Author Archives: octoberthoughtspdx

For many of us, the possibility of a strike by MLS players just as the season is set to begin has been something that we’ve relegated (see what I did there) to a dark corner of our minds. And here we are, just days away from the opening dates of the MLS calendar and the players are still looking for free agency and the owners, well, we don’t know what they want because they aren’t talking.

But there are a fair number of folks that have no idea that a strike could be on the horizon. They’re gleefully, blissfully unaware. They may be your friends, your neighbors, the people who sit in front of you at games. I worry about them.

I worry that they won’t get it. I worry that, if the time comes, they’ll be more concerned with what their time is worth than they are with what the players are worth.

The players are gathered in a hotel in DC and have, both literally and figuratively, drawn the blinds. We don’t know what’s happening there, just that they’re still there, still meeting, even as MLS officials have reportedly left the building.

Watching Twitter, people I know are exchanging anecdotes about people who didn’t see this coming, who until very, very recently didn’t know a strike and/or a work stoppage were possibilities.

Gleefully, blissfully unaware.

This. This is where it might all fall apart for the players.

Fans of MLS clubs, like it or not, fall mostly into the casual category. They might be season ticket holders. They might even wear the scarves of the local supporters group. But do they really, in great numbers, have any idea this is happening?

I support the players and, should the vote to strike, I will continue to support the players. I’m not so sure those thousands of casual fans will.

So, this is my challenge to you, fellow supporters of MLS clubs: talk about this. Talk to everyone you know who has even a passing interest in MLS, or soccer as a whole, or even just sports. Make sure they know. Make sure they’re paying attention to the scant reporting that’s being done on the subject. Look to Jeffrey Carlisle (@jeffreycaslisle on Twitter) or Brian Strauss (@brianstrauss) or Steven Goff (@soccerinsider) for links and explanations of what’s going on. Or, for a slightly more clandestine account of the proceedings, check out Aaron Stollar (@aaronstoll) and Brooke Tunstall (@yessthatbrooke) who might still be standing in the parking lot of the hotel and are worth a Twitter follow if only to see if they’ve frozen to death.

And, should it come to a strike, I would urge you to make your views known to the teams themselves. Write letters. Actual letters. Don’t just bombard your ticket rep with angry emails, make your words mean something. Make them tangible. Pen on paper.

If you follow the players on Twitter, reach out to them. Let them know you stand with them. They’ll likely take a lot of crap from people who have no idea what’s going on.

Further still, if we reach game day with no actual game being played, make sure you hit your usual game day haunts. Bartenders and servers at bars and restaurants around MLS stadiums will be missing those tips. The effect of a strike reaches far outside the gates of the stadium.

Maybe we’ll wake up in the morning and all of this will have been resolved. Good. Either way, see you all this weekend at the bar by the stadium.

It’s snowing in Glasgow. Cars are skidding off roads, people are being warned to stay home if they can. The Hearts/Rangers match was just abandoned after 20-some odd minutes, with many in attendance saying it should never have begun.

But the abandonment of the match won’t be the story of tonight. Tonight will be remembered for something entirely different.

Tonight is when the support, recently so fractured and difficult to navigate, finally came together for one cause: to voice their frustration with those charged with the survival of a club on the brink of collapse.

Decisions made by the board have left the club in shambles, have left the coffers nearly empty, have left so many of us wondering if we’ll make it through to the end of the season without seeing administration again. Those who have stepped forward to help, to invest, to secure the survival of Rangers have been turned away in favor of others whose sole purpose is to turn a bit of a profit before moving on to the next project.

Within the last few days, we’ve reached the point where enough was finally enough: risking security over Ibrox in exchange for a few dollars, the sale of Lewis McLeod to, in essence, keep the lights on, the complete and utter disregard for supporters.

Fans are gathering outside the gates of Ibrox now, an hour after the game was abandoned. Finally. I hope they stay there until the future is secure.

“Love has a way of turning you inside out. Teasing you and leaving you anguished. And then, when it seems that hope and belief is all that’s left, love lifts you higher than ever before, allowing you to glimpse the dream. Never, ever give up. Believe beyond reason.”

This week has been a whirlwind. World Cup, a midweek trip to Starfire, a last-minute scramble to hitch a ride north for a second time this week. More World Cup. The arrival (finally) of Liam Ridgewell. Add to that trip-planning for a weekend in Victoria to see Rangers and the late-night post from RFC Official of Kris Boyd at the airport and I’m as close to the edge as I’ve been in a very long time.

And I wouldn’t give any of it up for anything.

Two years ago, I got mad and wrote something and people responded. Then I wrote a little more and more voices joined the conversation. I never expected to write for anyone but myself, but then one of my posts blew up and I finally felt like I’d found my place.

I’ve written for several publications since, Slide Rule Pass and Prost Amerika getting most of my words. I have a piece in the latest issue of WATP Magazine and have signed on to do something (though I don’t know what) at Twelve.

I never could have imagined the people I would meet or the places I would end up when I started writing.

In the morning, I’ll head north to Seattle once more. It will be loud and crowded and overwhelming and anxiety-inducing just as it always is. And I’ll try to capture it in words as it happens. And, if my luck holds, a few of you might read what I write. For that, I thank you.