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Oh hey, I’m here to rant about some thread on the Timbers ticket exchange page. There’s a very culturally insensitive situation happening right now. Yes, if you are cheering for the opposing team, you need to sit elsewhere, BUT for a game like this.. we need to
Chill TF out. This attacking of “footy tourist America fans” is... making me remember exactly why I felt uncomfortable AF during one of my first games in 2008.
When my Morelia team played the Timbers, I was relatively new to the TA. Was I a footy tourist? FUCK NO. Fútbol is part of our culture, the love of the game is ingrained from birth it’s literally in my DNA. But you know what? I had no idea the Timbers existed then. Why?
Because shit like this isn’t accesible to a majority of my people. And the Timbers did a shit job of marketing to anyone that isn’t white. There is a reason there are hardly any BIPOC fans at matches, shit like this is one of them.
We need to have a little bit of fucking empathy and stop being such ridiculous gatekeepers for this one at least. You know why there would end up being a ton of America supporters in the north end?
Because we don’t make the games inclusive enough for other soccer fans to attend matches regularly so they don’t know the rules! I’m sure a lot of them would enjoy being a part of the TA and support the team if they felt included.
And yes, I know not all Americanistas are new to the stadium rules and some will absolutely be dicks but that doesn’t mean we should shit on all of them.
The absolute RAGE I feel at the thought of one of my friends that has never been able to attend a match for various reasons, getting to attend this one, Where there is finally a bit of home, something that feels familiar, only to be berated and harassed...
Because they don’t know the fucking rules? But y’all wouldn’t know what the fuck that’s like because your home team is here. Your team that is part of your town, that you are passionate about is here.
So you’ll never know the way it feels when you finally feel like you’re around people from your culture. People that understand you. To have that feeling ruined because people think you’re a “footy tourist” just...
Oh, the rule is on the ticket you say? Who TF reads their ticket? Show of hands? No? Ok then. And even if they do see the writing whose to say everyone understands it? I know my dad at the time wouldn’t have been able to read it.
Why are y’all assuming everyone can read and/or understand shit that’s on the ticket? Because you’ve never encountered anyone that can’t? That bubble of yours must be nice.
Seriously people, check yourselves. Maybe instead of talking shit preemptively think about how this can be avoided if we would just make everyone feel included, so they’d attend more matches and become familiar with the rules. You know like we said we’d be working on from now on?
Also, yes, there are visitors sections in pretty much every stadium and I’m not saying we should all sit together. What I’m saying is stop being a dick before you even meet people. For the love of Valeri at the very least do not fucking say “you don’t belong here”
That or any rude variation of that is the worst thing you could say to someone that, you know, maybe migrated here?? How about you let staff handle it or better yet say
“hey, so glad you’re here! Hopefully you’ll become a Timbers fan and come to regular season matches too! Just to let you know though, you might have to move to the visitors section, we want you to have a good time.”
I’m sure most of you wouldn’t be dicks to people and hopefully most of you would have the empathy and foresight to make America fans feel welcome so they can become Timbers fans because y’all said we need to make this place inclusive and safe right?
Or was that just another “we’re taking this seriously” but really nothings being done things? I’m also aware that not all America fans migrated here, that not all are unaware of the rules, that some will be doing it to taunt us (which in that case feel free to give shit back)
Those that are like that though don’t give you an excuse to ignore the fact that this situation might be different and we should proceed with caution. Seriously, reading all that shit just made me think of what my dad would’ve felt at that Morelia game. We finally got to see our
Home team, him after 20 fucking years, me for the first time in my life. If someone would’ve said something to us all high and mighty... I know that would’ve hurt my dad so much. It would’ve ruined a once in a lifetime moment for him and I wouldn’t be a fan today.
I cannot handle the thought of that happening tonight. Normal soccer rivalry banter is fun and all but harassing new fans for “not knowing the rules” is bullshit.
I unfortunately do not have tickets for the match, but if I was there and I saw someone talking shit unprovoked to an America fan for sitting in the north end that’s never been to the stadium before I would go OFF on you.
IDGAF if you’re 6’4 to my 5’1. I’m saying this as a person who strongly dislikes Las Águilas (guajolotes actually 
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😝" title="Schielendes Gesicht mit Zunge" aria-label="Emoji: Schielendes Gesicht mit Zunge">) so you know I fucking mean it.
No one is going to make my people feel unwelcome in this place. The rest of the country already does that, don’t be a part of the problem.
(also not assuming all Americanistas identify as Latinx like myself)
(also not assuming all Americanistas identify as Latinx like myself)
Final note: I’ve been off social media for my own mental health, which is clearly the right thing to do as this thread was the first thing I saw coming back. So I likely won’t be responding but I needed to get this out.
