interesting read.
theres always 2 new bandwagon jumpers beside me in 116...during play they are just having a conversation about the weather?!
oh and that offside comment is dead on!
oh and "why cant they let the clock run past 90 so we cans see when the time is over?"
can you tell i hate those clowns?
The offside comment is absolutely bang on...
I don't know about the first part of point two... I drink the beer at BMO, and a good amount of it - and I'm not a bandwagon jumper (now that being said, I've never tried to piss off a fellow fan or tear apart a GO Train afterwards)...
Its a good read...
Carts...
"...Money wasn't tight, but it like, it wasn't right..."
Love the article but have one comment.
A red shirt is better than nothing at BMO Field, but you start to wonder if these fans are confusing their loyalties when they show up in a Liverpool, Manchester United or Benfica shirt – and that’s if they even remember to wear a red kit. Whether they stumbled out of the pub after trying to keep their focus on an English Premier League game that afternoon, or simply hope that a football shirt is automatically appropriate for a football game, these glory-hunters worry more about spilling on their precious jersey than keeping a focus on the match.
I fucking hate this through the summer. It's a different story if the team is actually playing that day, but wearing a Porto/Chelsea/Celtic kit that doesn't even have TFC's colours is just unacceptable IMO. I've worn my United jersey twice, both were United and TFC gamedays and as much as I love TFC, United has and always will be my #1 club. So on a day like the Champs League Final, I proudly wore my United jersey to the TFC game after. Partly because we had played shortly earlier and also because I wasn't going back to Kitchener to change jersey's.
agreed, i dont see too much of an issue if the jersey is red, TFC colours. id rather not wear my pool jersey to a TFC game but before i had a jersey or shirt, i did to at least fit in with the sea of red.
Well don't I feel like a heel for wearing a Grey jersey
Proud Supporter of: FC Bayern München, AIK Solna, Toronto FC, Nottingham Forest FC
I'm gonna goto 114 with a pink shirt and play with a blackberry (oh wait I cant afford one).
I thought the article was egotistical piece of rubbish.
It's the kind of attitude that will serve to weaken our home support.
The writer comes across to me as being more concerned about who the better fans are rather than the actual game.
I would rather sit beside someone who is trying hard to get to know the game than someone who spends their time bitching about the inadequacies of others.
I don't think you can fault someone not being interested in the sport when it wasn't played at a professional level in this city. Just because someone's interest in the sport started when the team arrived, doesn't mean it's fair to lump all those thousands of ticket holders into one category. It's the usual 'holier than thou' thing that divides instead of unifies.
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Seems like the guys who fit in the category Scott is writing about are the ones whining about it here.
Actually, there has been plenty of professional soccer in this city. The people who didn't care about it, are the same people who have no clue about those teams.
Parkdale, are you seriously saying that there isn't a bandwagon crowd at BMO? You think that all these people will still be in their seats if we go on another 9 game scoreless/winless streak? Give me a break, the fad is fading for those who don't care. You can see it taking affect already as the stands aren't near as full as last year. Why is it you guys always bring it back to 'someone being a better supporter'? It's not about being a better supporter, it's about being a fucking supporter in the first place. Of course we aren't going to have the entire stadium filled with supporters, that's life. But that doesn't mean we can't set a standard that we feel everyone under the umbrella of the 'supporter' name SHOULD live up to.
If you don't agree with that, I don't know what to say.
Typical "I'm better than you because I know more about football" attitude.
Really, who cares what someone is wearing? Who cares if they plan ahead to buy expensive beer and pizza? Who cares if they screw up on a called back goal? Seriously!
This is just another example in a long list of examples...
Does it really, I mean REALLY matter if....
Someone calls it soccer? ...... gasp!
Someone calls the team FC instead of TFC?
Someone calls MLS and 'American League'.... yes we all know Toronto is in Canada...
Someone says 'field' instead of pitch?
Someone says 1-nothing, instead of 1-nil?
The list goes on and on and on.....
I'm just glad that people are supporting Toronto Football Club, or is that "The" Toronto Football Club? Or should I say Toronto FC? Or just TFC? What is the latest proper way to say it among the elite inner sanctum of fans that judge themselves to have the right amount of knowledge to be true fans? I've lost track.
Dude, sometimes I wonder a lot of things.
I think the main problem with the article is the author implies that there is no "good" type of bandwagon jumper, which is probably not the intention.
If it is the intention, then I agree it's a smug piece of crap.
I know a lot of people who are recent soccer fans and occassionally call the team "FC", but love to stand and cheer along with everyone else, while learning the game. This is a good thing, no?
There hasn't been a real professional team in this city since the Blizzard.
By definition, a 'professional' team is made up of people who are professionals,
and don't have to keep a day job going to pay their rent. Did any of the lynx guys get to that level?
Did I say that? NO. You love twisting my words don't you?
I said:
Where did I say there isn't a bangwagon crowd? I said that it's not fair to judge someone based on when they started getting interested in the sport. Just because someone is new to the game, doesn't mean people should consider them a detriment to the supporters section, which is clearly the point of the article.I don't think you can fault someone not being interested in the sport when it wasn't played at a professional level in this city. Just because someone's interest in the sport started when the team arrived, doesn't mean it's fair to lump all those thousands of ticket holders into one category. It's the usual 'holier than thou' thing that divides instead of unifies.
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Agreed.
And guess where the 20,000 would come from? From those "bandwagon" fans he's talking about. Not everyone is born understanding the rules or born with a Man U kit on or whatever. And there's no 'football supporter class' at community colleges for them to take.
People in the stands who know the rules need to help out the people who don't. If they're there at BMO to be excited and cheer on Toronto, they'll get the hang of it with a little help from the rest of us.
There's no room for football to grow in Canada if NEW fans can't be created. If we're gonna act like we're better than new fans we might as well stop trying to grow the game in this country right now.
All that said, I'm not quite sure what the tone of that article was, so no disrespect to the writer from me. It seemed like he was going for a humorous thing but then didn't quite pull it off :P
Last edited by Stencils; 06-09-2008 at 08:52 AM.
There are a lot of people who didn't know anything about those old Toronto soccer teams.
This is not because they chose not to be interested in the sport.
This is Canada, and most people were raised with the "hockey is everything" mentality.
Then there are those that grew up in families that had a long standing passion for the beautiful game... that passion was passed down to the children.... good for them...
that doesn't make them any more worthy to cheer for TFC than someone like myself who spent much of my youth playing table hockey instead of foosball.
Nobody is saying jumping on the TFC bandwagon is wrong, what is wrong is coming to a TFC game with the least bit interest in the actual game, spending 90 mins talking about the chicks around you without having the balls to actually go up to them. Getting drunk and purposely spilling your beer on everybody around you, throwing shit on the field etc etc. Basically, doing everything else except focusing on the match and supporting the team.
I almost didn't follow the jump. Why does anyone actually need to spot them? Is this something you've just learned recently and felt the need to share? Point number 2. was especially interesting in the way that you "explained" to us that Bandwagon jumpers are vandals.
I'm anxiously awaiting the next "article" in the series: "What I think defines an Ultra, and just how much better we are than anybody else in the history of the world".
I've read articles by this guy before and I have enjoyed them. This one is not very good though. There are better ways to identify a bandwagon jumper and the ones listed are not it. Not to mention, I too am not concerned about whether the guys around me are new or long-time soccer lovers. It's the whole dick-measuring contest that I try to avoid because at the end of the day...mine is bigger than yours. LOL!
I agree... those are annoying things... but I honestly believe most people at BMO want to enjoy the game and learn as well.
I think the article painted too many people with the same brush.
I don't consider those annoying folks in the crowd to be "bandwagon jumpers"... they are just jerks who try to show off.
But we will never rid ourselves of that kind of artificial support. It's everywhere... and I don't just mean the Leafs.
Look at any high profile team in the UK. Those stands are full of people who are there to show off rather than support the team.
if that's isn't elitism, then I don't know what is.Eager to jump on the bandwagon, these "fans" try hard to appreciate the game, and their hard-earned dollars are certainly appreciated at the club coffers, but their superficial enjoyment of a day out on a Saturday can never match the sheer joy of fans who have been waiting years – or in some cases decades – for a professional team to thrive in Toronto.
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