Fandom for Prem teams versus American teams.

This popped into my head when I saw the news about Crystal Palace that I posted to their administration thread. I saw on Timmyg's blog that he did with his tag team partner from Juve about supporting Fulham, where he said that being a Whites fan is like supporting a museum, or a local civic organization -- Tim, don't sue me for copyright claims, I can't find the link now -- and I thought to myself, damn, that is just absolutely dead on.

I mean, I know that MAF wants to make money, Fulham needs to have a stream of revenue to stay in the league, and the ticket prices, while not at Man U or Spurs level, aren't coming down next year. Still, that sentiment rings true for me, and it certainly doesn’t for, say, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
When the Johnny Haynes statue was being built, I remember it just floored me that the supporters passed the hat around to build the statue, and people generally seemed to think that MAF shouldn’t have to fund it, that he has enough on his plate trying to get players into the team and run the club. I really found it surprising when I sent a check for a couple of bucks as well, and even got a thank you note from the FO! I remember thinking that would never happen in any American sport.

I couldn’t find any news on how the Art Rooney statue was funded (he was the original long time owner of the Steelers, and passed on in 1988), but nowadays, all a sports team would do is sell the naming rights to a corporation and put up the Aquafresh Peyton Manning statue. Hell, the American way is to try to turn you upside down and shake every last damn dollar out of your pocket as soon as you walk through the luxury box laden, taxpayer funded stadium. Thanks loads, Cavs, Indians, and Browns.

I really was surprised that Palace fans were willing and capable of doing this, and I have followed the Man Yoo green and gold movement from afar, the whole Love United, Hate Glazer idea. (He runs the Bucs just as arrogantly as he does MUFC too, while milking them for every dollar that he can.) I know a lot of it goes back to the whole model of English teams as clubs, rather than franchises. There are Steelers fan clubs all over the country, I know of one in Cleveland that meets at a bar in Parma, but it’s not even an organization, just a bunch of people who want to drink beer, eat wings, and watch the Black and Gold. The idea of a fan trust for the Cavs? I wonder if anyone has even thought of the idea.

I just could not imagine a fan of an NFL team asking each other to fund a monument to a team luminary and say the owner should not have to be a part of it, he writes enough checks already. Good luck to the LUHG movement and good luck to Palace fans, but first and foremost, Come on Fulham!!!

Darn, I made it all the way through a 500 plus word post about CPFC and allllllmost didn’t say that Crippled Alice is still the ugliest girl in the bar at closing time -- maybe next time.

 

Steve, that's good. Would be a good front page piece if you vet that.

 

Those are all fantastic points. You basically touched on my main reasons for why i hate the NFL and NBA. A lot of (if not all) MLS owners are the same way, which makes sense since many of them are still in the red. Ahhhh Fulham Football Club is such a refreshing change of pace. Without a doubt, the classiest side on the planet.