Chairman's View-Issue 1

Let's face it: New Englanders like to bicker. We whine about the cold. We whine about the Red Sox, the Patriots, the Celtics, and how bad they always are. Like good New Englanders, Revolution fans never seem to agree. I want this, you want that, and neither of us wants to budge. We fracture, and this vicious cycle repeats itself year after year.

It's one thing to have quiet disagreements. It's quite another to turn people off by loud, obnoxious arguing. It happened last year, turning people off the list. This year it happened again and the effects are already far reaching. No less than 10 Topica list members left the list. It's really too bad that people don't realize when to stop the bickering. Discussion is fine. When it becomes heated, it's time to take this off the list.

On a personal note, I just can't understand the problem. Maybe I've missed something, but I can't understand the differences here. Maybe it's power, maybe it's direction, I'm not really sure. I'll support both groups. It's time to move away from all of this hate and discontent. We have to speculate incessantly about the 2001 lineup, and not worry about where our $5 or $10 goes in a fan club.

Honestly, the splintering of the Midnight Riders will help the Revolution fans. Remember, what does not kill us makes us stronger. The will of the fans is much too strong to be broken. One constant among the populous is the desire to see a winning club in New England. The cold hasn't broken us yet, and I doubt a little disagreement over the organization of a fan club will kill us either.

People don't always get along. It's a fact of life. It's a shame that it happens, but as humans we must evolve. Most of all, we must realize what the Anglicans and the Dissenters in England realized in the 1600's; You can look out for your own interests, but if you undermine a different group with similar goals (in the Anglicans' case: popishness), everyone loses. As Revolution fans, we must realize that the success of the Revolution is more important than our own petty self interests.

Let's not let our supporter club(s) turn into venomous outposts of radical fans, like in DC or LA. I'd hope that 99% of us are above this kind of ranting and raving. Why beat a beaten drum? It makes very little sense to me. Can a team have two supporter clubs? Definitely. It works in LA, Chicago, and DC. On the surface, this looks like it can mesh really well. The Riders have the Fort, while the 12th Man are scattered throughout the stadium. If it adds to the atmosphere of the stadium, then the split was well worth it.

I'm looking forward to the 2001 season. There are so many promising signs for the Revolution faithful with the emergence of William Sunsing, the scoring of Wolde (no, he doesn't need a last name to identify him anymore), and the tenacity of Rusty Pierce. It would be a shame to lose these signs due to some stupid bickering. I know we're New Englanders, and we can't help being unsatisfied. Get over it. I ask everyone to remember it could always be worse. We could live in New York. We could be among the 7,000 fans in Miami. Worst of all, we could be San Jose fans. Think of what we could be during this holiday season. Don't let some petty arguments jeopardize the special atmosphere we have at Foxboro.