The Twelfth Man on the Disabled List

So, right after I posted that big analysis of the Fire's home record, former GM Peter Wilt went and wrote something at Pitch Invasion that struck me as integral to some of the point I was trying to make. A couple of parts stand out:

It took years, but through the Fire’s sympathetic direct response to its fans and brokering enough meetings and relationships with supporter group leadership, security and stadium personnel, we created better understanding, albeit tenuous, with the various parties, which ultimately minimized the negative experiences for Fire fans.

I’ve also had the opportunity of the preferable situation of operating a facility directly when the Chicago Fire played two seasons at Cardinal Stadium in Naperville. Not coincidentally, I believe the best customer service our fans ever experienced was during those two seasons.

The Cardinal Stadium bit is interesting, because the Fire's second-best home record ever was in the second year of that stretch. As Kenn pointed out in the comments on that last post, it could just be the particular alchemy of particular teams, but I do really think there's some quality to the fan support that's at least a component. So I would argue that once the kinks got worked out of Naperville in the first year, the fruits of that labor were reflected in the second.

And I'll need someone to confirm this for me, but I think the Fire's best home season, back in 2000, may have been the year that the Barnburners and the Ultras all moved into the same section and the impact of "Section 8" as an entity began to really be felt. I know it was the season after that first big roadtrip to Columbus where we scared the crap out of all the soccer moms and one of the Polish guys almost (inadvertently, probably) lit me on fire with either a flare or a smoke bomb.

Good times. And you could argue that the fan support is stronger when the team is, you know, really good, but I'm sticking with my theory that it goes both ways.

Peter finishes on this note:

Gaining a reputation as a responsive organization that truly cares about its fans doesn’t happen over night or with a single effort or event. It doesn’t ever “end” either. It’s a process and a culture that develops over time through consistent, honest and fair actions and communication with all team stake holders. It grows with good experiences for fans and importantly with organizational response to bad experiences.

The result is a team and organization that fans, sponsors, media and observers all feel good about and willing to support and even evangelize. And that is something that no advertising budget can buy.

To me, this is where things have gone off the rails, and Peter's description of "consistent, honest and fair actions and communication" applies directly to why that happened, although he's too nice of a guy to point directly to the flip side of that approach being too prevalent after he was dismissed.

On a personal level, I can vouch for the fact that I don't feel like I'm a part of something bigger any more, whereas I remember that MLS Cup final against Kansas City when time was running out and I really, truly thought to myself "we aren't winning because we're not cheering hard enough." And while I'm just one fan, I was pretty omnipresent for quite a long time, and it's not like I've settled down and started a family or moved out to the suburbs, or any of those "normal" things that cause you to gravitate away from what you did when you were younger.

So, I don't think I'm the only one who feels that their relationship to the team has changed. And, as I started to describe last time, I don't think I'm the only one who feels the relationship between Section 8 and other fans has changed. Again, the premise there is that the hardest of the hardcore in the supporters section initially made the trip to Toyota Park and sort of "radicalized" the support in ways that have a much harder time crossing the gap to the less hardcore fan, and that middle ground that can help cross that gap is still largely missing.

The net result is, again, that the fan support is fragmented and sometimes at odds with itself and -- more importantly -- with the organization, and that's not good. What worries me is that there are fewer and fewer players on the team (and fans in the stands, and staff members in the front office) who know what having everyone sort of resonating on a single frequency during a match can be like, and that's going to make it even harder to rebuild the "fortress" that the Chicago Fire at home has been in the past, wherever the location.