So for the last little while there's been a debate going on in RSL fan circles and in MLS circles in general about the use of a particular chant with a naughty word in it. Just so we're all clear, MLS, national broadcasting companies, and the clubs have taken exception to the "YSA" chant. Simply put, fans yell "You suck a-hole" at the opposing 'keeper immediately after a goal kick.
If you're one of my readers from across the pond, this probably doesn't seem like it should be that big of a deal. However, if you're not aware of the evolution of this particular chant, it mimics a chant often heard in Mexico that basically says "You Suck," but instead of a-hole, it adds a gay slur on the end that rhymes with Pluto. It's foul, and I won't repeat it here. Suffice it to say that for a lot of folks, it carries a little more gravitas than simply calling someone an a-hole.
Now obviously MLS wants to create a particular environment at the stadium, and the broadcast TV media would rather not broadcast it, so we see why the league wants to get rid of it. So that begs a couple of questions:
1. How do you get a large number of folks to abandon this behavior?
2. How do you handle the supporters groups who feel passionately that they pay their money for their seat, and should be allowed to chant what they like?
First off I want to recommend a viewpoint written by Chris Enger over at Soccer Newsday. The RSL community knows and loves him as the host of the RSL Show podcast. I've never met him, but he's as passionate about RSL, MLS, and the game as anyone I know, and he crafted a good piece on the issue.
Now back to the questions I posed and my opinion on them. I'm not a professional sports writer. I'm just a footy fan who likes to write about the game and engage in conversation about it. What I'm going to say is just my opinion, not saying it's right or wrong.
1. How do you gets folks to cut this out? Well there's a couple of ways of going about it. You can try what happened in New England last year, where from what I heard fans were threatened with arrest and permanent expulsion from the field. This led to national attention being brought to the issue, as the Supporters groups in "The Fort" had it out with the club. It got pretty ugly.
You could also try the route RSL has taken, trying to work with the supporter groups and and their leaders to ask the people to refrain from the chant. Now, I'm not a member of any supporters group, but this is what has been portrayed as happening, so I'm just assuming it is. However this approach seems to have only met with limited success. YSA is still heard at the RioT, though if I'm not mistaken the incidence seems to have generally gone down over the last few home matches.
My thoughts are this: I don't think the first approach is sustainable. As Enger mentions in his article, the supporters groups that are often involved are usually the most ardent fans of the team, and arguably they contribute significantly to the clubs bottom line, or at least more than the causal fan that comes to 1 or 2 matches per year. I don't think threatening these wonderful, die hard supporters with arrest and expulsion is a good idea. It just makes you look foolish, a la New England last year. I encourage clubs to have open dialogue with the supporters and their leaders, with the reality in mind that the club, league, or supporters group cannot police everyone, and shouldn't really have to.
After all, MLS has faced a bit of an issue over the last few years. They've tried to balance their marketing between the "family friendly American sports fan" and the die hard soccer fans. What they found is you can't really push one or the other out, but especially not those base, die hard soccer fans, and expect the league to flourish and grow. That brings me to the second question.
2. How do you handle these supporters groups? I think the clubs need to work with the supporters on personal level about this. I'm not saying that the front office should meet with every single fan, that's not practical, obviously. I know RSL has supporters summits, and I'm sure other clubs do. Maybe there should be more of these where management, and maybe even a player or two, meet with these groups and talk about the situation. I think if the supporters see it as a request from the familiar faces they know, players, coaches, etc, they might be more apt to help out as opposed to sending a suit out from the PR department to say "Do this, or else." If Captain Kyle Beckerman asked me to jump off a bridge for the good of the club, I'd seriously consider it. Ok, that's a slight exaggeration...
How do I personally feel about it? Well, I don't use it. I do the "You Suck" part and then just end it. Most of the folks in our section abide by this. We have a family with children that sit right in front of us, and they're good folks, so I try to moderate my language. It doesn't ALWAYS work, but I succeed most of the time.
I'm not a prude. So you know my background: I'm not LDS, I haven't lived my whole life in Utah. As a general rule, people's language doesn't bother me. However, I'm also aware that there are folks who don't think the same way I do.
Therein lies the crux of the issue, and that coin has two sides. Not everyone has the same beliefs or moral code, whatever you like to call it. If you're a person that's offended by this kind of language, it's gotta be difficult. I agree that there's an acceptable and unacceptable standard for public behavior, but not everyone is going to agree on where that line rests. It will NEVER happen. Perhaps it's unfortunate, but you're going to run in to people who curse in public, maybe even curse in unison. I can see it being more of an issue with families with kids, but even then you can't expect MLS, the club, or the Supporters groups to eradicate all the behavior that you find offensive. In the end, it's a free country. Yes I know the stadiums can regulate behavior on private property. However the reality is that we're not going throw everyone who swears in jail, and it's unrealistic to expect the club to field an army of language police throughout the stands to kick out anyone who utters a swear word. Honestly, for most people, that's not a reality we want to live in anyway.
If we're asking the supporters groups to change things, realize that people are trying. However, if you're honestly one of those people who are affected that much by the utterance of a curse word, then I'm not sure the league will ever be able to placate you. Some people have made the choice not to attend matches because of this, and that's too bad. However, the successful medium has to be found to keep the league flourishing. In the end it is your choice to make.
Enger makes the point in his piece that we ought to be policing ourselves. This shouldn't necessarily be something the league has to make an all out blitz on. If we all took a look at those around us and realized that it takes all kinds in the world, we'd be better off. For those of us that don't have a problem with the language, maybe we try to be adults and see if we can cut it back some to enhance the enjoyment of others. After all, it can be done, look at Timbers Army.
If you're someone honestly that offended by it, again, realize the efforts are being made. Maybe you could try acting a little differently too. I know I don't want to sit next to a person who is going to drop the F word every other word for 90 minutes either, but that's on the extreme. Let's all try to loosen up a little and enjoy the game we love.
We're all there to support our club, and hopefully working together and loosening up on both ends can enhance the enjoyment for everyone. However in the end, it's a sports arena, not a church, and the choices we make are our own.
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