ECS Pride Tifo
Two steps forward, one step back.
It is a perpetual cycle that soccer supporters seem to walk here in the United States. For every major stride that is made, for every inroad laid down in popular culture, a negative stereotype from a bygone era emerges. It is a situation that emerges every four or five years normally at the end of a major tournament.
After having spent the past six weeks in a place where fans of both soccer and sports alike watched the Copa America, the European Championships, and to a lesser extent the U.S. Open Cup, the NWSL, and MLS. For six weeks people from all walks of life watched football in small stadiums, pubs, and homes across the nation. It almost seemed too good to be true. Perhaps soccer had finally found its spot in the world.
But as it happens so many times over the past twenty years, that hope and dream ended rather quickly. By now many of you have already read Jay Kaspian Kang’s piece in the New York Times on American soccer culture. Many of you, particularly in Seattle, have voiced your opinion over Mr. Kang’s viewpoint. For some, it is the first taste of the array of negative stereotypes imposed by sports writers, pundits, and fans of the “traditional” American sports. For others, it is just Tuesday.
Although there are many things wrong with Mr. Kang’s hypothesis there is some truth to what he says. All of us have witnessed either drunken lewd behavior, racism, sexism, or xenophobia. Even those in the press box bear witness from time to time the poor behavior of a few. There are also that hold Bill Bryson’s Among the Thugs and the movie Green Street Hooligans as some sort of shining example of how to behave at a soccer match. Supporters groups and league officials have done a tremendous job at curtailing this behavior but it does still exist.
Kang also accurately pointed out the issues with regards to U.S. Soccer and their inability to capture the Latin American audience. Although Kang rather clumsily omits that ratings for MLS matches on Spanish-language Univision and UniMas are for the most part higher than on ESPN or Fox, he is right in that U.S. Soccer has had their fair share of trouble in finding their foothold in the market.
The problem with Kang’s point of view is two fold. First, his piece draws the comparison between an unfortunate situation involving the supporters of Chelsea during a Champions League match and attending a Sounders match. But lost in this comparison is something very important: Sounders supporters consider themselves supporters of Seattle first, second, and third.
Had Kang done any research he would have realized that the Sounders supporter culture dates back forty years, long before Among the Thugs or many of the narrow-minded viewpoints being espoused in European soccer culture today. It is a culture that prides itself on being independent, on marching to the beat of its own drummer, and certainly not caring what racists in London are thinking. Studies have been conducted on the issue as a whole here in the United States but their results are inconclusive.
What was so shocking about Mr. Kang’s claims about Emerald City Supporters was that they differed so greatly from my own. Although Prost Amerika is a site that has its origins in Seattle this editor is from Maryland and grew up on D.C. United. In my first and only appearance at a home Seattle Sounders match yours truly had the chance to meet many members of the Emerald City Supporters and walk the same path as Mr. Kang. Perhaps he caught them on a bad day but having seen their supporters for myself and spoken with them directly this editor met people from all different walks of life, races, backgrounds, and beliefs. Supporters openly engaged with non-soccer fans, handed out song cards, and politely asked members who had drank a bit much to quiet down if kids were nearby.
Although they were a bit biased towards the Sounders (they are supporters) never once did they exude any backwards feelings towards anyone. Considering that they were playing the Vancouver Whitecaps I was pleasantly surprised by the demeanor and attitude by both groups of supporters. It was by no means a quiet affair, but both sides deftly walked the fine line between having fun and going over the line.
The second major point that Kang overlooks is the notion that poor behavior and hooliganism is limited to just soccer. This is a stereotype that gets dredged up every so often by the aforementioned group of people who have little to no interest in the game. This along with Soccer is so boring, soccer is un-American, soccer is communist, and soccer is a game for wimps and sissies (along with another series of homophobic terms that we will respectfully avoid using) this notion that only soccer has issues with fan violence is something that gets tossed out when narrow-minded writers have nothing else better to say and need to fatten their word count.
Although Kang has no problem in diagnosing the ills of soccer, he misses the larger point. Sports are a reflection of society and society’s problems are not limited to soccer. Just in the past few years we have seen supporters wage fans being murdered at Major League Baseball games, brawls breaking out at National Football League matches, bananas being thrown at black National Hockey League players, and fans of National Basketball Association matches fighting players and coaches.
What is truly sad about this piece is that both Kang and The New York Times fail to do the basic job that all journalists are asked to do: research and interview. Aside from a short Alexi Lalas quote there is not one interview from an actual supporter. Had he actually researched the history of MLS he would have found that one of the oldest supporters groups, La Barra Brava of D.C. United, have their origins in South American soccer not Europe.
It is unclear whether Kang tried to reach out to the Emerald City Supporters. Had he, he might have learned of their various charitable causes, of their willingness to work on service projects, and their strong support of the Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, and Trans-gendered community (the group has a sub-group as well called the Pride of the Sound). He also may have found out that Gorilla FC, another Sounders supporters group, were able to raise $20,000 in one day for the victims of the Haitian earthquake.
In my experience as editor, the supporters groups here in the United States and Canada are some of the most responsive to email requests and article ideas. It may come from the dearth of coverage their teams get but whatever the case is a story like this requires a counterpoint. Based off of comments by MLS Commissioner Don Garber neither Mr. Kang or The Times chose to reach out to the Sounders or the league What could have been an excellent piece and a great discussion was reduced to click-bait.
(Editor’s Note The New York Times seems to agree. The piece is just a blip on their Sports section and not even listed in their Soccer section.)
One piece is not going to change the way anyone feels on this issue. But for those who were hoping that soccer could be treated with a modicum of dignity and respect in this country it is a sad reminder that for every step taken forward, something will continue to hold it back.
Rather than ending this article on a somber note we are going to turn this into a positive. It has always been my desire to find the beauty and joy of soccer. So what Prost would like for you, our readers, to do in the comments section is provide positive stories of your supporters groups and the community service projects that your organizations are involved in.
