Wait ‘Til We Get to the Hills

I am not a basketball fan, because I simply completely sucked as a kid.  Having everyone be better than me at a sport made me have a strong dislike for it, but I have a large amount of respect for the game because I understand that it is difficult to play.  Why am I straying away from soccer, the Quakes, and the Ultras?  Because a situation that is all too familiar to all of us Quakes fans is occurring again in our great state of Northern California. 

The Sacramento Kings of the NBA are on the verge of moving to the wasteland that is Southern California, to Anaheim to be exact.  While this does not greatly affect me, I send my condolences to all Kings fans.  There are many similarities between our two clubs’ moving situations: both couldn’t get a better stadium/arena situation, both do not have the biggest fan bases and attendance numbers, both have fans that have a great passion for their team, and both had two LA douchebags (Predator and Judas) mock the fact that their teams are being moved.

I don’t have much of an analysis to give, so this is to simply tell the Kings fans that we, as Quakes fans, are with you and your struggle right now.  We know what you are feeling and hope that you don’t have to deal with the ultimate pain of losing your team like we had and that everything works out (whether they stay or come back later).  Luckily, Bill Simmons has some encouraging words for you all:

I’m still not sold on the Kings moving. People don’t realize – any "relocation fee" is decided by the other 29 owners. If they decide the Kings were worth, say, $275m in Sacramento and $425m in Anaheim, they ABSOLUTELY can demand $150m as the relocation fee. Maloofs can’t move without getting 15 owner votes. Price will not be cheap. And Maloofs are broke – they will have to sell to afford that fee. They don’t want to sell. Big mess ahead.

I am happy to report that the much-publicized 1906 Ultras protest is resolved. Today I had a very productive meeting with San Jose Earthquakes President Dave Kaval, whom I thank for his graciousness in meeting me in the East Bay. We have mutually decided to move forward in collaborative fashion by improving communication and focusing on working together for the well being of the Earthquakes organization and its entire fan base.

Two of the sanctions imposed on the 1906 Ultras have been modified. A “red card” received by a non-member of the 1906 Ultras was removed from the group’s record, while the period of probation for the Charlie Sheen tifo was reduced to three games inclusive of the one just played, with the further clarification that the probation does not prevent the 1906 Ultras from displaying appropriate tifo during the course of the probation.

As importantly, the 1906 Ultras and the Earthquakes have agreed that moving forward both parties will do our best to avoid repeating mistakes made in the past and to take a proactive approach to avoid further miscommunications. The San Jose Earthquakes’ history and tradition obliges us to give them our full and unreserved support and we intend to continue do so as we have over the past eight years. The 1906 Ultras would like to thank the numerous fans who showed solidarity with us during our recent protest, and we would like to invite ALL Earthquakes fans join in our songs and chants so as to turn Buck Shaw Stadium into the loudest in the league.

-1906 Ultras Leadership

The 1906 Ultras would like to extend our thanks and gratitude to Bay Area sports radio star Rick Tittle for joining us at our tailgate and hanging out in the stands with us during the match at the San Jose – Toronto game on April 9th.  It was an awesome experience having Rick come to the game with us and share soccer stories together.  The Ultras are huge fans of Rick’s show because he is one of those members of the sports media that "gets" soccer.  He has been a fan of the sport for many years and a fan of the Earthquakes since their inception in MLS (he sported an old San Jose Clash shirt to the match with us).  We also extend our condolences to him for Tottenham’s recent elimination from the Champions League.

We encourage all fans of the Earthquakes and fans of soccer to support his show, Titillating Sports with Rick Tittle, on 860 AM from 9am to Noon, Monday through Friday.  We also encourage you fans to call into the show, as Rick is well known for having a caller-driven show and lets his listeners help drive the discussion. 

Revolution?  War?  No, this isn’t a picture of another war-torn country, but the city of Split, Croatia, home of HNK Hajduk Split.  Some may be asking what this is all about, why does it look like the city is up in flames?  These flares, used across the city, were popped off in celebration of Hajduk Split’s 100-year anniversary on 12 February 2011.  These celebrations did not come from just a group of “hooligan” Ultras running amuck in the city, but by practically the entire club’s fan base.  This, my fellow readers, is what PASSION looks like.  You may disagree with the use of flares, smoke, and what not by groups around the world, and I admit that there is merit to that argument, but you can not deny that these pictures are breathtaking.  Can you imagine this kind of display of passion, one spawned entirely by the fans and not organized by the front office, of affection for a club in MLS? NFL? NBA? EPL? La Liga? any other team/sport around the world?  Certainly never in America.

The MLS will most likely never get to this point, since they seem to bend over for English football, but you can rest assured that there are some fans out there that carry similar passion for their club, their city/region, and their group.  Respect to Torcida Split and the rest of The Bili’s (“The Whites”) fans for showing us your passion.  Hopefully others in this area will take notice.

If you want to see more breathtaking pictures and videos of this night celebration, the pregame celebration, the game’s tifo, and match highlights, go to the original article at http://www.ultras-tifo.net/news/285-hajduk-split-100-years-celebration.html