It seems like it was about a year ago that RSL asked it's fans and supporter groups to get rid of the "You Suck A-Hole" chant. If anything, the chants just got louder. Well, now it's back in the news as a letter from the league and the club has been circulated among the supporter groups saying that if significant progress toward eradicating the chant is not seen in coming weeks, the groups will face sanctions. Some of these sanctions may include:
-Prohibiting the use of smoke making devices, flags, and Tifo at home and away matches.
-Revocation of parking passes and stadium credentials.
-Prohibiting the use of drums, megaphones, and capo stands.
Personally I see this as just another huge facepalm situation. Why in the world are we spending time arguing over something as stupid as this incredibly stupid chant? I watch MLS Live broadcasts every week and hear 10 times worse. There are a multitude of chants containing the F word. There are chants talking about the opposing team or a player "taking it up the a$$" Still, we go after after YSA.
Now I'm not personally offended by YSA as such. If you draw it's history back to it Spanish Language counterpart, then yes, it's incredibly offensive. So I do see why some folks do indeed find it offensive. I also don't take part in it. I've been known to yell "You Suck," but I've never tacked the last word on there.
However, I recognize that despite what goes on in the rest of the league, RSL can only police itself. We must remember that RSL is not the only team that has been warned on this. Seattle went after it as well early this year putting flyers in the seats asking fans to please stop using the chant.
In the end, the fact that Real Salt Lake as an organization wants it gone is good enough for me. I'll even discontinue my use of the "You suck" part as requested by the club. While I don't necessarily agree with the whole thing, I will respect the club's wishes and I urge other fans to do so as well. The sooner this is taken care of, the sooner we can get back to talking about what happens on the pitch and how to genuinely grow our supporters culture. Right now this is all a big joke of an elephant in the room standing in the way of all of that. Certainly our supporters can do without this chant.
I would hate to see flags, drums, and tifo disappear from Rio Tinto Stadium. So I really hope our supporters groups will finally get on board with this. I have my doubts though. A quick glance at the social media response has not been positive as it seems like this is going the way of telling a petulant child not to do something. We know they either continue to do it or even take it to the next level. So, that being said, I have a feeling that this ends badly. I hope I'm wrong. Many of our fans have a "If you don't like us then get lost" attitude anyway, and this plays into that.
So in the end, yes the argument seems stupid to a lot of us. The chant is REALLY stupid. but let's respect the club's wishes on this. If this is done, hopefully the FO and the supporter groups can get together to continue to advance our supporter culture. Right now, I'm just holding my breath for Wednesday night.
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