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August Events:
8.3.11 – 7:00pm
SSFC vs SFFC (PAN)
CCL Qualifier
at RBP (CenturyLink)
8.6.11 – 5:30pm
SSFC at Kansas City
Away Viewing at:
Fuel Sports Bar
8.12.11 – 5pm
ECS Monthly Happy Hour at:
Atlantic Crossing
8.13.11 – 1pm
SSFC vs Chivas USA
at RBP (CenturyLink)
8.20.11 – 6pm
SSFC at Dallas
Away Viewing at:
Woodsky's
8.27.11 – 1pm
SSFC vs. Columbus
at RBP (CenturyLink)
8.30.11 – 1pm
SSFC vs Dallas
USOC Semi-Final
at Starfire
And each and every Thursday at the Dray
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Fellow ECSers,
Welcome to August's newsletter! This month we're going to talk about away support! ECS members have travelled literally millions of miles to support our boys in far away places such as Panama, Costa Rica, New York, and even Tukwila!
The Sounders fantastic run of form came to an end in Panama going down 1-0 in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League qualifier. The play was poor, the pitch in even worse shape, but the away support was crystal clear on the broadcast.
In Houston, the creamsicles managed to strike early and often, with former Sounder and USMNT player Brian Ching scoring a brace, which was enough to see them to Sounders FC's first MLS loss in well over a month.
No rest for the wicked, however! Six more matches in August, including the second leg of the CCL qualifier today, and the USOC Semifinal against FC Dallas on the 30th…the hits just keep on coming!
By the way, if you haven't picked up your tickets for the CCL match today, you SHOULD. The boys are down 1-0 on aggregate, and they need all of us to show up and will them on to a resounding victory to advance to the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League! You can get tickets at Ticketmaster (although there's undoubtedly some fees for doing so) or you're almost certainly able to get tickets by walking up to the box office today! At last announcement, 17,000 people will be there supporting our Sounders…are you one of them?
If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or just want someone to yell at, come check us out on the forums!
See you on the terraces!
- The Emerald City Supporters
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Newsletter Naming Contest!
"ECS Newsletter" wasn't exactly catchy…so we had a contest!
You might have noticed the snazzy new header graphic!
With his very first post, bigfellow suggested "Brougham Beat," and the Propaganda Monkeys have chosen it as the name for our fabulous monthly newsletter!
Congrats, bigfellow! Contact justicar on the forums, and we'll get you your prizes!
Thanks to everyone who participated. (Hillsy, this means you're off the hook.)
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WHAT IS THIS 5% STUFF I KEEP SEEING?
As much as people would have you believe that it's about the alcohol level in beers (weak beers, might we add…) it's actually a position regarding how many seats should be set aside for away supporters during any FIFA-sanctioned match.
FIFA regulations suggest a minimum of 5% of all seating be made available to away supporters.
Page 30, Club Licensing Regulations (English, 47431)
http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affeder … _47341.pdf
"I.14 C Stadium – Accommodation of visiting supporters
At least five per cent of the certified total stadium capacity
must be made available for accommodating visiting
supporters in a separate area.
This provision is subject to decisions by the competent
bodies of the licensor and/or the local authority regarding
safety and security (high-risk matches, etc.)."
When Portland and Vancouver joined MLS, the Front Offices of Seattle, Vancouver, and Portland agreed to a 500 seat allocation for away supporters instead of setting aside the FIFA-recommended 5%, citing concerns of fan behavior, the potential for violence, among other reasons. The reason that 500 tickets were even released in the first place for away support was due to the hard work and dialogue by the supporter groups in Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver with their respective front offices. Initially, the number was far lower.
While using a flat 5% based on capacity does favor Portland and Vancouver in terms of number of available seating for away support, the truth is that 5% of Jeld-Wen Field, Portland's home pitch, with a capacity of about 20,000 would still allow about 1,000 away Sounders supporters as opposed to the 500 allotted per the Cascadian agreement.
Since the 500 tickets allotted to Sounders supporter groups (430 to ECS, 70 to GFC and NEF) sold out in under 30 minutes when they were placed on sale, it is safe to say that an increase in the number of tickets would be welcome. Many, many supporters were left without tickets who clearly would have loved to have gone.
At both Cascadian matches at Royal Brougham Park, the away support was very well represented…and it is further safe to say that the supporter groups for the other teams would welcome the opportunity to bring more supporters to matches in Seattle.
While supporter groups for other teams in other cities face a similar limit, the truth is that it is unlikely that any other supporter groups currently travel in the kind of numbers that the Cascadian teams do, and so the limit doesn't affect them as adversely as it does us. At least, not today. With the growth of the sport in the US, it is likely that sometime soon, that 500 seat limit will affect more than just the Cascadian clubs.
The Front Offices of the Cascadian sides have agreed that if the away matches go off well this season, with no violence or bad behavior, that they would evaluate the possibility of increasing the amount of tickets available for away supporters for next season. Thus far, all Cascadian matches have gone off with a minimum of fuss, no arrests, and no "bad behavior."
Our ECS leadership continues to engage in conversation with the Seattle front office to keep forwarding our ability to travel in the numbers that show us as the loudest, proudest, and strongest supporter group in MLS.
For more in-depth discussion of this issue, you can check out our forums here!
By the way, if you're a season ticket holder (or can influence one…) you can support our collective effort by ensuring that supporter groups have representation on the Alliance Council. Check out the forums and have a look at the candidates that ECS is putting forward for election, and consider giving your vote to one of them! The current candidate up for election is Mark Inderhees. Once Mark gets elected, another candidate will be put forward for election.
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If you have any questions you'd like asked, or suggestions for who you'd like to see in this section, let us know!
ECS Member: Aaron Reed
Forum Name: CursedFrogurt
Member since: 2009
Season Ticket Holder? Since 2009
Role for ECS: ECS Travel Director aka Lead Travel Monkey. Everybody knows that the ECS is the biggest, best, and most passionate supporters group in North America. It's my responsibility to ensure that we can take that show on the road. In 2010 we had over 1500 people show up to support the Sounders on the road. We traveled to four countries. We were in more than 20 cities. Our average showing per away match was 77. Total air miles traveled by ECS to support our boys was over 3.3 million. The goal for 2011 is to increase every single one of those numbers, and we're on track to do it.
Where can we find you before the match? Fuel, mostly. Unless it's an away match. Then there's a decent chance I'm there.
What are you drinking? Long Island Iced Tea aka Zach Island (RIP ZC42), PBR (if I need to rehydrate), Brougham Bitter
Where do you like to stand? : Next to my wife. Lower 122 is my preference at home, on the road I'm usually assisting with away security.
Who do you follow (other than Sounders FC, of course…): F*ck anybody but the Sounders.
Why'd you join ECS? This is a tough one for me to coalece into a short, easy answer. You might as well ask me why I insist on breathing all the damn time. It's the feeling. It's the passion. It's the love. Love for the Sounders. Love for my ECS brothers and sisters. There are other supporters groups around, but the ECS is my home and my family. I can't imagine being without them anymore than I can imagine being without my arms and legs. I want to build this thing up to see how massive it can be. I want to own the entire Brougham End. I want to have ECS members in every MLS city and I want them to be a force to be reckoned with. Hey, I'm a firm believer in the philosophy of a ruling class. Especially since I rule.
Sounders 'Til You Die? When I shuffle off the mortal coil I hope to help organize the Afterlife Ultras(tm) ECS subgroup, and we'll make that the biggest and best too. Besides, if heaven doesn't get Fox Soccer and MLS Direct Kick, then I don't wanna go.
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Here's ECS member Liz Seymour's own words on her first away trip to support the boys. She couldn't have chosen a more epic first trip: the first MLS Portland Away match!
As I sit here in my office, it's hard for me to find the words to actually describe the emotion and the passion of Sunday 's legendry Away Trip to Portland , especially to friends who do not share those feelings.
I was part of a select group who got up at an ungodly hour on Sunday to travel down to Portland to watch my beloved Sounders take on their arch rivals, the Timbers. 500 of us, 9 bus loads in a convoy down the I-5 corridor. Kindred spirits heading into enemy territory with a point (or 3) to prove both on the pitch and in the stands. Perhaps that's what separates Football/Futbol/Soccer from any other sport – what happens on the pitch is only half the story.
On the way down, we sang. We drank. We drank some more and then we sang again. And we knew that there were 8 other buses whose passengers were doing the exact same thing. We waved at other cars – we cheered when they held their Rave Green aloft and we hissed whenever we saw the Forest Green of the Timbers fans. We knew today was going to be special. We knew that this day would be fantastic.
In the stadium, we stood and we sang some more. We looked over at our enemies (Timbers Army) and we stole their ammunition (their chant) and used it against them. Yes, they were loud and yes, they outnumbered us but that only gave us strength.
After a scoreless first half, we stood with our two poles (a small banner threaded onto two poles so it can be held up), a sign of defiance towards the Timbers and their fans. And as they scored, we just kept singing. As their manufactured smoke wafted through the TA Section and the sound of their cheering filled the stands, we continued to sing. And I kept telling myself "We are not going to lose this. We cannot lose this". I kept singing and clapping, though my throat was sore and my hands were splitting because I knew that was part of the battle.
And then we scored. And it was fantastic. A beautiful strike by Montero. And our section erupted. Anything you can do, WE can do better. Now do it again, boys.
But then the Timbers scored again. And for a second, my heart sank and I began to doubt. I started to picture us driving past their gloating fans and the long drive back to Seattle, head hung in defeat. And once again, I told myself that we could not let them win, not here in their house in front of their fans. Not against us. And then Montero scored again. Yes! We can do this. Come on Neagle – run, run fast as you ever have in your entire life! He's right on top of you! Within a split second, Neagle was on the turf, inside the penalty box and the ref was holding up a red card. Oh my God. Is this really happening? Timbers are down to 10 men and we have a penalty kick. Who's going to take it? Please, not Montero. Not Levesque. Ozzie – excellent. Our section; complete silence apart from the sound of people praying. Hands clenched. Please God – let this go in. Please God. Come on Ozzie. The next thing – the ball is in the back of the net. We erupt. We hug people we've never met before. Some people are in tears. I am shaking like a leaf, unable to speak. More importantly, their fans are silenced, in total shock about what just happened.
And for the duration of the match, we sang louder. We clapped harder and we believed that we would walk out of their stadium, victorious. And after the longest 4 minutes of extra time in history, the Ref finally blew his whistle. We had won. We had won in style. Not only did we beat them, we did it in their house in front of their fans, coming from behind twice. It was heroic. It was beyond fantastic. And I had been part of it.
This is the tale of a supporter, not a fan. A fan can wear the replica jersey and know all the stats but a supporter will feel the emotion of every missed opportunity, the elation of every goal scored and share in the victory every time their team wins.
Never question my commitment. Never laugh at my love of this "football-kicky" thing. This is business. This is my lifesaver. This is where I belong. This is where I am finally content.
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DID YOU KNOW…
…that ECS has a discount program for flying to away matches? Before you book airplane tickets for any away match, please join the ECS's group on Alaska Airlines.
Follow these simple steps:
- Register for Alaska Airlines frequent mileage plan if you have not.
- PM BlueEyedBuddhist on the forums with your name and email address on your Alaska Airlines mileage plan
- Buy tickets for any of your travel through EasyBiz
- Earn your normal mileage plus bonus mileage for ECS!
More detailed info:
ECS has created a group that can use the "EasyBiz" program on Alaska and gain benefits for the ECS for every ticket that is bought by ECS members via the EasyBiz portal.
Basically, what happens is that you MUST log in to Alaska's site via the EasyBiz page; then you buy your tickets just like normal. You still get the full mileage you would normally get for your frequent flier account, but each dollar you spend is credited towards a separate account for ECS.
When we get enough in our group's account we can use the credit for special programs… exactly what, we haven't decided yet, but it could be something like a free trip for an ECS member to an away game or something like that.
Anyway, it's easy to sign up; just PM BlueEyedBuddhist on the forums with your name and email address, and he'll add you to the ECS account. Then, if you're looking to fly somewhere, if you take an Alaska flight you just be sure to log in to the Alaska site via the EasyBiz page instead of the normal one and ECS will get credited for your purchases.
For each game, both home and away, we now have a discount code to use. The Alaska Airlines Discount page has the codes listed for all the games. When you are pricing flights on Alaska, simply enter the code into the appropriate box and it will give you the discount on any eligible fares (super-sale priced fares are usually not eligible).
You should still sign up for the EasyBiz membership and do your shopping by logging into Alaska's web site via the easybiz.alaskaair.com web page. Also, you should shop for ALL your trips that way, as ECS gets credit for any trip you take via that page, so even if you're not going to a Sounders game, please at least shop the fares there and if you can, support our partner by using them.
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"Football, it seemed to me, is not really played for the pleasure of kicking a ball about, but is a species of fighting."
- George Orwell
Humbly submitted for your information and entertainment, and not necessarily in that order,
Emerald City Supporters
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