Back in the days when I actually wrote on this blog I popped out a piece I am still rather proud of. It was a contrasting look at how my relationship with game days had changed (or not changed) between the 1990s when I was a regular at Arsenal games and 2010 as a season ticket holder at Wizards games.
A year later I considered amending the piece to account for yet another year, and deciding it would make it bloated and overly long decided to leave it be and discuss it here. The truth is as much has changed in the last 48 months, not so much with me and my aging old bones but my perception and relationship with the Wizards.
Roll the clock back to opening day of 2010 and we were playing DC United in the first home game of the season. We were at CAB and Peter Vermes was about to manage his first game as the “not temporary” manager of the team having opted to take on the job instead of seeking out a replacement. In a delicious twist of irony Curt Onalfo the prior manager had been hired by DC United, who had also picked up Adam Cristman, and the ever unpopular Kurt Morsink. They looked like a disaster waiting to happen, meanwhile I was filled with optimism for a Wizards season that included a vastly different roster. Ryan Smith, Stephane Auvray, Craig Rocastle, and Teal Bunbury were new exciting names and the team was looking like it might go somewhere.
The fan base as a whole was optimistic heading into a new season but pessimism wasn’t in short supply either. We’d failed to make the playoffs in 2009, made them in 2008 only to be dumped out by Columbus in the first round and there wasn’t much to cheer about in between. While CAB was an upgrade over Arrowhead in terms of atmosphere it still made us a laughing stock around the remainder of MLS.
Being a Wizards fan back then seemed like a chore in a way. We turned up in hope more than with any real optimism and despite trouncing DC United 4-0 that day, the sentiment of “they’ll let us down” wasn’t hard to find. If I could sum us up in one word it would have been downtrodden. I summed it up then by describing tailgating in an empty parking lot prior to the game:
“I feel at home with a beer in my hand and the poor sad bastards I stand with. I am one of them. A Wizards fan.”
Poor sad bastards? March 2010.
The funny thing was in many respects, the 2010 season without actually being good was one of the most monumental in the history of the team. We broke ground on LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in January, but there wasn’t enough of it by opening day to be truly exciting. We were still mired at CAB, it wasn’t until spring truly arrived and the wheels had started to come off the 2010 season that the stadium started to take real form and distract us from the horror show on the field. We finished the season strong but still managed to avoid the playoffs.
In November our name changed, our logo, our colors. The Kansas City Soccer Stadium became LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, and we were lumbered with a ten road trip to start the season. Even with the fresh start it seemed like we were hell bent on sabotaging the new season. We won the season opener vs Chivas then hobbled our way through the road trip. New name, same old Wizards.
LIVESTRONG finally opened and we blew our home opener, saving the party for the San Jose. That night remade the team for me, while the opener was a great night it was the San Jose game that made LSP home and the run that followed that night has taken us from nowhere in the Eastern Conference to the pinnacle of the division. Tonight (yeah I am late hitting publish), a win against San Jose will all but land us a playoff spot and it is fair to say that between now and then everything seems to have changed. The team has clicked, the stadium has remained full, the broader media market around Kansas City is taking notice. I see Sporting KC stickers on the backs of cars no matter where I drive in the metro and people contacting me and calling for tickets. I could not give them away last year.
For the first time in my brief history with this organization there isn’t a sliver of embarrassment around the edges. I am genuinely proud of how far this team has come in so short a space of time this, proud of the stadium for sure, but almost more proud of the way the fans within are reacting to it and learning to take part in a growing fan culture which is often mentioned in the same breath as Portland and Seattle by MLS pundits that used to consider the Wizards a blight on MLS in much the same way many fans view Chivas USA.
The ultimate indicator of change happened for me on Wednesday when we climbed to the peak of the Eastern Conference table. I renewed my season tickets in the Members Section the night before the game. It wasn’t so I could get a couple of poncy seats in the Victory Suite or so I could take advantage of it was because the very same people who refused free tickets from me in the past actually want season tickets in the members section next year. Winning over the English Ex-Pat community in Kansas City is a triumph, drilled home more than every by a friend of mine I jabbed at today when his beloved Everton lost.
“I’m in a good mood mate, Sporting Kansas City are heading for the playoffs! Never thought it possible but MLS is giving me a lot more pleasure than the Premier League these days…”
I think most of us can finally say the same about Sporting Kansas City.