Football is the beautiful game.

It's the sound of leather upon leather, the rustle of netting and the intake of breath before the outpouring of rabid emotion as the striker wheels away.

It's the taste of that first beer of the day, the pie or burger at half time, curry at the end of the night.

Its the hair on the back of your neck standing up as you take your son or daughter to their first game and remember you, as a child looking in amazement at the huge stadium and feeling the raw emotion and power of a full terrace.

But honestly football is mostly just standing next to a billion drums played at incredible decibels of volume and trying not to strangle them, or that pessimistic bloke who constantly puts the team down even when they've just scored. Or standing next to Johnny Canuck in his hockey shirt and listening to him say how 'it's not as good as his team, man united/ac Milan/brazil when he 'supports' them from his living room.'

Do you know what though? I wouldn't swap it for the world.

I'm ready for tomorrow's game.

LETS GO CAPS!

Brenton said He borrowed liberally from Garth Brooks' Rodeo:

That's a bit of a stretch. Garth knows nothing of curries. Just ask Joe Cannon.

Blue_And_White_Army hit the nail on the head. I agree with every single point, especially the first half of what he said, the front office should've been a bit more lenient with us on this. It's a shame because we were just starting to build a good relationship, hopefully it doesn't halt the improvement.

Bistchen said: Drum Cafe, or no Drum Cafe !

I'm pumped for tomorrow !!!!!!! YEEEEHHHHAAAAWWWW !!

Lets go Caps !!!!!!!

Fuckin rights.

Drums or no drums, tomorrow will be my first time sitting in the Southside and I am pumped

Solar said: Drums or no drums, tomorrow will be my first time sitting in the Southside and I am pumped

sitting???! well i bloody hope not ;)

Ok! That wasn't too bad!

I think the drums did a good job. I only noticed once when they kept going for roughly one minute. Out of 93, not bad at all! Good on them for trying to work with the southsiders. I'm fine with them continuing to be there.

Glad to know it turned out to be a non issue. Who'd ave thought...

can't say i noticed drum cafe watching on tv. SS sounded loud often throughout the game. Although there were some weird times when it sounded like you could hear 1 person chanting. maybe a mic issue.

I didn't notice them on TV at all. The only crowd noise I could hear was the Southsiders' chants and songs.

In fairness they definitely weren't as bad as feared and kudos to them for their efforts. However, it should be noted that their drumming was far more audible at the back of 252 than the Southsiders chants, so it would be wrong to suggest they were a non-factor. I still stand by my position that they're pointless but really do appreciate their efforts in toning it down and trying to work with the fans.

?

What your point dexter? :))

Legal_Alien said: In fairness they definitely weren't as bad as feared and kudos to them for their efforts. However, it should be noted that their drumming was far more audible at the back of 252 than the Southsiders chants, so it would be wrong to suggest they were a non-factor. I still stand by my position that they're pointless but really do appreciate their efforts in toning it down and trying to work the fans.

Ya it wasn't that bad but they still did make it harder to hear what is going on at the front a few times.

It didn't bother me like last year though. I give them a thumbs up for trying.

Once I saw where they were seated, I watched them closely to see if there was any friction. They largely seemed to keep quiet and watch what the SS were doing, and matched their drumming to the chants... like the FO was closely monitoring what was being said there.

The biggest thing I noticed was that, by the end of the chants, they were out of time with the SS... being a hack drummer myself, I chalk it up to them actually keeping time, and the SS losing pace as both the beer and chant progressed.

Overall, not worth the fire-and-brimstone that happened earlier in this thread.

I'm sure the Koreans in 227 would appreciate them ;)

Lord_Bob said: In row B of section 251, my first thought about the drum cafe was after I was leaving the stands and saw some of the drums. I didn't even notice them all game from where I was.

I didn't even know they were playing from 253.

I was up in row S of 254 near the fence above the player entrances and the drum cafe certainly wasn't an issue. Whenever a chant got going they tried to go along with it.

Sometimes they tried to start a clap clap clap clap etc etc Whitecaps chant when it looked like something else was trying to be done but in fairness, even when they weren't going, with all of the crowd noise, we couldn't even hear the capo's and such from where we were.

Drum cafe seemed to work very well, taking their queues from the Southsider's chants.

Call me an idealist but can Southsiders constructively suggest a co-operative effort with the drummers? Something like teaching them the chants and getting them in sync with drums emphasizing the percussive aspects and leaving space for the words?

Not sure the best way to do this....meet with the FO or with the drummers themselves...it seems they've been given their own atmospheric agenda. But could they be convinced to syncronize with the Southsiders chants? I can't fathom why not.

However, If this can't be done, they should be down the other end where the fans are pretty much clueless and lacking the atmosphere of the southside.

I will say i've gone into Whitecaps office a few times to make personal communication and each time they've been pretty accommodating...including the time they wrongfully ejected a nearby fan....when I went in to complain and defend him, they were already on the road to reimbursing him.

I could be wrong, and Piltdownman said he's met with them, but somehow i believe in person continued communication with rational explanations/proof to back us up could convince them that Southsiders are a more effective, cohesive method of support/atmosphere generation.

paulonius said: Call me an idealist but can Southsiders constructively suggest a co-operative effort with the drummers? Something like teaching them the chants and getting them in sync with drums emphasizing the percussive aspects and leaving space for the words?

Not sure the best way to do this....meet with the FO or with the drummers themselves...it seems they've been given their own atmospheric agenda. But could they be convinced to syncronize with the Southsiders chants? I can't fathom why not.

However, If this can't be done, they should be down the other end where the fans are pretty much clueless and lacking the atmosphere of the southside.

Straw poll around the 254 area amongst ST holders was that it makes way more sense for them to be Northside to fill out noise there. The Southside really has got critical mass now across many sections, even without the drums.

Jay Duke said:

Its the hair on the back of your neck standing up as you take your son or daughter to their first game and remember you, as a child looking in amazement at the huge stadium and feeling the raw emotion and power of a full terrace.

I experienced this exact moment back in 1979 when my father took me to my first game at Empire Stadium versus the SJ Earthquakes. 'Caps won in OT on a Trevor Whymark header. I then got to live it all over again this past Saturday with my seven year old son. He walked up the steps and into the terrace, looked around, jaw dropped to the floor and exclaimed, "Mamma Mia!". Pure magic!!

Kudos to you Jay_Duke!!

ilromanista said: Sincere apologies to Robchester_2000 and to Jay_Duke for my previous post.

The quote:

Its the hair on the back of your neck standing up as you take your son or daughter to their first game and remember you, as a child looking in amazement at the huge stadium and feeling the raw emotion and power of a full terrace.

Should be attritubuted to Robchester_2000.

Kudos to you Robchester_2000!!

No probs! My own experience like that was my dad and me, January 11th 1991, man united v everton. Andrew kanchelskis scored the only goal, but I still remember holding my dads hand as we walked out of the gate into the stadium and just being overawed by how big and loud it was. One of my dads favorite memories too apparently. Damn football gives us incredible moments.

My daughters are still too little, but I can't wait to bring them to a caps game.