Brougham Times for June, 2010

Last year my family (wife, and
two daughters ages 11 and 14) shared season tickets with another family. We expected to enjoy MLS soccer and the Sounders
and were
very excited about having shared season tickets, but also realized that we have fairly busy lives and so wouldn't have the
ability and/or interest to make all the full season matches.

It
wasn't but a few games into the season when I realized that not only did
I want to attend all the matches I could, but that I was obsessed with
SSFC. I found the SSFC forums, Seattlesoccertalk.com, and BigSoccer and spent hours reading
everything I could about the team. In the process, I also found out that there was a Supporters Group called ECS and learned that the
interesting things going on in the Brougham End were their work.

I
give this lengthy background to explain a little
bit about the change in perspective I've had over the past year. A year
ago I went to matches to watch soccer, and I wanted great seats to view
the field and didn't want to be interrupted by ANYTHING so I didn't miss
a second of play. I didn't even drink so I wouldn't have to worry about going to pee
during the run of play. I didn't mind standing, but kind of wished
people would sit down so I, and my kids, could see. I liked seeing the
displays by ECS, but wouldn't want to be down in the Brougham End
because I
wouldn't want my view blocked and, while I liked some songs, the lyrics
to "Take 'em All" made me somewhat
uncomfortable. All in all, I was a typical Seattle soccer aficionado.

Two
things then happened concurrently. First, and most importantly, I began
to really care about the Sounders. I mean, I really REALLY cared. If they won I was over
the moon, but if they lost I'd be in a sour mood for days. It truly and deeply mattered to me that the team,
the city, and my fellow fans cared too. If the players slacked off, or
if someone slagged off the team or sport, or if another fan wasn't
paying attention, all these things really bugged and irritated me.

At the same time, mainly through these boards, I started to gain an appreciation
and understanding of supporter's culture and the objective and means of
supporters groups, especially ECS. When the opportunity for a GA ticket (versus
Chicago)
came up I took it. After the match, I was exhausted and hoarse for days.
But, one thing struck me then and still holds true: I had a great time at that
match even though it was really a horrible game. Another deeply
frustrating draw against a team I couldn't stand. In my current
obsessive mind frame I'd have been nearly to the point of needing
antidepressants after a game like that, but, instead, I was exhausted and almost at peace. I had
given my all, using every last bit of energy to channel my will to urge
on our boys. Frustrated at the Ref? Sing louder. Frustrated at our
effort? Sing louder. Being rained on? Sing louder. It wasn't so much
cathartic, as it was feeling like I really had done all I could – at last – satisfying rather than frustrating. I had not just drunk the coolaide of being a supporter, I'd
guzzled it. It was, by far, the most enjoyable way for me to watch a
match.

This year, I was lucky enough to get a season
ticket for myself in GA, but also still have tickets with the family. I've been planning to
alternate games between GA and the 'fancy' seats with the family. Saturday vs. the Red Bulls was
my first game with the family in section 238.

238 is
in "Club Level" where they also check your ticket as you enter, just like in GA, but there the similarity ends. They've got really fancy food that I'm not kind of afraid to
eat plus a
great selection of booze (full bars!) and taps. The seats are large and comfy,
there are big screens all around and the floor in the concourse (really
more like a living room) is tastefully carpeted. Other than this, however,
everything
else about
it sucks.
For the record, I'm unable to find prawn sandwiches, although they do
have fajitas.

Everyone sits down, of course,
in those big plushy seats. While some have scarves, almost NOBODY ever
raises them. They don't sing, not even really for the National Anthem.
And, get this, in fancy prawn sandwich land they don't have enough bathroom
stalls so
there is a line 100 deep at the half. Obviously it was designed for sports events where spectators don't actually pay attention to the game.

My
intent is not, however, to share with you my
tale of woe at having to sit in Club Level, but instead to give a perspective on how it is
to be a supporter while sitting with the prawn sandwich brigade and
what you can do to protect your sanity if this happens to you.

First, in case you're too lazy
to Google it for yourself, the phrase 'prawn sandwich brigade' comes
from an outburst from Roy Keane, when he was with Manchester United.
Complaining about the lack of participation of the hometown fans of Man
U, Keane said, "Away from home our fans are fantastic, I'd call them
the hardcore fans, but, at home, they have a few drinks and probably the
prawn sandwiches, and they don't realize what's going on out on the
pitch." The
term has come to mean fans who are more interested in the spectacle and
event of a match, as opposed to the result, and most specifically,
those who sit in the expensive seats as opposed to in with the
supporters in GA.

Our(mostly my) singing and chanting was met with puzzled stares, for the most part, but a few people would join
in singing very quietly, but they would give up fairly quickly. I also heard a few people try
and start some sort of chant, either the "Seattle – Sounders" call and
repeat or a "Let's go Sounders, Let's go!" but not more than a handful
joined in. There
would also be different groups who would start different chants at the
same time
leading to a few groups yelling 'Seattle' sort of in a syncopated round,
but nobody thinking to respond with 'Sounders' until a few got confused
and did the 'clap clap Sounders'. It was all pretty unorganized and halfhearted, at best.
I noticed two things, however, that I thought were important enough
to share.

First,
people watch ECS. I overheard several comments like, "That's ECS, they're our Supporters Group". "ECS
didn't do a display tonight." "Those flags are cool", "They're pogoing". My wife said that the people
around her applauded and cheered the large "Thor" overhead we put up
for the season opener. Some of the kids and teens especially seemed to
pay close attention to what ECS was doing in the Brougham End, and they
were also the ones who would sing along a bit when I would join in. It really drove home the
point that, when you have the opportunity to be in with ECS in GA, it is
extremely important to participate. ECS is the metronome that keeps the beat in
the stadium, and there are NO cheers chants or songs which happen unless
ECS starts them and is loud enough for people around the rest of
stadium to hear and notice so they can join in.

Second,
after NY's goal, you could feel all the energy just evaporate. Everyone around me got quiet,
you could see some of the players deflate, and people started to fidget
with their phones, etc. There was a real sense of loss; the momentum was lost, the game was lost, the energy and passion was
lost, and
the crowd was lost.
Then, I heard it, faint at first,.. "Seeeaaatlllleee!".

I yelled "SOOOOUUNDDEERRRS!!"

so loud everyone turned to stare. By the third response everyone was
joining in – loudly cheering the boys on – and you could see the energy
and organization return to the team on the field. Players that had been plodding
along on their heels started to make more energetic runs as the crowd
got louder. That
decision to do the Seattle – Sounders call and response brought the
rest of the stadium into the energy, and really seemed to make a
difference in the boys not packing it in and staying in it until the end
of time.

Being so far from the capos it's pretty
difficult, if not impossible to follow along with chants or songs, but there
were some ways in which I was able to act as
ambassador for supporters culture. First, and foremost, I sang the national anthem as
loud as I could. That was easy. After that it got more difficult
since, like any good ambassador, I had to be respectful of local culture
(which meant sitting down almost the whole match) but at the same time representing and exposing
others to a little bit of what ECS is about. I did a couple rounds of
"Bluest Skies" and I could hear a couple people join in, but singing
"Roll on Columbia" was met with baffled glances pretty much by everybody
except my wife – who loves that song. Quite a few joined in on "Let
him die" and a fair number joined in with "Sounder 'til I die", but the
best part was how many clearly wanted to join in with "Take 'em All.", which you could hear
quite well. In fact, my wife said that she thought Saturday night was the loudest
ECS had ever been.