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The Way Forward for the Fire


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#16 Section 8 El Guapo

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Posted 21 September 2009 - 08:50 PM

When you're here, you're family.

I just saw that tagline on an Olive Garden commercial and it made me nostalgic for the Wilt era.

I was speaking with a Red Stars reprentative and pretty much told her the same thing.

Ever since Wilt left that family has broken up.
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UNA VIDA...UNA MUERTE...UN CLUB



#17 tonyz

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Posted 21 September 2009 - 08:50 PM

When you\'re here, you\'re family.

I just saw that tagline on an Olive Garden commercial and it made me nostalgic for the Wilt era.



im working on the next tifo!
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#18 irishoutsider

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Posted 21 September 2009 - 09:05 PM

Nicely put by everyone, except for Ben, but only because I havent been to the Olive Garden in FOREVER! :lol:

#19 BenBurton

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Posted 22 September 2009 - 10:07 AM

In the end I think the only reasonable path forward is with the removal of Greeley as President of the club. It's obvious he does not have the leadership capabilities or understand of soccer to push this club forward.

I think we're going to have a board meeting in a week and a half. We should probably put this on the agenda as the first issue to discuss. What role should the ISA play? Andrew needs to listen eventually. He never came across as pigheaded so hopefully he's understanding on the issue.

Greeley must go.

#20 Nudles23

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Posted 22 September 2009 - 10:32 AM

Greeley must go.



I agree, but why just Greeley? Are you using the mindset that leadership usually brings in their own regime? I don't think that's a safe gamble. I think most of the leadership team needs to be replaced.

#21 Section 8 El Guapo

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Posted 22 September 2009 - 10:42 AM

I agree, but why just Greeley? Are you using the mindset that leadership usually brings in their own regime? I don't think that's a safe gamble. I think most of the leadership team needs to be replaced.



I agree with this. The only issue I see here is there needs to be a leadership and leadership team in the first place.

just saying ;)
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UNA VIDA...UNA MUERTE...UN CLUB



#22 jogadubwise

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Posted 22 September 2009 - 11:32 AM

Greeley is the most readily fireable. Acting to get him removed is a lot easier and frankly more worthwhile than trying to get Hauptman to sell the team to other investors that don't exist.

Anyone want to start playing Mega Millions with me?
QUOTE (chicubfan @ May 29 2009, 03:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I interned in the FO for a little while and trust me they are so dumb had they payed off the refs they probably would have presented them one of those huge checks during halftime on the field.

QUOTE (joey @ Oct 8 2009, 07:35 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
halloween specific stadium.




#23 firefan1998

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Posted 22 September 2009 - 12:29 PM

When you're here, you're family.

I just saw that tagline on an Olive Garden commercial and it made me nostalgic for the Wilt era.

i have to agree. i haven't felt like that in a couple of years. and thats why it's getting to the point that i can't even justify season tickets next year.

#24 Es Brennt

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Posted 22 September 2009 - 01:08 PM

Attending matches in Portland and Seattle this summer really opened my eyes to how disconnected I have come to feel with this club, and really got me nostalgic for the days when I felt appreciated and looking forward to building something together with the club. That being a Fire fan was being a part of something. That we were all building up a success story for pro soccer in Chicago and in the USA. That what we were doing in the stands was part of an overall Chicago Fire effort, an effort that also included what the players were doing on&off the field, and the vision for success and longevity that seemed to be driving the team's management.

We got a stadium and stalled. Now I just show up. Hang with friends. Cheer on the team and hope that someday the Chicago Fire will make some moves, any moves, to achieve the success I had dreamed about and believed was possible 10 years ago. Successes that are being achieved by other teams in the league.

Hauptman asked the media about the runway ahead, but he has yet to ask the fanbase for the same sort of input in any meaningful way. As long as Greeley and the bunch see the ISA as just the way to dictate to the rowdy fans in the cheap seats we are stuck in mediocrity and decline. It is shameful to have squandered so much trust and passion these last few years.
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#25 LizFireFan

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Posted 22 September 2009 - 01:31 PM

Have not posted here in a long time- sorry about the long winded rant!

IMHO- If you think in terms of longevity relative to the Fire, FO personnel change, players change, but many of the members of Section 8 are probably the most stable in terms of continual relationships with the team.

Professional soccer in Chicago has only a small piece of the sports pie here. Part of the original charm of the Fire was its personal touch relative to the fans. The last two management groups appear to be "suits" who want to manage from a distance. When you do that, you run the risk of alienating your core fans by losing touch with what they see as important.

Part of the frustration in dealing with the FO is you have people with emotional ties to their team talking to folks for whom the Fire is primarily a business. Returning fans and STH's are needed as a basis for recurring ticket sales. If the guys up top don't see that, the Fire is doomed anyway, because it will not be successful as a business.

#26 jogadubwise

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Posted 22 September 2009 - 01:36 PM

Is there anybody here who WOULDN'T love to have John Guppy back? I'd meet his plane at the airport and lay down palm leaves on the tarmac.
QUOTE (chicubfan @ May 29 2009, 03:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I interned in the FO for a little while and trust me they are so dumb had they payed off the refs they probably would have presented them one of those huge checks during halftime on the field.

QUOTE (joey @ Oct 8 2009, 07:35 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
halloween specific stadium.




#27 firefan1998

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Posted 22 September 2009 - 02:42 PM

Attending matches in Portland and Seattle this summer really opened my eyes to how disconnected I have come to feel with this club, and really got me nostalgic for the days when I felt appreciated and looking forward to building something together with the club. That being a Fire fan was being a part of something. That we were all building up a success story for pro soccer in Chicago and in the USA. That what we were doing in the stands was part of an overall Chicago Fire effort, an effort that also included what the players were doing on&off the field, and the vision for success and longevity that seemed to be driving the team's management.

We got a stadium and stalled. Now I just show up. Hang with friends. Cheer on the team and hope that someday the Chicago Fire will make some moves, any moves, to achieve the success I had dreamed about and believed was possible 10 years ago. Successes that are being achieved by other teams in the league.

Hauptman asked the media about the runway ahead, but he has yet to ask the fanbase for the same sort of input in any meaningful way. As long as Greeley and the bunch see the ISA as just the way to dictate to the rowdy fans in the cheap seats we are stuck in mediocrity and decline. It is shameful to have squandered so much trust and passion these last few years.

well said joel. :cheers:

#28 jogadubwise

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Posted 22 September 2009 - 03:53 PM

Attending matches in Portland and Seattle this summer really opened my eyes to how disconnected I have come to feel with this club, and really got me nostalgic for the days when I felt appreciated and looking forward to building something together with the club. That being a Fire fan was being a part of something. That we were all building up a success story for pro soccer in Chicago and in the USA. That what we were doing in the stands was part of an overall Chicago Fire effort, an effort that also included what the players were doing on&off the field, and the vision for success and longevity that seemed to be driving the team's management.

We got a stadium and stalled. Now I just show up. Hang with friends. Cheer on the team and hope that someday the Chicago Fire will make some moves, any moves, to achieve the success I had dreamed about and believed was possible 10 years ago. Successes that are being achieved by other teams in the league.

Hauptman asked the media about the runway ahead, but he has yet to ask the fanbase for the same sort of input in any meaningful way. As long as Greeley and the bunch see the ISA as just the way to dictate to the rowdy fans in the cheap seats we are stuck in mediocrity and decline. It is shameful to have squandered so much trust and passion these last few years.

I completely agree. I honestly believe that a well-run and well-marketed USL-1 team in Chicago would significantly cut into the Fire's fanbase right now, an idea that would have been risible as recently as four or five years ago.
QUOTE (chicubfan @ May 29 2009, 03:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I interned in the FO for a little while and trust me they are so dumb had they payed off the refs they probably would have presented them one of those huge checks during halftime on the field.

QUOTE (joey @ Oct 8 2009, 07:35 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
halloween specific stadium.




#29 Steve the Arsonist

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Posted 23 September 2009 - 12:59 AM

I well understand that Andrew is a big cheese and as such is insulated from ready contact, but is there any way we, as individuals, can contact him directly?

Addressing anyone lower in the food chain obviously does us no good.

You can talk about average attendance for matches, but Chicago is the 2nd or 3rd biggest market for the league (easily 6 million for the metro area) and for us to pull down "average" attendance means we're pulling down below average attendance.
This isn't Cbus or Huoston or Colorado, in terms of population. Even with all the other sporting options, pulling down an inflated 16,000 or 17,000 a match is failure.

Shit!

#30 irishoutsider

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Posted 23 September 2009 - 06:36 AM

I honestly believe that a well-run and well-marketed USL-2 team in Chicago would significantly cut into the Fire's fanbase right now, an idea that would have been risible as recently as four or five years ago.


FYP. Its not as hard as you'd think.




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