Riding off of the coattails of recent negative fan publicity over the past few days in both the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB), it brings to question whether fans are more of an aid to the live stadium experience, or are fans becoming more of a liability to the live stadium experience?
It seems in rather quick fashion, a number of fans across the boundary of sports have lost a bit of decorum in how they conduct themselves within the confines of a live sporting event and in the realm of sports over all. There is a bit of an angry mob mentality that seems to run deep within the veins of a significant number of fans in this current sporting climate.
Maybe it is a reaction to overexposure and a saturated sports market. Maybe it is because fans know more about athletes and sports overall, more intimately, than in any other era or period of sport. Nonetheless, somewhere along the way, the fan has become as big as sport and even bigger than sport in ways. And not for the better of sport necessarily. But often, to the detriment of sport.
As a season ticket holder for the Houston Dynamo, and long time Houston Dynamo supporter, it has been an honor and out and out privilege, to be able to support this team. To see what soccer has become in this country when many said soccer could never be anything, brings me great joy. Within this current domestic soccer climate, the fans are more than deserving of a competitive team and a succeeding league. And in understanding what a certain segment of the local body of fans means to the lore of Houston’s team, it is not easy to say what I think needs to be said. But what needs to be said is absolutely necessary. And what needs to be said is that a certain segment of the Houston Dynamo fan base is starting to lose its way.
Lead Houston Dynamo supporter group El Batallon, has been a staple of the Houston Dynamo game day experience since the Dynamo kicked off against the Colorado Rapids in 2006 at Robertson Stadium. In many ways, El Batallon has been the heart and soul of the Dynamo fan base during the game day experience and often times is regarded as the face of the fan base. Despite some well publicized negative publicity over the years.
But upon arrival at BBVA Compass Stadium, it seems as a collective group, El Batallon has taken a step backward in decorum. Maybe it is because I feel that with BBVA Compass Stadium now being a part of our local professional sports landscape, the stakes have now been raised because from top to bottom, the Dynamo can now say they are playing in the big leagues locally. They lack nothing in comparison to the other local professional sports franchises. Therefore with understanding that the stakes have been raised, I am not certain that El Batallon has risen with those stakes.
It was painstakingly clear this past weekend as the Houston Dynamo hosted the Montreal Impact. As the Houston Boys Choir performed both the Canadian and American national anthems, the choir was often times drowned out by the beat of El Batallon drums as they made their fashionably late entrance to their seats. It was not the first time that that has been the case. But from where I sat and from what was said by others around me, at least some fans have had enough of what seems to be an increasing amount of disrespectful behaviors from El Batallon.
Some games it is the interruption of the anthem. Other games it is swearing at the opponent in conjunction with the giving of the middle finger as a collective group, as was the case as the Dynamo hosted the New England Revolution just a couple of weeks ago.
Families of old and families taking in a Dynamo game for the first time to take in the sights and sounds of BBVA Compass Stadium, don’t pay for or expect that to be a part of the game day experience.
In a city in which media still doesn’t allow soccer to shine or have equal days on the front pages, the fan base and loyal followers of the sport in general don’t want or need anything negative to come out of a Houston Dynamo and BBVA Compass Stadium game day experience.
El Batallon owes the city and the fans the proper decorum. Especially given the fact that part of the stadium design had them as well as the other supporter groups in mind.
Nowhere else can you go to in the city as a sports fan and see any fan behavior that equals El Batallon for better or for worse. But it is their worse, that seemingly worries me.
In a call to arms, rethink the strategy El Batallon. Respect the game and the fans and the privilege that is professional soccer in Houston. The fan base needs you at your best. Not at your worst.
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I’m willing to give EB the benefit of the doubt on the National Anthem and mark up their perceived lack of respect as an error in failing to time their noisy arrival. This is something that can easily be fixed by having one of their members in the stands who would provide notice of the ending of the Anthem by text or cellphone.
I would be very surprised if they intended disrespect.
Come on Nigel, everything EB does is about themselves. They are the ones who refused to join the Walker End, and they are the ones that refused to cooperate with the other groups. Whenever EB is questioned or criticized, they quickly point to the race card. They were the ones that chanted F*** You Canetti last year after matches, and then complained when Canetti and the league came down on them for their actions in Los Angeles. I was there and saw it.
There are some good people in EB who care about the team, but the fact is that those people are constantly clumped in with those in EB who are the disrespectful elements of the group. There are so many things that general fans don’t know about EB. Do I want them to succeed? Absolutely, but not at the cost of everyone else and a true mix of cultures in the supporter sections.
My biggest problem is that the front office the supporters groups discounted tickets and they can’t fill those three sections. I would have gladly paid full price to sit in the seats they don’t sit in. Maybe the front office needs to looks at that policy again.
Yo H, learn some facts. The FO decided to offer discounted prices to anyone, not just SG’s, discounted prices for the supporter section. The reason you see empty seats is because those same people who bought the tickets at discounted prices that are not part of the SG’s decided to put them up for sale on craigs list and other 2nd markets and try to make profit of the tickets. At first, SG’s tried to bring people who couldn’t afford season tickets regardless of what seat and section their tickets said into the SG section but were denied by security so after a while people just gave up and stopped coming. It was the FO’s fault for making those tickets available to anyone to begin with.
Let us examine your write up one point at a time. On being fashionably late to an association football game in the downtown part of a city, jeez the horror Angelo. I mean ever been to a Rockets game downtown folks arrive to their seat each night late. It is what it is in Houston sports culture. If that is one of your main gripes than you had to go fishing for gripes. Which doesn’t help your dig on El Batallon right off the bat.
Swearing at the opponent, I’m sorry did you just list swearing at the opponent as a gripe you have when attending a men’s professional sporting event? Do you understand that you are even attending a men’s professional sporting event??? When I played Texas high school gridiron we got cussed at by our coaches, when away at college us in the student body section yelled curse words at opponents and refs all season long. It was great fun and nobody complained to the University. Have you heard the language at baseball games around the nation. Do you understand that the man who runs this website is from New Jersey? A place where the f-bomb is part of everyday business meeting talk much less what is said at a ballpark! Again, it is what it is with vulgar language at pro men’s sporting events in the United States. As soccer is a global sport let us compare what you are complaining about with Dynamo games and say pro soccer games in Scotland or England or Argentina. If you complained about the over the top language in the stands in those nations you yourself would be the cause of stirring up problems. Little FYI don’t get in the habit of telling other men how to talk when attending what is known all around the globe as the working man’s game, the common man’s destination after a long day at work. A place to go with others where his language might make a sailor blush but the man has earned it after dealing with his over the top boss and crappy job all week. You understand right. Are you trying to suggest that all this be different for men that go to professional sporting events in the U.S.? Please.
Lastly on families and their virgin ears for the parents or their children, I would have more sympathy for this point in years past but for the last 14 years or so there have been cartoons on TV like South Park and the like that many suburban mommies and daddies allow their little kids to be entertained by at young ages and really don’t mind their kids hearing chicken f–ker or talking pieces of human feces so thus spare the rest of us why at a pro men’s sporting events I or anyone else at Dynamo games should worry what these moms and dads and their children hear at BBVA. It is 2012 with our modern attachment to media, movies and the internet, sad to say but very true our U.S. kids will pick up on vulgarity, violence and sex way before ever attending a Houston Dynamo home game. This worry you have of “what about the kids Glenn!”…this last point of yours is really weak sauce Angelo and it is even worse to hang this on El Batallon.
Jacob,
Yes, the FO offered those seats to casual fans, but that was after the fact that the Texian Army only bought less than 100 of those seats and El Battalon bought less than 50 of those discounted tickets. Two of my good friends are not in a supporters group and bought tickets in 134. They were cursed for not being a part of a real SG, had people threaten them and other BS. If you want more details, come find me. I am not hard to find. The problem is that the FO offered these seats to the SG’s and they did a pisspoor job of purchasing those tickets. Maybe the FO should take one of those sections away from the SG’s, put seats in and charge regular price for them.
Coach H,
It appears that money grows on trees in your world but in the real world having men and women in the worst economic times in the last 60 years just punt up front money for season tickets is a difficult task for many working adults. Many Dynamo fans and supporters can only make it out to weekend games here and there and thus purchasing a full season ticket package is a wash. More so with kids in the equation! Do you have any kids? Do you have any financial obligations ahead of Dynamo Season Tickets outside of feeding your mouth and rent??? I ask as you paint the picture that the SG’s did a piss poor job in purchasing tickets in a section that was going to be off limits to non season ticket holders which restricts growth of the SG’s as new invitees cannot enter the lower bowl section without, you guessed it, without a season ticket stub. Thus, our Dynamo FO made a severe mess of taking what worked so well at Robertson to then getting into their own house, they limited the growth and like wise marketing capacity all in the name of AEG corporate idealism.
Fletch, it is called properly budgeting your money. It is called a payment plan that is spread out over 6 months. a $250 season ticket in the supporters section spread out over 6 months is just $42. That is just 4 beers at BBVA. 2 games a month, 2 beers per game and you can get your tickets paid for.
I have plenty of financial obligations to deal with, and I deal with them on a school teacher income, so don’t whine about not being able to afford games. Learning how to properly budget your money will allow people to enjoy the finer things in life, including Dynamo games.