more red shirts in the south end. I forget who wrote it but you guys should buy all the tickets in "your" section if you are going to organize something so big.

I am not a RPB, I am a fan of the game, and the way some of you are talking you think we are some team with a storied past, alot of history, proven winners ..... we are not ! we are a team that has been around for 18 months. This is Toronto, not Italy, England, Turkey, Russia.

RPB definetly have an "intense" crew, but by what I read last night and today half of you turn on yourselves at the drop of a dime. That was by far the best game we have seen played at BMO all year, with respect to QUALITY. I am a true TFC fan, and anyone of you who doubt that need look no further than how much i pay for season tickets !

If anyone wants to reply to this thats great, if not so be it. I would applaude you guys in your efforts but keep it in perspective.......there is a long line of whatever type of fans you would call them to fill all our seats.

Antoshka
07-25-2008, 03:14 PM
lol ASHAMED? are you off your rocket?! im damn proud that i was standing and cheering for my boy brennan.

RicoSuave44
07-25-2008, 05:12 PM
I supported the idea of a protest against the Argos at BMO, but not by being silent at the biggest event of the year. I wore black, but did not sit down as the people in front of me were standing and I couldn't see the game. I also was quite vocal, a few beers in me and I can't shutup.

End of the day, as was mentioned, the protest was a success despite things not going to plan. I think in future we need a better idea if we want everyone on board. We all know how creative and committed us RPBs are, surely we could've come up with a better way to protest.

On what we did do, here's my opinion:

Pros: wearing black, sending a press release to many agencies, sending e-mail reminders to members.

Cons: being quiet, sitting down, not having large banners, not having any chants...

Could you imagine if 5000 people starting singing THIS IS OUR HOUSE.... NOT THE ARGOS' ? Fans in attendence unaware of the protest would know the scoop. The TV commentators might explain it to the viewers, etc.

Anyway, just a few thoughts.


A side note: I'd like to apologize for my obscene language from yesterday. Sorry if I offended anyone.

-Graham

13CP
07-25-2008, 06:00 PM
yup. I hardly noticed the protest. Only thing that was different for me was that I could hear TRN drums for the first time :)

Although the West End is a bore, they noticed that the South end was quiet, because we could hear the TRN drums. The west end actually tried to get chants going, and stood for the last 30 mins of the game. May not be impressive to all of you. But this is coming from the person who has to sit her ass down because that kid behind me can't see.

RealG-TFC
07-25-2008, 06:05 PM
woah, I just noticed your a girl

Ladies Love Julius James
07-25-2008, 06:06 PM
woah, I just noticed your a girl


I usually say that after sex.


The protest was around. However it was selective. At times it would die down, other times it would liven up. All in all it was a success I think and the message was depicted.

13CP
07-25-2008, 06:10 PM
woah, I just noticed your a girl


So no one reads my sig?

RealG-TFC
07-25-2008, 06:12 PM
I thought you meant you're a part of MS13 and your name is Carlos Perez.


j/k

Roogsy
07-25-2008, 06:12 PM
media quotes...


http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Soccer/article/467136


http://www.torontosun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2008/07/25/6259901-sun.html


I would say we did enough to make a point....

After reading this, I don't know how anyone can say the protest was a failure. Did the supporters groups expect 20k people to be sitting in their seats? No. So why expect it? We wanted to raise the issue to people's attention and you know what? The issue was raised to people's attention. By definition, it was a success.

Those of us who wore black shirts and refused to sing TFC songs can hold our heads up high.

Those of you who sang like friggin' TFC was on the pitch, your ignorance is appalling.

And for anyone who claims that the "south stands were noisy"...give your heads a shake. 90% of RPB are not in 112, don't look our way when your annoyance at the South Stands singing makes you speak up. Blaming us makes you ignorant. RPB, for the most part, did our jobs. Now get off our backs.

13CP
07-25-2008, 06:16 PM
I thought you meant you're a part of MS13 and your name is Carlos Perez.


j/k

Lol nope, and I probably should change my board name, but I wont.

As I was saying, West end didn't do too shabby. Well, atleast section 121.

Roogsy
07-25-2008, 06:18 PM
I was the guy who asked that question at the presser! lol

Carts...

Carts...you're my hero. For real.

AL-MO
07-25-2008, 06:27 PM
I agree with you Roogsy, but I still think it could have been better.(speaking about 112 specifically) In most cases the only reason people stand is because the person in front of you is standing. Front of 112 was standing so the back followed.

Roogsy
07-25-2008, 06:43 PM
I agree with you Roogsy, but I still think it could have been better.(speaking about 112 specifically) In most cases the only reason people stand is because the person in front of you is standing. Front of 112 was standing so the back followed.

Yeah...I stood in 118 as well for obvious reasons. I would have been the only one sitting! LOL! How was I gonna get my Beckham picture then? ;)

RPB_Brantford_08
07-25-2008, 06:48 PM
heres the thing with the protest...it should Not have been done at BMO or a MLS event...all TFC fans who are Argos ticket holders should cancel them and tell the argos why they are doing so. all supporters club members in TO should sit in a TO city council meeting and protest that way.

Bobo
07-25-2008, 07:23 PM
It was a poor protest......which worked out good in the long run.

noochie
07-25-2008, 09:28 PM
It got the media coverage that I think was wanted, so overall it can't be said that it is a failure. Overall on the specifics (wearing black shirts and sitting down) it wasn't all that noticeable because many many people who aren't normally into the chanting suddenly wanted to get involved. That and the game was fairly exciting.

I lost faith midway through the lead up to the protest personally because it had evolved from being about shutting out the argos to everything from beer prices to the MLS turning us in "dancing monkeys" or something to that effect.

I liked the atmosphere at the game. It also goes to show that RPB and the other groups should be proud that their effect is rubbing off. Maybe a little humble pie thrown in there as well? I dunno...

james
07-25-2008, 09:58 PM
I'm going to come out of my self imposed exile for a second and make one last post here, since this thing meant so much to me.

You can call it whatever you fucking want, we had all of 127 sitting down for most parts of the game, and you could hear a pin drop in the section. I'm not sure where you get off calling it a flop. We had Drew Carey come over and give us support, he noticed. Don Garber came and shook all our hands post game and guaranteed us that he'd do everything in his power to prevent this. He noticed. That's one section with 5 rows normally supporting all game going quiet. It got noticed.

The All Star team wearing black, call that what you want, bad luck, a conspiracy, whatever, I saw quite a bit more black than I expected.

Now with regards to the south end not going through with what we agreed on, you guys tell me. The truth of the matter is representatives from the groups have been discussing this thing for more than a month. We had a meeting where we solidified the results of this thing and the minutes of that meeting were made available to the representatives for a month. The press release was written up and posted for the representatives for a week. No one brought any concerns forward, no one had any problems, everything was go, and the southend stands for 90 minutes come game time and does the fucking Massive and sings Oh When the Reds.

Anyways, let's just learn from our mistakes and move on.

PS. Props to Flush.

112 didnt sing anythin but for Brenan. 111 kept trying to sing the massive but we just wouldnt join in. And the whole end 112 (except for like the first 2 rows which i didnt understand why they wouldnt sit) for maybe 10 minutes. But in the end people just wouldnt stay sitting down.

james
07-25-2008, 10:07 PM
also i must say, that game made me realize that alot of fans now go to the game just to be part of the atmosphere and dont really care about the game. Why did they keep singing TFC songs, and not to mention TFC did just blow a big game vs Montreal so really at the moment if we are going to chant anything TFC then it should be somethin directed more towards how bad are team is currently doing. They sing the same songs over and over. They will sing anything. They will start singing "ole ole" when TFC is down 2-0. It shows ignorence in the fans. There is a right time to sing certain songs and chants. You dont just sing them constently randomly.