Big Flag
I was looking forward to my first Galaxy game since the Quakes reintroduction into the MLS.
All 3 of last year’s Colisseum games were all on some of the worst possible days for me, making
me never able to see the “Califoria Clasico”. So my excitement tank was on full going into the
stadium. The Ultras/Casbah connection walking into the staidum was electrifying. The chants
clearly heard by anyone inside of Oakland’s tunnels. Fellow fans looking on and enjoying the
spectacle.
The game was pretty good, performance wise. Unfortunately, the Boys In Blue were unable to again
hold onto the lead. We have all read the match reports, so I won’t go into a detailed description,
but I was happy with the effort. Pablo Campos looks better and better every outing, but isnt quite
there conditionally. We really missed Hucks out there, and Shea. And we have been missing Jason
Hernandez for the season so far. Lets all hope he gets back into the line up soon.
The game was only a fraction of what occured that night however….
I cannot describe in a single word how I, along with most of the group, feel about the Colisseum’s
security. Disappointment? Frustrating? These can both be used. Excluding people out of our
standing section because they have tix in another section, depsite our sections behind open to
everyone…ridiculous. Push anyone, including small children, in their path in pursuit of a pretty
innocent person…ridiculous. To almost allow us to not receive our tickets, meaning close to 100
less people…ridiculous. Ripping our banners away from us, despite their locations being well
within the rules (look under “Accepted Items”)….ridiculous. Hey! I think I found the word to
describe security!
Now I understand that the 1906 Ultras are taboo in American sporting supporters scene, and that
many don’t understand what we do. Let me reiterate what I said during my first post. We use
visuals and our voice to show support for the Quakes. We don’t do it to offend nor hurt anyone.
To restrict that is restricting how we support our team. We have the sense to know what is right
and what is wrong. And how we were handled in Oakland on Saturday night was absolutely not the
way to keep a crowd calm.
San Jose Earthquakes, we plead you to find another stadium for “big games” or keep all the games
at Buck Shaw. If not, then get the Raiders security staff. I attended a game a couple years ago
in which tensions were felt the whole game, and small incidents occured, but the Raiders security
staff handled it all very calmly and made sure nothing escalated. Props to them.
So how was my first experience at the Oakland Colisseum? Ridiculous. And I will never go back
there again.
If this post has come out in a weird format, please inform me. Thank you.
I was in the supporters sections and observed hostility and aggressiveness from security/usher staff towards fans in the sections. From what I observed, none of the fans in the area were giving anybody any problems. If anything, it looked like staff were giving people a hard time about not having tickets in the assigned seating areas. Ok, fair enough but they don’t need to use public slander against paying customers and supporters. This is just salt on the wound for a dilapidated stadium. The configurations and sight lines are bad enough. I can’t believe Gold Cup matches are gonna be there not to mention the Coliseum folks are interested in becoming a serious candidate as a 2018/2022 World Cup venue. I don’t even want to think about how security staff would handle fans from visiting countries. I say keep the matches in the South Bay. Have the “big” games at Stanford. The Coliseum has become depressing.
Stanford…now that is a dream. I wish. I believe that was knocked out as a possiblity because of the rent being so high, not sure if it was true. But lets hope its not so we can get some games there. its a beauty of a stadium.