In the 24th Minute’s original form it had a larger mandate. Rather than just writing on Canadian national team and TFC issues I also covered MLS as a whole and occasionally touched on supporter’s issues. This post is in that tradition.
There is a bond that connects MLS fans that is not really found in other leagues. Facing a hostile and ignorant general sports culture towards the sport we love, we all have similar experiences and have shared the same frustrations.
That’s why, when the mask of rivalry is stripped away, most MLS fans would share a drink (or 10, we are football fans after all) with one another and get along like long-lost brothers and sisters while doing so.
I once arranged ticket and watched game in the U-Sector section of BMO Field with a member of the Hudson Street Hooligans. Last Wednesday drinks and war stories were shared at Toronto’s Dunn Right Inn between TFC fans and a group of guys who were on a MLS Road Trip, and one of my favourite MLS memories of all-time was sharing several post-game beers with two Fire supporters in the parking lot of Toyota Park following a 2010 game.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]For 90 minutes once a week we are rivals. The rest of the time we’re the same, despite the massive geography of this league. We share a language (DPs, allocation money, SuperDraft, etc) and a passion for our beautifully flawed sawker league.
That’s especially the case for those that choose to stand on the front lines of the league’s supporter’s sections (this is not a knock on those that don’t, but rather an effort to point out that the experience is different). We’re marketed by the clubs, used as a selling point to prove that North America gets it, and we are often taken for granted because we’re loyal to a fault and the club’s can safely assume that we will put up with a lot.
Most of us that have spent some time in the trenches can also share war stories about clueless front offices and overzealous security. I’m not talking about legitimate security issues (fighting, lighting of flares, etc), but rather pedantic and inconsistent enforcement of rules that aren’t even always rules in the first place.
It’s because of this that many MLS fans feel compelled to support fans of other teams when they are involved in an incident that appears to have been dealt with in a heavy-handed or unfair way.
Take the current battle Colorado Rapids fan Teddy Montoya is having with the Rapids front office.
Following a penalty call against the Rapids, Montoya was said to have yelled that the call was “fucking bullshit.” Allegedly a security guard deemed that to be worthy of ejection and, later, of a lifetime ban from the stadium. The lifetime ban was because of information that was in a file that the Rapids security kept on members of the Rapids supporters.
It’s said that Montoya was never informed that he had security incidents logged against him. So, he had no way to adjust his behavior in regards to swearing (and, honestly, there but for the grace of God goes each and every person who has ever been in a supporter’s section).
To be clear, no one is claiming that the Rapids do not have the right to enforce anti-swearing rules in their stadium. This particular incident seems exceptionally mild for a stadium ban and a strong argument can be made that the Rapids are clueless when it comes to fan relations (an argument that could have been made pretty consistently since 1996), but it’s their stadium and they can do with it what they please, however shortsighted their actions may be.
What people are reacting to is the arbitrary nature of this ban. Regardless of legal ability, do the Rapids not have a social contract with their fans that they should be held accountable for – especially when they permit a special section in their stadium for supporters that has loosened behavior rules.
In Portland last week, Timbers fans displayed a sign that simply said “free Teddy” in solidarity with supporters in Colorado and Montoya. RSL fans did a similar thing at a game there.
Perhaps Toronto supporter’s group leaders may wish to follow their lead on Wednesday when the Rapids visit Toronto.
UPDATE
Toronto fans added their voice to the growing choir Wednesday night.
