dude, I saw a story on this on real sports. I was in shock. They throw bananas at the black players and do a "money chant". I couldn't believe it. Could you imagine if someone here threw a banana at shaq? that guy would get crushed! even though I hate Bonds, I could never think someone would do that....that racist shit they do over there is insane. It's like watching something that happened 50 years ago, not in this century. I think everyone has their moments where you let something out, be it the N word, or other derrogatory names for ethinicities and races out of anger or frustration. Even then it ain't right, but to do someof those things they showed, it's an embarrasment. There was just an article about how some soccer team got fined for their fans chanting anti-semetic things at the other team and their fans. disgraceful.
I liked Fireman Ed...I thought he was a very devoted fan who knew the game fairly well and got the fans pumped at the right times. BUT last year im not sure if any of you noticed, but he was not at the Bucs game last year in Vinny's first start. Its like he is kind of the heart of the stadium and he gave up on the season. Sad actually. But it was hilarious with all the imitators who tried.
Best for me was always Ranger fans in the Garden chanting "Potvin beats his wife," even when they were'nt playing rthe Islanders. I have no problem with Fireman Ed. I get to 1 game a year and always look forward to the cheer. Having someone lead it is fine with me.
The racist stuff is mainly on continental Europe: especially Spain and Italy. It certainly stains soccer in a big way when crowds do that sort of stuff.
At the same time though, most of those people might not even be considered true soccer fans. They just want a national spotlight to showcase their radical beliefs. However it does put a negative spotlight on the game, I also wonder. England has really cut down on having Nazis and skinheads at games. Why is it harder to get rid of these people in Spain, Poland, Italy and in other countries?
I remember both sides of the stadium chanting against each other. But when the whole stadium gets into the chant, it is loud!!(remeber Jags 98 Game). I don't have a problem with Ed, He gets the crowd going. What he does on his own time is his own business. Could be worse like singing Mighty Taco in Buffalo at Rich stadium......or the Bills, they make you wanna SHOUT!!! After those two chants, your lunch feels like coming up.....
I don't know, but I figure what happened in England is they were able to hunt down the violent fans, and it was these ones that were racist. The fact they were also violent made it easier for them to be locked up and got rid of. For some reason the continental racists aren't as violent as what the English skinheads were: racism seems to be more mainstream in countries like the ones you mention. I think part of this is because there are a massive number of illegal immigrants coming out of Europe and Africa to live in continental Europe, and this is causing huge social tension in some countries. England has less of these because its basically surrounded by water and harder to get to. Thus racism is more mainstream in continental European countries: you can't just turf out the racists in continental Europe because you'd be turfing out most of the fans if you did that. Racism always seems to be bubbling away below the surface in continental Europe: it is hopeful the Europeans eventually follow the British, though....British crowds are now not only not racist, but also quite anti-racist, and quite prepared to jump on any racist behaviour they see.
Spot on Bomber. If a British team ie; Celtic , Liverpool, Man U or Rangers play in mainland europe its not uncommon for the monkey chants and bananas shit to start. It makes me feel sick to the pit of my stomach. Fortunatley this is not a part of the British game , well 99.99% of it anyway. I forget who it was playing against Inter (man U?) and the inter milan crowd were doing nazi salutes and everything and the teams president wouldn't even chastise those elements , so it would appear to be deeply ingrained into their game , sad.
My karaoke song. The only song I can do justice, (so I'm told) I even have the vein popping out of my neck when I sing it :grin:
Ive been an islander fan for 30+years. There is still nothing funnier to me than "Beat your wife, Potvin, beat your wife." I still think that the ranger fans -- less and less every year -- chant potvin suck once a game. Listen for the whistle. As for ED -- long before he became an official mascot -- he was there on his own dime. I have no problem with him. J-E-T-S jets jets jets.
I have had season tickets for 26 years and I don't like Fireman Ed. Why? First of all, I agree with the Paris Hilton comparison above. What makes him a better fan than the rest of us? Because he sits down low and does this chant? But because of this chant he has become the "face" of Jet fans and he doesn't deserve it. Second, and most importantly, he doesn't know football. Any knowledgeable fan knows that the fans should be quiet when the Jets are on offense. The players need to hear the signals etc. (Look at the how disruptive the noise in Seattle is to opposing offenses). Well, Fireman Ed doesn't know this. So when the Jets make a big play on offense and still have the ball, he goes into his chant and the offense can't hear. It's ignorant. If you haven't noticed, Jet management has finally caught on to this. During the Pats game, they put "Quiet on Offense" on the scoreboard when the Jets had the ball. Third, I want to know how a man on a fireman's salary can afford to go to away games every year. And I don't just mean to fFoxboro. I mean to place Oakland, Denver etc. If the Jets pay his way, shame on them. Lastly, he doesn't deserve his status as the #1 Jet fan. When the Jets are not playing well, he doesn't show up. He missed a number of games last year. I love the chant, but he didn't invent it and I don't like the chant leader.
I've been an Islander fan since they came into existence. I find the Potvin chant funny because Potvin always saved his best games for the Garden. So while the fans were chanting away, Potvin was putting up a goal and two assists and the Islanders were beating the Rangers to a pulp. It has as much relevance now as the old "1940" chant, which was always my favorite. Go to an Islander game and in EVERY game they play the "chicken dance" song and every verse ends with "The Rangers suck." Now that is funny.
I think that's close.. I'm in 118, and he's a littl ebit to the left of me. So I'm not sure if the sections go up or down that direction...
You don't like the chant? That's us, baby! J!E!T!S! JETS! JETS! JETS! Even fans of other teams respect the chant. Berman uses it in his highlights. It's one of the most recognizable chants in sports. I can't think of another chant from another team that defines their team as much as our chant. I don't like him for other reasons. He sometimes runs around the stadium to other sections to get them going. One time he came to ours and looked right at me at screamed. GET UP!!!!!!! So I looked right back and mouthed the words F**K YOU!!!! He looked away. I'm a good fan. I stand for the chant. I yell on third down for the D. I go to the games when they aren't good, but I don't have to stand because this angry douchebag orders me to. What am I, his puppet? I didn't feel like standing at that particular time. I was tired. :lol:
Wow so you and the 10 other people get to chant, bravo! Fireman Ed is a media creation more then anything. But really he leads chants at Jets games, it is not like some actor spouting off about feeding the poor then goes to party in their million dollar mansion with ten pounds of blow and 15 hookers. What is there to hate? He just leads a freaking chant.
